Young Fathers are a Scottish band based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In 2014, they won the

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

for their album ''

Dead Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

''.

History

Formed in Edinburgh in 2008 by Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham 'G' Hastings, the group started performing in nightclubs when the band members were all in their teens. In 2012, they signed to LA-based label

Anticon Anticon (often styled as anticon.) is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1998 by seven musicians and manager Baillie Parker. It is now collectively owned among six musicians, co-founder Parker, and man ...

and released their introductory mixtapes, ''

Tape One ''Tape One'' is the debut EP by Scottish indie group Young Fathers. It was independently released in November 2011, and re-released on 22 January 2013 through Anticon. Critical reception ''Tape One'' received critical acclaim from contemporary m ...

'' and '' Tape Two'', with '' Tape Two'' winning the

Scottish Album of the Year Award The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award is an award given annually for an outstanding album produced by a Scottish artist. The award was launched in 2012 by thScottish Music Industry Association(SMIA) in partnership with Creative Scotland Cre ...

("The SAY Award"). The trio then signed to

Big Dada Big Dada is a British independent record label imprint distributed by Ninja Tune. It was started by reputed hip hop journalist Will Ashon in 1997. It is best known for marketing of prominent British hip hop artist Roots Manuva, poet and play ...

and released their debut album, ''

'', which was released in 2014. The album gained a lot of critical attention and went on to win the

. ''

'' entered the UK albums chart at the 35th position and topped the independent UK album chart. Following an extensive world tour the band decamped to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

to begin work on their second album, ''

White Men Are Black Men Too ''White Men Are Black Men Too'' is the second studio album by Scottish indie group Young Fathers. It was released on Big Dada on 6 April 2015. It peaked at number 41 on the UK Albums Chart. Critical reception ''White Men Are Black Men Too'' rece ...

'', which was released in April 2015. In June 2017 Young Fathers played in the Royal Festival Hall at the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

as part of M.I.A.'s Meltdown Festival. Six tracks on the ''

T2 Trainspotting ''T2 Trainspotting'' is a 2017 British black comedy-drama film, directed by Danny Boyle and written by John Hodge. Set in and around Edinburgh, Scotland, it is based on characters created by Irvine Welsh in his 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' and ...

'' soundtrack feature Young Fathers, including "Only God Knows", written specifically for the film. In a statement the director

Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including ''Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel ''T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', '' 28 Days Later'', '' Su ...

described the song as "the heartbeat for the film". Young Fathers' third studio album, ''

Cocoa Sugar ''Cocoa Sugar'' is the third studio album by Scottish indie group Young Fathers. It was released on Ninja Tune on 9 March 2018. It won the Scottish Album of the Year Award for 2018. It peaked at number 28 on the UK Albums Chart. Artwork The album ...

,'' was announced with the single "In My View" on 17 January 2018. The album was released on British independent label

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in London. It has a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut) and managed by Peter Quicke and others. Inspired by a visit ...

on 9 March 2018. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 28, making it the band's highest-charting album. While not an overtly political band, Young Fathers have spoken about issues such as racism and the treatment of refugees Due to their support of the

BDS movement Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations u ...

, the band was dropped from the 2018

Ruhrtriennale The Ruhrtriennale (compound of ''Ruhr'' and ''triennale'' "lasting 3 years"), also known as Ruhr Triennale, was founded in 2002 and is a music and arts festival in the Ruhr-area of Germany which runs between mid-August and mid-October, and happens ...

line-up. The band was featured on the

FIFA 19 ''FIFA 19'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and released by Electronic Arts on 28 September 2018 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows. It is the 26th installm ...

soundtrack.

Members

* Alloysious Massaquoi was born in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

and moved to Edinburgh at the age of four, where he attended

Boroughmuir High School Boroughmuir High School is a non-denominational secondary school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Buildings It was founded in 1904, and located at 22–24 Warrender Park Crescent, overlooking Bruntsfield Links, in a building designed by John Alexande ...

. * Kayus Bankole was born in Edinburgh to Nigerian parents. He spent several years living in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and Nigeria before moving back to the city of his birth, in his teens. He went on to attend

in Edinburgh, the same school as Alloysious and the two became close friends. Bankole has commented that Scotland's history in relation to slavery should be taught in schools to help overcome systemic racism * Graham "G" Hastings was born in Edinburgh and grew up in the North Edinburgh housing scheme of

Drylaw Drylaw is an area in the north west of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, located between Blackhall and Granton. It forms the community of Drylaw–Telford. Drylaw used to belong to the younger branch of the Foresters of Corstorphine. Former ...

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Singles

Remixes

* "Girlfriend (Young Fathers Remix)" by

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

from ''Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Remix Collection)'' (2009) * "Nicotine Love (StraightFace Remix)" by Tricky (2014)

Guest appearances

Young Fathers were featured on "Voodoo in My Blood", track 3 of the 2016 EP ''

Ritual Spirit ''Ritual Spirit'' is an extended play, EP by British trip hop trio Massive Attack, released on 28 January 2016. It features trip hop artist Tricky (musician), Tricky for the first time since the release of ''Protection (Massive Attack album), Prote ...

'' by Massive Attack.

Music videos

References

External links

* {{Authority control Anticon artists Ninja Tune artists Big Dada artists Musical groups from Edinburgh Scottish hip hop groups Scottish boy bands People educated at Boroughmuir High School