Tinchy Stryder

Emerging from East London's Bow district, Tinchy Stryder soon ranked among the stronger grime prospects of his generation. His first full-length album arrived in 2007, and he had already contributed to Ruff Sqwad as one of its members. Initial notice came through a 2003 guest spot on Wiley's Ice Rink EP. The following year brought further exposure on the track "Next Level" from Wiley's album Treddin' on Thin Ice, plus the "MC Version" of the Streets' "Fit But You Know It," which registered as a U.K. hit. By 2005 he joined the Brucker & Sinden remix of Lady Sovereign's "Hoodie," another single that reached the U.K. charts.

After establishing early credentials as a rising grime talent, Stryder issued two mixtapes in 2006—I'm Back U Know and Lost and Found—while securing a deal with the independent imprint Takeover Entertainment. That year "Underground," drawn from the Lost and Found mixtape, marked his first solo chart entry. He also featured heavily on the Ruff Sqwad album Guns & Roses, Vol. 2, issued through Ruff Sqwad Recordings. His debut solo album, Star in the Hood, followed in 2007 on Takeover Entertainment, supported by the singles "Breakaway" and "Something to Smile About." The nine-track EP Cloud 9 appeared in 2008, and Stryder climbed higher on the U.K. charts with his first 2009 release, "Take Me Back." The chart-topping "Number 1" arrived shortly afterward, succeeded in August by "Never Leave You," which opened at the summit. Catch 22 landed on Island Records the same month and entered the U.K. albums chart at number two. Island Records then released the follow-up set Third Strike in 2010.