By Mark Savage BBC music reporter

Image copyright Joy Crookes

Over the last two years, Joy Crookes has released enough music to fill a (decidedly accomplished) debut album.

Those early EPs and one-off singles show a nuanced and individual ear for melody, while her "mad honest" lyrics depict love lost and found on the rainy streets of south-east London.

They've earned her fourth place on the BBC Sound of 2020 list, which tips acts for success in the next 12 months.

But if the attention is welcome, Crookes isn't sure she's enjoying it.

"What does it feel like? Anxiety central is what it feels like!" laughs the singer.

"I could give you the pretty answer but, honestly, it feels like when you go to Winter Wonderland and you get on that huge tower that rises up above Hyde Park then - whomp - it drops and your stomach rises to your eyeballs.

"It's half an incredible feeling because there's so much adrenalin, but the other half is like, 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!'"

The 21-year-old, who is of Bangladeshi-Irish descent, first came to attention when she posted a cover of Hit The Road Jack to YouTube as a teenager.

Since then, she's developed a sound that combines the eclectic range of music her father played as he drove her to her weekly Irish dancing lessons.

"My dad wanted to give me a real education, from Nick Cave to King Tubby to all this Pakistani music," she says. "He'd say, 'This is from your ends of the world, you should hear this.'"

To celebrate her position on the Sound of 2020 list, Crookes took a break from recording her actual debut album to chat about her rise to fame, impersonating Liberty X, hustling her school-friends, and the pressure to succeed.

The top five acts on the BBC Sound of 2020 list are being revealed in a countdown, with one revealed every day until the winner is announced on Thursday, 9 January.

• Listen to the nominees on BBC Sounds
• Find out more about the list.

What's your first memory?

When I was three or four I went into my mum's room and put on her knee-high boots, then I summoned my family like, 'Mum! Dad! Assemble!'

They sat on the sofa, and I walked in and performed Just A Little by Liberty X. We had it on VHS and I stood in front of the TV doing the moves.

Amazing song choice.

Maybe not for a three year old! I remember the night before, I got my mum to cut a hole in my black vest because the girls in the video had leather PVC suits with holes where their cleavage would be. I mean, I didn't have cleavage at three or four, but I wanted to look like them.

So your first memory is a musical one?

Yeah, it's so vivid in my mind. I was so, so concentrated on that performance. I hadn't even practiced it, I was just like, "This is my time to shine!"

I heard you were quite an entrepreneur as a child, too...

Where did you find that out?! But, yeah, when I was about nine, I worked out it would cost me £80 to get everyone in my family Christmas presents. So I went to Poundland in Elephant and Castle, and you could buy a box of 10 candy canes for £1. I worked out that if I sold each of them for £1, I could make 900% profit.

I also had a side hustle selling clothes, because that £80 needed to come quick. If someone said, "That top looks great on you", I'd say, "I'll give it to you for a fiver".

When my mates came round to our house, little did they know, it wasn't playtime, it was selling time!

If music doesn't work out, you can always apply for the Apprentice.

I probably will!

You grew up listening to music - but was there a point where you thought, "This is something I can do for a career?"

I never had that epiphany because I never thought music was a legitimate job. I thought that pop stars were pop stars and that's who they were. I almost didn't see them as human beings until Kate Nash came about.

She made me realise I could use music as a diary. I was going through a lot at home and I didn't have anyone to talk to, so I just used my guitar. But I didn't really think, "Oh, I'm a musician now".

How did you learn to play?

With piano, I learnt a couple of chords at school, then I taught myself the songs from the film Once by looking up the chords on YouTube. With guitar it was the same: I learnt two chords from a family friend, then I went home and learned a lot of Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber songs because, no offence, I thought they'd be easy.

I used to have a cupboard that had a mirror on it, so I'd sit down and watch myself playing guitar. That's really good when you're learning, because you can watch where your hands are going.

So that was my mentality, and then I started writing after that.

What happened next?

My mum's friend had a son who was my age who played the most incredible Brazilian guitar. I loved Astrud Gilberto, so I asked him round to mine and I said, "Do you know this song Hit The Road Jack? I think we should cover it".

So we recorded it on iMovie, put it on YouTube and it got 500,000 views - which was mad.