James MacKenzie (born 6 January 1986), better known as Kenzie or James Kenzie, is a British rapper, DJ, actor and personal trainer, who was formerly a member of ten-piece hip-hop group

Blazin' Squad Blazin' Squad were an English hip hop group. The group had seven top ten hits, including " Crossroads", a cover version of the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony original. Jon O'Brien of AllMusic called them the "self-proclaimed pioneers of ' chav' cultur ...

. He was also part of the R&B/pop supergroup

5th Story 5th Story were an English supergroup consisting of 1990s-early 2000s pop stars Dane Bowers, Gareth Gates, Kavana, Kenzie and Adam Rickitt. They were formed in 2013 exclusively for the second series of the ITV2 reality-documentary series ''The ...

, set up for ''

The Big Reunion ''The Big Reunion'' is a British reality-documentary series that began airing on ITV2 on 31 January 2013. The show featured chart-topping bands who were big in the UK pop music scene between the 1990s and early 2000s, and the programme followed ...

'' in 2013.

Music

Blazin' Squad (2001–06)

were a ten-piece hip hop group. They enjoyed moderate success in the UK, achieving six consecutive Top 10 hits, including the number one single "

Tha Crossroads "Tha Crossroads" is a song written and performed by hip hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, released as a single in April 1996. The song is dedicated to the group's mentor, the late gangsta rap icon Eazy-E, and other family members. The song was ...

", which is a cover version of the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony song. They released two albums which just made the UK Top 40 album chart. While in the Blazin' Squad, he went by the name MC Kenzie. The group subsequently split in 2005. MC Kenzie, MC Flava and MC Strider went on to form the group Friday Hill (as Kenzie, James and Mus). They split up and on 2009 five of the original Blazin' Squad members released a single ("Let's Start Again") after reforming. It peaked at number 51 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 ...

. One of their first performances after their reformation was at Walthamstow School for Girls, a school in the group's local area, where his father taught.

5th Story (2013–2014)

In December 2013, it was revealed that Kenzie would be joining forces with

Adam Rickitt Adam Peter Rickitt (born 29 May 1978) is an English actor, singer and model. He portrayed the role of Nick Tilsley in the ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'' from 1997 to 1999, and again from 2002 to 2004. He later joined the pop group 5th St ...

Gareth Gates Gareth Paul Gates (born 12 July 1984) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show ''Pop Idol'' in 2002. As of 2008, Gates had sold over 3.5 million records in the UK. He is ...

Dane Bowers Dane Leon Bowers is a British singer, songwriter, DJ and producer. He was a part of pop boy band Another Level between 1997 and 2000 when he performed on seven Top 10 singles, before taking up solo projects with True Steppers and Victoria Beckh ...

and Kavana to form the supergroup

for the second series of ITV2's ''

''.

Work outside music

In 2005, Kenzie appeared in the third series of the reality television show ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

'' and finished as the runner up, losing out to dancer and musician Bez. At the time he was the youngest contestant to enter the house. He appeared in a "Rock and Pop Special" edition of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson completed her contract. ...

'', alongside Kelli Young and Rick Wakeman. He appeared on the show's 1,000th episode, but was voted off in the fourth round for answering too many questions incorrectly. Kenzie appeared on ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hos ...

'' in March 2005 and again in March 2006. Kenzie released his autobiography in April 2005, published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

, titled ''Kenzie: My Life''. The book was somewhat a "damp squib" with one reviewer saying "it's full of incredibly dull revelations." In 2006, Kenzie appeared in the Sky One reality show ''

Cirque de Celebrité ''Cirque de Celebrité'' is a celebrity reality television show broadcast on Sky One. The show features celebrities training for and then performing various circus acts. The winner of the series of 2006 was Grace Adams-Short. A second series o ...

''. In week ten of the show he was eliminated, coming third (losing out to model

Emma B Emma Louise Boughton (born 27 November 1970), better known as Emma B, is a radio presenter in the UK. Early career Boughton's childhood was spent in Canada before she moved to Birmingham, England as a teenager. She graduated from the Univers ...

and '' Big Brother 7'' housemate Grace Adams-Short). In September 2008, he was a contestant on the ITV reality show ''

CelebAir ''CelebAir'' is a reality TV series in which 11 celebrities perform the duties of cabin crew and check-in attendants. The series was presented by Angellica Bell and aired on ITV2 from 2 September 2008 until 23 October 2008, when Lisa Maffia ...

''. He was eliminated in the second episode, shown on 9 September. He appeared on an episode of ''

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

'' which aired originally on 12 March 2009. He competed against, and defeated,

Chico Slimani Yousseph "Chico" Slimani (born 1971) is a British singer who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2005 series of the talent show ''The X Factor''. In 2006, he had a number one hit on the British c ...

. Kenzie is a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

for Studio 23, and stars in The Active Channel's ''Star Trainer''. On 23 September 2010, he appeared on ITV2's ''Celebrity Juice'' programme, alongside

Keith Lemon Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

and

Verne Troyer Verne Jay Troyer (January 1, 1969 – April 21, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, YouTuber, and stunt performer. He was best known for his role of Mini-Me in the ''Austin Powers'' film series. He had cartilage–hair hypoplasia and was ...

Personal life

On 4 May 2014 Kenzie was injured in a car accident. He dated glamour model

Jodie Marsh Jodie Louise Marsh is an English media personality, model and bodybuilder. She has appeared on numerous reality television shows, such as ''Essex Wives'' (2002), ''Back to Reality'' (2004), '' Love on a Saturday Night'' (2004), ''Celebrity Big ...

in 2005. He has been together with his current girlfriend since January 2012. Kenzie has two daughters, Wynter (born 2013) and Wyllow.

References

External links

*
Births England and Wales 1984–2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenzie 1986 births Living people British male rappers British DJs British actors Blazin' Squad members 5th Story members