N-Dubz's Tulisa Contostavlos has revealed that she is currently working on solo material, which she hopes to release next year. 

The singer, who is currently acting as a judge and mentor on The X Factor, explained in a web chat with Talk Talk (November 18) that the next step in her ever-growing career will be to branch out on her own:

"[I am] recording material at the minute. Album maybe July [or] September and a single possibly in February." 

The 23-year-old singer and judge was met with a flood of criticism last night, November 19, after admitting she wasn't familiar with X Factor contestant Amelia Lily's chosen song - Aretha Franklin's 'Think' - and has since taken to Twitter to defend her comments:

"Every1 needs 2 lay off the aretha franklin comments, I could of sat there n pretended I knew it, but I was honest, I'm 23, I know the old school songs my parents played me, even dating back 2 the 40's, & unfortunately that wasn't 1 of them, there's different dynamics on the panel 4 a reason."

Watch a recent interview with Tulisa, along with fan-recorded footage of her performing a cover of Natalie Imbruglia's 'Torn', below: