Shakeel Warner (born 1987), better known as Redzz, is an English rapper, record producer, singer, songwriter, actor & DJ. He first gained recognition through a series of independent single releases such as Magic Magic featuring (

LZ7 LZ7 are an English Christian electronic dance music group from Manchester. The band was formed in 2005 by Lindz West, a member of dance band The Tribe, who had split up the previous year. LZ7 worked for many years as a part of the Christian cha ...

) singer Soul Nana, Bad Enough featuring

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

Hip Hop artists Shade Sheist, TQ & Young Noble of

The Outlawz Outlawz (formerly known as Outlaw Immortalz) are an American hip hop group founded by rapper Tupac Shakur in late 1995 after Shakur's release from prison. Collectively, they were best known for their association with Shakur. Most of the group m ...

Kyla Kyla may refer to: *Kyla (given name), including a list of people with the name ** Kyla (Filipino singer) (born 1981), Filipino R&B singer **Kyla (British singer) Kyla Reid ( Smith; born 22 September 1983) is a British house music singer in the ...

, Hot Sauce, Puppet Master featuring

Sway Sway may refer to: Places * Sway, Hampshire, a village and civil parish in the New Forest in England ** Sway railway station, serving the village People * Sway (British musician) (born 1983), British hip hop/grime singer * Sway Calloway (born 1 ...

, Tables Turn featuring Leddra Chapman & Through The Eyes which went number 1 on an unknown chart. All of his singles gained national TV & radio support on stations such as BBC introducing and freebies on games consoles web, last=RedMusicUk, first=Introducing, title=Urban News, url=http://www.desi-box.com/media/Urban-News/introducing-redmusicuk.html, publisher=Desi Box, accessdate=5 August 2011, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007032300/http://www.desi-box.com/media/Urban-News/introducing-redmusicuk.html%7Carchive-date%3D7 October 2011, url-status=dead

Early life

Redzz was born and raised, primarily, in the infamous Redwood Tower block (now demolished) situated in the heart of Cathall Estate, a rough, crime ridden council estate of Leytonstone,

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

and is of a mixed heritage background. Whilst attending high school he began to rap, initially writing lyrics into his school books and recording rhymes into a Dictaphone. His favourite classes in school were Music,

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

& Drama.

Music career

As a DJ

Redzz began to obtain a loyal following as a street emcee battler and DJ on the pirate radio station Klimax FM in 2008.

Solo work

Magic Magic

He released his debut single "Magic Magic" featuring Soul Nana independently in 2008, the music video gained support from Flava TV after receiving millions of hits in total across the internet, also helping Redzz official YouTube channel to go number 1 on YouTube's "Most Viewed Musician – Global" chart. Magic Magic was produced by Redzz.

Bad Enough

He released his second single Bad Enough featuring Shade Sheist, TQ & Young Noble of

in 2009 which was produced by Redzz himself and was supported by Flava TV & BBC Radio. The music video was filmed in Los Angeles. The

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

on "Bad Enough" was a section taken from TQ's verse which was accidentally chopped up and used as a chorus, Redzz only found this out when he eventually met TQ in Los Angeles to film the music video.

Hot Sauce

In 2010, he released his third single "Hot Sauce" which was produced by Redzz himself. The single was supported by Flava TV, Kiss TV & Choice FM, but to name a few. "Hot Sauce" was voted in at number 1 on the "UK Raw Talent" chart by viewers and selected at number 1 on "Redzz Top 20 Mixtape" countdown on Flava TV. Redzz has since stated that "Hot Sauce" came about whilst messing around in a recording studio singing "I got the hot sauce", he has also stated the meaning behind the song on an online interview; "Hot Sauce means to have something worth hating on, if you have haters because you've got something good going on in your life then you have the Hot Sauce". The video to Hot Sauce was filmed in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas.

History

He then went on to work with

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

's own

G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released th ...

