35266 fans
Putting the West London grime scene on the map with his sharp, confident lyrics AJ Tracey was credited with breathing life and energy into UK hip-hop and leading a new generation of underground MCs, before landing his first crossover hit 'Butterflies' in 2018, despite not being signed to a record label. Born Che Wolton Grant he grew up on a working class estate in Ladbroke Grove, London with a Welsh mother who was a jungle and drum & bass DJ on pirate radio in the 1990s and a Trinidadian father who used to perform as a rapper. He started making up his own rhymes when he was six-years-old and later soaked in the two-step garage sounds of Dizzee Rascal and Wiley which lit up London in the early 2000s, before old school friend Ice Kid made waves locally as a skilled freestyle grime rapper and became unofficial mentor to Grant. His Caribbean background also made him a fan of dancehall and soca music, and by 2011 he was posting his first tracks to SoundCloud under the name Looney, releasing early mixtape 'Didn't Make the Cut'. He also studied criminology at London Metropolitan University but dropped out after a year, building his reputation with late night spots on Rinse FM and Radar Radio before his cult banger 'Spirit Bomb' announced his arrival on the capital's rap scene in 2015. A scorching, freestyle performance on Charlie Sloth's BBC 1Xtra show brought him to a wider audience and his single 'Thiago Silva' with MC Dave notched up more than 12 million views on YouTube, while EP 'Secure the Bag!' reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart in 2017. He was also part of the Grime4Corbyn campaign which backed the Labour Party at the General Election that year, and was a strong voice for his community in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. He was named on the BBC Sound of 2017 list and championed by Drake and A$AP Rocky, before 'Butterflies' featured Hackney rapper Not3s and became a strutting, summer anthem which mashed Afro-swing beats and dancehall rhythms, reaching number 19 on the UK Singles Chart. Following singles 'Lo(v/s)er' and 'Psych Out!' also made the top 40 and his debut album 'AJ Tracey' arrived in 2019 and included collaborations with Giggs and Jay Critch and featured swampy trap grooves, funky house tunes, tongue twisting grime takedowns and even a track that Tracey described as his version of country music.
Artist biography compiled by BDS/West 10. All rights reserved
