Kano (British musician)

Kano
Kano performing in 2017
Background information
Birth name	Kane Brett Robinson
Also known as	Kano KA
Born	(1985-05-21)21 May 1985 East Ham,London, England
Genres	British hip hop grime UK Garage
Occupations	Rapper songwriter actor
Years active	2002–present
Labels	679(2005–2007) Bigger Picture(2008–present) Parlophone(2016–present)
Website	kanomusic.com

Kane Brett Robinson(born 21 May 1985), better known asKano,is a British rapper, songwriter and actor fromEast Ham,London. His fifth album,Made in the Manorwas shortlisted for the 2016Mercury Prizeand won Best Album at the2016 MOBO Awards.On screen, he played the role of Sully inTop Boy.

Music career

1985–2003: early years

Kane Robinson, born in East Ham, was raised byJamaicanparents, he attendedLangdon Secondary Schoolwhere he completed hisGCSE's,before studyingA-Levelsat sixth form. In his younger years he was a promisingfootballer,representingChelsea,West Ham United,Norwich CityandCelticby the age of 13,eventually abandoning his sporting ambitions in favour of a musical career.

He joined the East London-based, N.A.S.T.Y. Crew (Natural Artistic Sounds Touching You), whose original line-up consisted of Kano, Marcus Nasty, Jammer, D Double E, Ghetts, Demon, Stormin, Mak 10, Monkstar, Sharky Major, Armour, and Hyper.N.A.S.T.Y Crew had a show on pirate radio station Deja Vu. Airing Monday nights from 8:00 to 10:00 pm, the sets featured established up-and-coming guests, includingDizzee Rascal,Durrty Goodz,andWiley.Robinson used the crew's underground popularity as a springboard, leaving N.A.S.T.Y. to release his first solo track in 2002. He was then signed as a solo artist and began work on his debut solo album.

2004–2005:Home Sweet Home

In 2004, Robinson as asked to model forHugo Boss,but he declined to begin recording and touring commitments. Shortly afterwards he released his debut major label solo single, "P's & Q's", on a 12 "vinyl-only release, which was an underground hit.

In 2005, he released his second single, "Typical Me",produced by"Fraser T Smith"and featuring Ghetts." Typical Me "reached No. 22 in theUK Singles Charts.The video for "Typical Me" was directed by Andy Hylton. The third single, "Remember Me", fared less well in the charts, reaching No. 71. Two weeks later, on 27 June 2005, his début albumHome Sweet Homewas released. It debuted inside the UK top 40 at No. 36 in its first week. In September 2005, the fourth single "Nite Nite" was released, featuringLeo the LionandThe Streets.Home Sweet Homewent on to gain gold status in the UK, and was well reviewed across the British press.

"Nite Nite" was released as the next single from the album, hitting No. 25 in the UK charts and spending six weeks altogether in the top 75. 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.In December 2005, Robinson released a remixed version of album track "Nobody Don't Dance No More" featuring Katie Pearl, as a download-only single. The track was also featured as a B-side on CD: 2 of "Nite Nite". On 13 March 2006, Robinson released the fifth and final single from the album, adouble A-sideof "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.

Robinson's music was also featured onRun the Road,a 2005 compilation featuring 16grimetracks. The compilation included contributions from other grime artists, includingWiley,Dizzee Rascal,andLady Sovereign.Robinson performed a verse on the track "Destruction VIP" and was featured on three other tracks, including "P's and Q's".

2006–2007:London Town

On 23 March 2006, Robinson performed at Anson Rooms inBristolfor MTV2's Spanking New Music along withJME,N-DubzandUnklejam.He performed tracks including "London Town", "P's & Q's", "Brown Eyes", "Me & My Mic" and tracks from the Beats & Bars mixtape. Robinson confirmed on the show that his next album was to be calledLondon Town.

Prior to the album's release, Robinson put out a mixtape (simply calledMixtapeon the front cover), which included new material and his 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 that featured on the later releaseLondon Town.The album was released on 10 September 2007, preceded by the single "This Is The Girl", featuringCraig David,on 27 August. Along with David, the album featured collaborations withBlurandGorillazfrontmanDamon Albarn,Kate Nash,andVybz Kartel.Robinson toured the UK in support of the record, as well as performing the whole album at the Jazz Cafe in October 2007 alongside a live band.Kano also sold out London Astoria in the same month to put on an entertaining show also promotingTinchy Stryderon his tour.

2008–2009:140 Grime StandMC No. 1

In 2008, Robinson was no longer signed to 679 Recordings as he wished to return to his "grimier roots" and had posted all new freestyles on hisMySpacepage. In April of that year, he released a mixtape,MC No. 1,followed by a third album,140 Grime Street.Despite primarily using American hip-hop-style beats, seemingly contra to his previous comments, both were well received.140 Grime Streetwas released on 29 September 2008 through BPM (Bigger Picture Music). The majority of the album was produced by Mikey J, with Wiley andDaVinChesupplying two beats each, and Skepta handling the production for the song "These MC's". The album featured guest appearances fromGhetto,Skepta, Wiley, and Mikey J. The first single released was "Hustler."

A second single, "Rock N Rolla", was first premiered on Radio 1xtra DJ Mista Jam's radio show. The single was officially released in October. "More Than One Way" also premiered on Mista Jam's 1xtra radio show. The video was also released on Kano's official YouTube page.The track was written for a campaign to promote the Diploma and was given away for free exclusively from The Diploma website.The music video was made with the help of students from around the UK. The TV ad shows Robinson walking through a crowd of students whose Diploma qualifications pop up in bubbles above them. Creative and media students helped in producing the video and construction students helped make the set.

