Tyrone Mark Lindo (born 16 November 1985), known by his stage name Big Narstie, is a British MC, author, rapper, singer, songwriter, comedian and television presenter. He started his career in 2002 as a member of grime crew "N Double A," though he is better known for his solo work and as an

internet personality An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...

performing comedy relating to

grime music Grime is a genre of electronic music that emerged in London in the early 2000s. It developed out of the earlier UK dance style UK garage, and draws influences from jungle, dancehall, and hip hop. The style is typified by rapid, syncopated brea ...

and the surrounding culture. He is also known for hosting his own chat show, '' The Big Narstie Show''.

Career

2000s

In 2007, Big Narstie signed to independent label, Dice Recordings. His track "Brushman" was also named ''RWD'' magazine's "Song of the Year". Sampling

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...

, it was supported by personalities from multiple mainstream radio stations. Big Narstie has featured on records including

Professor Green Stephen Paul Manderson (born 27 November 1983), better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television personality and mental health activist from London. Growing up on ...

's "Before I Die Remix" and N-Dubz's "N-Dubz vs N.A.A", from their debut album ''

Uncle B ''Uncle B'' is the debut studio album released by British hip hop group N-Dubz. The album is dedicated to former N-Dubz manager and father of Dappy, Byron Contostavlos, who died shortly before the band were signed to their second record label ...

.'' Big Narstie continued to record and released BIG NARSTIE three other mixtapes: ''Mind of a Fat Guy'', ''Drugs and Chicken'', and ''I'm Betta Than U'', which had guest appearances from Giggs, Scorcher, and

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 ...

2010s

Big Narstie released his first mix CD of the year in February 2012, called ''Pain Overload''. Shortly after, ''Pain Is Love'' was released in July for free download via SB.TV. Big Narstie's first official E.P, ''#PAIN'' was released in October and entered at number 5 in the iTunes UK Hip Hop chart and he won the 2012 Urban Music Award (UMAs) for Best Grime Act beating artists like Skepta, Lethal Bizzle and Dot Rotten. In 2013, Big Narstie released his second EP ''Don't Fuck Up the Base''. The EP ''Big Narstie'' was the highest selling grime EP of 2013. He also had a ''Don't Fuck up the Base'' EP launch party, which featured music artists, Flirta D, Mic Righteous, Scrufizzer, Kozzie and DJ's, DJ Cameo, Charlie Sloth, DJ Logan Sama. He performed at a number of festivals across Europe including The Wireless Festival, A Day in Dam with English Frank and Black The Ripper, the Hip Hop Kemp Festival in Czech Republic and The Outlook Festival in Croatia. He also won UMA 2013 Best Grime Act award for the second year in a row. At the end of 2013 he released an EP ''Hello Hi.'' with True Tiger. Noisey named Big Narstie as their name of 2013. and he also reviewed the year at ''Fact'' magazine. In 2014, Big Narstie released ''What's the Story Brixton Glory Part II'', where he covered various

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

classics by artists such as

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

. He then embarked on the Base Defence League (BDL) Tour around the UK, which had a host of music artists supporting him. Big Narstie was featured in

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ''Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, after which he has re ...

's single, " When the Bassline Drops", which was released on 27 November 2015. The song saw commercial success, entering the UK top 10 and being certified Gold. In 2017 he rapped on the

Enter Shikari Enter Shikari (stylised as enter: shikari and occasionally as ΣΠΤΣ℞ SΗΦΚ∆℞Φ) are a British rock band formed in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and dr ...

single " Supercharge". In 2017 he collaborated with

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

and ''Atlantic Horns'' on the song "Go Mental". Channel 4 announced they had commissioned '' The Big Narstie Show'' following appearances from him on Gogglebox: Celebrity Special for Stand Up To Cancer and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2017. In 2019 he reappeared in the Big Fat Quiz, this time the Big Fat Quiz Of Everything The first series of the show features guests including

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom ''Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primeti ...

David Haye David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Ama ...

and

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) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

having joined hosts Big Narstie and Mo Gilligan. The programme performed strongly for the network, with The Big Narstie Show rating as one of Channel 4's most popular programmes for young audiences. It was up 94% on the channel's share of 16–24-year-old viewers; up 129% on share for BAME viewers; and up 144% on share for black audiences. A second series has been commissioned. During 2018 Big Narstie also appeared on ''Good Morning Britain'' reading the weather report which went viral. He also appeared on ''Celebrity Crystal Maze'' for Stand Up To Cancer, ''

Celebrity Juice ''Celebrity Juice'' is a British television comedy panel game on ITV2, broadcast since 24 September 2008. The show is written and presented by Leigh Francis in the role of his alter ego Keith Lemon, and its current team captains Laura Whitmore ...

