Bugzy Malone

Emerging as the pioneering grime MC from Manchester, Bugzy Malone rose to prominence as a central force in the genre’s revival throughout the 2010s. Citing 2Pac as his primary inspiration, he gained recognition for his swift yet exacting flow alongside lyrics that confront both street crime and personal turmoil. Following a string of early mixtapes that established his reputation, he issued three EPs and the 2018 full-length B. Inspired, all of which entered the U.K. album chart’s upper reaches, then delivered multiple charting singles ahead of his sophomore album, The Resurrection, in 2021.

Born Aaron Davis in 1990, he grew up amid violence and lawbreaking. After completing a teenage prison term, he turned to boxing and began focusing seriously on rap. His recorded output started with the 2010 mixtape Swaggaman, continued with Why So Serious in 2011, and extended to Lost in Meanwhile City the following year. By 2014 his “0161 Manny on the Map” T-shirts had become visible locally, coinciding with the release of the mixtape The Journal of an Evil Genius, promoted through six consecutive weeks of new videos. A 2015 freestyle on BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Fire in the Booth quickly amassed millions of views and sparked a prolonged exchange of diss tracks with fellow MC Chip. The Stereotyped mixtape preceded his official debut EP, Walk with Me, issued on the Grimey Limey label and reaching the U.K. Top Ten.

Subsequent EPs sustained his momentum; Facing Time, released in 2016, also entered the U.K. Top Ten. That year he unveiled the Section 8(1) video trilogy, each installment tied to one of the Facing Time singles—“Facing Time,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “I Suggest.” The resulting acclaim accelerated his creative pace, leading directly to the 2017 King of the North EP, which featured U.K. 2-step garage duo DJ Luck and MC Neat. In 2018 he delivered his first proper studio album, B. Inspired, on his own imprint. Working with producers Zdot and Diztortion on the tracks “Warning” and “Drama,” the record peaked at number six and earned silver certification.

Guest appearances followed on recordings by Kojo Funds, Dizzee Rascal, and Chase & Status. In 2019 Malone took an acting role in Guy Ritchie’s comedy The Gentlemen and reached the U.K. singles chart’s Top 40 with “M.E.N II” and “Kilos,” the latter featuring Aitch. A serious quad-bike accident in March 2020 left him with cerebral bleeding; he processed the event on the single “M.E.N III,” which climbed to number 18. Additional singles included “Don't Cry,” a collaboration with Dermot Kennedy, and “Notorious,” reuniting him with former rival Chip, before The Resurrection, his second studio album, arrived in 2021.