James MacKenzie (born 6 January 1986), better known as Kenzie or James Kenzie, is a British rapper, DJ, actor and personal trainer, who was formerly a member of ten-piece hip-hop group

Blazin' Squad Blazin' Squad were an English Hip hop music, hip hop group. The group had six top ten hits, including "Tha Crossroads, Crossroads", a cover version of the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony original. Career ''In The Beginning'': 2002 The band released a numb ...

. He was also part of the R&B/pop supergroup 5th Story, set up for ''

The Big Reunion ''The Big Reunion'' is a British reality-documentary series that began airing on ITV2 on 31 January 2013. The show featured chart-topping bands who were big in the UK pop music scene between the 1990s and early 2000s, and the programme followed ...

'' in 2013.

Music

Blazin' Squad (2001–06)

were a ten-piece hip hop group. They enjoyed moderate success in the UK, achieving six consecutive Top 10 hits, including the number one single " Tha Crossroads", which is a cover version of the

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (formerly known as B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e and also referred to as simply Bone Thugs or Bone) is an American hip hop group formed in 1991 in Cleveland, Ohio. Consisting of rappers Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, Layzie Bone, Krayzie ...

song. They released two albums which just made the UK Top 40 album chart. While in the Blazin' Squad, he went by the name MC Kenzie. The group subsequently split in 2005. MC Kenzie, MC Flava and MC Strider went on to form the group Friday Hill (as Kenzie, James and Mus). They split up and on 2009 five of the original Blazin' Squad members released a single ("Let's Start Again") after reforming. It peaked at number 51 on the UK Singles Chart. One of their first performances after their reformation was at Walthamstow School for Girls, a school in the group's local area, where his father taught.

5th Story (2013–2014)

In December 2013, it was revealed that Kenzie would be joining forces with Adam Rickitt, Gareth Gates,

Dane Bowers Dane Bowers is an English singer, songwriter, producer and DJ. He is a part of Contemporary R&B, R&B boy band Another Level (group), Another Level. Bowers has also had solo success. He has made TV appearances on ''Celebrity Big Brother (British ...

and Kavana to form the supergroup 5th Story for the second series of

ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

's ''

''.

Work outside music

In 2005, Kenzie appeared in the

third series Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

of the reality television show ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Celebrity Big Brother'' or ''Big Brother VIP'' is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, t ...

'' and finished as the runner up, losing out to dancer and musician Bez. At the time he was the youngest contestant to enter the house. He appeared in a "Rock and Pop Special" edition of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'', alongside Kelli Young and

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist and composer best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his prolific solo career. AllMusic describes Wakema ...

. He appeared on the show's 1,000th episode, but was voted off in the fourth round for answering too many questions incorrectly. Kenzie appeared on ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...

'' in March 2005 and again in March 2006. Kenzie also moonlights as a GTA special officer and enjoys filling in paperwork under the pseudonym "McKenzie" - to remain anonymous. Kenzie released his autobiography in April 2005, published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, titled ''Kenzie: My Life''. The book was somewhat a "damp squib" with one reviewer saying "it's full of incredibly dull revelations." In 2006, Kenzie appeared in the

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

reality show '' Cirque de Celebrité''. In week ten of the show he was eliminated, coming third (losing out to model Emma B and '' Big Brother 7'' housemate Grace Adams-Short). In September 2008, he was a contestant on the ITV reality show '' CelebAir''. He was eliminated in the second episode, shown on 9 September. He appeared on an episode of ''

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

'' which aired originally on 12 March 2009. He competed against, and defeated,

Chico Slimani Yousseph "Chico" Slimani (born 1971) is a Welsh singer who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2005 series of the talent show ''The X Factor''. In 2006, he had a number one hit on the British cha ...

. Kenzie is a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, providing m ...

for Studio 23, and stars in The Active Channel's ''Star Trainer''. On 23 September 2010, he appeared on ITV2's ''Celebrity Juice'' programme, alongside

Keith Lemon Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Keith (gamer), American professional ...

and

Verne Troyer Verne Jay Troyer (January 1, 1969 – April 21, 2018) was an American actor and occasional stunt coordinator and performer. He was best known for playing Mini-Me in the ''Austin Powers'' film series. He had cartilage–hair hypoplasia and ...

Personal life

On 4 May 2014 Kenzie was injured in a car crash. He dated glamour model

Jodie Marsh Jodie Louisa Marsh (born 23 December 1978) is an English media personality, model and bodybuilder. She has appeared on numerous reality television shows, including '' Essex Wives'' (2002), ''Back to Reality'' (2004), '' Love on a Saturday Night ...

in 2005. He has been together with his current girlfriend since January 2012. Kenzie has two daughters, Wynter (born 2013) and Wyllow.

References

External links

*
Births England and Wales 1984–2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenzie 1986 births Living people British male rappers British DJs British actors Blazin' Squad members 5th Story members Male actors from London