The modern sound of Ladbroke Grove, British rapper AJ Tracey has enjoyed major success with a run of gold and platinum singles, a top 20 EP, and a debut album that was quickly certified gold. His list of guest appearances reads like a who’s who of modern music, and he has collaborated with fellow major players such as Dave, MJ Cole, and Mabel (to name just three), establishing himself as a producer of note in the process.

Tracey was born in Brixton in 1994. His dad was a rapper and his mum a jungle DJ. It’s not surprising then that he began rapping aged just six. He began uploading tracks to Soundcloud in 2011, under the name Looney, and spent the following years building his underground reputation with appearances on mixtapes and through pirate radio sessions. In 2015, as AJ Tracey, he released his first EP and began to attract wider attention. Just a year later, he appeared in a BT Sports advertising campaign promoting their Premier League coverage (nothing can be written about Tracey without mentioning that he’s a huge Spurs fan) and collaborated with Dave on a track named after Brazilian defender Thiago Silva which saw him enter the UK charts for the first time.

2017 saw Tracey achieve more constant chart action, with the Secure the Bag! EP reaching the top 20. The following year saw similar success, but 2019 proved a breakthrough year with the singe ‘Ladbroke Grove’ reaching number three, going double-platinum and giving Tracey his biggest hit to date. 2020 also saw a run of top-ten hits, establishing Tracey as one of UK music’s biggest contemporary stars.