Astroid Boys

Astroid Boys emerged from Cardiff, Wales, as a rap/hardcore collective that fuses grime’s scathing and witty lyricisms with punk rock’s incendiary stylings. Frontman Traxx, whose real name is Philipe Constantinou, assembled the project to span the range of genres that shaped his teenage listening. The addition of Richard Bancroft, known onstage as DJ Comfort, and Dell, born Elliot Brussalis, allowed the initial trio to begin performing at various hip-hop events throughout Cardiff. During those live appearances they encountered MC Benji, real name Benjamin Kendall, who came aboard as co-frontman. Further musicians were then brought in to handle the heavier elements of the sound, turning the venture into a complete collective that recorded in the studio and played regularly around the city.

Nationwide touring began in 2011, which included a slot at the Glastonbury festival and a place on the Bigga Fish tour alongside Lethal B and Ghettz. That same year the group issued its first release, the independently pressed album Space Jam. Activity continued into 2012 with a performance at London’s Freeze Festival and work on the material that became their label debut, the Bacon Dream EP. Issued in 2013 through the independent Yorkshire-based Pinky Swear imprint, the EP marked their first official label output.

Extensive United Kingdom touring occupied much of 2014 while the band prepared its second EP. Released in 2015 once again via Pinky Swear, the record was titled CF10 after a familiar Cardiff postcode. Early recognition arrived in 2016 when Astroid Boys appeared on the BBC Sound of Wales list; the same year they signed with Music for Nations. While developing songs for their major-label debut they maintained a busy live schedule, earning notice for high-energy festival sets that included appearances at Reading and Leeds as well as several prominent European events.

In early 2017 the group teamed with U.K. grime artist Abra Cadabra for the track “Unlock,” created to mark the link between sport and music for Adidas’s 2017 Nemeziz campaign. Their first full-length on Music for Nations, Broke, arrived later that year. To close out 2017 they joined Enter Shikari on tour.