Hak Baker (born 1991) is a British singer and rapper from London.

Early life

Hak Baker was born in

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

to a Grenadian father and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n mother, the fifth of nine kids. Since the age of one he has lived on the

Isle of Dogs The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Ham ...

. As a child, he was a choirboy at

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

. Aged 14, he joined the grime group Bomb Squad. He dropped out of school aged 15. In his mid 20s he spent two years in jail for robbery.

History

Baker performed musical collaborations with

the Streets The Streets are an English music project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner. The project has released six studio albums: ''Original Pirate Material'' (2002), ''A Grand Don't Come for Free'' (2004), ''The Hardest Way to M ...

. In 2022, he performed at

Glastonbury festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

Worlds End FM

In 2023 Baker recorded his first album, Worlds End FM. NME featured the album in their lineup of the "10 best debut albums released in 2023," praising it for introducing Baker as a "21^st Century troubadour speaking to modern problems with empathy and requisite anger”.

Style

Baker's musical style is influenced by grime music,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and punk rock. In addition to his singing and rapping talents, he is a skilled guitarist.

Discography

Worlds End FM (2023)

* 1. World's End FM (Intro) * 2. DOOLALLY * 3. Windrush Baby * 4. Collateral Cause * 5. Bricks In The Wall * 6. Full On * 7. Babylon Must Fall (MC Grindah Skit) * 8. I Don't Know * 9. Run * 10. Telephones 4 Eyes * 11. Watford's Burning (Connie Constance Skit) * 12. Brotherhood * 13. Luv u Bro (Big Zees Skit) * 14. Dying to Live * 15. Almost Lost London * 16. The End of the World

Personal life

Baker supports left-wing political causes. He has criticised the

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

of working class areas by yuppies and middle class

hipster subculture The 21st-century hipster is a subculture (sometimes called hipsterism). Fashion is one of the major markers of hipster identity. Members of the subculture typically do not self-identify as hipsters, and the word ''hipster'' is often used as a pe ...

. He also opposes the Tories' attempts to deport refugees to Rwanda, and has compared it to the discrimination faced by the Windrush generation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Hak Living people Black British musicians British punk rock singers British reggae singers British rappers 1991 births