Ashley Charles, known professionally as Amplify Dot, was born on April 9, 1988, in England. At age thirteen, she performed a freestyle at a Missy Elliott concert, marking the beginning of her music career. In 2011, she released her first mixtape, Born Ready. The following year, she self-released the EP Short Back and Sides, which entered the iTunes Hip Hop Chart, and signed with Virgin Records, becoming the first female rapper in the UK to secure a major-label deal in over a decade. She released several singles, including "Get Down" (2012), "Kurt Cobain" (2013), and "I'm Good" (2013). Amplify Dot collaborated with various artists, including Busta Rhymes and Emeli Sandé. In 2016, she presented the documentary A. Dot's Story of Grime for BBC Three.
