Slowthai

Tyron Kaymone Frampton (born 18 December 1994),[1] better known by his stage name Slowthai (stylised in lowercase), is a British rapper. Raised in Northampton,[3] he rose to popularity in 2019 for his gritty and rough instrumentals and raw, politically charged lyrics, especially around Brexit and Theresa May’s tenure as British Prime Minister. Slowthai placed 4th in the BBC Sound Of 2019 and followed up in the same year with his debut studio album, Nothing Great About Britain. The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize; at Slowthai’s 2019 Mercury Prize ceremony performance, he held a fake severed head of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on stage, generating much controversy.[4]

Slowthai
Slowthai at Glastonbury Festival in 2019
Background information
Birth nameTyron Kaymone Frampton
Born (1994-12-18) 18 December 1994[1]
Northampton, England
Genres
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2015–present
Labels
Websiteslowthai.com

Early life

Slowthai was born on 18 December 1994 in Northampton to a teenage mother of mixed Bajan and Irish descent, he was raised by his single mother in a council estate with his sister in the Lings area of Northampton. His step-father later moved in and his younger brother Michael was born with muscular dystrophy (MD). He died in 2001, aged one, which greatly affected Frampton and the family. Frampton attended Northampton Academy and in 2011 went on to attend Northampton College, where he studied a Level 3 BTEC in Music Technology.

Slowthai frequently skipped school during his years at Northampton Academy, often spending time at a nearby underground “recording studio” at his friend's house, only stopping when his mother was forced to attend a compulsory court hearing [5]. After college, Slowthai had multiple miscellaneous short stints in employment - he worked as a labourer and at a clothes shop before being sacked for breach of contract after he gave his friends employee benefits. After his dismissal, he focused entirely on music, downloading a copy of FL Studio and releasing numerous singles and an extended play under Bone Soda.

Music career

The name Slowthai originates from his childhood nickname; slow ty due to his slow speech and drawled tone. In 2016, he released his first single titled Jiggle and went on to release a string of singles via SoundCloud that were later removed.

In 2017, Slowthai partnered up with indie record label Bone Soda to release his I WISH I KNEW EP, Murder and T N Biscuits. Later in the same year, Slowthai signed his recording contract with Method Records and since has released his RUNT EP and debut studio album, Nothing Great About Britain which charted at number 9 on the Official Charts on the week of release.[6]

In addition to being included in the BBC's Sound of 2019 poll[7] and NME's NME 100 list,[8] Slowthai has also received acclaim from publications such as DIY, Vevo and Metro[9][10][11] as well as having his debut album nominated for a Mercury Music Prize.

Slowthai contributed additional vocals on the song "What's Good"[12] from Tyler, The Creator's album Igor. He also featured on "Heaven Belongs To You"[13] from Brockhampton's album Ginger and later joined their HBTY North American tour in 2019 as the special guest.[14]

In 2020, Slowthai was featured alongside UK punk band Slaves on Gorillaz's single "Momentary Bliss". The single was the first "episode" of their Song Machine project.[15]

In 2020, after winning the Hero of the Year award at the NME Awards, Slowthai dropped his microphone into the crowd, which was then thrown back at him along with a drink. Slowthai then threw his own drink and jumped into the crowd. Although viewers complained of his comments to Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan, Ryan said Slowthai "didn't make me uncomfortable". He has since apologised to Ryan.[16]

Personal life

Slowthai is a supporter of the football team Northampton Town. Parts of the music video for "Gorgeous" were filmed at Northampton Town's Sixfields Stadium.[17] He has also stated that he supports Liverpool F.C..[18]

Musical style

His music has been categorised as grime[19] and hip hop.[20] He often includes elements of punk rock,[21][22] leading to the categorisation of grime-punk.[23][24] In a 2019 article for the BBC, Kev Geoghegan described him as "either a grime MC making punk music or a punk making rap music".[25] In an article for Vice Media, Niloufar Haidari described his music as "caustically witty bars over abrasive beats that blend grime, trap, Soundcloud rap and even punk and screamo".[26]

He has cited musical influences including Gesaffelstein, Juelz Santana, Rosalía, Radiohead, Nirvana, Mount Kimbie, Arctic Monkeys, Sex Pistols, Justice, Oasis and Die Antwoord.[26]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Details Peak chart positions Sales
UK
[27]		 IRE
[28]
Nothing Great About Britain 964 UK: 15,252 [30]

