William Edward Graydon (born 8 May 1989), known professionally as 220 Kid (pronounced "two-twenty kid" and stylised in all caps), is an English record producer, DJ and remix artist. On the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, his collaboration " Don't Need Love" with Gracey peaked at number 9 in 2020, while his remix of Nathan Evans' "

Wellerman "Soon May the Wellerman Come", also known as "Wellerman" or "The Wellerman", is a sea ballad from New Zealand first documented in the 1960s. The song refers to the "wellermen", pointing to supply ships owned by the Weller brothers, who were amon ...

" with

Billen Ted Billen Ted is a British record production and songwriting duo based in London, consisting of Tom Hollings and Sam Brennan. History They gained notoriety with the single "Satisfied" sampling from the Chaka Khan 1984 hit " I Feel for You". Howeve ...

reached the top spot in 2021. He is based in

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

, London.

Early life

William Edward Graydon was born on 8 May 1989 in Oxfordshire. His father Ken, former

music manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-day ...

for Bee Gees member Robin Gibb, named Graydon after seeing a

number plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificatio ...

ending in WEG from a hospital window. He grew up in

Thame Thame is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the county border wi ...

and attended Magdalen College School, going on to study at the

University of Exeter , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

, where he graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in biosciences followed by a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in sustainable development. Following the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...

in 2020, he set up a three-year scholarship for a high-achieving

BAME A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betwe ...

student studying at his ''alma mater''. He has dyslexia. He has a sister named Charlie working in the healthcare industry. 220 Kid's stage name originated from a charity effort where he ran , a distance corresponding to nine marathons, over seven days. The run was completed in 2013 on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

in honour of Gibb and supported three medical charities. After moving to London, he initially used the stage name "Willie the Kid" (named after the cowboy) without realising it was already the name of an existing artist. He previously had jobs working for marketing company

CPM Group CPM may refer to: Advertising *Cost per mille, the advertising cost per thousand views * Cost per thousand impressions, the online advertising equivalent Management *Certified practising marketer, a qualification for Australian marketers * Certi ...

, as a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, as a carpenter, and at a

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

grocery store.

Career

Prior to embarking on a solo career, Graydon went by the name "William Edward" and was a member of pop duo OMYO—an acronym for "Our Music Your Opinion"—alongside Tom McCorkell while living in

. The pair met on New Year's Eve in 2014 at the James Figg pub in Thame and made a bet to write a song together. They wrote a few songs over the span of several days, including "Lady", which was used in an advert by clothing retailer New Look. After being dropped by a major record label, they formed their own independent one; their debut single "Days with You" was released on Two Six Records in 2017, with its music video shot in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Their first gig was supporting

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

at the

Wireless Festival The Wireless Festival is a rap and urban music festival that takes place every year in London, England. It is owned and managed by Live Nation. While it started as primarily a rock and pop festival, in recent years it has focused on hip hop and ...

and their debut album was planned for September 2017. Graydon's first song as a solo artist under the moniker "220 Kid" was "Lights" in 2018, which was a shift from OMYO's

urban pop Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

. Follow-up singles "Pleasure to Love You" and "Let Me Stay" both featured vocalist Chilli Chilton. 220 Kid signed with

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

in 2019. His debut single with the label was " Don't Need Love", a collaboration with English singer Gracey, which was released in December 2019. The song went on to reach the top ten of the

, peaking at number nine in July 2020, and received a nomination for British Single at the

2021 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2021, the 41st edition of the annual Brit Awards, was the UK's first major indoor live music event in more than a year. It was held on 11 May 2021 and celebrated the best in British and international music. Usually held in February, ...

. His follow-up single, "Too Many Nights" with Northern Irish singer

JC Stewart John Callum Stewart (born 8 February 1997), known professionally as JC Stewart or Callum Stewart, is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish singer-songwriter. In 2020, he went viral after Jennifer Aniston reposted his parody of the theme song from ' ...

, was released in September 2020, peaking at number 74 in the UK. He lists the Bee Gees,

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

, and Motown artists as a few of his musical influences.

Discography

Singles

Remixes

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1989 births 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century English musicians Alumni of the University of Exeter Charity fundraisers (people) Dance-pop musicians English dance musicians English DJs English male models English male musicians English record producers English songwriters Living people Musicians from Herefordshire Musicians from Oxfordshire People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford People from Weobley Musicians with dyslexia Polydor Records artists British male songwriters Remixers