Loyle Carner | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner |
Born | Lambeth, South London, England | 6 October 1994
Genres | Hip hop [1] |
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 2012–present |
Labels |
|
Website | loylecarner |
Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner (born 6 October 1994), known professionally as Loyle Carner, is an English hip hop musician. After supporting various rappers during their tours, he released his debut album, Yesterday's Gone , in 2017, which garnered a nomination for the 2017 Mercury Prize. He released his second album, Not Waving, but Drowning , in April 2019, and his third, hugo , in October 2022. Carner has been nominated for three Brit Awards.
Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner [2] [3] was born on 6 October 1994 in Lambeth, South London. [4] [5] He and his younger brother, Ryan, were raised in South Croydon by his mother, Jean, a teacher of children with learning difficulties, and his stepfather, Nik. [6] [7] He has had minimal contact with his father, who is of Guyanese descent. [7] Carner is mixed race. [8] His stage name is a spoonerism of his double-barrelled surname as well as a reference to his childhood struggle with his ADHD and dyslexia diagnoses. [9] [10] [11]
At the age of 13, Carner had a small role in the 2008 film 10,000 BC . [12] He started his secondary education at Whitgift School in South Croydon, having secured a scholarship, and moved on to study at the Brit School, and began studying for an acting degree at the Drama Centre. [8] [13] In 2014, he dropped out of the Drama Centre after his stepfather died of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), deciding to focus on his music. [7]
Carner played his first official gig at The Button Factory in Dublin, Ireland in October 2012 supporting rapper MF Doom. [14] He released his first extended play in September 2014, titled A Little Late, which was well received by music critics. [7] Loyle Carner supported American rapper Joey Badass on his UK tour and went on to play the 2015 UK festival season, including Glastonbury Festival. [15] [16] He played on Huw Stephens' BBC Radio 1 show as part of their Piano Sessions series in October of that year. [17] Carner was included in the BBC's Sound of 2016 list. [18] In August 2016, he supported American rapper Nas in his show at the O2 Academy Bristol. [19] Later in the year, he collaborated with poet Kae Tempest for a performance. [20]
Carner's debut album, entitled Yesterday's Gone , was released on 20 January 2017. [21] It garnered acclaim from music critics, [2] [22] with The Independent naming it the album of the year. [23] The album was nominated for the 2017 Mercury Prize, which was won by Sampha for Process . [24] In 2018, he received two respective Brit Award nominations for British Breakthrough Act and British Male Solo Artist. [25] He was scheduled to perform on BBC Radio 1 in February 2018 but cancelled due to a disagreement over cover song choices. [23] Loyle Carner's second album, Not Waving, but Drowning , was released on 19 April 2019. [26] On 30 June, he performed as part of the year's Glastonbury Festival on its Other Stage, marking his second appearance after playing the John Peel Stage the year before. [27] The song "Angel" was listed as part of the FIFA 20 soundtrack playlist. [28] In 2020, Carner and his brother co-directed a music video for the song "Eugene" by Arlo Parks. [29]
Carner employs a "languid" style of rapping. [8] His sound has been described as "confessional hip-hop", "introspective", "jazz-infused", as well as "sensitive and eloquent". [7] [15] [14] He cites American hip hop and grime music as musical influences. [30] [31] He also regards American poet Langston Hughes and British writer Benjamin Zephaniah as inspirations. [31] [32]
As of January 2017, Carner lived in Croydon, South London with his mother and brother. [9] He has one son, born in late 2020. [33] He loves to cook and also runs a cooking school for children with ADHD called Chilli Con Carner. [34] [35] He has titled songs after chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Antonio Carluccio. [13] Carner has nut and sesame allergies. [11] In 2018, he appeared in a film for a project by the charity organisation Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), which aims to prevent male suicide. [36] The following year, he curated an art exhibition and donated its proceeds to CALM. [1]
