Born in 1994 and raised on the streets of Tottenham, Headie One grew up inspired by US rappers such as Future and French Montana. He surrounded himself with others who also needed an outlet to express their take on life and truly fell in love with music. By the end of 2011 after dropping solid verses in songs such as ‘Youngers From Farm and ‘Bang For My Set’ as well as some freestyles with fellow Tottenham affiliates, there was a real buzz on the streets around this young rapper. That led him to release his first mixtape ‘Headz Or Tails’ with lead single ‘On Sight’ becoming a street anthem.

Headie’s run ins with the law didn’t stop him from making quality music. In fact, during that period he grew even more as an artist by studying different types of music which resulted in him developing the unique flow and instinctive adlibbing that we know today. He went on to collaborate with fellow OFB member RV on three mixtapes; ‘Sticks & Stones’ ‘Drillers & Trappers’ and more recently, ‘Drillers & Trappers II’. These bodies of work really pushed Headie One to the forefront of the Drill rap scene in the UK. It is not surprising that fans eagerly awaited the release of his solo mixtape ‘The One’. Loaded with high calibre features from the likes of Section Boyz, RV, M Huncho and Loski, this is his best body of work to date. The lead single ‘Golden Boot’ has surpassed 3.2million YouTube views and has had strong support from BBC 1Xtra and Capital Xtra. Another big single “Know Better” was play listed on R1Xtra and has over 5million YouTube views, it is the club anthem of the year to date.

In June 2018, Headie continued his mixtape series by releasing his latest offering “The One Two” to critical acclaim. Yxng Bane featured on ‘This Week’ proving Headie One’s keenness to support fellow artists, showcased perfectly at his first sold out London headline show at Village Underground. Shortly after in September, Headie was crowned winner of the Breakthrough Of The Year at the GRM Daily Rated Awards, a sign of things to come for the up and coming artist.

Headie appeared on Yo! MTV Raps which followed a stand out live performance at MTV Push, alongside Jorja Smith and Grace Carter. Following this, Headie also appeared on Snoochie Shy’s Boiler Room TV show and had a hugely successful cameo appearance in Shiro Story Part 3. In support of his single Issa Mood feat Not3s, Headie played a sold out UK tour starting on 1st Nov to widespread critical acclaim.

Continuing the huge success of 2018, Headie started 2019 on an even bigger high, making UK chart history by becoming the first drill rapper to enter the Top 10, reaching number 6, with his track 18 Hunna ft Dave.

Headie performed at his first Glastonbury in late June, then further cemented his status as Britain’s #1 rapper with his latest single Back To Basics, featuring none other than grime superstar Skepta.

On 23rd August 2019 Headie released his latest mixtape Music X Road. His sixth mixtape in five years (including three solo tapes) Headie’s musical output and worth ethic is prolific.

Music X Road demonstrates Headie’s respect and high esteem he holds amongst his peers with an impressive list of collaborators. His long-time friend and collaborator RV features on Let’s Go with Krept & Konan along with Stefflon Don and Nav both featuring on Swerve. The heavy hitters continue with fellow Tottenham local and Grime legend Skepta on recent single Back To Basics and Headie’s biggest hit to date, 18HUNNA featuring Dave.

Latest single Both is his first Radio 1 play-listed track and features the sample of 90’s banger Free by Ultra Nate over a brooding rap from Headie, providing his most epic track to date. Headie will perform 11 dates across the UK and Ireland for his first run of live headline dates since his 2018 sold out tour.

KT Tunstall