Kano

Kane Brett Robinson (born 21 May 1985), better known as Kano, is a British rapper, songwriter and actor from East Ham, London.

A significant contributor to grime music, he is widely considered one of the pioneers of the grime culture, alongside artists such as Wiley and Dizzee Rascal.

Robinson used the crew's underground popularity as a springboard, leaving N.A.S.T.Y. to release his first solo track in 2002.

He was then signed as a solo artist and began work on his debut solo album.

In 2004, Robinson modelled Hugo Boss's Spring/Summer collection, but declined to begin recording and touring commitments.

Shortly afterwards he released his debut major label solo single, "P's & Q's", on a 12" vinyl-only release, which was an underground hit.

In 2005, he released his second single, "Typical Me", produced by Dirty Rag and featuring Ghetts.

"Typical Me" reached No. 22 in the UK Singles Charts.

The video for "Typical Me" was directed by Andy Hylton.

The third single, "Remember Me", fared less well in the charts, reaching No. 71.

Two weeks later, on 27 June 2005, his début album Home Sweet Home was released.

It debuted inside the UK top 40 at No. 36 in its first week.

In September 2005, the fourth single "Nite Nite" was released, featuring Leo the Lion and The Streets.

Home Sweet Home went on to gain gold status in the UK, and was well reviewed across the British press.

"Nite Nite" was released as the next single from the album, hitting No. 25 in the UK charts and spending six weeks altogether in the top 75.

Shortly after the release of "Nite Nite", a promotional video for "Reload It", which featured live performance clips and backstage footage, was released to UK video station, Channel U.

In December 2005, Robinson released a remixed version of album track "Nobody Don't Dance No More" featuring Katie Pearl, as a download-only single.

The track was also featured as a B-side on CD: 2 of "Nite Nite".

Robinson's music was also featured on Run the Road, a 2005 compilation featuring 16 grime tracks.

The compilation included contributions from other grime artists, including Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, and Lady Sovereign.

Robinson performed a verse on the track "Destruction VIP" and was featured on three other tracks, including "P's and Q's".

On 13 March 2006, Robinson released the fifth and final single from the album, a double A-side of "Brown Eyes" and "Signs in Life".

The single was released on a vinyl format only, and included a free sticker, which made it ineligible for chart inclusion.

On 23 March 2006, Robinson performed at Anson Rooms in Bristol for MTV2's Spanking New Music along with Jme, N-Dubz and Unklejam.

He performed tracks including "London Town", "P's & Q's", "Brown Eyes", "Me & My Mic" and tracks from the Beats & Bars mixtape.

Robinson confirmed on the show that his next album was to be called London Town.

Prior to the album's release, Robinson put out a mixtape (simply called Mixtape on the front cover), which included new material and his own versions of hip-hop songs, including Jay-Z's "Public Service Announcement", Nas's "Black Republican" and Kanye West's "My Way Home".

The mixtape also included a preview of "Buss It Up", a song that featured on the later release London Town.

The album was released on 10 September 2007, preceded by the single "This Is The Girl", featuring Craig David, on 27 August.

Along with David, the album featured collaborations with Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, Kate Nash, and Vybz Kartel.

Robinson toured the UK in support of the record, as well as performing the whole album at the Jazz Cafe in October 2007 alongside a live band.

Kano also sold out London Astoria in the same month to put on an entertaining show also promoting Tinchy Stryder on his tour.

In 2008, Robinson was no longer signed to 679 Recordings as he wished to return to his "grimier roots" and had posted all new freestyles on his MySpace page.

His fifth album, Made in the Manor was shortlisted for the 2016 Mercury Prize and won Best Album at the 2016 MOBO Awards.

On screen, he is best known for playing the role of Sully in Top Boy.

Kane Robinson, born in East Ham, London was raised by Jamaican parents, he attended Langdon Secondary School where he completed his GCSE's, before studying A-Levels at sixth form.

In his younger years he was a promising footballer, representing Chelsea, West Ham United, Norwich City and Celtic by the age of 13, eventually abandoning his sporting ambitions in favour of a musical career.

He joined the East London-based, N.A.S.T.Y. Crew (Natural Artistic Sounds Touching You), whose original line-up consisted of Kano, Marcus Nasty, Jammer, D Double E, Ghetts, Demon, Stormin, Mak 10, Monkstar, Sharky Major, Armour, and Hyper.

N.A.S.T.Y Crew had a popular show on pirate radio station Deja Vu.

Airing Monday nights from 8:00 to 10:00 pm, the sets featured established up-and-coming guests, including Dizzee Rascal, Durrty Goodz, and Wiley.