Bashy | |
|---|---|
 Bashy at the MOBO Awards in 2025 | |
| Born | Ashley Thomas 4 February 1985 Hammersmith, London, England |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Education | BRIT School |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Musical career | |
| Also known as | Bashy |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Website | bashy |
Ashley Thomas (born 4 February 1985), also known by the stage name Bashy, [1] is a British actor and rapper. [2]
Thomas was born in Hammersmith, West London. His mother is of Jamaican heritage and his father is of Dominican heritage. [1] He attended St. Mary's of the Angels RC Primary School. Aged 8, his family moved to Kensal Rise, in the London Borough of Brent. He attended Cardinal Hinsley High School, [1] where he excelled in drama studies. He was later expelled from school and sent to live with his grandmother in Dominica. [3] Thomas went on to join the BRIT School for Performing Arts as a theatre student. [1]
Before finding acting and music success Thomas worked as a London bus driver during his early twenties. [3]
By his late teens, Thomas was a part of the UK’s emerging grime scene, rapping on pirate radio stations.
In 2007, Thomas released the song "Black Boys". [3] With frequent reports of shootings and stabbings on news bulletins, and with the media focusing on the lack of role models in black communities, Thomas felt that the British inner-city youth could be reminded they had a number of positive role models they could look to for inspiration. [3]
In 2008, Thomas started working on Adulthood . [3] Noel Clarke, the writer and director of Adulthood, first encountered Thomas when he was passed a copy of The Chupa Chups Mixtape, which contained samples from Clarke's previous film, Kidulthood . [4] Clarke was impressed with what he heard and disregarded concerns around the copyright infringement instead finding a way for Thomas to work on the official soundtrack for Adulthood. [4] Thomas delivered the film's theme song Kidulthood to Adulthood. [4]
Thomas released his debut album, Catch Me If You Can in 2009. [3] The album was nominated for the 2009 MOBO Award for Album of the Year.
In 2010, Thomas featured on the song "White Flag" by Gorillaz from their critically acclaimed album Plastic Beach . [3] The song saw Bashy feature alongside UK rapper Kano and the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music. [3]
In 2013, Thomas stepped away from music to focus on his acting career full time.
Thomas released his first full-length album in 15 years, Being Poor is Expensive , on 12 July 2024. [5] The album received critical acclaim and won the 2025 MOBO Award for Album of Year. Bashy also won the MOBO Award for Best Hip Hop Act that same year. [6] His song How Black Men Lose Their Smile was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song.
Thomas landed his first role in 2010 as Rager in British flick, Shank , [3] an independent action film set in a decaying future London. He then went on to feature as Smoothy in the movie 4.3.2.1. that same year. [3] In April 2010, BBC Learning launched Off By Heart Shakespeare, a recital contest for secondary school pupils, [7] and Thomas was asked to play the role of Shylock from The Merchant of Venice . [7]
In 2011, Thomas played the part of Mental Mickey in Cockneys vs Zombies . [8] Later that year, he played Tyrone Jones in The Veteran . [8] His 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 in the episode "Fifteen Million Merits". [7]
In 2012, Thomas played the lead role in The Man Inside , opposite Peter Mullan, David Harewood and Michelle Ryan. His next film was My Brother the Devil , [8] which received critical acclaim, winning awards at both the Sundance Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival.
In 2013, he played the recurring character Jermaine Newton in Top Boy , a role he reprised in 2019 after it was announced that Netflix was to revive the British drama series. [7]
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. [7]
Early in 2016, it was confirmed Thomas was to appear as Calvin Hart in the HBO limited series The Night Of directed by James Marsh and Steve Zaillian. [9] In March 2016, Thomas was set as a lead role in the 20th Century Fox Television reboot of franchise series 24 as Isaac Carter. [10] Early in 2018, Thomas played the brother of Luca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) in the legal drama The Good Fight , airing on CBS All Access. [7] Later that year Thomas starred in Skin, the film won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 91st Academy Awards.
