Harrison James Armstrong (born 9 December 1999), known professionally as Aitch, is a British rapper from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. His solo breakthrough single "Straight Rhymez" has garnered over 24 million views and brought him to the attention of London rapper

Stormzy Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. (born 26 July 1993), known professionally as Stormzy, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter. In 2014, he gained attention on the UK underground music scene through his ''Wicked Skengman'' series of f ...

. His song "

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

" has garnered over 57 million views on YouTube and over 140 million streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

. Aitch has released ten singles that have charted within the top 40 in the UK, including "

Taste (Make It Shake) "Taste (Make It Shake)" is a song recorded by British rapper Aitch, released as the lead single from Aitch's second extended play ''AitcH20'' on 31 July 2019. The song was written by Aitch, Jake Jones, James Murray and Mustafa Omer, and produced ...

", which peaked at number two 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 ...

. He has supported rappers such as

Cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

and

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations * Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People * Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer * Wiley Mil ...

on tour, as well as featuring on a new version of teenage rappers

A1 x J1 A1 x J1 (real names Phineas Waweru and Joshua Somerkun) are a British British hip hop, hip hop duo. They released their debut single "Latest Trends" in February 2021, which charted at number 2 in the UK and was remixed by Aitch (rapper), Aitc ...

's top 20 hit "

Latest Trends "Latest Trends" is the debut single by UK Drill duo A1 x J1. It was originally previewed in late 2020 before being officially released on 4 February 2021. It later found viral popularity on TikTok before reaching a peak of number two on the UK Sin ...

". The name "Aitch" derives from the pronunciation of the letter 'h', which is the first letter of his given name.

Early life

Harrison James Armstrong was born on 9 December 1999 in Moston,

. He is an avid supporter of the football club

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. After leaving school he went to college and played sports, but eventually dropped out and worked in construction with his grandfather.

Career

2015: Beginnings

Aitch first garnered attention in 2015 when a YouTube video of him rapping to friends gained local popularity. He originally didn't want the video published, but changed his mind when his video gained 10,000 views. His friend continued uploading Aitch's freestyles to see if it would gain more views.

2016–2018: Freestyles, ''On Your Marks'' and Breakthrough

Aitch made multiple appearances on the P110 YouTube channel, starting in September 2016 with a freestyle. He then premiered his song "Back To Basics" on the channel in June 2017. On 9 December 2017, Aitch released his EP, ''On Your Marks''. In May 2018, he released his breakthrough track "Straight Rhymez", which gained him national attention.

2019–present: ''AitcH2O'' and ''Polaris''

In August 2019, he released his song "

" which became his biggest song at the time. He then released his second EP, ''AitcH2O'', in September. In March 2020, he collaborated with

AJ Tracey Ché Wolton Grant (born 4 March 1994), known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is from Ladbroke Grove, West London. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by ''The Guardian'' i ...

and

Tay Keith Tay may refer to: People and languages * Tay (name), including lists of people with the given name, surname and nickname * Tay people, an ethnic group of Vietnam ** Tày language *Atayal language, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan (ISO 639 ...

on the track "Rain" which amassed over 50 million views on YouTube. In May his third EP, ''Polaris'' released. In June 2021, Aitch released the single "Learning Curve". he followed this up with "Party Round My Place" in September. On 3 February 2022, Aitch was featured on

ArrDee Riley Davies (born 17 September 2002), known professionally as ArrDee, is a British rapper. His debut mixtape, '' Pier Pressure'', was released on 18 March 2022. Early life Davies was born and raised in Brighton, England. On growing up in Br ...

's single "War". The single debuted at number 6 on the UK Official Singles Top 100 Chart and debuted at number 21 on the UK Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100 on 11 February 2022. On 10 March 2022, Aitch released the single "Baby" featuring American singer Ashanti (who is credited as co-lead on the single) and heavily sampling the latter's 2003 hit " Rock wit U (Awww Baby)". After less than 24 hours, the single debuted at number 65 on the UK Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100. It debuted on the UK Official Singles Top 100 on 18 March 2022, placing at number 2. In August 2022, Aitch released "My G", featuring

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

, which is about Aitch's sister Gracie, who has

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Promotional singles

Other charted songs

Guest appearances

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aitch 21st-century British rappers English male rappers Rappers from Manchester Living people 1999 births Capitol Records artists