Young Fathers

Young Fathers

Young Fathers are a Scottish lo-fi hip hop group from Edinburgh, active since 2008. The group forms around Graham Hastings, with Callum Easter also listed as a member, and is associated with alternative hip hop, experimental hip hop, breakbeat, breaks and electronica.

Formation and early activity

The group forms in Scotland in 2008 and begins performing in nightclubs while the members are still in their early teens. Its early line-up includes Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham Hastings.

Recordings and releases

In 2012, Young Fathers sign to the Los Angeles-based label Anticon and release the introductory mixtapes Tape One and Tape Two. They later sign to Big Dada and release their debut album, Dead, in 2014. The album gains strong critical attention and wins the Mercury Prize.

After an extensive world tour, the group relocates to Berlin to work on its second album, White Men Are Black Men Too, which is released in 2015. The band also works with Massive Attack on the single “Voodoo In My Blood”.

Other notable work

In 2016, Young Fathers support Massive Attack on their UK and European tour. The group also contributes six tracks to the Trainspotting T2 soundtrack, including “Only God Knows”, which is written specifically for the film. In 2017, the band announces that it has finished work on a third album for release on Ninja Tune in early 2018.