Blak Twang (born Tony Olabode in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

), who also uses the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

s Taipanic and Tony Rotton, is a British

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

who grew up in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, South-East

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 ...

. Blak Twang is admired for his live performances, and is also respected for the effectiveness with which he includes

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

slang and lexicon, including references to specific South London locales, in his music without being too obvious about it. This has made him a favourite of English hip-hop fans, who have dubbed him “the original Hip-Hop Geezer".

Career

Twang's debut single was 1995's "What Goin' On". His debut album, ''Dettwork SouthEast'' (a pun on the name of the rail company

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the networ ...

) was sent out to the media for the same of self-promotion but never released. It included the song "Real Estate" and the title track, "Dettwork SouthEast". His second album, ''19 Long Time'', also suffered from record label obstruction. The album included "Red Letters" and the

Roots Manuva Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva (born 9 September 1972), is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial succ ...

collaboration "Shhhoosh". However, his 2002 album '' Kik Off'' was promoted properly by his label, and spawned several singles, including the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

-themed "Kik Off", his

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

"So Rotton", and "Trixsta" (featuring Estelle), all of which achieved radio play and a degree of commercial success. In 2005 he released the album ''The Rotton Club'', backed by the single "GCSE (Ghetto Children Sex Education)" featuring Twang's protégé and Rottonus Records signee K9. Twang released another single from the album in late 2005. This was called "Travellin", and the album version featured

Barrington Levy Barrington Ainsworth Levy (born 30 April 1964) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist from Clarendon, Jamaica. Career In 1977, Levy formed a band called the Mighty Multitude, with his cousin, Everton Dacres; the pair released "My Bla ...

, but a video was made for the First Man Remix, which featured the female singer Tali. On 20 October 2013 he released a single, "Badda Dan Dat", which was remixed by

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

artists Run Tingz Cru, Serial Killaz and Terrahawk. It was released through Ramajam Recordings. In September 2014, ''Dettwerk SouthEast'' finally received a full release on

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

. Blak Twang has longstanding and close links to the rapper Versetti and to several other rappers. He was featured alongside rapper Ty on the UK remix of Talib Kweli & Hi Tek's "Down for the Count" in 2001. Blak Twang has been nominated for several awards, including a MOBO, a Kora, and a "Best International Hip-Hop Act" nomination from ''

The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...

''. In 2019 Blak Twang joined Ty and Rodney P to form Kingdem, called a "supergroup of British rap elders" by the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

Discography

Albums

* 1996 ''Dettwork SouthEast'' eissued 2014* 1998 ''19 Longtime'' (Recognition) * 2002 '' Kik Off'' (Bad Magic) * 2005 ''The Rotton Club'' (Wall of Sound) * 2008 ''Speaking from Xperience'' (Abstract)

EPs

* 2013 ''Rebel Emcee'' (featuring Congo Natty) * 2013 ''Badda Dan Dat'' * 2015 ''The Pantheon EP'' (feat. Blackmale Beats)

References

Black British male rappers English male rappers Rappers from the London Borough of Lewisham People from Deptford Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{hiphop-bio-stub