Ty

Biography

Benedict Chijioke, 17 August 1972, London, England. Ty’s family moved to the UK from Nigeria and the MC, born soon after their relocation, had to be fostered up until the age of six. He was still at an early age when he discovered hip-hop, brought to him through a group of body poppers at primary school. This visionary episode stayed with him, and despite his mother’s disapproval he acquainted himself with the style. Although he missed out on the popular ‘Covent Garden’ scene, Ty did join up later as a dancer before becoming an MC. The latter style took hold, and he made his debut in 1995 on one of IG Culture’s New Sector Movement compilations. He worked with MC Mell ‘O’, Jonzi D’s Apricot Jam and DJ Pogo before being signed to the Ninja Tune Records imprint Big Dada at the start of the new millennium, completing Awkward soon afterwards. This emotive album took hip-hop as its start point but refused to be constricted by...

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