James Devlin (born 7 May 1989), 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. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

as Devlin, is an English rapper from

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

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 ...

. He was signed to

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

from 2010 to 2015. He is part of

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 ...

collective 'O.T Crew' with Dogzilla, Deeperman, M. Eye, Benson, Kozy, Syer Bars, Shotz, Meshie, Props and Daze. Devlin was also a member of the Movement, consisting of himself,

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 ...

, Scorcher,

Ghetts Justin Jude Clarke-Samuel (born 9 October 1984), better known by his stage name Ghetts (formerly Ghetto), is a British Grime (music), grime MC, rapper, songwriter and actor. His music has been played on national radio stations such as BBC Radio ...

, Lightning, Mercston and DJ Unique but has since left.

Early life

James Devlin was born on 7 May 1989 in

Bermondsey Bermondsey ( ) is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, ...

and grew up on a housing estate in

. His mother was a council worker while his father was a forklift driver. Devlin released his second solo mixtape ''The Art of Rolling'' in 2008.

Career

2010–11: ''Bud, Sweat and Beers''

Devlin's debut album, '' Bud, Sweat and Beers'' was released on Island Records in 2010. The first single from the album was " Brainwashed", which was released on 8 August 2010 in the UK and debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 31, and number 11 on the

UK R&B Chart Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, and previously the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and ...

. The second single, "

Runaway Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

", was released on 24 October 2010, where it debuted at number 15, marking Devlin's most successful single to date. The single was succeeded by the release of the debut album, '' Bud, Sweat and Beers'', which was released on 1 November 2010 and debuted at number 21 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. "London City" entered the UK chart at number 181 following strong digital downloads from the album. The third single released from the album was "

Let It Go "Let It Go" is a song from Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film '' Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The song was performed in its original show ...

" featuring British producer

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Labrinth signed as a recording artist with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music in 2010, ini ...

. The track, which was released on 31 January 2011, charted at number 59 in the UK based on downloads alone.

2011–13: ''A Moving Picture''

His second studio album, '' A Moving Picture'', was released on 4 February 2013. It peaked at number 19 on the UK Albums Chart.

Personal life

Devlin is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur. Devlin is of Irish descent. Diagnosed at the age of 14, Devlin has

Type 1 Diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic cells (beta cells). In healthy persons, beta cells produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone require ...

Discography

;Studio albums * '' Bud, Sweat and Beers'' (2010) * '' A Moving Picture'' (2013) * ''The Devil In'' (2017) * ''The Outcast'' (2019) * ''Eyes for the Blind'' (2022)

References

External links

Devlin News & LyricsDelvin Photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin Rappers from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Rappers from the London Borough of Southwark Grime music artists English male songwriters English male rappers Living people 1989 births People from Dagenham Island Records artists English people of Irish descent People from Bermondsey