Achi Avelino (born 4 June 1993), better known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

by his stage name Avelino, is a British rapper and singer of Congolese and Angolan descent from

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...

, London, known for his "unique tone" and "deep wordplay".

Career

2011–2014: Beginnings

Originally rapping under the monikers ''AA'' (derived from his initials), Avelino first released freestyles on YouTube. His debut mixtape, ''Underdog Music'', was released in 2013 through More Music Records. The project was credited by GRM Daily's Charlie-Louise Akintilo as being "edgy" and "refreshing".

2014–2015: Commercial breakthrough and ''Iconic Ambition''

Avelino rose to prominence in 2014 following the release of his second mixtape, ''Iconic Ambition'', which was featured on

DJ Semtex DJ Semtex (born John Fairbanks; 1974) is an English DJ, author, radio DJ and presenter of Spotify's Who We Be podcast. Between 2002 and 2018, he was presenter for BBC Radio 1Xtra's weekly hip-hop show. Biography Due to complications from ly ...

's ''Mixtape Top 5'' on BBC Radio 1Xtra. He went on to support Stormzy on tour throughout 2015, having previously collaborated on the mixtape track "No Comment".

2015–present: Collaboration with Wretch 32

Throughout 2015, Avelino was championed by fellow Tottenham MC

Wretch 32 Jermaine Sinclaire Scott (born 9 March 1985), better known by his stage name Wretch 32, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Tottenham, North London. He was a member of the grime collective Combination Chain Gang, before forming The M ...

. The two rappers released a joint mixtape, entitled '' Young Fire, Old Flame'', on 18 December 2015, to positive reception. Avelino was ''Young Fire'', whereas Wretch 32 was ''Old Flame. The mixtape was accompanied by a ''Fire in the Booth'' freestyle on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

, which was heralded by host Charlie Sloth as the "hardest" ''Fire in the Booth'' of all time,'' and by '' Noiseys'' Joe Zadeh as "staggering". Wretch and Avelino also collaborated on the promotional singles "M.O.E" and "Freedom", as well as an unofficial remix of

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

's "No More Parties in LA", renamed "No More Parties in DSTRKT". The two are scheduled to perform the mixtape at KOKO on 12 May 2016. On 7 April 2016, Avelino released his debut EP, '' FYO'', for free download. It was executive produced by

Raf Riley Rafael Greifer, better known by his stage name Raf Riley, is a record producer and artist from North London. He was formerly a member of ExR alongside Etta Bond, and is signed to OddChild Music and has released on Diplo's Mad Decent label. ExR ...

. The project, which stands for ''Fuck Your Opinion'', has received considerable support from

; "Youniverse" has been played by

MistaJam Peter Dalton (born 19 January 1983), known professionally as MistaJam, is a British DJ and radio presenter. He is known for presenting radio shows on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra from 2005 to 2020; since 2020 he has presented on Capital and ...

, and the title track was added to

1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been co ...

's C-list playlist on 6–12 May 2016. Supporters of the song include Annie Mac and Charlie Sloth. The EP topped Semtex's ''Mixtape Top 5'' chart. He is currently working on his debut studio album. Avelino released a new single, "On a Roll", for free download via SoundCloud on 30 August 2016. The song features guest vocals from Abra Cadabra, and has been played by DJ Target on 1Xtra. The same week, Avelino featured on Wretch 32's single "Open Conversation & Mark Duggan", released on 1 September 2016, a day prior to his third studio album, ''

Growing Over Life ''Growing Over Life'' is the third studio album by British hip hop recording artist Wretch 32. It was released on 2 September 2016 through Polydor Records. The album peaked at number 5 on the UK Albums Chart. The album includes the singles " 6 Wor ...

''. On 10 February 2017, Avelino released a single titled "Energy" which features grime heavyweights, Skepta and Stormzy. The single was used by

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

game, ''

FIFA 18 ''FIFA 18'' is a football simulation video game developed and published by Electronic Arts and released worldwide on 29 September 2017 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. It is the ...

'' demo and is being touted as the headline song on ''FIFA 18'' soundtrack. At the time of writing, Energy's official music video has racked up over 1.5 million views on YouTube and various remixes, notably with regular collaborator Wretch 32, have been released.

Personal life

Avelino is an avid supporter of

Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, ...

Discography

Extended plays

Mixtapes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avelino 1993 births Living people Black British male rappers English people of Angolan descent English people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Rappers from London People from Tottenham Place of birth missing (living people)