Ché Wolton Grant (born 4 March 1994), known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is from

Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also a name given to ...

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in a list of "best new acts to catch at festivals in 2016". Tracey's first mainstream EP, ''Secure the Bag!'' (2017) entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

at number thirteen. In 2018, Tracey released the single "

Butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

" featuring British rapper

Not3s Lukman Olanrewaju Odunaike (born 17 April 1998), better known by his stage name Not3s (pronounced Notes), is a British singer-songwriter, rapper and actor from Hackney, London. His songs include "My Lover" and "Fine Line", both of which are colla ...

which served as his commercial breakthrough, peaking in the top 20 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 ...

. His self-titled debut album, which was released in 2019 by

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, received critical acclaim and peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. It featured his highest-charting single as a solo artist, "

", which peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

by the BPI.

Early life

Grant was born in

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

and raised in

. Grant's father, of

Afro-Trinidadian Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians (or just Afro-Trinbagonians) are people from Trinidad and Tobago who are of West African descent. Social interpretations of race in Trinidad and Tobago are often used to dictate who is of West African descent ...

origin, is a former rapper, and his

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

mother is a former

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...

DJ. He was named by his mother after the revolutionary

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

. He has been rapping since the age of six. He was educated locally at Middle Row Primary school and went on to attend

Holland Park School Holland Park School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form in Holland Park, London, England. In 2013, it has attained academy status. Opened in 1958, the school became the flagship for comprehensive education, and at one time had ove ...

. He dropped out of a criminology course at

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London (formerly the Polytechnic of North London) and London Guildhall University (f ...

to pursue his music career. He is an avid supporter of

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

Career

2011–16: Emergence and EPs

Under the stage names Looney and Loonz, Tracey's music can be found online dating back to June 2011. An early

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

account, Looney Tell 'Em, contains eleven tracks, each with free downloads enabled. These include four songs from the scrapped grime EP ''The Dungeon'' (featuring non-exclusive beats from Spooky and Rude Kid) and two songs from ''Didn't Make the Cut'', originally slated for release on the scrapped hip hop mixtape ''Fuck a Fairytale''. His debut mixtape, ''Didn't Make the Cut'', was released 13 September 2012, and comprises 21

UK rap UK rap, also known as British hip hop or UK hip hop, is a music genre, genre of music, and a culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. It is generally classified as one of a number of styles of urban mu ...

and

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 ...

songs and freestyles which, in his own words, are "the tracks that didn't make it onto my actual mixtape". The project was initially to be titled ''Scirocco Musik'' and its artwork still reflects this title. In August 2013, his collective, My Team Paid, announced that they were to release a joint mixtape entitled ''My Team Paid''. One single, "Clouded Skies", emerged, but the project was ultimately scrapped. Tracey's second mixtape, ''No More Looney'', was released through

DatPiff DatPiff is an online audio distribution platform that was launched in 2005. It is headquartered in Pennsylvania. It specializes in hip-hop, rap, and urban music. The site was founded in the spring of 2005 by Marcus Frasier. It is owned by Media ...

on 30 August 2014. The project includes thirty-three tracks, many of which feature fellow My Team Paid members

Big Zuu Zuhair Hassan (born 19 August 1995), known professionally as Big Zuu, is a British rapper, grime MC, songwriter, DJ and television personality from West London. He is best known for presenting ''Big Zuu's Big Eats'' for Dave. Early and persona ...

, Jay Amo, Wax and Sketch. Tracey first gained attention through appearances on pirate radio stations and the release of his debut EP ''The Front'' in mid-2015. In December 2015, Tracey released his second EP ''Alex Moran'', which featured acclaimed tracks including "Spirit Bomb" and "Naila".

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been cod ...

DJ Sian Anderson also played "Swerve and Skid" heavily on her show during 2015, which was the first song of his that was on commercial radio. During this period, Tracey also recorded (but did not release) a

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

EP entitled ''Rain''. In 2016, Tracey – a

fan – appeared in promotional material for

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...

's coverage of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. He also collaborated with

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

over a remix of

Ruff Sqwad Ruff may refer to: Places * Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community * Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community Other uses *Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader fa ...

's Pied Piper to create a well received track entitled "Thiago Silva".

