Misha B's breakthrough into the music industry came in 2011, through her appearance on the eighth series of The X Factor. In her first audition in front of judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa, she sang Aretha Franklin's cover of "Respect". The Voice recounted her performance as being "confident" and "show-stopping", and as a promising sign of Misha B's future in the competition. Noted for her "Lauryn Hill-like rap-singing style", she progressed through to bootcamp and then to judges' houses, where she was put through to the live shows by Rowland in her Girls category (solo females aged 16–24) alongside Amelia Lily, Janet Devlin and Sophie Habibis. A variety of sources including The Daily Telegraph, Digital Spy and bluesandsoul.com have regarded Misha B as one of the more gifted and exciting acts ever to have come out of a talent competition. BBC 1xtra noting her "show-stopping performances", considered her to be one of the most credible artists to emerge from the show and a "break from the traditional X Factor contestant". In a review of the series, The Daily Telegraph picked her performance of "Rolling in the Deep" (Adele) as one of the highlights of the series, saying she "oozed star quality from the start... Like a 21st century Grace Jones or an urban Lady Gaga, the teenager seemed like a proper pop star already."
