Steel Banglez

Born and raised in Forest Gate, East London, British hip-hop producer, songwriter, and DJ Steel Banglez first encountered music through his mother, who introduced him to several classical Indian instruments during childhood. An older brother later passed on DJ skills, sparking immersion in the emerging grime and U.K. garage movements along with frequent appearances on local pirate radio. After completing studies in music production and audio engineering at London's SAE and serving a prison sentence, Banglez began creating tracks for area artists such as Ghetts and Yung Meth, Wiley, and P Money. He distinguished his work from prevailing grime styles by incorporating samples drawn from Bollywood films, Jamaican dub, and Chinese music. Contact with Birmingham-based MC MIST through social media resulted in the 2016 M.I.S. to the T EP, whose highlight "Karlas Back" drew wider attention to his productions. Early in 2017 he put out the single "Money," which included appearances by MoStack, Abra Cadabra, Haile, and MIST, while securing a publishing agreement with Warner/Chappell. Several months afterward came "Bad," again featuring MoStack alongside Not3s, Yungen, and Mr Eazi; the track reached number 50 on the U.K. pop chart by the close of the year.