In 2019 it was announced Thomas would co-star in the NYPD Blue reboot. [11] That same year Thomas was set to headline the Amazon Prime horror series Them ; [12] for his performance he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination. [13] In 2021, Thomas starred in the British limited series The Ipcress File on ITV. In February 2022, the cast for the Steven Knight's adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations for the BBC was announced, [14] with Olivia Colman cast as Miss Havisham, Fionn Whitehead cast as Pip and Thomas cast as Mr Jaggers, becoming the first black actor to play the role; for his performance he received a Royal Television Society Programme Award nomination. [15] Later that year, Thomas had been cast as the male lead in the Hulu drama series Black Cake opposite Adrienne Warren and Mia Isaac. [16] In 2023 Thomas joined the cast of The Serpent Queen as Alessandro de Medici. [17] In March 2024, Thomas was cast in the Netflix political television series Hostage as Dr Alex Anderson, alongside Suranne Jones. Filming began that month with the working title The Choice. [18] In November 2024 it was announced Thomas had been cast in the Channel 4 crime thriller drama series In Flight. [19]
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| Catch Me If You Can |
|
| Being Poor is Expensive |
|
| Title | Year | Chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK [20] | |||
| "Black Boys" | 2008 | — | Catch Me If You Can |
| "Kidulthood to Adulthood" | 86 | ||
| "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (featuring Toddla T) | 2009 | — | |
| "Your Wish Is My Command" (featuring H-Boogie) | — | ||
| "Fantasy" (featuring Preeya Kalidas) | 88 | Non-album singles | |
| "Make My Day" (vs. NAPT) | 2010 | — | |
| "These Are the Songs" | 2013 | 87 | |
| "Bring the Lights Down" (featuring Jareth) | 2014 | — |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Shank | Rager | |
| 2010 | 4.3.2.1. | Smooth | |
| 2011 | The Veteran | Tyrone Jones | |
| 2011 | Cockneys vs Zombies | Mental Mickey | |
| 2012 | The Man Inside | Clayton | |
| 2012 | My Brother the Devil | Lenny | |
| 2016 | 100 Streets | Jules | |
| 2016 | Brotherhood | Calvin | |
| 2018 | Skin | Jaydee | |
| 2018 | Been So Long | Wendell | |
| 2018 | Kill Ben Lyk | Charming Ben Lyk |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Black Mirror | Judge Wraith | Episode: Fifteen Million Merits |
| 2015 | The Interceptor | Dexter Blair | Episode: 1.3 |
| 2016 | Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands | Gil | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | The Night Of | Calvin Hart | 2 Episodes |
| 2017 | 24: Legacy | Isaac Carter | 10 Episodes |
| 2018 | The Good Fight | Dominic Quinn | Episode: Day 429 |
| 2018 | Ice | Malcolm Rose | 10 Episodes |
| 2018 | Salvation | Alonzo Carter | 10 Episodes |
| 2013–2019 | Top Boy | Jermaine Newton | 7 episodes |
| 2019 | NYPD Blue | Detective Chris Gamble | Pilot (Unaired) |
| 2021 | Them: Covenant | Henry Emory | 10 Episodes |
| 2022 | The Ipcress File | Paul Maddox | 6 Episodes |
| 2023 | Great Expectations | Jaggers | 6 Episodes |
| 2023 | Black Cake | Byron Bennett | 8 Episodes |
| 2024 | The Serpent Queen | Alessandro De Medici | 5 Episodes |
| 2025 | Hostage | Dr Alex Anderson | 5 Episodes |
| 2025 | In Flight | Dom | 4 Episodes |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | MOBO Awards | Best Video | Kidulthood to Adulthood | Nominated | [21] |
| Urban Music Awards | Best Video | Black Boys | Nominated | [22] | |
| Urban Music Awards | Most Inspirational Artist | Won | [23] | ||
| Screen Nation Awards | Best Music Performance in Film/TV | Won | [24] | ||
| 2009 | MOBO Awards | Best Album | Catch Me If You Can | Nominated | [25] |
| Best UK Act | Nominated | [26] | |||
| Urban Music Awards | Best Hip Hop | Nominated | [21] | ||
| 2024 | UK Music Video Awards | Best Hip Hop, Rap and Grime | Being Poor is Expensive | Nominated | [27] |
| BET Hip Hop Awards | Best International | Nominated | [28] | ||
| DJ Mag: Best Of British Awards | Best Rap Album | Nominated | [29] | ||
| 2025 | MOBO Awards | Album of the Year | Won | [30] | |
| Best Hip Hop Act | Won | [31] | |||
| Best Male Act | Nominated | [32] | |||
| Ivor Novello Awards | Best Contemporary Song (How Black Men Lose Their Smile) | Nominated | [33] | ||
| BET Awards | Best International Act | Nominated | [34] | ||
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | MOBO Awards | Best Performance in a TV Show/Film | Them | Nominated | [35] |
| 2022 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Male Performance in a Scripted Series | Them | Nominated | [36] |
| 2024 | Royal Television Society Awards | Breakthrough Talent | Great Expectations | Nominated | [37] |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
