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Kano (rapper)
Kano (rapper)
Kano Also known as Born Origin Genre(s) Kano 21 May 1985 (1985-05-21)
Forest Gate, London, England
East Ham, London, England, UK Hip hop Grime R&B Musician, Songwriter, Record producer 2001 - present Bigger Picture Music Ghetto Craig David Vybz Kartel Damon Albarn Kate Nash Demon Fraser T. Smith Mikey J. Davinche http://www.ka-no.com/
Occupation(s) Years active Label(s) Associated acts
Website
Kane Brett Robinson (born 21 May 1985 in East Ham, Newham, London), better known as Kano, is a British rapper. His grandparents came to the United Kingdom as immigrants from Jamaica. He was a key member in East London’s N.A.S.T.Y. Crew (Natural Artistic Sounds Touching You), but due to a major argument within the Crew has since left N.A.S.T.Y. As of now Kano is no longer signed to 679 Recordings having recently parted ways with the label.
Biography
Early life
In his early teens Kano attended Langdon Comprehensive School in East Ham, Newham, where his mother still works as a netball teacher for Year 8. He attended Barking College achieving a diploma in graphic design, having a flair for visual communication and graphic publicity. However In his
younger years Kano was a promising footballer, representing Chelsea F.C., Junior Hammers and Norwich City by the age of thirteen,[1] but in the end he abandoned his sporting ambitions in favour of a musical career. His cousins Jonathan Fortune and Clayton Fortune play for Charlton Athletic and Darlington F.C respectively.[2] Kano first became known on the UK grime scene for his work with his original group, N.A.S.T.Y Crew, which included members such as Ghetto. From this springboard he was signed as a solo artist and began work on his debut solo album. Rap on the underground scene on Flava F.M as a youth after a couple of years he was scooped up by N.A.S.T.Y. Crew (Natural Artistic Sounds Touching You) who are an East London-based Grime crew . N.A.S.T.Y Crew was founded by Marcus Nasty with the original and most popular line up consisting of Kano, Jammer, D Double E, Ghetto, Stormin , Mak 10, Sharky Major r & Hyper . N.A.S.T.Y Crew had one of the most popular shows on pirate radio station Deja Vu on Monday nights from 8pm to 10pm, the sets featuring established and up and coming special guests such as Dizzee Rascal, Durrty Goodz, Wiley etc., Kano used the crews underground popularity as a springboard and left N.A.S.T.Y. His first solo track was "Boys Luv girls", which was produced in 2002, was later taken to a studio and remastered by Dizzee Rascal. Kano first became known in the UK grime scene for his work with his original group, N.A.S.T.Y. Crew. From this springboard he was signed as a solo artist and began work on his début solo album Home Sweet Home. In 2004, Kano released his debut solo single, "P’s & Q’s", on a 12" vinyl only release, which was a massive underground hit, marking Kano out as a rising star. He went up against Wiley on Lord of the Mics 1 in one of the most recognised grime clashes, despite only being 17 at the time and after being persuaded by Jammer. In March 2008, Kano parted ways with record label ’679’ and is currently unsigned. Kano has now stated that he wishes to go back to his "grimier roots" and resume
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making the music that made him well known. Such a claim seems apparent in the title of his next album project, which will be called ’140 Grime Street’. In early May 2008, he released a mixtape entitled ’Mc. No 1’.
Kano (rapper)
Shortly after the release of "Nite Nite", a promotional video for "Reload It", which featured live performance clips and backstage footage, was released to UK video station, Channel U to promote the album further. In December 2005, Kano released a remixed version of album track "Nobody Don’t Dance No More" featuring new artist Katie Pearl, as a download-only single. The track was also featured as a b-side on CD: 2 of "Nite Nite". On March 13 2006 Kano released the fifth and final single from the album, a double Aside of "Brown Eyes" and "Signs In Life". The single was released on a vinyl format only, and included a free sticker, which made it ineligible for chart inclusion. Home Sweet Home was a great critical success, getting Gold status in the UK. The album was well reviewed across the British press, most notably in The Independent and The Observer, two of the UK’s major newspapers. Many artists in the UK and in America expressed positive views of the album, including Busta Rhymes, Nas, RZA, Jay-Z, Andre 3000 and Chuck D of Public Enemy.
