Loyle Carner

Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner[2][3] was born on 6 October 1994 in Lambeth, South London.[4][5] He and his younger brother, Ryan, were raised in South Croydon by his mother, Jean, a teacher of children with learning difficulties, and his stepfather, Nik.[6][7] He has had minimal contact with his father, who is of Guyanese descent.[7] Carner is mixed race.[8] His stage name is a spoonerism of his double-barrelled surname as well as a reference to his childhood struggle with his ADHD and dyslexia diagnoses.[9][10][11]

At age 13, Carner portrayed a small role in the 2008 film 10,000 BC.[12] He started his secondary education at Whitgift School in South Croydon, having secured a scholarship, and moved on to study at the Brit School, and began studying for an acting degree at the Drama Centre.[8][13] In 2014, he dropped out of the Drama Centre after his stepfather died of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), deciding to focus on his music.[7]

Carner played his first official gig at The Button Factory in Dublin, Ireland in October 2012 supporting British rapper MF Doom.[14] He released his first extended play in September 2014, titled A Little Late, which was well received by music critics.[7] He supported American rapper Joey Badass on his UK tour and went on to play the 2015 UK festival season, including Glastonbury Festival.[15][16] In October 2015, he played on Huw Stephens' BBC Radio 1 show as part of their Piano Sessions series.[17] Carner was included in the BBC's Sound of 2016 list.[18] In August 2016, he supported American rapper Nas in his show at the O2 Academy Bristol.[19] Later in the year, he collaborated with poet Kae Tempest for a performance.[20]

His debut album, entitled Yesterday's Gone, was released on 20 January 2017.[21] It garnered acclaim from music critics.[2][22] The album was nominated for the 2017 Mercury Prize, which was won by Process by Sampha.[23] It was named album of the year by The Independent.[24] In 2018, he received two respective Brit Award nominations for British Breakthrough Act and British Male Solo Artist.[25] He was scheduled to perform on BBC Radio 1 in February 2018 but cancelled due to a disagreement over cover song choices.[24] Carner's sophomore album, Not Waving, but Drowning, was released on 19 April 2019.[26] On 30 June, Carner performed as part of the year's Glastonbury Festival on its Other Stage, marking his second appearance after playing the John Peel Stage the year before.[27] The song "Angel" was listed as part of the FIFA 20 soundtrack playlist.[28]

Carner employs a "languid rapping style".[8] His sound has been described as "confessional hip-hop", "introspective", "jazz-infused", as well as "sensitive and eloquent".[7][15][14] He cites American hip hop and grime music as musical influences.[29][30] He also regards American poet Langston Hughes and British writer Benjamin Zephaniah as influences.[30][31]

As of January 2017, Carner lived in Croydon, South London with his mother and younger brother.[32] He loves to cook and also runs a cooking school for children with ADHD called Chilli Con Carner.[33][34] He has titled songs after chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Antonio Carluccio.[13] Carner has nut and sesame allergies.[11] In 2018, he appeared in a film for a project by the charity organisation Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), which aims to prevent male suicide.[35] The following year, he curated an art exhibition and donated its proceeds to CALM.[1]

Carner is a supporter of Liverpool F.C.[36] As a tribute to his stepfather, who idolised Eric Cantona and was a passionate Manchester United F.C. supporter, Carner released a song titled "Cantona".[8] He also named his 2016 tour after Cantona, and has worn his stepfather's Cantona shirt during concerts.[7][37] Carner used samples of songs written and performed by his stepfather alongside Misure La VerT for Yesterday's Gone's hidden title track, which concludes the album.[38]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Loyle Carner.

• Official website
• Loyle Carner at IMDb