A former member of Brooklyn Funk Essentials, as well as a seasoned session vocalist who has collaborated with Tricky, Soulive, Talib Kweli, and Chocolate Genius, Stephanie McKay debuted as a solo artist with 2003's McKay -- an album that featured extensive assistance from Portishead's Geoff Barrow (aka Fuzzface) and Adrian Utley. Though the album wasn't released in the States, some of its material was included on a self-titled EP that surfaced on Astralwerks in 2006. Tell It Like It Is, her second album, followed on the same label in early 2007