Records & former G-Unit artist

Young Buck David Darnell Brown (born March 15, 1981), best known by his stage name Young Buck, is an American rapper. He heads his own record label, Cashville, and was a member of the former hip hop group G-Unit. Early life Brown was born in Nashville, Te ...

, recording a song entitled "History" which also featured UK Funky House singer

. History was produced by Redzz himself. He has stated that the version leaked online isn't the official version.

Here Comes Trouble

He released his first official street album "Here Comes Trouble" in 2011 which featured a host of UK and US rappers including

Records and former G-Unit member

, Shade Sheist & Young Noble of

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

but to name a few. Here Comes Trouble sold over 20,000 copies on the streets around the UK.

Puppet Master

In 2011 he released his fourth single "Puppet Master" featuring

(

Konvict Music Konvict Muzik is a record label founded by R&B singer Akon.Melvin Brown: Konvict Business ...

) &

Ayo The interjection Ayo! is a common variation of the word Yo!. Ayo, Ayọ, Ayọ̀ and AYO may also refer to: People Ayọ is a common Yoruba given name, it can be given to a female and a male. ''Ayọ'' in Yoruba means ''Joy''. * Ayo Akinola, A ...

" which gained support on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

, Soccer AM, KISS TV,

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

VidZone VidZone was one of the largest online music video VOD services in the world, operated by London-based company VidZone Digital Media and Sony Computer Entertainment. The online service provides free streaming of music videos from the VidZone.tv ...

, Flava, Massive R&B, Channel AKA, VOX Africa & Brit Asia but to name a few. The music video to Puppet Master also entered in the 'Top 20 Massive R&B Chart' on Massive R&B and 'Top 20 Street Bangers Right Now' on Channel AKA.Nihal – Redzz Interview
Redzz interview on BBC Radio 1. On 14 September 2011, Redzz was interviewed via telephone on BBC Radio 1, in the interview Redzz revealed the meaning behind Puppet Master saying "Puppet Master meaning, setting the trends". He also revealed that he is working with 90210 actress

Jessica Lowndes Jessica Lowndes (; born November 8, 1988) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Adrianna Tate-Duncan on The CW teen drama series '' 90210,'' appearing in several Hallmark Channel movies, and the 2020 Lifetime Chan ...

. He is currently working on a new album to be called Recognition. On Wednesday, 2 November 2011 Redzz performed Puppet Master on BBC Radio 1 with

and they were also interviewed.BBC Radio 1 Website
Redzz and Sway perform Puppet Master and interviewed on BBC Radio 1. On 29 October 2011, Puppet Master was used as the soundtrack on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

, '' Soccer AM'' show "Showboat" and featured on Sky Sports official website touting Redzz as a "YouTube sensation".Sky Sports Official Website
Redzz Puppet Master Soundtrack On Sky Sports Soccer AM show Showboat.

Tables Turn

On 5 March 2012, Redzz released his fifth single Tables Turn which featured Leddra Chapman. The music video to Tables Turn featured cameo appearances from

DJ Ironik James Christian Charters (born 18 January 1988), better known as Ironik (formerly as DJ Ironik), is a British musician, DJ and rapper. His genre of music varies from hip hop, grime, R&B and UK garage. DJ Ironik was born in London. DJ Ironik ...

, Isaac Ssebandeke (who starred in Skins,

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

& whom Redzz acted with previously in Dubplate Drama), comedian A Squeezy, Simon Paice & Sal Warner. Tables Turn stirred up an incredible buzz on its initial online release gaining over 170,000 views in one day on YouTube thus entering into the YouTube music charts & was promoted by the likes of Ed Sheeran & UK boxer Amir Khan on Twitter & Facebook. On 29 March 2012, Tables Turn was playlisted by Channel AKA entering straight into the "Hottest 20 Street Bangers Right Now" chart & was supported by BBC Radio. On 26 April 2012, Tables Turn was play listed by Sub TV to broadcast to over 86 universities in the UK. That same day, the song was selected by

to be made available for all

console owners.