N.A.S.T.Y. Crew
Kano is fondly remembered by fans who listened to the original line-up of N.A.S.T.Y. Crew on pirate radio. However the crew eventually lost many influential members due to the in-house fighting that caused the departure of Jammer, D Double E, Footsie and Monkey. Marcus Nasty assaulted Jammer at Eskimo Dance, after it was claimed Jammer wasn’t paying Nasty Crew members for songs produced by Jammer. The incident has been mentioned on Industry Exposure Vol. 1 and Saw It Comin’ by Marcus Nasty and Jammer respectively. Marcus Nasty also slapped D Double E on stage over raves booked by D Double E under the Nasty Crew name, which in turn caused D Double E to leave the crew and form The Newham Generals with DJ Tubby Monkey and Footsie. The departure of Kano, Ghetto and Demon was rumoured to be provoked by violence from Marcus Nasty who was seen chasing Ghetto and Demon out of East Ham.
Beats And Bars
Towards the end of 2005, Kano released a mixtape, Beats & Bars, which was only made available at his concerts. This included various underground hits and showcased Kano’s ability to rap over hip hop beats and grime instrumentals. On 23 March 2006 Kano performed at Anson Rooms in Bristol for MTV2’s Spanking New Music along with JME, N-Dubz and Unklejam. He performed various tracks such as "London Town", "P’s & Q’s", "Brown Eyes", "Me & My Mic" and various tracks from the new mixtape. Kano confirmed on the show that his next album was to be called "London Town".
Home Sweet Home
In 2004, Kano was approached by Hugo Boss to model for their Spring/Summer collection,[3] but declined in order to begin recording and touring commitments. Shortly afterwards Kano released his debut solo single, "P’s & Q’s", on a 12" vinyl only release, which was a massive underground hit, marking Kano out as a rising star. In 2005 Kano released his second single, "Typical Me", his first full single release. "Typical Me" became a considerable hit, reaching #22 in the UK Singles Charts. It remains Kano’s highest charting single to date. The third single, "Remember Me", fared less well in the charts, only reaching #71. Two weeks later, on 27 June 2005, Kano’s highly anticipated début album Home Sweet Home was released. The week his album was released, it was the highest new entry, debuting inside the UK top 40 at #36. In September 2005, the fourth single "Nite Nite" was released, featuring Leo the Lion and The Streets. "Nite Nite" hit #25 in the UK charts, spending six weeks altogether on the top 75.
Run the Road
Kano’s music was also featured on Run the Road, a popular released compilation containing sixteen tracks of the best of 2004’s grime music. The compilation included contributions from other popular grime artists as well, including Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, and Lady Sovereign. Kano performed a verse on the track, “Destruction VIP,” and was featured on three other tracks, including “P’s and Q’s.”[4] Kano has been hailed as one of the artists particularly standing out on Run
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the Road due to his seemingly effortless rapping skills, and he displays confidence as a music artist that adds to his charm.[5]
Kano (rapper)
Hustler. The video for the song was based on the series The Wire and shows Kano going into a block of flats with rooms of topless women packing boxes of CDs. This part of the video also bares resemblance to the film New Jack City.
Mixtape & London Town
Before London Town was released, Kano put out a mixtape (simply called ’Mixtape’ on the front cover) for promotion. This included new material such as I Write Bars Till The Milkman Comes, the track Layer Cake (inspired by the film Layer Cake) and also Kano’s own versions of hip hop songs including Jay-Z’s Public Service Announcement, Nas’s Black Republican and Kanye West’s My Way Home. The mixtape also included a preview of Buss It Up, a song which featured on the later release London Town. London Town was released on September 10, 2007, preceded by the single, "This Is The Girl", featuring Craig David, on August 27. Along with Craig David the album features collaborations with Gorillaz member Damon Albarn (of Blur), Kate Nash, and Vybz Kartel. The album was criticised as being too commercial due to collaborations with Indie artists and not enough grime songs like Home Sweet Home had. After the release of the album, Kano toured the UK on numerous dates as well as performing the whole album at the Jazz Cafe in October 2007 alongside a live band[6]. Kano also sold out London Astoria in the same month to put on an entertaining show also promoting Tinchy Stryder on his tour.[7]
Awards and achievements
In 2005, Kano was nominated for 4 MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards, winning the award for Best Newcomer. He also won an award at the first Channel U "Best of British" Awards. On New Year’s Eve 2005, Kano was announced as one of "London’s Heroes of 2005" by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. He was also nominated for a BRIT Award for Best Urban Act in January 2006. Kano made a small cameo appearance in the new British film, Rollin’ with the Nines,[8] and is a playable character in the game Def Jam: Icon, the only British person to have yet been featured. Kano has received praise from many music critics who tend to cite his smooth techniques and confidence as strengths. Additionally, although he does have an accent, his rhymes seem to be easier for Americans to understand than some other rappers of the same genre, which has earned him some fame in the States.
