Tinchy Stryder

Tinchy Stryder

Tinchy Stryder is the stage name of Kwasi Danquah, a British grime artist born in 1986. He is associated with Accra and London, and he works in grime, with the bio also describing him as a pop grime vocalist.

Early life and education

Danquah grows up in Bow, East London, and attends St Bonaventure's Catholic Comprehensive School in Forest Gate, Newham. He later studies at the University of East London, where he completes a BA in moving image and animation in 2009; the bio also describes this as a degree in Digital Arts and Moving Imagery. He begins making music at an early age, starting on pirate radio sets in East London when he is 14, and he is active on the grime and London pirate radio scene by the age of 21.

Career

Stryder starts performing with Ruff Sqwad and appears alongside other grime MCs such as Wiley and Dizzee Rascal. He also spends time in Roll Deep and features on tracks including "U Were Always", which later appears on Roll Deep's Street Anthems compilation.

He makes appearances on Sky's Channel U and on the 1Xtra radio show, often taking part in freestyles with Ruff Sqwad. His stage name comes from the video game Strider and from the nickname "Tinchy", which refers to his short stature.

Recordings and chart success

His breakthrough comes with "Take Me Back", a collaboration with Taio Cruz, which reaches number 3 on the UK Singles Chart in January 2009. He then reaches number 1 with "Number 1", a collaboration with N-Dubz. He is the first artist to reach number 1 in the official UK singles chart with a song title containing the phrase "number one".

He later scores another number 1 with "Never Leave You", featuring Amelle from the Sugababes. His major label debut album, Catch 22, goes gold within two weeks of release. Earlier, his debut album Star In The Hood is promoted through the Star in the Hood clothing line.

Labels, management and business activity

In 2006, Archie Lamb and Jack Foster book him for one of the club nights they run while at school, and he signs to their company Takeover for management, live work, recording, merchandise and publishing. He later signs a joint venture with Island Records, and also signs a joint venture with EMI Publishing alongside Takeover to form a music publishing company. The Star in the Hood T-shirts, first sold through Myspace and eBay, develop into a clothing line that expands into retail.

Recognition and live work

Wiley crowns him the "Prince of Grime". He is described as the shortest male artist ever to top the UK Top 40, at 5'1" (1.55m). He completes a sold-out arena tour and appears at The O2 arena 3D ELEKTRO RAVE alongside Caspa and Rusko, Frankmusik, High Contrast and Dancing Robot Music.