Samuel Andrew Gumbley III (born 4 August 1992), known professionally as S-X, is a British singer, songwriter, and record producer. As a record producer, Gumbley has worked with high-profile artists such as
Chance the Rapper
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' (2012) during one of his high school suspension ...
,
Childish Gambino
Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...
,
Future
The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ex ...
,
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...
,
Meek Mill
Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group the Blo ...
, and
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...
. He was
Grammy
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
-nominated for his work on Childish Gambino's album ''
Because the Internet
''Because the Internet'' is the second studio album by American rapper Donald Glover, under the stage name Childish Gambino. It was released on December 10, 2013, by Glassnote Records. The recording process began in 2012 and ended in October 201 ...
'' (2013).
Gumbley gained mainstream popularity as a singer-songwriter when he featured on (and produced)
KSI
Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993), better known by his online alias KSI, is an English influencer, professional boxer and musician. He is a co-founding member of YouTube group the Sidemen, the CEO of Misfits Boxing a ...
's 2019 single "
Down Like That", alongside
Rick Ross
William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...
and
Lil Baby
Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence following the release of his 2017 mixtapes ''Harder than Hard'' and ''Too Hard'' — the for ...
. The song peaked at number 10 on the
UK Singles Chart, and it was
certified
Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...
silver by the
British Phonographic Industry
BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI) for exceeding sales of 200,000 units in the UK. Gumbley has since released the singles "
Neither Would I", "
Dangerous" and "
Feels So Good".
Early life
Samuel Andrew Gumbley was born on 4 August 1992 in
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
,
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 ...
. When he was in
Year 7
Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia and England) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 ...
, Gumbley began playing the saxophone and harmonica and producing music in
FL Studio
FL Studio (known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. It features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. It is available in four different ...
.
He attended
Smestow School in Wolverhampton, before studying music production at the
City of Wolverhampton College
City of Wolverhampton College is a further education college located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England.
History
The college was formed in September 1999 as the result of a merger of Wulfrun College in Wolverhampton and Bilston Community ...
, where he attended the same class as
Liam Payne
Liam James Payne (29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024) was an English singer and songwriter. He was a member of the pop band One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, alongside Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Loui ...
.
Music career
2010–2019: Early beginnings and ''True Colours''
Aged 15, Gumbley produced the
instrumental
An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
"Woo Riddim", which two years later became a popular
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
...
instrumental after being used by British MC
D Double E
Darren Jason Dixon (born 19 January 1980), known professionally as D Double E, is a British grime MC, DJ and record producer from Forest Gate, East London. He performs both as a solo artist and as a member of the grime duo Newham Generals.
...
for his 2010 song "Bad 2 Tha Bone". S-X was signed to
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
during his time working as a record producer.
In early 2017, Gumbley began to use his own vocals over his beats, establishing himself as a singer-songwriter as well as just a producer.
In 2018, Gumbley was the
opening act
An opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, supporting act or opener, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform ...
for British singer-songwriter
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Lily Allen, Her accolades include a Brit Award, alongside nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivi ...
throughout the
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
n and
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an leg of her
No Shame Tour.
On 4 July 2019, Gumbley released "Always Wrong" as the first single from his mixtape ''True Colours''.
2019–present: New record label and ''Things Change''
On 8 November 2019, British YouTuber and rapper
KSI
Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji (born 19 June 1993), better known by his online alias KSI, is an English influencer, professional boxer and musician. He is a co-founding member of YouTube group the Sidemen, the CEO of Misfits Boxing a ...
released "
Down Like That", which features Gumbley alongside American rappers
Rick Ross
William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...
and
Lil Baby
Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence following the release of his 2017 mixtapes ''Harder than Hard'' and ''Too Hard'' — the for ...
, with Gumbley also handling the song's production. The song peaked at number 10 on the
UK Singles Chart, becoming Gumbley's first song to impact the UK charts and his highest-charting single in the UK to date.
In February 2020, the song received a silver
certification
Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...
from the
British Phonographic Industry
BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI) for exceeding sales of 200,000 units in the UK.
The song also charted at number 77 on the
''Billboard'' Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...
.
On 10 January 2020, Gumbley released a single titled "
Neither Would I".
In May, Gumbley signed with
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
and Eterno Music after attracting interest from several major record labels. On 18 September 2020, Gumbley released a single titled "
Dangerous".
In May 2021, Gumbley departed from Universal Music Group and Eterno Music and signed with
RBC Records
RBC Records is an American online independent record label and management company founded by partners Brian Shafton and Bob Grossi. It provides artists and independent labels with a full-service "virtual label" alternative to signing with a major ...
and
BMG BMG may refer to:
Organizations Music publishing companies
* Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008
** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...
. He released his first single through the record label, "
Feels So Good", on 28 May. On 13 August, Gumbley released his final mixtape, titled ''A Repeat Wouldn't Go A Miss''.
In October, Gumbley released a single titled "Who We Are", which was the first single for his debut album, which was released in 2023. In January 2023, Gumbley released "All Night," which featured vocals from
Trippie Redd
Michael Lamar White IV (born June 18, 1999), known professionally as Trippie Redd, is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Canton, Ohio, he has contributed to the progression of emo rap and rage, a subgenre of trap music.
His de ...
. In May, Gumbley released the second single titled "
Locked Out", which featured vocals from KSI.
The song peaked at number 53 on the UK Singles Chart.
Gumbley's debut studio album, titled ''Things Change'', was released on 19 July 2022.
Other ventures
Television appearances
In 2020, Gumbley appeared in three episodes of
Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
's ''
Soccer AM
''Soccer AM'' was a British football-based comedy talk show, produced by Sky Sports. It aired from 20 August 1994 to 27 May 2023 on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football. From 2010, the programme was put on a short b ...
''.
Gumbley also starred alongside KSI as cast members of the
second series of
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
's ''
Celebrity Gogglebox
''Gogglebox'' is a British reality television series created by Stephen Lambert, Tania Alexander and Tim Harcourt, and broadcast on Channel 4. The series documents families and groups of friends around the United Kingdom who are filmed for the ...
''.
Boxing match with DTG
On 18 September 2023, it was announced that Gumbley would make his
boxing debut on the preliminary card of
MF & DAZN: X Series 10 – The Prime Card against English
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 ...
DTG. The bout was scheduled for 14 October at
Manchester Arena
Manchester Arena (currently known as AO Arena for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. Pr ...
in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. On the night of the fight, Gumbley was defeated by DTG via 1st round technical knockout.
Personal life
Gumbley is an avid supporter of
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. ...
Since 2019, he has been a proud ambassador of the club's foundation, called the "Wolves Foundation."
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Things Change'' (2022)
* ''Anywhere But Here'' (2023)
Mixtapes
* ''Reasons'' (2018)
* ''Temporary'' (2018)
* ''True Colours'' (2019)
* ''A Repeat Wouldn't Go A Miss'' (2021)
Filmography
Professional boxing record
References
{{S-X
1992 births
Living people
English male singer-songwriters
English pop singers
English record producers
Musicians from the West Midlands (county)
Musicians from Wolverhampton
RBC Records artists
English tenors
English electronic musicians
English contemporary R&B singers
British trap musicians
21st-century English male singers
Atlantic Records artists
Universal Music Group artists