AJ Tracey

AJ Tracey (2019)

AJ Tracey (born March 4, 1994 in Ladbroke Grove, London , United Kingdom ; real name Ché Wolton Grant ) is a British rapper , singer , songwriter and music producer .

life and career

Grant was born in 1994 to a former rapper with Trinidadian roots and a Welsh mother who worked as a DJ. He completed his education at Middle Row Primary School and Holland Park School in London. He then began a criminology course at the London Metropolitan University , but ended it early to become a rapper. His first artistic output can be traced back to 2011 and consisted of eleven songs that he published on the SoundCloud platform under the pseudonym Looney Tell 'Em . His first mixtape Didn't Make the Cut was released on September 13, 2012. A second mixtape called No More Looney was released on August 30, 2014 and featured guest appearances from rappers Big Zuu, Jay Amo, Wax and Sketch. Two EPs followed in 2015, The Front and Alex Moran . The collaboration with Dave Thiago Silva , published in 2016 , only reached the UK singles charts in 2019 and was awarded a gold record in the UK . In 2017 he took his first steps as a music producer and produced among others the songs La4aweek and Tell Man Twice by his label colleague Big Zuu. In October 2017 he achieved his first chart success in the British charts with the song Quarterback (Secure the Back) . The single Butterflies , which was created in 2018 with rapper Not3s , was the first of his releases to reach the top 20 in the UK. His debut album named after him was released on February 8, 2019 and rose to number three on the British album charts. The fifth single from the Ladbroke Grove project , named after the section in which the rapper grew up, also reached number three in the singles charts in June 2019. A deluxe version of his first album followed in October 2019.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
2019	AJ Tracey Warner Music Group	UK3 gold (55 weeks)UK	First published: February 8, 2019 Sales: + 100,000

EPs

year	Title music label	Remarks
2015	The Front self-distribution	First published: June 12, 2015
	Alex Moran self-distribution	First published: December 4th, 2015
	AJ's Stocking Filler self-distribution	First published: December 25, 2015
2016	Lil Tracey self-distribution	First published: December 2, 2016
2017	Secure the Bag! Self-distribution	First published: October 6, 2017

Mix tapes

year	Title music label	Remarks
2012	Didn't make the cut self-distribution	First released: September 13, 2012 as Looney
2014	No More Looney self-distribution	First released: August 30, 2014 as Looney

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
2016	Packages single-track	-	First published: February 22, 2016
	Thiago Silva single track	UK36 platinum (13 weeks)UK	First published: May 13, 2016 Sales: + 600,000; with Dave
	Leave Me Alone single track	-	First published: July 8, 2016
	The Rumble single track	-	First published: August 26, 2016 with MJ Cole
	Buster Cannon Lil Tracey	-	First published: November 11, 2016
2017	La4aweek single track	-	First published: June 14, 2017 feat. Swoosh & Sloan Evans
	False 9 single track	-	First published: July 1, 2017
	Blacked Out Secure the Bag!	-	First published: July 31, 2017
	Quarterback (Secure the Bag!) Secure the Bag!	UK75 (1 week) UK	First published: October 4th, 2017
2018	Mimi single track	UK51 silver (6 weeks)UK	First published: March 23, 2018 Sales: + 200,000
	Butterflies AJ Tracey	UK19th platinum (19 weeks)UK	First published: May 30, 2018 Sales: + 600,000; feat. Not3s
	3AM single track	-	First published: July 12, 2018 with Baauer & Jay Stephens
	Lo (v / s) er single track	UK28 silver (8 weeks)UK	First published: August 29, 2018 Sales: + 200,000
	Doing It AJ Tracey	UK56 (1 week) UK	First published: November 20, 2018
2019	Psych Out! AJ Tracey	UK18th silver (9 weeks)UK	First published: January 17th, 2019 Sales: + 200,000
	Necklace single track	-	First published: March 8, 2019 with Jay Critch
	Ladbroke Grove AJ Tracey	UK3 × 2 Double platinum (59 weeks)UK	First published: June 4th, 2019 Sales: + 1,200,000
	Cat Pack single track	UK56 (3 weeks) UK	First published: October 2, 2019
	Raft AJ Tracey	UK22 (10 weeks) UK	First published: October 24, 2019 feat. MoStack & Not3s
	Kiss and Tell single track	UK31 (3 weeks) UK	First published: October 31, 2019 feat. Skepta
2020	Rain single track	UK3 gold (… Where.)UK	First published: March 5, 2020 Sales: + 400,000; with Aitch feat. Tay Keith
	Dinner Guest single track	UK5 gold (… Where.)UK	First published: May 1, 2020 Sales: + 400,000; feat. MoStack
	West Ten single track	UK5 silver (… Where.)UK	First published: July 3, 2020 Sales: + 200,000; with Mabel
The following songs did not appear as single, but were made available for download and streaming through the album and were thus able to achieve a placement:
2019	Wifey Riddim 3 AJ Tracey	UK46 (1 week) UK	Chart entry: February 21, 2019
	Elastic Top Boy - A Selection of Music Inspired by the Series	UK63 (2 weeks) UK	Chart entry: September 26, 2019
	Halloween AJ Tracey (Deluxe)	UK100 (1 week) UK	Chart entry: November 7, 2019 feat. Young Adz

Singles as guest musicians

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
2017	Pop star single track	-	First published: July 21, 2017 Nessly feat. AJ Tracey & Blackbear
	Apologies single track	-	First published: August 25, 2017 Sloan Evans feat. AJ Tracey & Swoosh
2018	Have U Seen single track	-	First published: February 25, 2018 Misogi feat. AJ Tracey
	London's Calling Let's Work (Vol. 1)	-	First published: May 3, 2018 GRM Daily feat. Skrapz, Avelino, Asco, Loski & AJ Tracey
	Other Man Infinity 33	-	First published: September 27, 2018 D33J feat. AJ Tracey & Sloan Evans
2019	Fashion Week single track	UK7th platinum (15 weeks)UK	First published: March 21, 2019 Sales: + 600,000; Steel Banglez feat. AJ Tracey & MoStack
	Choose Sides single track	-	First published: June 13, 2019 M.O feat. AJ Tracey
	Leave Dat Trap single track	UK53 (3 weeks) UK	First published: June 27, 2019 Unknown T feat. AJ Tracey
	No Limits single track	-	First published: November 29, 2019 Big Zuu & D7 feat. AJ Tracey
	We're Doin This single track	-	First published: December 16, 2019 Remtrex feat. AJ Tracey
	Trendsetter single track	-	First published: December 19, 2019 Nyge feat. AJ Tracey & Kranium
2020	Ain't It Different single track	UK4 (... weeks) UK	First published: August 21, 2020 Headie One feat. AJ Tracey & Stormzy

Awards for music sales

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
United Kingdom (BPI)	4 × silver4th	3 × gold3	5 × platinum5	4,700,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	4 × silver4th	3 × gold3	5 × platinum5

Web links

• AJ Tracey at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Simran Hans: AJ Tracey is ready for business. In: The Fader. June 6, 2018, accessed February 16, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Aimee Cliff: Meet AJ Tracey, The College Dropout Keeping Grime Fresh. In: The Fader. December 7, 2016, accessed February 16, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Looney Tell 'Em on Soundcloud. In: SoundCloud . Retrieved February 16, 2020 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: UK
5. ↑ Aron A .: AJ Tracey Delivers Deluxe Edition Of Self-Titled Debut Album. In: HotNewHipHop. October 25, 2019, accessed on February 16, 2020 .