Bashy

Name	Bashy
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Ashley Thomas
Born	February 04, 1985
Origin	Kensal Rise, London, England
Genre	Hip-hopgrime
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, Music supervisor, actor
Years active	2004 – present
Label	Ragz 2 Richez Entertainment
Associated acts	Tinie Tempah, Chipmunk, N-Dubz, Tinchy Stryder, Wretch 32, Gorillaz, Kano, Raghav, Adam Deacon, Runaway 55
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Ashley Thomas (born 4 February 1985 in Chiswick, west London) better known by his stage name Bashy, is a British rapper & actor. He rose to prominence in 2007 after the release of his controversial track "Black Boys". He was the assistant music supervisor for the film Adulthood for which he also recorded the theme track entitled "Kidulthood to Adulthood".

Biography

Early life

Thomas was born in Chiswick, West London. He attended St Mary’s of the Angels RC Primary School. At age eleven, his family moved to Kensal Rise, northwest London and he attended the Cardinal Hinsley School.

By the time he was aged 16, word of his talent reached Major Ace, a member of one of grime's foremost groups Pay As You Go, which also included the self-proclaimed Godfather of grime music Wiley. He then started making the long trip across the capital to East London, joining the vibrant musical pirate scene that was erupting at that time. From that point he began to build a name broadcasting himself across the airwaves alongside other aspiring talents of the time such as Kano, Dizzee Rascal, Ghetto, Wiley & N.A.S.T.Y Crew.

He auditioned for and was later accepted at the BRIT School for performing Arts where he was a theatre student. The school boasts former students such as Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis & Kate Nash.

The Chupa Chups mixtape

In 2005 he left a management situation with which he was unhappy and formed Ragz2Richez with his girlfriend and cousin. He recorded The Chupa Chups Mixtape to keep his name relevant. The mixtape is critically acclaimed, and over 5000 copies sold within the first few months. In order to market the mixtapes in an innovative way, he attached Chupa Chups lollies to them so they would stand out in the rapidly growing mixtape market.

Working life

During the release of the Chupa Chups Mixtape he was still a struggling independent musician, so applied to the Royal Mail to become a postman. He worked there for a year to save money then left to pursue his music career full time. The money he saved was soon spent, as his music career did not take off as planned and he began living off his over-draft, then began a series of different jobs in order to survive. It was during this period that he decided to become a bus driver. He drove the 114, 183 and 292 buses. He has been very vocal about time as a bus driver, in order to promote the idea that working is cool to young people.z

"Black Boys"

In 2007 he released the song "Black Boys". It was this track that propelled Bashy into the nation's consciousness, catching the imagination of a country suffering from many incidents of violence amongst its inner-city youth. With frequent reports of shootings and stabbings on news bulletins, and with the media continually focusing on the lack of role models in certain communities, he felt that the nation’s inner city youth needed a reminder that they had a number of positive role models they could look to for inspiration. His début single provoked controversy, as some people called the track racist. This prompted the governing body Ofcom to investigate. Rumours soon began to circulate that the track had been banned from T.V. Certain sections of the black community were outraged; groups were set up on the social networking site Facebook in order to fight the ban. Racist videos were put up as responses to the track on YouTube, in which men dressed as Ku Klux Klan members would hurl abuse at black people, with "Black Boys" playing in the background. This prompted people of many races to get behind and support Bashy, in a united stand against racism. It was as a result of this publicity and grass roots action that Bashy was invited to perform at the Love Music Hate Racism Rally in 2008 at Victoria Park, to a crowd of 100,000. He was asked to take the main stage alongside Damon Albarn.

External links

Category:1985 births Category:Former students of the BRIT School Category:People from Chiswick Category:Hip hop musicians Category:English rappers Category:Grime artists Category:Living people brit