Through The Eyes

On 8 May 2012, Redzz released his sixth and most recent single titled Through The Eyes (formally known as I'm An Alcoholic) which caused a huge online stir on its initial release gaining over 116,000 views on YouTube and trending number 1 on Twitter as the most shared video ahead of

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

. On 14 May 2012, Redzz was interviewed by Chicago Monthly & Chelsea Monthly magazines where he talked about the story behind 'Through The Eyes' and his views on combating alcoholism which also prompted a supportive response from former Liberal Democrats MP

Lembit Opik Lembit is an Estonian masculine given name. A variant is Lembitu. It sometimes also may be a surname. Lembit may refer to: *Lembitu (died 1217), Estonian elder and military leader from Sakala County *Lembit Arro (born 1930), Estonian politician ...

who said; "I think it is very important what Redzz is doing with the 'Through The Eyes' song, especially when it concerns young people. The more education they get the better informed they are". On 16 May 2012, Through The Eyes went number 1 on The Official International Independent Charts. The song is based on a true story about an old friend of Redzz named Del, who was an alcoholic. In the song Redzz raps in First-person narrative as if he is Del the alcoholic, portraying the downward spiral in Del's life, dealing with the effects of alcoholism and also explaining why Del became an alcoholic to help the listeners sympathize with the character. The music video to Through The Eyes was the first music video to be co-directed by Redzz himself, it was also co-directed by Sal Warner & Elmino Da Great. In the music video Redzz is depicted as either (left open for the viewers to debate) a

guardian angel A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in A ...

or a Grim Reaper who is seen by the viewer but not by Del (Simon Paice). This is made clear at the end of the music video when a newspaper with the title "Rapper Redzz Dies Of Alcoholism" is read by a man in a pub. He then unknowingly, walks past Redzz who then proceeds to follow him, indicating the man is to be the next victim. The music video features cameo roles from; Simon Paice, Ian Duck (from the films Derailed,

Run Fat Boy Run ''Run Fatboy Run'' is a 2007 comedy film directed by David Schwimmer, written by Michael Ian Black and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg, Dylan Moran, Thandiwe Newton, Harish Patel, India de Beaufort and Hank Azaria. It was released in the United Ki ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

) & Sal Warner. Scenes in the music video were primarily filmed in and around Redzz home towns Leyton & Leytonstone in

such as The Coach And Horses pub, Leyton Supermarket & Thatched House. On 18 May 2012, Redzz teamed up with National Association for Children of Alcoholics also known as NACOA to help raise awareness on the effects of alcoholism, particularly children with alcohol dependent parents and is planning on donating some of the proceeds for his single towards the charity. On 3 June 2012, Redzz performed 'Through The Eyes' at the annual Upfest, a charitable festival in association with NACOA. Redzz changed the name of 'I'm An Alcoholic' to 'Through The Eyes' as he was having difficulties in radio support as the name 'I'm An Alcoholic' was to hard hitting. In a tweet on Twitter Redzz stated "It's sad how a song about getting drunk out of your face is acceptable, but a song about the negative effects of alcohol is seen as a taboo."

Other work

Redzz acted as himself in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and MTV Base television series "

Dubplate Drama ''Dubplate Drama'' is a British television drama series, created, written and directed by Luke Hyams, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 11 November 2005. The series follows the plight of teenage grime MC Dionne lead actress played by ( Chanel "Shy ...

" appearing in the final ever instalment of the programme portraying a gang member. Redzz has been featured in national magazines and publications such as

RWD Magazine ''RWD Magazine'' (also known as ''RWD'' or ''RWDmag'') is a British-based magazine which features music, style, sport, gaming, film, technology, news, interviews and charts on hip hop, grime, dubstep, R&B, UK garage, drum and bass and U.S. ...

