Rachel Estelle Irene Prager, professionally known as Baby Blue, is a British rapper and singer from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. She is known for her work with singer Estelle and collaborations with

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

, Madness, Sway,

Shystie Chanel Scot Cali (born 25 December 1983), better known by her stage name Shystie, is an English rapper, songwriter and actress. She grew up in Hackney, East London. Shystie became famous in 2003 with her white label response to Dizzee Rascal ...

Ms. Dynamite Naomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards. Early years She was born Naomi Arleen M ...

and

Lady Sovereign Louise Amanda Harman (born 1985), better known by the stage name Lady Sovereign, is a British rapper, best known for the songs "9 to 5" and " Love Me or Hate Me". She was signed to Def Jam in 2005 by Jay-Z. Early life and family Harman grew ...

. Baby Blue has a sound that fuses

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

with

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust Music * Grime music, a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * "Grime", a 2023 song by Macklemore from ''Ben'' * "Grime", a 2024 song by Kittie from ''Fire ...

, R&B and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

. In 2018, Prager-Riel became "Head of Music" at 7Wallace,

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba Order of the British Empire, OBE ( ; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor and musician. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards. He w ...

's record label.

Biography

Prager started rapping while at school and eventually recorded a track called "I Woulda", which was inspired by her cousin's gang-related death in the U.S.. The track received heavy rotation and was the start of Prager's career as a

recording artist A musician is someone who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate a person who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters, ...

. When she was 19, she sent a demo of her music to UK artist Estelle, who invited her to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to record the song "Hey Girl" featuring John Legend, as well as "Don't Talk", another track for Estelle's début album ''

The 18th Day ''The 18th Day'' is the debut studio album by British rapper/singer-songwriter Estelle. The first edition was released on 18 October 2004 and the second edition on 4 April 2005. The album is almost split into two distinct styles: one half fun ...

'', which was certified gold in the UK. Baby Blue was also featured rapping in the video for the top 20 Estelle hit "

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

". Later that year, Blue released the

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

''Out of the Blue Vol. I'' (with Volume II released two years later) which featured Estelle, members of

So Solid Crew So Solid Crew are a British UK garage and hip hop collective originating from Battersea, London, which achieved wide success in the early 2000s. The group consisted of many members, the most notable being Asher D (Ashley Walters), Lisa Ma ...

, Shystie, Sway, and Akala. Her first solo

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was for the single "Sometimes", which was released to push ''Vol. II'' of the mixtape. This led ''Mobo Magazine'' to dub her "The Uncrowned Queen of the UK" and MTV to list her as "one of the hottest up 'n' coming stars". Baby Blue featured on new wave ska band Madness's comeback single " Sorry" in 2007, which went to 23 in the UK singles chart and was on the soundtrack for ''

FIFA 08 ''FIFA 08'' (titled ''FIFA Soccer 08'' in North America) is a Association football, football Simulation video game, simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released on all po ...

''. She toured with Estelle for four months, travelling around the U.S. and Europe. She has also worked with

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall ( ), is a Canadian rapper and record producer. Often credited as Canada's "hip-hop ambassador", he has been regarded as one of the country's most prominent ...

, and

. In 2010, in an interview with thekoalition.com, Baby Blue stated that she was working on an EP to be released in March 2010, and an album to be released later on in the same year. On 17 March that year, Baby Blue released a digital mixtape entitled ''Firefly''. It was revealed that the title of her album would be called ''No Smoke Without Fire''. On 20 July 2012, Baby Blue announced via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that she has been signed by 3 Beat/Universal. On 26 July 2013, Baby Blue announced she had spent time in the recording studio with So Solid Crew singer

Lisa Maffia Lisa Maffia (born 16 June 1979) is a British singer-songwriter, musician, rapper, actress, fashion designer, model and presenter, who originally came to the public's attention as the main female member of So Solid Crew. Whilst in So Solid Crew, ...

, with each artist both contributing to forthcoming albums. In 2018, Prager-Riel became "Head of Music" at 7Wallace, the record label founded by Idris Elba in 2015. In a joint venture with Universal Music Publishing, the company has expanded to include music publishing and has set up studios in Central London and Oxford.

Discography

Mixtapes

* 2004: ''Out of the Blue Vol. I'' * 2005: ''Out of the Blue Vol. II'' * 2010: ''Firefly''

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

* "Don't Talk" and "Hey Girl" (featuring

) on Estelle's album ''

'' (2004)

References

External links

Baby Blue official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baby Blue (Rapper) Living people Year of birth missing (living people) English women rappers Grime music artists Rappers from London English women in electronic music 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers 21st-century women rappers British hip-hop singers Universal Music Group artists