Ironik
| Ironik | |
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| File:DJ Ironik, September 2009.jpg
Ironik in London in 2009
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Christian Charters |
| Born | 18 January 1988 |
| Origin | Wood Green, London, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts | |
| Website | twitter |
James Christian Charters (born 18 January 1988), better known as Ironik (formerly as DJ Ironik), is a British musician, DJ and rapper. His genre of music varies from hip hop, grime, R&B and UK garage.
DJ Ironik has had three UK top 10 hits; Stay With Me charted at #5, Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer) charted at #3 and also I Got Soul, a charity single which reached #10 in the UK charts and has also had several top 5 hits in other European countries.
Contents
Early life
"DJ Ironik" (born James Charters) was born in North London, England to parents from Barbados. He decided on a career in music at an early age when doing GCSE in music He started his career as a DJ working in clubs, initially in his home country but his talent was quickly spotted and he moved around Europe. Every record he released charted in the Top 40 UK Charts throughout 2008-2011.[1]
Career
His first single, "So Nice", was released in summer of 2007. It achieved popularity on the British music channels, including remaining in the top 3 of the viewer request chart on Channel U for 20 weeks, however it had limited success elsewhere.
At the age of 20, he signed with Asylum Records which is a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The first hit was the single "Stay with Me (Everybody's Free)", which went into the UK charts at number 11 on downloads alone, then charted at number 5 on its physical release. It equally had success on Channel U, remaining in the request chart top 10 for 26 weeks. The remix to "Stay with Me" features Chipmunk and Wiley.
His second single, "I Wanna Be Your Man" was released in September 2008 and reached number 35 in the UK.
His début album No Point in Wasting Tears was released on Warner Music UK on 29 September 2008 and charted at 21 in the UK Chart. Ironik has since left Warner Music UK and is now signed to independent label BPM Entertainment.
The third single taken from his début album is "Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer)" which features grime rap artist Chipmunk and Sir Elton John. The song was released in the UK on 26 April 2009 and it charted at number 3 in the UK chart. This was followed by the re-release of his album on 11 May 2009.
He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2008 MOBO Awards and Best Newcomer and Best Music Video ("Stay with Me") at the 2008 Urban Music Awards. He was also nominated for Best Male Music in Film at the Screen Nation Film & TV Awards in November 2008, and voted by the public viewers of MTV UK the third favourite artist of the year 2008, coming after Katy Perry and Duffy.
Throughout October and November 2008, Ironik supported German Euro dance group Cascada on their second UK tour - The Perfect Day Tour 2008.
In 2009 he was nominated for 'Best UK Act' at the 2009 Mobo Awards.[2]
In late 2009 he collaborated with UK Rapper A.Y.O. and ex-X Factor contestant Joelle Moses for the song Far Away. It was released on 26 April 2010 on iTunes.
Ironik Second album is yet to have a name but will be released in 2013[needs update]
The first single is called "Falling in Love" and featuring 90210 star Jessica Lowndes and was released in UK on 24 October 2010 and charted at 40 in the UK charts.
The second single is called "Killed Me" and features McLean was released on 13 March 2011 but did not chart in the UK.
On Monday 9 May 2011 Ironik performed for The Queen and other members of the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace with dance group Flawless & singer Sarah Jane Skeete.
In April 2013 Ironik confirmed a forthcoming EP called Independently Unstoppable to be released on 2 June 2013. He has also said that there will be a second EP called Independently Unstoppable 2 to be released August/September 2013.
In June 2013 Ironik confirmed that his second album will be released this year after his two EP.
Personal life
While returning to his home in North London from a gig in Essex, Ironik became the victim of a stabbing attack at around 3 a.m. on 6 November 2010, when two men attacked him for his jewellery, knifing him in the right buttock.[3][4] Ironik said of the stabbing: "It was something I've never experienced in my life before. Something that I've spoke about in a lot of my records - some of my records - actually. I find it very low that someone has to go take what you have and what you work for. I've kind of got over it and trying to get back on to living my life and being normal. The past is behind, and I'm trying to get on with my life. I'm back to normal, back to work 100% and I'm just happy that everyone was really supportive. I'll always be involved in charity work and especially the anti-gun and knife crime thing. It's a very important thing... I'll always be a part of supporting it, even before the incident, but obviously now more so." The DJ has been reported to have recovered now.[5]
Awards and nominations
| Year | Recipient/Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Ironik | Mobo Awards - Best Newcomer | Runner-up |
| 2009 | Ironik | Mobo Awards - Best UK Act | Runner-up |
| 2009 | Ironik | Habbo Music Awards - Best UK Act | Winner |
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| UK | ||
| No Point in Wasting Tears |
|
21 |
Extended plays
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| UK | ||
| Independently Unstoppable E.P |
|
— |
| T.O.B.D (Ticking Off Boyhood Dreams) |
|
— |
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UK R&B |
AUS | IRE | SWE | |||
| "Stay with Me" | 2008 | 5 | 2 | — | 8 | 16 | No Point in Wasting Tears |
| "I Wanna Be Your Man" | 35 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer)" (featuring Chipmunk & Elton John) |
2009 | 3 | 2 | 41 | 17 | — | |
| "Falling in Love" (featuring Jessica Lowndes) |
2010 | 40 | 3 | — | — | — | TBC |
| "Killed Me" (featuring McLean) |
2011 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Special" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | |
As a featured performer
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UK R&B |
AUS | IRE | SWE | |||
| "I Got Soul" (with Young Soul Rebels) |
2009 | 10 | 5 | — | 19 | — | Young Soul Rebels single |
References
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External links
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- Use dmy dates from September 2010
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- Pages using Template:Infobox musical artist with unknown parameters
- Wikipedia articles in need of updating from August 2015
- All Wikipedia articles in need of updating
- 1988 births
- Living people
- Black British rappers
- English male rappers
- Black British DJs
- Singers from London
- Grime music artists
- British people of Barbadian descent