. He has appeared on a TV show dedicated to himself on Flava TV named "Hanging With Redzz". On Monday, 8 August 2011, Redzz was a BBC Introducing artist. His songs were played on radio as well as being interviewed via telephone. Redzz revealed in the interview that some of his inspirations in music growing up were the likes of

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

but to name a few. As it was the same day as the London Riots, Redzz was also asked his opinion on the rioting and he responded "Well, I think in the poorer communities they're brushed to the side and people try to cover them up rather than trying to find the root of the problem. Just chucking these guys in jail isn't going to solve anything, we need to find the root of the problem, why have we come to this?".BBC Introducing: Redzz
Bobby Friction's Show on BBC Asian Network. In September 2011, Redzz released a new entrance theme song named 'I Gotta Win It' which features

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

champion Amir Khan. 'I Gotta Win It' was promoted personally by Amir Khan on his official Facebook and Twitter pages.Live Score TV
Amir Khan New Entrance Theme By Redzz. In March 2012, Redzz was one of a handful of rappers to be selected for the first instalment of Freestyle Frenzy, a new show aired on Flava TV. All the rappers that appear in the show free-styled 60 bars to the camera without stopping and the viewers voted by Tweeting Flava TV's Twitter using the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

key followed by Freestyle Frenzy and the artist they wanted to vote for. Redzz won with over fifty

percent In mathematics, a percentage (from la, per centum, "by a hundred") is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. It is often denoted using the percent sign, "%", although the abbreviations "pct.", "pct" and sometimes "pc" are also use ...

of votes in the first showing of the episode he appeared in.

Charity work

NACOA

On 18 May 2012, Redzz teamed up with National Association for Children of Alcoholics also known as NACOA to help raise awareness on the effects of alcoholism, particularly children with alcohol dependent parents and is planning on donating some of the proceeds for his single towards the charity. On 3 June 2012, Redzz performed 'Through The Eyes' at the annual Upfest, a charitable festival in association with NACOA.

Celebrity Soccer Six

On 20 May 2012, Redzz competed in the Celebrity Soccer Six charity football

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

held in West Ham United's

The Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, London, Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United F.C., West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athlet ...

(Upton Park) stadium. Redzz was in the same team as Britain's Got Talent 2012 finalists The

Loveable Rogues The Loveable Rogues were a British band from London, consisting of members Sonny Jay, Eddie Brett and Te Qhairo Eugene, who rose to fame after reaching the final of the sixth series of ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2012. Career 2010–12: ''Brit ...

and boy band Twenty Twenty. During a match against E4 british sitcom

The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television teen sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 until 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager ...

Redzz scored a goal but also said on Twitter the next day that someone from The Inbetweeners tried to foul him on purpose and hurt his leg in retaliation. On 2 June 2012, Redzz also competed in the Celebrity Soccer Six charity football tournament held in Burnley FC's Turf Moor stadium. Redzz was in the same team as

Danny Dyer Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in ''Human Traffic'', with other notable roles as Mick Carter in EastEnders, Billy the Limpet in '' Mean Machine'' and as Tommy Johns ...

, Tamer Hassan & Starboy Nathan. Redzz team got to the semi-final of the competition losing to the cast of ''Merlin'' (TV series) on Sudden death penalties when

Lonyo Lonyo Engele (born 18 February 1974), known mononymously as Lonyo, is a British DJ, actor and singer. Early life Lonyo grew up in London and attended Roehampton University. Career Lonyo had a hit single, hit in 2000 with the single "Summer of L ...

kicked the ball way over the crossbar after being told to retake the penalty controversially by the

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

Discography

Albums

* ''Here Comes Trouble'' (2011) ree Download

Mixtapes

* ''Out Wid Da Old, In Wid Da Nu'' (2009) are Mixtape

EPs

* ''Fame'' (2010) are EP

Singles

* "Magic Magic" featuring Soul Nana (2008) * "Bad Enough" featuring Shade Sheist, TQ & Young Noble of

(2009) * "Hot Sauce" (2010) * "Puppet Master" featuring

(2011) * "Tables Turn" featuring Leddra Chapman (2012) * "Through The Eyes" (2012)

References

External links

Redzz Official YouTube
{{authority control English male rappers Grime music artists People from Leytonstone Rappers from London 1987 births Living people