'', ''Would I Lie to You?'' and ''The Chris Ramsey Show''. He also started in the cinema hit ''The Festival''. Big Narstie was caught up in controversy in 2018 during an episode of ''

Britain's Got More Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

'' when he appears to push contestant Robert White during a live show. The pair resolved the issue publicly on Twitter. In 2020, Big Narstie featured on the track 'Catch 22' by

NAHLI Nahli, (professionally known and stylised as NAHLI), is a British singer and songwriter who has worked with DaVinChe. Her moniker is her birth name combined with her dad's stage name (Natalie and Harley). Early life NAHLI grew up in England wi ...

produced by

DaVinChe DaVinChe, is a British record producer and songwriter from South London, England who is best known as one of the pioneer producers in the UK grime scene. His notable works include Kano's "Brown Eyes" and " P's and Q's", Mez Featuring Stormzy " ...

. The track is described as luxurious, defiantly old-skool UK garage-inspired track.

Grime comedy

Big Narstie was cited by music blog 'RansomNote' as one of the first in the ' grime comedy' genre. The blog states "Big Narstie is probably the don of this – at either end of his career you can find lyrics and beats drenched with sorrow, regret and nostalgia" and goes onto talk about the subjective opinion of the audience – "the fact that most outsiders can't tell the difference between rage and satire tells you more about the audience than the performer".

Other activities

Away from music, Big Narstie has featured in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Dubplate Drama'' alongside N-Dubz and Shystie. He has also had a guest appearance in the films ''

Anuvahood ''Anuvahood'' is a 2011 British urban comedy film directed by Adam Deacon, who also plays the film's lead character. It also stars Paul Kaye, Wil Johnson, Ollie Barbieri, Femi Oyeniran, Jocelyn Jee Esien, and Ashley Walters. Critics of the f ...

'' and ''London State of Mind''. He is set to appear in the series ''Krish and Lee'' and the film ''Rise of the Foot Soldier 2''. From 29 June 2018, he hosted '' The Big Narstie Show.'' Big Narstie is a keen

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

fan and supports both

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

. He also began training in

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

in 2020 in a bid to improve his fitness. He has appeared on a number of panel shows including ''

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year ''The Big Fat Quiz of the Year'' is an approximately annual British television programme broadcast in the last or first week of the year on Channel 4. The show is a comedy panel game in the style of a pub quiz. Three teams of two celebrities, mo ...

'' 2017 in a team with

Katherine Ryan Katherine Louisa Ryan (born 30 June 1983) is a Canadian comedian, writer, presenter, and actress based in the United Kingdom. She has appeared on many British panel shows, including as a regular team captain on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' and '' Never ...

and again in 2019, and '' Would I Lie to You?'' on David Mitchell's team. Big Narstie creates YouTube videos including a parody

agony aunt An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are wr ...

style series ''Uncle Pain''. Big Narstie appeared in ''

The Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, atte ...

'' "The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off", series 2, episode 3. He completed two of three challenges; he did not appear at the third challenge due to being taken ill; he was replaced in the challenge by presenter

Sandi Toksvig Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...

Personal life

Big Narstie is of Jamaican descent. He has two children, one of whom

is godfather to.

Discography

Albums

;Albums ;EPs ;Mixtapes

Filmography

Awards

Urban Music Awards The Urban Music Awards (UMA) is a hip-hop, R&B, dance, and soul music awards ceremony which was launched by Jordan Kensington in 2003 and is now held in several countries. The US version of the award ceremony, the Urban Music Awards USA, was ...

2012 Urban Music Award (UMAs) Best Grime Act (Won) *

2013 Urban Music Award (UMAs) Best Grime Act (Won) *

MOBO Awards The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...

2014 Mobo Award Best Grime Act (Nomination) *

2014 Urban Music Award (UMAs) Best Grime Act (Won) *

2018 – Best Album (Won) *MVISA 2018 – Best TV Presenter – '' The Big Narstie Show'' (Won) *

National Reality Television Awards The National Reality TV Awards also known as Reality TV Awards or NRTA is an annual award show produced by the IEG Global and National Media Group . The awards show became the first ever awards ceremony to launch in both the UK and US to celebrat ...

– Best Entertainment Show for '' The Big Narstie Show'' (Won) *

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are vot ...

– Bruce Forsyth Entertainment award for '' The Big Narstie Show'' (Nomination) *

Royal Television Society Awards The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

– Best Entertainment Performance for '' The Big Narstie Show'' (Won 2020) * BAFTA – Best Comedy Entertainment Show – '' The Big Narstie Show'' (Nomination 2019) Royal Television Society Awards – Best Entertainment Performance for The Big Narstie Show (Won 2021) * BAFTA – Best Comedy Entertainment Show – '' The Big Narstie Show'' (Won 2021)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Narstie 1985 births Living people Black British male comedians Black British male rappers British hip hop singers English people of Jamaican descent Grime music artists Male YouTubers Music YouTubers People from Brixton People from Lambeth Rappers from London