James Devlin (born 7 May 1989), better known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

as Devlin, is an English rapper and songwriter from

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He attended the Brittons Academy in Rainham,

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

. He was signed to

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

from 2010 to 2015. He is part of

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

collective 'O.T Crew' with Dogzilla, Deeperman, M. Eye, Benson, Kozy, Syer Bars, Shotz, Meshie, Props and Daze. Devlin was also a member of the Movement, consisting of himself,

Wretch 32 Jermaine Sinclaire Scott (born 9 March 1985), better known by his stage name Wretch 32, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Tottenham, North London. He was a member of the grime collective Combination Chain Gang, before forming The M ...

, Scorcher,

Ghetts Justin Clarke, better known by his stage name Ghetts (formerly Ghetto), is a British grime MC, rapper and songwriter. His music has been played on national radio stations such as BBC Radio 1, Kiss 100, BBC Asian Network, and BBC Radio 1Xtra. Cur ...

, Lightning, Mercston and DJ Unique but has since left.

Early life

Devlin was born on 7 May 1989 in

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, a ...

and grew up on a housing estate in

. His mother was a council worker while his father was a forklift driver. Devlin released his second solo mixtape ''The Art of Rolling'' in 2008.

Career

2010–11: ''Bud, Sweat and Beers''

Devlin's debut album, '' Bud, Sweat and Beers'' was released on Island Records in 2010. The first single from the album was " Brainwashed", which was released on 8 August 2010 in the UK and debuted 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 ...

at number 31, and number 11 on the

UK R&B Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Albums, or simply the UK Urban Chart) are 40-posi ...

. The second single, " Runaway", was released on 24 October 2010, where it debuted at number 15, marking Devlin's most successful single to date. The single was succeeded by the release of the debut album, '' Bud, Sweat and Beers'', which was released on 1 November 2010 and debuted at number 21 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. "London City" entered the UK chart at number 181 following strong digital downloads from the album. The third single released from the album was "

Let It Go "Let It Go" is a song from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film ''Frozen (2013 film), Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert L ...

" featuring British producer

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. After initially pursuing a career in music production, Simon Cowell signed him to his record labe ...

. The track, which was released on 31 January 2011, charted at number 59 in the UK based on downloads alone.

2011–13: ''A Moving Picture''

His second studio album, '' A Moving Picture'', was released on 4 February 2013. It peaked at number 19 on the UK Albums Chart.

Personal life

He is a supporter of

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. Devlin is of Irish descent. Diagnosed at the age of 14, Devlin has

Type 1 Diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar for ...

Discography

;Studio albums * '' Bud, Sweat and Beers'' (2010) * '' A Moving Picture'' (2013) * ''The Devil In'' (2017) * ''The Outcast'' (2019) * ''Eyes for the Blind'' (2022)

References

External links

Devlin Official websiteDevlin News & LyricsDelvin Photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin Rappers from London Grime music artists English songwriters English male rappers Living people 1989 births People from Dagenham Island Records artists English people of Irish descent British male songwriters