Wordplay (born Tao Rogers-Wright, 11 November 1984) is a musician and actor of mixed British and

Black African Black is a Racialization, racialized classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have ...

descent Descent may refer to: As a noun Genealogy and inheritance * Common descent, concept in evolutionary biology * Kinship, one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology **Pedigree chart or family tree ** Ancestry ** Lineal descendant **Heritag ...

Early life

Wordplay was born Tao Rogers-Wright in the south of London, where he grew up with his mother until their eventual move to the west of the city in the mid-90s. He appeared in advertising campaigns for

Going Live! ''Going Live!'' was a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 26 September 1987 to 17 April 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene. Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Annabel Giles, Phillip ...

and

Mr Blobby Mr Blobby is a British fictional character, created by British comedy writer Charlie Adams. His design involves mostly a costume of a bulbous pink figure with yellow spots, a permanent toothy grin, and green jiggly eyes, with performers often us ...

, television shows like '' Blue Peter'' and international films such as ''Dandi Dust''. In mid-2002, he met

Lowkey Kareem Dennis (born 23 May 1986), better known by his stage name Lowkey, is a British rapper and activist from London. He first became known through a series of mixtapes he released before he was 18, before taking a hiatus from the music bus ...

, the UK rapper responsible for underground classics such as "The Mad World Remix" and the ''Key to the Game'' trilogy. With Lowkey's influence, Wordplay began taking a more professional approach to the music industry.

Career

Acting

Wordplay gained worldwide exposure as an actor in 1998 through the Austrian Obscuro Gothic science fiction film ''Dandy Dust'' directed by Hans Scheirl. Wordplay is a member of the National Youth Theatre (associated actors include Sir Ben Kingsley, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Dame Helen Mirren). He has appeared in productions including ''The Deptford Tales''.

Music

Wordplay has been a recording artist since 2006, described by britishhiphop.co.uk as being "...among the absolute zenith of British MCs that are carrying more than their fair weight of intellect and integrity that keeps this scene rolling. Well recognised for his work with rapper

; Wordplay matches lyrical flow with mental faculty, conscious content with brilliant beats. A favourite all over the scene, and a reminder of the essence of hip hop for many." It was not until 7 March 2009 that Wordplay appeared on an official release in the form of "Alphabet Assassins", the 10th track from the debut

Mongrel A mongrel, mutt or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed and including those that are the result of intentional breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometimes preferred, many mongre ...

album ''Better Than Heavy'', released through the label ''Wall of Sound''. Wordplay has toured with, opened for and appeared on stage with Mongrel and Reverend and the Makers at various festivals and concerts including

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused B ...

and

Oxegen Oxegen was a music festival in Ireland, first held from 2004–2011 as a rock and pop festival and again in 2013 with dance and chart acts only. The event was regularly cited as Ireland's biggest music festival, and, by 2009, it was being ci ...

. In 2010 Wordplay released his latest project, ''An Emotional Victory''. There was confusion as to whather this was a mixtape or an album, having been dubbed "The Fixtape" and being an entrant into the mixtape awards, then cited as being an album by blogs like Hip Hop Kings. Wordplay called it "a street album" on Twitter, which was supported by other official blogs. The album had an unofficial release on 2 March 2010 when 200 limited copies were sold out directly from Wordplay through his blog.

Discography

* ''An Emotional Victory'' (2010) (with Nutty P overseeing production, alongside collaborations with Pariz 1, Raw Smilez, Cobane, Mr 13 and Kidz (YBM)) * ''Words of Advice'' (2007) Collaborations: * ''Alphabet Assassins'' (2008) (with Mongrel alongside Wretch, Stylah, Tony D, Skinnyman, Purple, No.Lay, III Mill, Mic Righteous, Logic, Kyza, Skirmish, Smife, Franrtic Frank, Doc Brown and Deadly Hunta)

References