Bashy

British MC Bashy moved beyond his origins in the underground grime scene through collaborations that included film director Noel Clarke, genre-hopping musician Damon Albarn, and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Born Ashley Thomas in Chiswick, West London in 1985, he first connected with music after expulsion from school led to a period living with his grandmother in Dominica, where street-level dancehall and soca sounds left a lasting impression. Back in the U.K. he adopted his childhood nickname and cut early demos as Bashy alongside cousin DJ Kid and the Live Link Crew, soon becoming a fixture on pirate station De Ja Vu. He later studied a BTEC in performing arts at the Brit School with fellow students Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, and Kate Nash. While working jobs that ranged from postman to bus driver to sales assistant, he issued the mixtapes Your Mum—known for its pointed diss tracks aimed at Wiley—and Chupa Chups Assorted Flavours, which included a free lollipop. His 2007 underground hit “Black Boys,” which spotlighted positive black role models, led to an ambassador role with the Stop the Knife campaign and a related project based at 10 Downing Street. In 2009 he dropped his debut album Catch Me If You Can, earned two MOBO Award nominations, and served as assistant music supervisor on the U.K. box-office chart-topper Adulthood, the sequel to a film whose predecessor he had once sampled without clearance. Turning toward acting, he appeared in the British features Shank, 4321, and The Veteran, contributed a guest spot to Gorillaz’s Plastic Beach, and prepared the follow-up Bish Bash Bosh for release in 2011.