Alex Dutty 'Emoji' and 'No Games' F89 ltd 20 February 2019

Band/artist name : Alex Dutty Label : F89 ltd Release Date :20/02/19 [Official Video release date song available to stream now] Description : : From Forthcoming Album by Alex Dutty (Knock Down Ginger- 7th Sept): Description: Self produced and written by Alex Dutty; Inspired by Toronto soundscape mixed with Afro beat & Reggae. Alex brings his take on Toronto influenced London born sounds from this side of the water with a blend of Afro Beat and Reggae. The featuring vocals from Jamaican originated artist Black Rose and Trinidad Born artist Triniboi Joocie carry the Caribbean vibes till the end. Catchy vocal with a multicultural influenced sound. Influences for the tracks : Dappy/Ramz/Wretch32/Giggs (combined) Artist biography Not needing much of an introduction, Alex Dutty-or Lexus Dutty as he was once called- is a known figure on the underground circuit. Relentlessly carving out a career by appearing on mixtapes with the likes of Dot Rotten. before he found mainstream success, such was Alex's buzz he began supporting and opening up shows for acclaimed artists such as Kano, Ghetts, Wiley and Bashy to name a few. This spurned him on to independently go it alone and become a headline act in his own right, a strategic move that led to Alex collectively selling upwards of 60,000 units of his solo mixtape’s up and down the country, ‘Dutty Mouth Vol 1,' the follow up ‘Dutty Mouth Vol 2’ and the third instalment, ‘Dutty Mouth Vol 3.' This sort of self-promotion doesn't go unnoticed, as such; his mixtape’s have been nominated two years running at the coveted OMA’s (Official Mixtape Awards). At the risk of sounding cliché, the fans and critics cottoned on to the mischievous entertaining lyrics embedded in catchy songs and a personality that has become the backbone of Alex's music as he has perfected the medium of entertaining in his music whilst keeping it completely honest. You relate to Alex, you feel a connection with his lyrics and uniquely every song feels like a conversation with a familiar friend. As an artist he is the poster child and mouthpiece for a broken, disgruntled generation. Choosing to shy away from the stereotypical, guns, drugs, money and hoes that has become synonymous with the modern day genre of Hip-Hop, though growing up in the same deprived neighbourhoods and broken families as his peers, Alex is a breath of fresh air as he covers family strife’s, relationship woes, political thoughts, financial issues, self-doubt, everything his fans go through. Also a producer and engineer, the 6" 2 inch Alex has been busy completing his debut album 'Knock Down Ginger, for the last 5 years, taking its name from the popular kids game he grew up playing as he went from hostel to hostel in a childhood that would be completely foreign to most people;. The name also pays homage to his physical characteristics, namely his stand out ginger hair. Set for release 7th September 2018 with a collection of honest, strong and sometimes controversial songs, like single, 'Emoji' a song about love, break ups and social media, he really sets the canvass for fans to gain an understanding in to the mind and life of Alex as he paints his world for all to see on 'Knock Down Ginger.' Alex started recording and writing ‘Knock Down Ginger’ when he was signed to an independent label 89 ARL in 2013 after he gained their attention from some of the multiple mixtapes he was putting out around the city and online. After being scooped up by 89ARL, he hooked up with label mate Kieran Skye who ended up producing half the tracks on ‘Knock Down Ginger’ including the title track itself, as well as featuring vocals himself on ‘Alive’ and ‘I’m Gone’. From the ‘Intro’ track to tracks like ‘Alive’ Alex relives his childhood growing up as a social outcast pushed into an underworld of dark corners and wrong turns. The album starts with reflection and moves onto evaluation of the present with an introspective assertion and then ending the album with projections from the future. Vocally a very rounded and well thought out project is to say the least. Having been influenced by UK sounds like Garage, Grime and Drill he mixes that with his love of Toronto style production, his R&B and rap influences from the nineties and Reggae Dancehall with a touch of Afro Beat. This album really infuses the many influences that make up the diversity that is Alex Dutty and balances them nicely whilst creating a very unapologetic but unique soundscape. During the writing and recording period of this album Alex Dutty’s personal life was extremely difficult, he was in a rocky relationship with the mother of his three children (also the daughter of reggae legend Barrington Levy), that took a lot of his energy away from the Independent deal with 89 ARL. That relationship ended during the recording of the album and his thoughts on this are reflected in lead single ‘Emoji’ and songs like ‘Knot in Love’ featuring McLean and ‘Imagine’. At the same time his music career was also extremely volatile after his debut single ‘Proud to Be White’ was released; a pro multicultural play on words designed to engage positive conversation surrounding the issue of race, was sadly used as an excuse to question Alex Dutty’s credibility towards the black community by struggling underground rappers and disjointed middle class Journalists trying to gain notoriety amongst a particular demographic. This was hard for him because he felt like he was being used as a scapegoat to help other people agendas forward, and in the process, was being demonised amongst the same community he was raised in and the only community he knew, not to mention the song was the brainchild of a black owned label 89ARL and although Alex Dutty wrote the song, he wrote it to Nigerian born Mike King’s (89ARL CEO) visual concept (see YouTube video).

He further discusses the unfair criticism he received during this time in the opening lyrics to ‘Imagine’ and on songs like ‘What More Can I Say’ and addresses the critics attitude towards him on ‘Knock Down Ginger’. Alex Dutty felt the lack of support from 89ARL during the release of their own brain child and concept wasn’t in his best interest neither did he feel like the direction this label was moving in was right for his artistic direction after they were simultaneously taking on Brooklyn from reality show ‘The Voice’. Alex Dutty left 89ARL in 2015 taking with him the masters to what is now half of the ‘Knock Down Ginger’ album, he then later went onto record self-produced tracks like, ‘Emoji’, ‘What More Can I Say’, ‘Imagine’ and ‘No Games’. After spending some time at Bush Bash Recordings with Heartless Crew’s ‘MC Bushkin’,

He then teamed up with Ron Sharp to form the company F89 Ltd, to finish the release of the ‘Knock Down Ginger’ in the direction that was right for Alex, with the people that were right for Dutty. As well as being CEO of 89 Ltd Alex Dutty is head of a production house called Dutty Beats and currently produces for the newer featuring artist on the album, Antonio Vincente, Chysianna, Black Rose and OB The Author. As well as featuring them on his debut album he hopes to get F89 Ltd as an imprint within a major and then have them all sign to F89 Ltd officially at some point in the near future. Social Media Links http://www.duttyworld.com https://soundcloud.com/alexdutty/sets/knock-down-ginger Instagram & Twitter: @alexduttymusic