MC No. 1 & 140 Grime St
In 2008, Kano no longer was signed to 679 Recordings and had posted all new freestyles on his Myspace page. Soon after in April, he released a mixtape called Mc No. 1 for fans before his third album 140 Grime Street hit the shelves. Despite the fact that Kano had said he wanted to go back to making grime music for 140 Grime Street, in MC No. 1 he used all American hip hop beats for the songs, yet it was still well received by fans. 140 Grime Street was released on 29 September 2008 through BPM (Bigger Picture Music). The majority of the album was produced by Mikey J, with Wiley and DaVinChe supplying two beats each, and Skepta handing the production for the song These MC’s. The album featured guest appearances from Ghetto, Skepta, Wiley, and Mikey J. The first single released was
Discography
Albums
• Home Sweet Home (27 June 2005) 679 Recordings - UK #36 • London Town (10 September 2007) 679 Recordings - UK #14 • 140 Grime Street (29 September 2008) BPM (Bigger Picture Music) - UK #48
Mixtapes
• • • • Beats & Bars (11 November 2005) Kano Mixtape (14 April 2007) Run the Road (featured) (24 January 2005) MC No.1 (7 April 2008)
Singles
Physical Singles
• "Brown Eyes" / "Signs In Life" was released on 12" vinyl only. The single is
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Year Title
Kano (rapper)
Chart Album Positions
UK Singles Chart
2004 "P’s and Q’s" (Released on 12.53" Vinyl Only) 2005 "Typical Me" "Remember Me" "Nite Nite" (feat. Leo The Lion & The Streets) 2006 "Brown Eyes" / "Signs In Life" (Released on 12.53" Vinyl
Only)
— 22 71 25 — — 18 N/C n/a 45
Home Sweet Home
"Buss It Up" (feat. Vybz Kartel)
(Released on 7.28" Vinyl Only)
2007 "This is the Girl" (feat. Craig David) "Feel Free" (feat. Damon Albarn) 2008 "Hustler" 2009 Chase & Status featuring Kano — "Against All Odds"
(Released in February 2009)
London Town 140 Grime Street
Year Title 2005 "Reload It" 2005 "Nobody Don’t Dance No More [Remix]" (Featuring Katie Pearl) Year Title
Additional Information Video only single.
Album Home Sweet Home
Download only single, Home Sweet B-Side to "Nite Nite". Produced by Fraser Home T Smith / Kano Chart Positions
UK Singles Chart
Album
2005 "Routine Check" (The Mitchell Brothers Featuring Kano & The Streets) 2009 "Number 1 Remix" (Tinchy Stryder Featuring N-Dubz & Kano ) classified as an NCQ - "Non Chart Qualifier" as it included a free sticker. Due to UK chart rules, free stickers are not allowed to be included in UK single releases. This is why the single could not enter the charts on its release in March 2006.
#42
A Breath Of Fresh Attire
#1
Number 1 - EP
References
[1] Rock & Pop: A one-man grime wave | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com [2] Sky Sports | Blogs | Pro Life | League One Pro Life | Everything going well [3] Kano - Free download only track available [4] Frere-Jones, Sasha. "True Grime." (New Yorker), 21 March 2005. [5] Breihan, Tom. “Grime Scene Investigation: Run the Road Brings the
Promo Only Singles Guest appearances
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U.K.’s Hip-Hop Hybrid Across the Pond.” 27 April 2005. [6] BBC - Electric Proms 2007 - Kano presents London Town [7] First Night: Kano, The Astoria, London Reviews, Music - Independent.co.uk [8] GIGWISE, Music News, Reviews, Gigs, Tickets, Bands, Forum, Classifieds
Kano (rapper)
External links
• • • • 140 Grime St’s Official Site Kano’s Official Site Kano’s Official Myspace Kano interview 2007 on ilikemusic.com
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kano_(rapper)" Categories: 1985 births, Living people, Grime artists, English rappers, Music from London, People from East Ham, Jamaican Briton rappers, English people of Jamaican descent, Black British musicians, Black British people This page was last modified on 13 May 2009, at 13:15 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
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