Blade Brown

Early life and career beginnings (1985–2006)

Blade Brown was born 12 February 1985 in London and he grew up in South London. He was first exposed to rap music through his father who would listen to 80s and 90s hip hop as well as reggae around the house, all of which influenced Blade to take an interest in music and start rapping more seriously around the age of 17. It was at this time when him and one of his close friends decided they were going to lock down the ends & subsequently they went halves on a mash (Gun) so after this purchase they ordered half a box He released his debut mixtape entitled Nothing Long Volume 1 under Defenders Entertainment in 2004, but he soon took a break from music following a spell of both underground and commercial success through the mixtape which was played on mainstream radio stations such as Choice FM, BBC Radio 1Xtra and Kiss FM, as well as street DVDs in circulation at the time such as Streetz Incarcerated, Streetz Is Raw and Welcome To The City. Between 2005 and 2006 he recorded material for a second mixtape, which was initially entitled Nothing Long Volume 2, but it was never released due to legal troubles Blade was experiencing at the time, as well as a change in his own preferences as he has stated that he did not want to release many of the songs he had recorded.

Hollow Meets Blade with Giggs (2007)

Blade released his second mixtape entitled Hollow Meetz Blade which was a collaboration with fellow up-and-coming South London rapper Giggs. The mixtape received general acclaim from both underground and mainstream rap fans in the United Kingdom, and it is widely credited as helping Giggs' rapid rise to mainstream success. However, unlike Giggs, Blade failed to capitalise on the hype from the mixtape as he took a break from music shortly after its release.