2010–2013:Method to the Maadnessand mixtapes

Robinson's fourth album,Method to the Maadness,was released on 30 August 2010 and charted in theUK Albums Chartat number 45, making it the rapper's fourth successive album to appear in the Top 50. The lead single, "Upside" (featuring Michelle Breeze), was released on 23 August 2010. That same year he provided vocals on the thirdGorillazstudio album,Plastic Beach.He collaborated with fellow British rapperBashyand the National Orchestra for Arabic Music on the track "White Flag".

In September, Robinson announced a four-track collaborative EP with the producer Mikey J. The EP was entitledNot for the A Listbecause Robinson did not want anything to stand in his way when it came to making the music.Part of the EP was to make one track a week and to release it to a DJ to play on radio, ensuring it was a different DJ each week over a timeline of four weeks. The first track was "Random Antics" 'the second track, "Alien", and featured Maxsta, the first label signing by the SBTV founder Jamal Edwards.The third week was a track titled "E.T", featuring Wiley, Scorcher and Wretch 32.The fourth track, "House of Pain", featuring Ghetts, was delayed due to the length being7+1⁄2minutes. The DJ had to get permission from his boss to play it.It was expected Robinson is using the EP to build anticipation for his fifth studio album, to be released in 2012.

On 13 November 2011, Robinson announced via Twitter that he would release a mixtape some time that month entitledGirls Over Guns.On 1 January 2012, he released a mixtape calledJack Bauer 2.4as the follow-up mixtape to the 2010 edition.

2014–2018:Made in the Manor

On 26 April 2014, Robinson released a music video viaSB.TVfor "Flow of the Year' featuringJME.The following year came his single "Hail" in March 2015 and its B-side "New Banger" released viaNoiseyin April 2015.This preceded his fifth albumMade in the Manor,eventually released in 2016. Promotion for the album began with the single "3 Wheel-Ups" featuringWileyandGiggs.The song premiered onMistaJam'sBBC Radio 1Xtrashow on 7 January 2016. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 126and the UK R&B Chart at number 16.

The album entered theUK Albums Chartat number 8, becoming Robinson's highest-charting album sinceLondon Town(2007).

2019–present:Hoodies All Summer

On 30 August 2019, Robinson's sixth studio albumHoodies All Summerwas released following its announcement the month previously. The album would be later shortlisted for theMercury Prize2020, the second time in his career. He provided vocals again in 2020 for the seventhGorillazstudio albumSong Machine, Season One: Strange Timez,along with Spanish singer Roxani Arias for the song "Dead Butterflies". In October 2020, Robinson collaborated withFraser T. Smithin the production of Smith's debut album "12 Questions".

Acting career

In October 2011, Robinson made his acting debut in the Channel 4 dramaTop Boy.His character, Sully, was originally written as an Asian drug dealer. Casting directorDes Hamilton,directorYann Demangeand writer Ronan Bennett were so impressed with his chemistry test with co-starAshley Walters,causing the character to be rewritten. The original run of the show went for two seasons, before Channel 4 cancelled it in 2014.

In 2017, it was announced that streaming platformNetflixwould be revivingTop Boy,with Robinson reprising his role as Sully. The revival was, in part, due to the interest of Canadian rapperDrake,who was a fan of the original series and whose team co-produced the new episodes.The third and fourth series premiered on Netflix in September 2019 and March 2022, respectively.A fifth and final series was announced on 31 March 2022, and aired in September 2023.

Robinson plays the lead role inThe Kitchen,a dystopian thriller forNetflixdirected byKibwe TavaresandDaniel Kaluuya,which premiered at the 67th London Film Festival on 15 October 2023.

Awards, nominations and recognition

Robinson was voted Best Newcomer award in 2004 at theUrban Music Awardsand then in 2005, he was nominated for 4MOBO(Music of Black Origin) Awards, winning the award for Best Newcomer. He also won an award at the firstChannel U"Best of British" Awards. On New Year's Eve 2005, he was announced as one of "London's Heroes of 2005" by Mayor of LondonKen Livingstone.He was also nominated for aBRIT Awardfor Best Urban Act in January 2006. In 2016 Kano's albumMade in the Manorwas nominated for the Mercury Music Award. Made in the Manor also won 'Best Album' in the 2016MOBOawards. He was nominated for a second Mercury Music Award for his 6th Studio albumHoodies All Summer.

In 2022, Robinson won aMOBO Award for Best Performance in a TV Show/Filmfor his performance in the fourth series ofTop Boy.

Personal life

Robinson is a supporter of Liverpool F.C.

Political views

In November 2019, along with 34 other musicians, Robinson signed a letter endorsing theLabour PartyleaderJeremy Corbynin the2019 UK general electionwith a call to end austerity.In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, he signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few."

Discography

Main article:Kano discography

• Home Sweet Home(2005)
• London Town(2007)
• 140 Grime Street(2008)
• Method to the Maadness(2010)
• Made in the Manor(2016)
• Hoodies All Summer(2019)

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Rollin' with the Nines	Kano
2007	Point Blank	Akil	Short
2012	Tower Block	Mark
2023	The Kitchen	Izi

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011–2023	Top Boy	Sully	Series 1–5

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Def Jam: Icon	Himself	Voice role and likeness

External links

• KanoatIMDb
• KanoonAunomay Music
• KanoonMyspace