Carner is a supporter of Liverpool F.C. [37] As a tribute to his stepfather, who idolised Eric Cantona and was a passionate Manchester United F.C. supporter, Carner released a song titled "Cantona". [8] He also named his 2016 tour after Cantona, and has worn his stepfather's Cantona shirt during concerts. [7] [38] Carner used samples of songs written and performed by his stepfather alongside Misure La VerT for Yesterday's Gone's hidden title track, which concludes the album. [39]
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [40] | BEL (FL) [41] | FRA [42] | GER [43] | IRE [44] | NLD [45] | SWI [46] | |||
Yesterday's Gone |
| 14 | 135 | 171 | 86 | — | — | 69 | |
Not Waving, but Drowning |
| 3 | 31 | 109 | 66 | 26 | 51 | 33 |
|
Hugo |
| 3 | 27 | — | 65 | 13 | 42 | 44 |
|
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK [40] | ||||
"Tierney Terrace / Florence" [48] | 2015 | — | Non-album single | |
"Ain't Nothing Changed" [49] | — |
| Yesterday's Gone | |
"Stars & Shards" [50] | 2016 | — | ||
"No CD" [51] (featuring Rebel Kleff) | — | |||
"The Isle of Arran" [52] | — | |||
"Ottolenghi" [53] (with Jordan Rakei) | 2018 | 74 |
| Not Waving, but Drowning |
"You Don't Know" [54] (with Rebel Kleff & Kiko Bun) | 2019 | — | ||
"Loose Ends" [55] (with Jorja Smith) | 62 |
| ||
"Yesterday" [56] | 2020 | — | Non-album singles | |
"Let It Go" [57] (with Erick the Architect & FARR) | — | |||
"Hate" [58] | 2022 | — | Hugo | |
"Georgetown" [59] (featuring John Agard) | — | |||
"Nobody Knows (Ladas Road)" [60] | — | |||
"Take It Slow" [61] (with ENNY) | 2023 | — | We Go Again | |
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Nightgowns" [62] (Tom Misch featuring Loyle Carner) | 2015 | Beat Tape 2 |
"When Will I Stop Dreaming" [63] (Cadenza featuring Loyle Carner & Kiko Bun) | Non-album single | |
"Crazy Dream" [64] (Tom Misch featuring Loyle Carner) | 2016 | Reverie EP |
"Water Baby" [65] (Tom Misch featuring Loyle Carner) | 2018 | Geography |
"Good to Be Home" [66] (Barney Artist featuring Tom Misch, Loyle Carner & Rebel Kleff) | Non-album single | |
"What Am I to Do?" [67] (Ezra Collective featuring Loyle Carner) | 2019 | You Can't Steal My Joy |
"It’s Ok to Cry" [68] (Kofi Stone featuring Loyle Carner) | Nobody Cares Till Everybody Does | |
"I Wonder Why" [69] (Joesef featuring Loyle Carner) | 2020 | Does It Make You Feel Good? EP |
"Hocus Pocus" [70] (Unknown T featuring Loyle Carner) | 2024 | Blood Diamond |
"Colourblind" [71] (Tom Misch featuring Loyle Carner) | TBA | |
Title | Year | Certification | Album |
---|---|---|---|
"Damselfly" (featuring Tom Misch) | 2017 |
| Yesterday's Gone |
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
---|---|---|---|
"1992" [72] | 2013 | Rejjie Snow | Rejovich— EP |
"Guts" [73] | 2016 | Kae Tempest | Speedy Wunderground – Year 2 |
"Shadows" [74] | 2017 | MANIK MC | Midnight Express— EP |
"Taxin' (Long Version)" [75] | 2019 | DJ Shadow | Our Pathetic Age |
Year | Organisation/Event | Award | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | Mercury Prize | Album of the Year | Yesterday's Gone | Nominated | [76] |
2018 | NME Awards | Best British Solo Artist supported by VO5 | Himself | Won | [77] |
Best Album supported by Orange Amplification | Yesterday's Gone | Nominated | [78] | ||
Brit Awards | British Breakthrough Act | Himself | [79] | ||
British Male Solo Artist | |||||
2019 | Q Awards | Best Solo Act | [80] | ||
2022 | BBC Radio 1 | Hottest Record of the Year | "Nobody Knows (Ladas Road)" | [81] | |
2023 | Mercury Prize | Album of the Year | Hugo | [82] | |
A spoonerism is an occurrence of speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched between two words of a phrase. These are named after the Oxford don and priest William Archibald Spooner, who reportedly commonly spoke in this way.
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