2017–2020: ''Secure the Bag!'' and self-titled album

In October 2017, Tracey released his fifth EP, ''Secure the Bag!''. He also began producing records that year. He made his production debut on "LA4AWEEK", co-produced by Nyge and released in April 2017, and later produced label-mate Big Zuu's "Tell Man Twice", released in August 2017. In early 2018, AJ Tracey modelled for the OVO clothing line in 2018. In May 2018, Tracey released the single "

" featuring

. The song served as AJ Tracey's commercial breakthrough, peaking at number 19 on the

. The single was followed up with "Lo(v/s)er", which peaked at number 38. Tracey also featured on Craig David's album "The Time is now" collaborating on the track "Somebody like me". In early July 2019 the Swedish rapper released his second album, ''Mer än rap'' ("more than rap"). Tracey was featured on the title track "More Than Rap". On 21 November 2018, Tracey announced the pre-order of his self-titled debut album, released on 8 February 2019. The lead single, "Doing It", was released for streaming and digital on the same day. Four more singles were released to promote ''AJ Tracey'': "

" featuring

, "Psych Out!", "Necklace" featuring Jay Critch and "

". ''AJ Tracey'' debuted at number three on the

and is certified

Silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI). "Ladbroke Grove" became Tracey's highest-charting single peaking at number three on the

. On 10 October 2019, Tracey announced the upcoming release of a deluxe edition of ''AJ Tracey'', to feature five new songs and a couple of surprises. The album was released on 25 October. On 14 February 2020, AJ Tracey announced his Australian tour starting in Adelaide on 24 April, but was later postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

2020–present: ''Secure the Bag! 2'' and ''Flu Game''

On 6 October 2020, AJ Tracey released the tracklist for his sixth EP, ''Secure the Bag! 2'' on Twitter and was later released on 27 November 2020. The EP debuted at number 75 on the UK Albums Charts. On 4 February 2021, Tracey featured on the track "Bringing It Back" by

Digga D Rhys Angelo Emile Herbert (born 29 June 2000), known professionally as Digga D, is a British rapper and director. He had multiple singles that have been placed in the UK Singles Chart; his mixtape albums '' Double Tap Diaries'' and '' Made In ...

. The song topped the UK Chart's Official Trending Chart and debuted at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart. On 22 March 2021, Tracey announced via a fake press conference on YouTube his second studio album titled '' Flu Game'' as well as the album's tracklist, which was released on 16 April 2021. The album includes singles such as " Dinner Guest", "

West Ten "West Ten" is a song by English rapper AJ Tracey and English singer Mabel. It was released as a digital download on 2 July 2020 as the second single off the former's second studio album '' Flu Game'' (2021). The song was written by Tracey, Fred, ...

", "Anxious" and "Bringing It Back". Five hours prior to the release of the album, AJ released the single "Little More Love" as well as releasing a music video on YouTube. On 26 August 2021, Tracey was featured on the Gorillaz track "Jimmy Jimmy" from their ''

Meanwhile EP ''Meanwhile EP'' is an extended play by English virtual band Gorillaz, released on 26 August 2021. The EP was released as a celebration of Notting Hill Carnival in London, England, an annual event that was canceled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 p ...

''.

Politics

In June 2017, Tracey endorsed Labour Party leader

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

in the 2017 UK general election. In a Labour Party campaign video he said: "The Labour Party strongly support the youth in following their dreams and giving people a chance." He added: "In my opinion we need a Labour government to give young people a hope, a chance for their future and I genuinely believe that Corbyn is the man to do it." In an October 2019 interview with ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', Tracey voiced concerns about

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

and said: "If I'm voting for anyone now it's the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

Discography

*''

AJ Tracey Ché Wolton Grant (born 4 March 1994), known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is from Ladbroke Grove, West London. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by ''The Guardian'' i ...

'' (2019) *'' Flu Game'' (2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tracey, AJ 1994 births Living people Alumni of London Metropolitan University Black British male rappers English male rappers English record producers English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent English people of Welsh descent Grime music artists Labour Party (UK) people People from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Rappers from London People from Ladbroke Grove UK garage musicians UK drill musicians British trap musicians