Chip

British rapper Chipmunk launched his career amid grime’s opening wave of U.K. acts before pivoting to a mainstream hip-hop approach that secured acclaim both at home and in the United States. The 2011 release of his second album, Transition, prompted him to adopt the shortened name Chip, signaling a measured return to his grime foundation. The move aligned with the dissolution of Jive Records and his subsequent signing to T.I.’s Grand Hustle imprint. His debut project for the label, the 2012 mixtape London Boy, incorporated appearances by both British and American contributors including Iggy Azalea, Meek Mill, Skepta, and Wretch 32. Across the following three years he issued two further mixtapes, Get Dough or Die and Rap vs. Grime, solidifying his identity as a grime artist unafraid to confront fellow performers, most notably during a 2015 BBC Radio One freestyle that directly addressed Tinie Tempah. Later that year additional clashes emerged with Bugzy Malone and Yungen while he issued the two-part EP series Believe and Achieve. By 2017 Chip stood fully entrenched in the London grime community, underscored by the arrival of his third album, League of My Own II, which featured exclusively British talent such as Ghetts, Giggs, 67, JME, and Wiley. A 2020 collaboration with fellow London MCs Skepta and Young Adz produced the joint album Insomnia, whose varied sound fused the grime-driven textures of Chip and Skepta with the trapwave elements supplied by their partner. After an extended dispute with Stormzy that originated from an incident in summer 2020, Chip delivered his fourth album, 2021’s Snakes & Ladders.