Bashy

For the Emmerdale character, see Ashley Thomas.
Bashy

Bashy Arrives at Award Nominations Launch, London. 2012
Background information
Born (1985-02-04) 4 February 1985
Hammersmith, London, England
Origin Kensal Rise, London, England
Genres Hip hop, grime
Occupation(s) Musician, actor, songwriter, music supervisor
Years active 2004–present
Labels Ragz 2 Richez Entertainment
Associated acts Tinie Tempah, Chip, N-Dubz, Tinchy Stryder, Wretch 32, Gorillaz, Kano, Justice
Website bashy.com

Ashley Thomas (born 4 February 1985), also known by his stage name Bashy, is an English musician and actor, from Kensal Green, London, England.

Biography

Early life

Thomas was born in Hammersmith, West London. The first born of a Jamaican mother and Dominican father. He attended St Mary's of the Angels RC Primary School. At age eleven, his family moved to Kensal Rise, northwest London and he attended the Cardinal Hinsley High School.

Thomas attended the BRIT School for performing Arts where he was a theatre student. The school boasts former students such as Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, Adele & Jessie J.

During the release of the Chupa Chups Mixtape Thomas was a struggling independent musician, so worked for Royal Mail as a postman. He worked there for a year to save money then left to pursue a music career full-time. The money he saved was soon spent, as his music career did not take off as he envisaged, it was during this period that he decided to become a bus driver. He drove the 114, 183 and 292 buses for 2 years. He has been very open about time as a bus driver, in order to promote the idea that working is better for young people than a life of crime and violence.

Music career

Black Boys

In 2007 Thomas released the song "Black Boys". It was this track that propelled Thomas into the nation's consciousness, catching the imagination of a country suffering from many incidents of violence amongst its inner-city youth.

With frequent reports of shootings and stabbings on news bulletins, and with the media continually focusing on the lack of role models in certain communities, he felt that the nation's inner city youth needed a reminder that they had a number of positive role models they could look to for inspiration. His début single provoked controversy, as some people called the track racist. This prompted the governing body Ofcom to investigate. Rumours soon began to circulate that the track had been banned from TV. Certain sections of the black community were outraged; groups were set up on the social networking site Facebook in order to fight the ban. Racist videos were put up as responses to the track on YouTube, in which men dressed as Ku Klux Klan members would hurl abuse at black people, with the track playing in the background. This prompted people of many races to get behind and support Bashy, in a united stand against racism. It was as a result of this publicity and grass roots action that Bashy was invited to perform at the Love Music Hate Racism Rally in 2008 at Victoria Park, to a crowd of 100,000. He was asked to take the main stage alongside Damon Albarn.[1] Bashy persuaded various British artists to share their views on the subject. Skinnyman, Ty, Big Narstie, Tinie Tempah, Wretch 32, Chipmunk, Swiss, Durrty Goodz, J2K, Skepta, Sincere, Akala and Scorcher featured on the track.

Adulthood

Thomas soon found himself working on Adulthood. Noel Clarke, director and star of the Adulthood first encountered Bashy when he was passed a copy of his earlier mixtapes which contained samples from Clarke's previous Kidulthood film. Clarke was impressed by what he heard, that his thoughts soon drifted from copyright protection to how to get Thomas involved in the follow-up. He asked Thomas to submit a track to be included on the soundtrack, and Thomas delivered "Kidulthood to Adulthood". Thomas also delved into the grime scene and gathered music from other artists for Clarke to listen to. Clarke then asked Thomas to act as assistant music supervisor for the entire fim. [2]

Catch Me If You Can

Thomas released his debut album, Catch Me If You Can, on 1 June 2009. Hiphop.com rated the album 'good' and cited, "Catch Me If You Can is a debut album that perfectly encapsulates how hip hop has become the world's local music. With vocal accents, lyrical references, swagger and varied production styles that will take a minute for the non-Brit to get their head around, much of this likeable and well-intentioned set still deserves wider attention."[3]

Acting career

Thomas was named as one of the Screen International Stars of Tomorrow 2012.[4]

Acting

Although initially starting out as an actor Thomas landed his first role in 2009 as Rager in British flick, Shank, An independent action film set in a decaying future London. He then went on to star in Noel Clarke's 4.3.2.1 that same year.

In April 2010 BBC Learning launched Off By Heart Shakespeare, a recital contest for secondary school pupils. For the project he took on the role of Shylock from 'The Merchant of Venice' and delivered one of the character's most memorable speeches; "To bait Fish withal".[5]

Early in 2011 he signed on to play the lead role in, The Man Inside, opposite Peter Mullen, David Harewood and Michelle Ryan. Later that year he was part of an ensemble cast in Cockneys vs Zombies taking up the role of Mental Mickey. The Metro newspaper describing Thomas' wild card performance as "Brilliant".[6]

Thomas' first television role came in the winter of 2011, in the Emmy award winning series Black Mirror by Charlie Brooker for Channel 4 as Judge Wraith. The Guardian citing "All the performances are good – especially Ashley Thomas as Judge Wraith ...".[7] Thomas' next film was My Brother the Devil which received critical acclaim, winning awards at both the Sundance Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival.

