Jonni West.
It is amazing to see how far Jonni has come... despite only being 18 years old! Within only the 2 years he has in his musical career, he has won some of the highest ranked awards, with Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Best New Artist, and Brit awards for British Male Artist and Single of the Year.
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Jonni is 'one of the most exciting musical artists to come out of Britain', with over 1 million streams for his song XXX, and being the youngest musician to reach the no.1 single on the billboard hot 100.
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Aside from his musical career, Jonni is studying A-Levels in Britain, to further develop his understanding of music production and to hone his craft. Most impressively, he has already made a cultural influence for black teenagers, that will no doubt make a mark in history, despite his young age.
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It all began with an experimental upload to YouTube - At the age of 16, whilst studying his GCSE, he released his first single "Salt in the Grain" which gained him a lot of interest from the music industry. A month after the release he Signed to Epic Records.
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Born in Leicester in 2001, Jonni started writing and rapping some of the most powerful lyrics from a very young age, inspired by icons such as NWA and Michael Jackson.
"Jonni started writing and rapping some of the most powerful lyrics from a very young age"
But it was 2019's XXX that propelled Jonni into history.
After finally settling in with a new school and new area to study his A-levels, Jonni became more confident and comfortable with his signing to Epic Records. He finally gained the hunger and time to write the lyric needed.
He released not only his, but one of the worlds most powerful hip-hop statements of all time in his debut track.
XXX is driven by Jonni's youth and his problems with police brutality and racial discrimination.
XXX is about moral ambiguity... 'The best of us are capable of evil if the conditions are right, not just black people' - Jonni addresses the violent black stereotype ironically as this is a representation heard so much in the news.
He shows these problems particularly in America due to Donald Trump's controversial presidency election in 2016, after having made racist comments.
"But is America honest, or do we bask in sin?
Pass the gin, I mix it with American blood..."
XXX gained Jonni global recognition and has kick started his professional career. He won some of the highest ranked awards including a Grammy for Record of the Year and Best New Artist, along with Brit Awards for British Male Artist and Single of the year. Since, he has been recognized by role models like Dr Dre and other big names in the Hip Hop industry.
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Despite Jonni's success already; he continues to write and rap, with upcoming singles and collaborations with other artists within the genre coming soon...