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Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner (born 6 October 1994), known professionally as Loyle Carner, is an English hip hop musician. After supporting various rappers during their tours, he released his debut album, '' Yesterday's Gone'', in 2017, which garnered a nomination for the 2017
Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...
. He released his second album, '' Not Waving, but Drowning'', in April 2019, and his third, '' hugo'', in October 2022. Carner has been nominated for three Brit Awards.


Early life

Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner was born on 6 October 1994 in
Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...
,
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 ...
. He and his younger brother, Ryan, were raised in
South Croydon South Croydon in south London is the area surrounding the valley south of central Croydon and running as far south as the former Red Deer public house on the Brighton Road. It is bounded by Waddon to the West and Selsdon and Sanderstead to the E ...
by his mother, Jean, a teacher of children with learning difficulties, and his stepfather, Nik. He has contact with his biological father, Robert Nicholas Junior Carter, who is of Guyanese descent. Carner is
mixed race The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...
. His stage name is a
spoonerism A spoonerism is an occurrence of speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis) between two words of a phrase. These are named after the Oxford don and priest William Archibald Spooner, who report ...
of his double-barrelled surname as well as a reference to his childhood struggle with his
ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple ...
and
dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...
diagnoses. At the age of 13, Carner had a small role in the 2008 film ''
10,000 BC The 10th millennium BC spanned the years 10,000 BC to 9001 BC (c. 12 ka to c. 11 ka). It marks the beginning of the transition from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic via the interim Mesolithic (Northern Europe and Western Europe) a ...
''. He started his secondary education at
Whitgift School Whitgift School is an independent day school with limited boarding in South Croydon, London. Along with Trinity School of John Whitgift and Old Palace School it is owned by the Whitgift Foundation, a charitable trust. The school was prev ...
in South
Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
, then after having secured a scholarship moved on to study at the Brit School for Performing Arts and Technology. He next was accepted into the Drama Centre where he began a degree in acting. In 2014, he dropped out of the Drama Centre after his stepfather died of
sudden unexpected death in epilepsy Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) refers to the sudden, unexpected death of a person with epilepsy that is not the result of trauma, drowning, or an identified medical condition. In most cases, no structural or toxicological cause of d ...
(SUDEP), deciding to focus on his music.


Music career

Carner played his first official gig at The Button Factory in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Ireland in October 2012 supporting rapper MF Doom. He released his first
extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
in September 2014, titled ''A Little Late'', which was well received by music critics. Loyle Carner supported American rapper
Joey Badass Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott (born January 20, 1995), known professionally as Joey Badass (stylized as Joey Bada$$), is an American rapper and actor. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, he formed the regional hip-hop group Pro Era in 2011, with whom h ...
on his UK tour and went on to play the 2015 UK festival season, including
Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
. He played on
Huw Stephens Huw Meredydd Stephens (born 25 May 1981) is a Welsh radio and television presenter, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music. Stephens founded the Sŵn music festival with John Rostron and the yearly s ...
'
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
show as part of their Piano Sessions series in October of that year. Carner was included in the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's Sound of 2016 list. In August 2016, he supported American rapper
Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...
in his show at the O2 Academy Bristol. Later in the year, he collaborated with poet
Kae Tempest Kae Tempest (formerly Kate Tempest) is an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist and playwright. At the age of 16, Tempest was accepted into the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. In 2013, he w ...
for a performance. Carner's debut album, entitled '' Yesterday's Gone'', was released on 20 January 2017. It garnered acclaim from music critics, with ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' naming it the album of the year. The album was nominated for the 2017
Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...
, which was won by
Sampha Sampha Lahai Sisay (born 16 November 1988) is a British singer, songwriter, musician and record producer from Morden, South London. Sampha has collaborated with Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, SBTRKT, Jessie Ware, Alicia Keys, Gorillaz, ...
for ''
Process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management * Business process, activities that produce a specific s ...
''. In 2018, he received two respective Brit Award nominations for British Breakthrough Act and British Male Solo Artist. He was scheduled to perform on BBC Radio 1 in February 2018 but cancelled due to a disagreement over cover song choices. Loyle Carner's second album, '' Not Waving, but Drowning'', was released on 19 April 2019. On 30 June, he performed as part of the year's
Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
on its Other Stage, marking his second appearance after playing the John Peel Stage the year before. The song "Angel" was listed as part of the ''
FIFA 20 ''FIFA 20'' is a football simulation video game published by Electronic Arts as part of the ''FIFA'' series. It is the 27th installment in the series and was released on 27 September 2019 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nint ...
'' soundtrack playlist. In 2020, Carner and his brother co-directed a music video for the song "Eugene" by
Arlo Parks Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho (born 9 August 2000), known professionally as Arlo Parks, is an English singer and songwriter. Her debut studio album, ''Collapsed in Sunbeams'', was released in 2021 to critical acclaim and peaked at number th ...
.


Artistry

Carner employs a "languid" style of rapping. His sound has been described as "confessional hip-hop", "introspective", "jazz-infused", as well as "sensitive and eloquent". He cites American hip hop and
grime music Grime is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) 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, sy ...
as musical influences. He also regards American poet
Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...
and British writer
Benjamin Zephaniah Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (15 April 1958 – 7 December 2023) was a British writer, dub poet, actor, musician and professor of poetry and creative writing. Over his lifetime, he was awarded 20 honorary doctorates in recognition of his c ...
as inspirations.


Personal life

As of January 2017, Carner lived in Croydon, South London with his mother and brother. He has one son (born late 2020) and one daughter (born 2024). He loves to cook and also runs a cooking school for children with
ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple ...
called Chilli Con Carner. He has titled songs after chefs
Yotam Ottolenghi Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi (; born 14 December 1968) is an Israeli-born British chef, restaurateur, and food writer. Alongside Sami Tamimi, he is the co-owner of nine delis and restaurants in London and Bicester Village and the author of several be ...
and
Antonio Carluccio Antonio Carluccio, OBE, OMRI (; 19 April 1937 – 8 November 2017) was an Italian chef, restaurateur and food expert, based in London. He was called "the godfather of Italian gastronomy", with a career of more than 50 years. He is perhaps best ...
. Carner has nut and sesame allergies. In 2018, he appeared in a film for a project by the charity organisation
Campaign Against Living Miserably Campaign Against Living Miserably, or CALM, is a registered charity based in England. CALM runs a free, confidential and anonymous helpline as well as a web chat service, offering help, advice and information to anyone who is struggling or in c ...
(CALM), which aims to prevent male suicide. The following year, he curated an art exhibition and donated its proceeds to CALM. Carner is a supporter of
Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...
As a tribute to his stepfather, who idolised
Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French former professional footballer who is currently an actor. In his football career Eric Cantona was a physically strong, hard-working and tenacious player. He combined technical skill a ...
and was a passionate
Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, t ...
supporter, Carner released a song titled "Cantona". He also named his 2016 tour after Cantona, and has worn his stepfather's Cantona shirt during concerts. Carner used samples of songs written and performed by his stepfather alongside Misure La VerT for ''Yesterday's Gone''s hidden title track, which concludes the album.


Discography


Studio albums


Extended plays

* ''A Little Late'' (2014)


Singles


As a lead artist


As a featured artist


Other certified songs


Guest appearances


Accolades


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carner, Loyle 1994 births Living people 21st-century English male singers 21st-century English singers Black British male rappers English male rappers 21st-century male rappers 21st-century British rappers English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English people of Guyanese descent People from Croydon People from West Norwood People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Musicians with dyslexia. Rappers from the London Borough of Croydon Rappers from the London Borough of Lambeth Drama Centre English people with disabilities