Native name মুহাম্মদ মুমিথ আহমেদ Name Mumzy Stranger Birth name Muhammad Mumith Ahmed Role Singer-songwriter | Music director Karle Pyaar Karle Years active 2005–present | |
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Genres hip hopgrimeR&Bdancehall Occupation(s) Singersongwriterrappermusic producermusiciandancer Associated acts Similar People Nafees, Junai Kaden, Rishi Rich, Char Avell, Salique Profiles | ||
Mumzy stranger promises
Muhammad Mumith Ahmed (Bengali: মুহাম্মদ মুমিথ আহমেদ; born 18 January 1984), better known by his stage name Mumzy Stranger, is a British Bangladeshi MC, singer, songwriter and record producer, known for his distinctive soulful-bashment style. He made his mainstream recording debut in the summer of 2009 with his debut single "One More Dance", which topped the UK Asian Charts, as did the follow-up singles, "Showgirl" and "Fly With Me". He is the first artist of Bangladeshi descent to have entered the mainstream music industry and still remains to this day one of the latest prospects of British-Asian R&B artists in Britain. Ahmed sings in a unique style combining reggae, dancehall, R&B and soul, and in different languages including English, Punjabi, Hindi, and Bengali.
Contents
- Mumzy stranger promises
- Mumzy stranger circles official music video
- Early life
- 200508 Career beginning
- 2009 Debut single and collaborations
- 2010 Debut mixtape and album released
- 201112 Award nominations and Stranger Family
- 2013present New projects and new artists
- Charity work
- Mixtapes
- EPs
- References
Mumzy stranger circles official music video
Early life
Ahmed was born and raised in Plaistow, Newham in East London to Bengali Muslim parents. He is of Bengali origin and was raised in a traditional Islamic home.
In 2000, Ahmed started out in the UK garage scene at the age of 16, and was involved in pirate radio until 2003 when he left as he felt like a stranger (from which he derived his stage name). So far since his rise to local fame, his main fan base today is still derived from the East side of London and has also gained international success.
2005–08: Career beginning
Ahmed was one of three finalists in BBC Asian Network's Unsung competition in 2005 with his song "Jump Up", after a friend of his sent in Stranger's demo tape, which caught the attention of Rishi Rich, a Bhangra-fusion producer who was also one of the judges for the competition.
Two years later, as a graduate from the University of Westminster, achieving a BA (Hons) in Business Information Technology, Ahmed finally went into the studio with Rishi Rich. With the help of Rishi Rich, he released his promo single, "Let's Party" in 2007, which Rich produced along with the next single, "Stranger". He performed in the UK at the Royal Festival Hall in South Bank, London and at the 2008 Boishakhi Mela, a concert of Bangladeshi musicians. He also performed at the award show for the UK Asian Music Awards in 2008.
2009: Debut single and collaborations
Ahmed's debut single "One More Dance" was produced by Rishi Rich and was released in July 2009. The single was set to be titled "One More Chance" but was later changed to "One More Dance", according to Rishi Rich. It failed to reach the mainstream charts but topped the UK Asian Charts on its debut. His second single, "Showgirl", was released in August 2009. Mumzy is heard on two tracks on The Streets of Bollywood 3, a remix album by Rishi Rich, Hunterz and Kami K, mainly focusing on bringing Indian and urban music together.
Ahmed collaborated with several UK and international desi artists, such as H-Dhami, Preeya Kalidas, Abbas Hasan and Malkit Singh.
On 18 November 2010, Ahmed supported Sean Kingston at The O2 Arena.
2010: Debut mixtape and album released
Ahmed released his debut mixtape, No Stranger to This, which was put together in the course of seven days and officially released on 11 December, a day before his debut album, Journey Begins. Stranger and Stereo Nation are heard on the soundtrack of It's a Wonderful Afterlife. The track is a remix of a hit song by Stereo Nation, "Larl Larl Buleeya (Remix)". The track is Stranger's debut on a British film soundtrack. He is also heard on the soundtrack of Toonpur Ka Super Hero, making his debut on a Bollywood film soundtrack.
In December 2010, Stranger's debut album was Journey Begins released on in the UK. Stranger performed songs from the album with a live orchestra to 600 fans and media at a one-off concert on 18 December at Stratford Circus in Stratford, London. The album's lead single is "Fly With Me", produced by himself at his home studio. The single debuted at number 15 on the UK Asian Download Chart and stayed in the top 40 for more than 17 weeks but dropped off the chart at week 18. There are several remixes of "Fly With Me", a Grime Mix featuring Flo Dan, Gods Gift, KID & Roly; a Rishi Rich Kulcha Mix and a Bangla Mix featuring SH8S. Stranger's fourth and final single from the album is "Spaceman" featuring Wiley.
2011–12: Award nominations and Stranger Family
At the UK Asian Music Awards's Nominations Party held at the West Midlands' super-club Gatecrasher, in Birmingham on 1 February, Ahmed was nominated for 4 awards, Best Album (for Journey Begins), Best Male Act, Best Urban Act and Best Video (for "Fly With Me"), the most for any solo act at the UK Asian Music Awards 2011. He ended up winning Best Urban Act.
After the release of his debut album, he released his new promotional single titled "Mama Used to Say", a collaboration with Grammy-Award winning British R&B singer, Junior, which was released on 10 March. Stranger performed the single at the UK AMA with Junior.
On 8 April 2011, Ahmed's single "Heartbreaker" was released as a free download.
Ahmed collaborated with Junai Kaden on the track "Aaja Mere Naal". The track is Junai Kaden's debut single and produced by Mumzy himself. The single was released on 14 April 2011. The track entered the UK Asian Download Chart at no. 7, making it his very first top 10 single.
In 2012, Ahmed launched Stranger Family, a music collective with Junai Kaden, Char Avell, Tasha Tah and Ramee. The group released their debut single, "Ghetto Refix" in 2012, which was a new version of Kaden's track "Ghetto" from his album From Me to You.
In November 2012, Stranger Family was scheduled to tour the UK alongside Canadian-South Asian group Culture Shock in the XOXO Tour, with the two groups even collaborating on a single, "XOXO", for promotion of the tour. However, due to poor ticket sales and issues regarding managing from Tiffin Beats Records, the tour was cancelled and would eventually lead to the breaking up of the Stranger Family.
2013–present: New projects and new artists
Mumzy is the featured artist on Nafees' song titled "Sazaa", which went to number 1 on The Official Asian Download Chart in its first week of release. He has also been to India with Tasha Tah to feature in a song called "Kurbaan". The track was made before, but the song was remade for Bollywood and the video has been shown on B4U Music.
After leaving his previous label, Tiffin Beats Records, Ahmed released a new record, "Love Comfort", as part of his new label he created, Timeless London.
Similar to how Ahmed launched artists as part of his Stranger Family collective in 2012, Ahmed began launching new artists with his comeback with "Love Comfort". "Love Comfort" featured himself and a new female artist he signed, Shayma, and was produced by Lyan Roze, a producer signed to Timeless London who would go on to produce many of Ahmed's future singles. Ahmed then signed Rupika Vaidya, a Sweden-based singer, and was a featured artist on her debut single, "Karle Manmani" in 2015. In 2016, Ahmed signed Nish, who featured in the Bangla Refix of Ahmed's single "Jaan Atki", which was produced by Lyan Roze and would go onto become No. 1 on the UK ITunes World Chart.
Charity work
Ahmed is an ambassador for Newham Council's anti-violence campaign to prevent gun and knife crime. On 29 August 2010, Stranger took part in the Sky Ride Leicester, a free, family-orientated and fun traffic-free mass participation cycling event in Leicester, England.