The Manor

South London three-piece the Manor formed in 2007 when MCs Danny Graft, Scotty Stacks, and Jonny Dutch met at Beckenham College. The group began playing pubs and clubs across the area, steadily developing a loyal following through their boisterous style of British hip-hop and grime. While their tracks celebrated drinking, partying, and smoking weed, they also addressed harsher themes such as social injustice, racism, and poverty rooted in their immediate neighborhood. Their debut project arrived in September 2011 as the free mixtape Welcome to the Manor. Exposure via videos on SBTV’s YouTube channel raised their visibility further, leading a year later to the album Free Mixtapes Don’t Pay the Rent, which included the popular track “Alors en Graft.” The trio kept hosting parties and live shows, especially at their neighborhood pub the Beckenham, while balancing university coursework, until they paused activities in 2014. Radio play on BBC 1xtra together with endorsement from Streets founder Mike Skinner prompted their 2015 comeback via the third mixtape Don’t Do What We Did. Parlophone signed them in 2016, after which they issued their first official EP, Weak Days, Strong Nights, and performed at larger venues, among them a sold-out concert at Camden’s Koko. They achieved a modest chart entry with the 2017 single “The Sesh” and followed it in 2018 with releases such as “Out ’Ere” and “Ibeza.”