Extended plays
Title Details
slowitdownn ノノ
  • Release: 7 March 2017[31]
  • Label: Bone Soda
  • Format: Digital download
I WISH I KNEW ノノ
  • Release: 3 November 2017[32]
  • Label: Bone Soda
  • Format: Digital download
RUNT
  • Release: 14 September 2018[33]
  • Label: Method Records
  • Format: Digital download

Singles
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[27]
"Jiggle"[34] 2016 — Non-album singles
"Murder"[35] 2017 —
"T N Biscuits"[36][a] 2018 — Nothing Great About Britain
"The Bottom"[37][b] — Non-album singles
"North Nights"[37][a][b] — Nothing Great About Britain
"Ladies"[38][a] —
"Polaroid"[39][a] —
"Drug Dealer"[40][a] — RUNT EP and Nothing Great About Britain
"Rainbow"[41][a] — Nothing Great About Britain
"Doorman"
(with Mura Masa)[42]		 —
"Peace of Mind"[43] 2019 —
"Gorgeous"[44] —
"Nothing Great About Britain"[45] —
"Inglorious"
(featuring Skepta)[46]		 50
"Toaster"[47] —
"Psycho"
(with Denzel Curry)[48]		 — TBA
"Deal Wiv It"
(with Mura Masa)[49]		 — R.Y.C
"Enemy"[50] 2020 — Non-album singles
"Magic"
(with Kenny Beats)[51]		 —
"BB (Bodybag)"[52] —
"My High"
(with Disclosure and Aminé)[53]		 86 Energy
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Notes

  • a Appears on the deluxe edition of Nothing Great About Britain only.
  • b "The Bottom" and "North Nights" were released as a double A-side.
Title Year Release
"Interior"
(JD.Reid featuring 808INK, Slowthai, Oscar #Worldpeace)[54]		 2017 Calibrate EP
"Noddy"
(Earbuds featuring Slowthai)[55][56]		 2018 Noddy Single
"Lighthouse"
(Take a Daytrip featuring Rico Nasty, Slowthai and IceColdBishop)[57]		 2019 TBA
"Momentary Bliss"
(Gorillaz featuring Slowthai and Slaves)		 2020 Song Machine, Ep. 1

Other charted songs
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
NZ
Hot
[58]
"High Beams"
(with Flume & HWLS)		 2019 7 Hi This Is Flume

Guest appearances
Title Year Other artist(s) Album Credit(s)
"Like A See Saw"[59] 2015 Lord Pusswhip Lord Pusswhip Is Wack
  • Featured artist
  • Co-writer
"Piggy Bank"[60] 2018 JD.Reid Tree
  • Featured artist
"High Beams"[61] 2019 Flume, HWLS Hi This Is Flume
  • Featured artist
  • Co-writer
"What's Good"[62] Tyler, the Creator Igor
  • Background vocals
"Meanwhile... at the Welcome Break"[63] The S.L.P. The S.L.P.
  • Featured artist
"Heaven Belongs to You"[64] Brockhampton Ginger
  • Vocals
  • Co-writer
"Tyron (Interlude)"[65] 2020 Headie One, Fred Again GANG
  • Featured artist
  • Co-writer
"Barry White"[66] Zero data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | non-album single
  • Featured artist

Awards and nominations
Year Organization Award Work Result
2018 Ticketmaster New for 2019 Himself Included
[67][10]
Vevo DSCVR 2019 Artists To Watch
BBC Sound of 2019 Fourth[7]
DIY Class of 2019 Included
[9][11]
Metro Ones To Watch 2019
2019 Hyundai Mercury Prize Nothing Great About Britain Nominated
[68][69]
Q Awards Best Album
Breakthrough Act Himself
NME The 50 Best Songs of 2019 "Deal Wiv It" #1[70]
The 50 Best Albums of 2020 Nothing Great About Britain #4[71]
2020 Best Album Nominated
[72]
Best Album in the World
Best British Song "Deal Wiv It"
Best Song in the World
Best British Solo Act Himself
Best Solo Act in the World
Best Live Act
Best Collaboration Himself, with Mura Masa Won[72]
gollark: Can't do that.
gollark: Same as usual.
gollark: This will make 1 equal 3 in python, and also probably crash the interpreter.
gollark: ```pythonimport sysimport ctypesctypes.memmove(id(1), id(3), sys.getsizeof(1))```
gollark: In that case, I will redefine the concept of 1.

References
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  2. "AWGE Artists". AWGE Official Website. June 1, 2020.
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