A hip-hop artist from Oxford has been invited to fly across the Atlantic and perform in the US.

Stevey Jay, a 21-year-old who lives in Donnington Bridge Road, East Oxford, right, is to jet off to New York next month to perform on one of the city's top R'n'B radio stations.

Real name Steve James, he has been rapping for nearly 10 years, and has now caught the attention of overseas promoters and DJs.

Mr James said: "They listened to my music on my website, which has had about 20,000 hits in the last couple of months, and contacted me."

He has been booked to perform four showcases in America, and will be interviewed on the New York R'n'B station Hot 97 during his two-week trip.

He said: "I have done a few things in Spain before, but it is my first time in New York so it is going to be quite a challenge. I am intrigued about how they are going to take me.

"But, really, they're playing my records on Hot 97, the radio station out there, and it is getting positive feedback."

Stevey started writing lyrics while still at school, and since then he has gone from trying things out at home with his friends to performing at venues across the country. He said: "I have been doing it since I was about 12, and taking it more seriously since I was about 18. I was just posting (rapping and singing) at parties and then I started writing music and it just went from there."

In the past two years he has built up a strong following and is now taking bookings for gigs across the country.

He is about to release a mix tape, Taking Over the Game, which will be available on his myspace website, and is putting together an album, Future Planning, which will be on general release in November.

All the activity has attracted the attention of the music industry and he has been approached by a number of record companies.

You can find out more about Stevey Jay at www.myspace.com/stevejames1