After being strongly considered for the hit Channel 4 TV series Top Boy season 1 in 2011, Thomas was included in season 2 as Jermaine Newton in 2013.

Early in 2015 Thomas guest starred in the BBC series The Interceptor. Thomas' next TV appearance would be as Gil in the short lived fantasy drama Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands for ITV in January 2016. Thomas signed up to the ensemble cast of A Hundred Streets released the same year.

Early in 2016 it was confirmed Thomas would appear as a Calvin Hart in the HBO limited series The Night Of directed by James Marsh and Steve Zaillian. [8]

In March 2016 it was announced Thomas was set as a lead role in the 20th Century Fox Television reboot of franchise series 24[9] as Isaac Carter.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions
UK
2009 Catch Me If You Can
  • Independent studio album
  • Released: 1 June 2009
  • Label: Ragz2Richez (independent label)
 –

Mixtapes/EPs

Singles and music videos

Year Title Chart Positions Album
UK
2008 "Black Boys" (featuring Loick Essien (uncredited) – Catch Me If You Can
"Kidulthood to Adulthood" 86
2009 "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (featuring Toddla T) –
"Your Wish Is My Command" (featuring H-Boogie) –
2010 "Fantasy" (featuring Preeya Kalidas) 88
"Make My Day" (vs. NAPT) –
2013 "These Are the Songs" 87
2014 "Bring the Lights Down" (featuring Jareth) –

Guest appearances

Awards and nominations

Year Award Result
2008 MOBO Award for Best Video – Kidulthood to Adulthood[10] Nominated
Urban Music Award for Best Video – Black Boys[11] Nominated
Urban Music Award for Most Inspirational Artist Won
Screen Nation Award for Best Music Performance in Film/TV[12] Won
2009 MOBO Award for Best Album – Catch Me If You Can[10] Nominated
MOBO Award for Best UK Act –[11] Nominated
Urban Music Award for Best Hip Hop Nominated
Official Mixtape Awards for Best Hip Hop Mixtape – Bashy.com Nominated
Official Mixtape Awards for Best Mixtape of the Decade – The Chupa Chups Mixtape Nominated
Official Mixtape Awards for Best Mixtape 2009 – Bashy.com Nominated
UK Music Video Awards for Best Budget Video – Pop, Dance, Urban – Ransom Nominated
2012 Screen International UK Stars of Tomorrow 2012 Won

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes
2010 Shank Rager
4.3.2.1 Smooth
2011 The Veteran Tyrone Jones
Cockneys vs Zombies Mental Mickey
2012 The Man Inside Clayton
2012 My Brother the Devil Lenny
2016 A Hundred Streets Jules
2016 Brotherhood Calvin

Television

Year Programme Role Notes
2011 Black Mirror Judge Wraith Episode "Fifteen Million Merits"
2013 Top Boy Jermaine Newton 2 Episodes
2015 The Interceptor Dexter Blair 1 Episode
2016 Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands Gil 4 Episodes
2016 The Night Of Calvin Hart 3 Episodes
2016 24: Legacy Isaac Carter 12 Episodes

References

  1. ↑ "Making music matter". Redpepper.org.uk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  2. ↑ Box office business for Adulthood
  3. ↑ "Catch Me If You Can: BASHY". Hiphop.com. 15 June 2009. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  4. ↑ http://www.screendaily.com/news/uk-ireland/screen-unveils-2012-uk-stars-of-tomorrow/5043396.article
  5. ↑ "Schools – Teachers – Off By Heart Shakespeare". BBC. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  6. ↑ http://metro.co.uk/2012/08/30/cockneys-v-zombies-michelle-ryan-dvd-review-556890/
  7. ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/dec/11/review-charlie-brooker-black-mirror
  8. ↑ http://deadline.com/2016/03/james-gandolfini-criminal-justice-hbo-the-night-of-hbo-summer-premiere-1201718731/
  9. ↑ http://deadline.com/2016/03/24-legacy-ashley-thomas-cast-fox-reboot-24-pilot-1201717393/
  10. 1 2 "Dizzee Rascal, Jay-Z and Estelle lead MOBO nominations | News". Nme.Com. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  11. 1 2 "Interviews With Bashy, Sway, Tinchy Stryder, Skeelo & Richard Blackwood". Pr-inside.com. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
  12. ↑ "~* 7th Screen Nation Awards 2010 *~". Screennation.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2011.

External links

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