Ché Wolton Grant(born 4 March 1994), better known professionally asAJ Tracey, is a British rapper and record producer,^[4]from Ladbroke Grove, West London.^[5]Tracey rose to popularity in 2016, and was listed byThe Guardianin a list of “best new acts to catch at festivals in 2016”.^[6]

Tracey’s first mainstream EP,Secure the Bag!(2017) entered the UK Albums Chart at number thirteen. In 2018, Tracey released the single “Butterflies” featuring British singer Not3s which served as his commercial breakthrough, peaking in the top 20 on theUK Singles Chart. His self-titled debut album, which was independently released in 2019, peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart and featured his highest-charting single “Ladbroke Grove”, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart.

Grant’s father, of Trinidadian origin, is a former rapper, and hisWelshmother is a former jungle DJ.^[7]Ché is the cousin of fellow Grime MC and close collaborator Big Zuu.^[8]

He was educated locally at Middle Row Primary school and went on to attend Holland Park School. He dropped out of a Criminology course at London Metropolitan University in order to pursue his music career. He is a loyal supporter of Tottenham Hotspur football club.^[9]

Under the stage names Looney and Loonz, Tracey’s music can be found online dating back to June 2011. An early SoundCloud account, Looney Tell ‘Em, contains eleven tracks, each with free downloads enabled. These include four songs from the scrapped grime EPThe Dungeon(featuring non-exclusive beats from Spooky and Rude Kid) and two songs fromDidn’t Make the Cut, originally slated for release on the scrapped hip hop mixtapeFuck a Fairytale.^[10]His debut mixtape,Didn’t Make the Cut, was released 13 September 2012,^[11]and comprises 21 British rap and grime songs and freestyles which, in his own words, are “the tracks that didn’t make it onto my actual mixtape”. The project was initially to be titledScirocco Musik, and its artwork still reflects this title. In August 2013, his collective, My Team Paid, announced that they were to release a joint mixtape entitledMy Team Paid.^[12]One single, “Clouded Skies”, emerged, but the project was ultimately scrapped. Tracey’s second mixtape,No More Looney, was released through DatPiff on 30 August 2014. The project includes thirty-three tracks, many of which feature fellow My Team Paid members Big Zuu, Jay Amo, Wax and Sketch.^[13]

Tracey first gained attention through appearances on pirate radio stations, and the release of his debut EPThe Frontin mid 2015.^[14][15]In December 2015, Tracey released his second EPAlex Moran, which featured acclaimed tracks including “Spirit Bomb” and “Naila”.^{[6][16][17][18]}During this period, Tracey also recorded (but did not release) a trap EP entitledRain.^[19][20]

In 2016, Tracey – aTottenham Hotspurfan – appeared in promotional material for BT Sport’s coverage of thePremier League.^[21]He also collaborated with Dave over a remix of Ruff Sqwad’s Pied Piper to create a well received track entitled “Thiago Silva”.^[22][23]

In October 2017, Tracey released his fifth EP,Secure the Bag!.^[24]2017 also saw Tracey foray into record production. He made his production debut on “LA4AWEEK”, co-produced by Nyge and released in April 2017, and later produced label-mate Big Zuu’s “Tell Man Twice”, released in August 2017.

In early 2018, AJ Tracey modelled for the OVO clothing line in 2018.^[25]

In May 2018, Tracey released the single “Butterflies” featuring Not3s. The song served as AJ Tracey’s commercial breakthrough, peaking at number 19 on theUK Singles Chart. The single was followed up with “Lo(v/s)er”, which peaked at number 38.

In early July 2019 the Swedish rapper Z.E released his second album,Mer än rap(“more than rap”). Tracey was featured on the title track “More Than Rap”.

On 21 November 2018, Tracey announced the pre-order of his self-titled debut album, released on 8 February 2019. The lead single, “Doing It”, was released for streaming and digital on the same day.^[26][27]It is planned to include the Gold-certified single “Butterflies” and to be accompanied by a world tour beginning in March 2019.^[28][29]

In June 2017, Tracey endorsed Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 UK general election. In a Labour Party campaign video he said: “The Labour Party strongly support the youth in following their dreams and giving people a chance”. He added: “In my opinion we need a Labour government to give young people a hope, a chance for their future and I genuinely believe that Corbyn is the man to do it.”^[30]

Later that month, following the Grenfell Tower fire, he was asked for his thoughts on the disaster byThe Guardian. His brother Mickey told the cameras: “The central government response has been shambolic. Theresa May, you have a lot of questions to answer, genuinely.” Tracey added: “She needs to resign, to be honest… She came with heavy security, no one was allowed to approach her. And then Corbyn comes down, do you get me? No security, chats to the mandem. This is why everyone loves him… It seems like he genuinely cares.”^[31]

On 14 April 2018, in response to the May administration’s decision to launch airstrikes on Syria following the Douma chemical attack, Tracey tweeted: “why is a woman none of us voted for dragging us out of europe [sic] and into world war 3? 😂”.^[32]