Wesley Johnson (born 1977), known by his stage name 2Play, is a British musician, record producer, and former mixed martial artist.

Music career

Johnson first entered the music scene in 1997 as a

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop, R&B, and jungle. It ...

producer, under the aliases Wesley 2 Play and Special T. His first single under the name 2Play, "So Confused", was released in early 2004, and featured the Canadian-Indian singer Raghav and MC Jucxi D. It reached number 6 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and won Best Collaboration at the MOBO Awards, and Best Single at the UK Asian Music Awards. A cover of Kevin Lyttle's " Turn Me On" appears on the "So Confused" single. The following single "It Can't Be Right", featuring Raghav and

Naila Boss Naila Boss is an English underground rapper from Hackney, London. Discography Singles * "It Can't Be Right" (2004) - UK No. 8 (with 2play and Raghav) * "La La La" (2004) - UK No. 65 * " You Should Really Know" (2004) - UK No. 8 (with The Pirate ...

, was also a UK top 10 hit. The next single, a cover version of

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

's " Careless Whisper", reached number 29. A

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

remix and a garage remix of "Careless Whisper" were also produced, under the alias Special T. An album, including all the above singles, was produced and mastered in 2006, but never released at the time. 2Play independently released the album to digital platforms in 2019, under the title ''Back in Business''.

Discography

Albums

*''Back in Business'' (2019)

Singles

Mixed martial arts

In addition to his music career, Johnson was also a mixed martial artist. He fought for

Cage Rage Cage Rage Championships, also known as Cage Rage, was a United Kingdom-based, mixed martial arts promotion that premiered on 7 September 2002 in London. Cage Rage went into liquidation and is now no longer trading. Cage Rage had been owned and ma ...

and

Ultimate Challenge MMA Ultimate Challenge MMA (also referred to as UCMMA) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It is shown live on London Live in the UK, Fight Now TV in the US and on Viewster in several other countries. History The collapse ...

Record

, - , Win , align=center, 5–1 (1) , Simon Carington , Submission (guillotine choke) , UCMMA 11 – Adrenaline Rush , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , London, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–1 (1) , Luke Smith , TKO (punches) , UCMMA 9 – Fighting for Heroes , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:09 , London, England , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 (1) , Danny Fletcher , Submission (flying triangle choke) , UCMMA 6 – Payback , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:02 , London, England , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 (1) , Alex Harvey , Submission (triangle choke) , UCMMA 5 – Heat , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , London, England , , - , NC , align=center, 2–0 (1) , Scott Pooley , No Contest , UCMMA 2 – Unbreakable , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , London, England , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Matt Smith , Submission (triangle choke) , Cage Rage 28 – VIP , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:44 , London, England , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Mark Brown , TKO (punches) , Cage Rage 27 – Step Up , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:31 , London, England ,

References

External links

*
2 Play Official YouTube siteSherdog: Wesley Johnson page
1977 births Living people English dance musicians English practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu English male karateka English record producers English reggae musicians British dancehall musicians Musicians from London UK garage musicians English male mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu {{UK-musician-stub