James Christian Charters (born 18 January 1988), better known as Ironik (formerly as DJ Ironik), is a British musician, DJ and rapper. His genre of music varies from hip hop,

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 ...

, R&B and

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 ...

. DJ Ironik was born in London. DJ Ironik has had three UK top 10 hits; Stay With Me charted at No. 5,

Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer) "Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer)" is a song by British rapper Ironik featuring fellow British rapper Chipmunk, from his debut album ''No Point in Wasting Tears'', released on 11 May 2009. The song heavily samples Elton John's 1972 single "Tiny D ...

charted at No. 3 and also I Got Soul, a charity single which reached No. 10 in the UK charts and has also had several top 5 hits in other European countries.

Early life

"DJ Ironik" (born James Charters) was born in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

to a Jamaican Father and a half English half Zimbabwean Mother. He decided on a career in music at an early age when doing GCSE in music. He first began to DJ at age 12, and started to produce at age 15. He started his career as a DJ working in clubs, initially in his home country, but his talent was quickly spotted and he moved around

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Every record he released charted in the Top 40 UK Charts throughout 2008–2011.

Career

At the age of 20, he signed with

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asylu ...

which is a subsidiary of

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

. The first hit was the single " Stay with Me (Everybody's Free)" which went into the UK charts at number 11 on downloads alone, then charted at number 5 on its physical release. It equally had success on Channel U, remaining in the request chart top 10 for 26 weeks. The remix to "Stay with Me" features

Chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks may be classified either as ...

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 ...

. His second single, "

I Wanna Be Your Man "I Wanna Be Your Man" is a Lennon–McCartney-penned song first recorded and released as a single by the Rolling Stones, and then recorded by the Beatles. The song was primarily written by Paul McCartney, and finished by Lennon and McCartney in ...

" was released in September 2008 and reached number 35 in the UK. His début album ''

No Point in Wasting Tears ''No Point in Wasting Tears'' is the debut album by Ironik and was released on 29 September 2008. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 21 but fell to number 36 in its second week. It was removed from the UK iTunes Store, but subsequent ...

'' was released on

Warner Music UK Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels * Atlantic Records * Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Records Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * All Money In * Artist Partners Group * Asylum Re ...

on 29 September 2008 and charted at 21 in the UK. Ironik has since left

and signed to independent label BPM Entertainment. He is currently signed with UK and Dubai based independent label RU Listening The third single taken from his début album is "

" which features grime rap artist

and Sir Elton John. The song was released in the UK on 26 April 2009 and it charted at number 3 in the UK. This was followed by the re-release of his album on 11 May 2009. He was nominated for 'Best Newcomer' at the 2008

MOBO Awards The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...

and 'Best Newcomer' and Best Music Video (" Stay with Me") at the 2008

Urban Music Awards The Urban Music Awards (UMA) is a hip-hop, R&B, dance, and soul music awards ceremony which was launched by Jordan Kensington in 2003 and is now held in several countries. The US version of the award ceremony, the Urban Music Awards USA, was ...

. He was also nominated for 'Best Male Music in Film' at the Screen Nation Film & TV Awards in November 2008, and voted by the public viewers of MTV UK the third 'favourite artist of the year' 2008, coming after Katy Perry and Duffy. Throughout October and November 2008 Ironik supported German Euro dance group

Cascada Cascada (, Spanish for "Waterfall", stylized as CASCADA, CASC''A''DA and cascada) is a German dance music act founded in 2004 by singer Natalie Horler and DJs/producers DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. They are best known for their hit singles " Every ...

on their second UK tour - ''The Perfect Day Tour'' 2008. In 2009 he was nominated for 'Best UK Act' at the 2009 Mobo Awards.

Personal life

While returning to his home in

from a gig in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, Ironik became the victim of a stabbing attack at around 3 a.m. on 6 November 2010, when two men attacked him for his jewellery, knifing him in the right buttock. Ironik said of the stabbing: "It was something I've never experienced in my life before. Something that I've spoke about in a lot of my records - some of my records - actually. I find it very low that someone has to go take what you have and what you work for. I've kind of got over it and trying to get back on to living my life and being normal. The past is behind, and I'm trying to get on with my life. I'm back to normal, back to work 100% and I'm just happy that everyone was really supportive. I'll always be involved in charity work and especially the anti-gun and knife crime thing. It's a very important thing... I'll always be a part of supporting it, even before the incident, but obviously now more so." The DJ has been reported to have recovered now.

Awards and nominations

, -style="text-align:center;", 2008 , , , Ironik , , Urban Music Awards - Best Music Video , , , style="text-align:center;", 2008 , , , Ironik , , Mobo Awards - Best Newcomer , , , - , style="text-align:center;", 2009 , , , Ironik , , Mobo Awards - Best UK Act , , , - , style="text-align:center;", 2009 , , , Ironik , , Habbo Music Awards - Best UK Act , , , -

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As a featured performer

References

External links

* *
Ironik Blog

{{Authority control 1988 births Living people Black British male rappers English male rappers Black British DJs People from Wood Green Rappers from London Grime music artists British people of Barbadian descent