Nines (rapper)
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Courtney Freckleton (born 17 January 1990), known professionally as Nines, is a British former rapper. After releasing a string of mixtapes between 2012 and 2015, Nines signed to
XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been run and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. It releases an average of six albums a year. T ...
and released his debut album '' One Foot Out'' (2017), which charted at number 4 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 ...
. In 2018, his second album ''
Crop Circle A crop circle, crop formation, or corn circle is a pattern created by flattening a crop, usually a cereal. The term was first coined in the early 1980s. Crop circles have been described as all falling "within the range of the sort of thing ...
'' charted at number 5, and he topped the chart with his third album '' Crabs in a Bucket'' in 2020. In 2023 he released '' Crop Circle 2'' and '' Crop Circle 3'', which both charted at number 2, while '' Quit While You're Ahead'' reached number 4 in 2024.


Personal life

Hailing from
Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, north-west London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towar ...
, he grew up on Church End Estate in North-West
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 ...
. His older siblings are Tyrone and Wayne Freckleton. In April 2008, Nines' brother Wayne was killed by gunfire in an alleged gangland attack. In 2011, Nines hosted a charity event where he bought a variety of expensive clothing from
JD Sports JD Sports Fashion plc, commonly known as JD Sports, JD or JD Group is a British multinational sports-fashion retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 10 ...
and handed the items to children that were invited to the event. On Christmas Day, he performed a similar charitable act, when he filled a vehicle full of Christmas turkeys and handed the birds to the public nearby the truck for free. Nines and fellow rapper Morrisson got into disagreement which started when Nines taunted Morrisson for allegedly copying his trend of wearing a pendant depicting the logo of
Arsenal Football Club The Arsenal Football Club, commonly known as simply Arsenal, is a professional association football, football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, North London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of ...
, which is Nines' favourite team. Morrisson, via
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, then publicly replied that he had gone to Church Road where Nines lived at the time and taught Nines 'game', and that he had also taught Nines to grow and sell
cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...
to customers illegally.


Career


2007–2009: First appearances

Nines' first appearance in music was seen locally in his borough on the ''Running Wid The Streets'' (also known as ''RWDS'') DVD Volume 2 in 2007. He was featured freestyling at age 17 followed by some freestyles, which are now audio tracks on YouTube; such as "Piff”, “Fuck All the Hoes”, and "Nu Crack”.


2010–2014: Early mixtapes

On 27 November 2011 Nines released his first single, “AJ’D OUT D SHUTDOWN and on 25 December 2011 Nines released his second single, "MY HOOD (Turkey Shutdown)”. Nines' third single featuring fellow rappers Fathead and Shotgun, "Way It’s Gunna Go" was released on 18 March 2012. Nines' first appearance on a major platform was his Warm Up Session Freestyle was released on 12 June 2012 on SBTV. On 14 October 2012 Nines released his debut mixtape ''From Church Road to Hollywood''. Nines released the music video for "CR (Grills Shutdown)" on 28 November 2012 on SBTV. This was followed by ''Gone Till November'' (2013) the following year and titled after his absence from the music scene due to his imprisonment. Nines gradually saw a rise in popularity through his freestyle videos posted on online rap platform SB.TV. Nines' online music videos for his third mixtape, ''Loyal to the Soil'' (2014), gained significant attention. "Money on My Mind" quickly amassed millions of views on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. He is part of the collective Ice City Boyz alongside Likkle T, Skrapz, J Styles, Fatz, Big Keyz, Conna "Three Chainz" Haines, Trapstar Toxic, Streetz and others.


2015–2017: ''One Foot In'' and ''One Foot Out''

The song "Can't Blame Me" from his fourth mixtape ''One Foot In'' (2015) gained 19 million views. The mixtape ''One Foot In'' served as a prequel to his debut album. The first promotional music video for '' One Foot Out'' was "Trapper of the Year", released on 27 August 2016, amassing more than 10 million views. In December 2016, Nines signed to British independent label
XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been run and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. It releases an average of six albums a year. T ...
, partnering with them to release his debut studio album '' One Foot Out'' (2017). The release date was announced the day before its release, becoming available for purchase on 10 February 2017. It entered 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 ...
at number 4, becoming one of the few English rappers to receive a top 5 album in recent years, among
Skepta Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British grime MC, rapper, record producer and DJ. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding members of ...
, Giggs and
Krept and Konan Krept and Konan is a British hip hop duo from London, consisting of Casyo Valentine "Krept" Johnson BEM (born 4 February 1990, Gipsy Hill) and Karl Dominic "Konan" Wilson BEM (born 3 September 1989, Thornton Heath), the son of Delroy Wils ...
.


2018–present: ''Crabs in a Bucket'', ''Crop Circle'' trilogy, and ''Quit While You're Ahead''

In early April 2018, Nines released his first single since the release of his debut album, "I See You Shining", alongside a music video. It peaked at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Nines' first and highest-charting single. It was later revealed to serve as the lead single to Nines' second album, ''
Crop Circle A crop circle, crop formation, or corn circle is a pattern created by flattening a crop, usually a cereal. The term was first coined in the early 1980s. Crop circles have been described as all falling "within the range of the sort of thing ...
'', which was announced three days before no release. It was released on 20 April 2018 by XL Recordings. '' Crabs in a Bucket'' was released on 28 August 2020 by Zino Records and Warner Records. It is the follow-up to Nines' second album, ''Crop Circle'' (2018). The album features guest appearances from
Headie One Irving Ampofo Adjei (born 6 October 1994), known professionally as Headie One (formerly Headz), is a British rapper and singer. In 2018 he released his second solo mixtape, titled ''The One'', which included the single "Know Better" featuring ...
, Roy Woods, Nafe Smallz,
NorthSideBenji Jaiden Anthony Watson (born January 25, 1998), better known by his stage name NorthSideBenji, is a Canadian rapper and musician from Brampton, Ontario. Benji gained recognition from his Certified Gold single " Levels", which featured Toronto rap ...
, NSG, Tiggs da Author, among others. It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. '' Crop Circle 2'' was released on 28 April 2023 through Zino Records and Warner Music UK. It is the direct follow-up to Nines' second album, ''Crop Circle'' released in 2018. Nines also wrote and directed a short film by the same name featuring many songs from the album. Later that year, Nines released the third instalment to his ''Crop Circle'' album trilogy, '' Crop Circle 3'', independently through Zino Records on 6 October 2023, along with the self-written and directed short film of the same name. On 27 September 2024, Nines released his sixth and final studio album '' Quit While You're Ahead''. Alongside the album, Nines confirmed the news of his last-ever headline show, which took place at London’s iconic O2 Arena on 27 November 2024.


Legal issues

In 2013, Nines was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for possession of cannabis with intent to supply. According to Nines when he spoke to Chuckie Online in the "JD in the Duffle Bag Podcast", Nines finished his promotional mixtape called "Gone 'Til November" the weekend before his sentencing. Nines on his twitter page gave his Prison Mailing Address, to which many of his fans sent him fan mail. Upon his release, Nines bought expensive gifts and sent them by mail, and also drove round to some of the fans's houses who wrote fan mail for him whilst Nines was sitting time in Prison. This event was recorded on online music and interview platform SBTV. On 12 August 2021, Nines admitted a charge relating to a plot with others to import 28 kilograms of
cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...
from Spain and Poland, and admitted a further charge of
money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
related to a £98,000 debt and the street value of the cannabis. He was remanded in custody awaiting sentencing. On 1 October, he was sentenced to 28 months in
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs (nicknamed "The Scrubs") is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category B men's local prison, located in the White City, London, White City area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West ...
. On 15 November 2023, Nines was arrested at
Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...
. Two days later at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court he was charged with supply and possession of cannabis, as well as three counts of breaching a serious crime prevention order for allegedly not informing the police of his home address and his second mobile phone and laptop. He did not have to enter a plea, and was bailed.


Discography


Studio albums


Mixtapes


Singles


As lead artist


As featured artist


Other charted and certified songs


Guest appearances


References

{{authority control Black British male rappers 21st-century British rappers English male rappers 21st-century male rappers Rappers from the London Borough of Brent English male songwriters Actors from the London Borough of Brent Living people 1990 births English people of Jamaican descent Gangsta rappers Male actors from London People from Harlesden English drug traffickers British cannabis traffickers Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales Criminals from London English prisoners and detainees