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Tayó Grant Jarrett (born 5 April 1986), better known as Scorcher, is an English grime MC, songwriter and actor from Enfield, London. He was previously a member of the grime collective The Movement and is signed to Blue Colla Music.

Career

2005–08: Early career

He began his career in Cold Blooded where he became known for his "shank" bars, and would regularly attend pirate radio and work his way up through the North London grime circuit. Scorcher served a short prison sentence in 2006 for driving offences, and while in jail his mixtape Simply the Best was released and was greeted with good reviews from the grime scene. After an incident with fellow Cold Blooded member Cookie, Scorcher left Cold Blooded to concentrate on a new collective known as The Movement, which featured Scorcher alongside Wretch 32, Devlin, Mercston, and Ghetts. At this point he was involved in a momentous clash that saw him and fellow movement members go up against rival grime collective Boy Better Know. Scorcher did three dubs directed at Wiley, Jammer and Frisco. Scorcher also produces beats, and Thunder Power was a release entirely his own production. He has produced beats such as 'Way Down The Road', 'Beef with T', 'Igloo Remix', 'Talk of the Ghetto' and others which have been big through the year of 2006. Scorcher won an Official Mixtape Award for best producer in 2009 and was also nominated for best Grime mixtape of 2010.

2009–10: Concrete Jungle and Geffen

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Concrete Jungle is a 2009 debut album by Scorcher released independently. The album is seen as a critical success in electronic music, but a major disappointment to grime fans. The albums has spawned two singles, "I Know" and "Lipsin' Ting", neither of which charted. The albums has been widely anticipated by many in the grime scene, but disappointed many in the scene. It features collaborations with the likes of Wiley, J2K, and Wretch 32. The album was inspired by a short freestyle by Scorcher. The third single from the album is "Dark Knight". His debut single, "It's My Time", charted on the UK R&B chart at number 38. When Geffen's MD left for Sony and the bigger artist moved to other labels within Universal, Scorcher's deal was ended.

2011–2014: Blue Colla and acting career

In 2011, Scorcher began an acting career and played the major role of Kamale, in the 2011 Channel 4 drama, Top Boy. "Making the transition from music to acting hasn't really been that hard for me, as you get used to performing its just performance in a different setting." He described his character as sinister, and an all-out bad man and is working with other rappers such as Ashley Walters, Kano and other first time actors. He has also played a part in the movie Offender which was released on 24 December 2012. After being released from Geffen Records in 2011, Scorcher was signed to independent label Blue Colla Music in 2012 and his first single of the year "It's All Love" premiered on MistaJam's 1XTRA show on 3 March 2012.

2015–present: The Intent and return to music

In 2016, Scorcher signed to RU Listening Limited. He, Scorcher starred in the 2016 film The Intent in which he plays small-time criminal called Hoodz, who finds success in robbing stores and small businesses, and finally catches the jackpot by attacking a big drug dealer for his stash of money and drugs. He played the role of Diesel in the film Road (2017).

He returned to music in 2019 and released the singles "Gargoyle", "Could Be Worse", "9", "Sandpit" and was featured on the track "Hunnids" by Tizzy x Brandz. In October 2019 Scorcher attended the Christian Louboutin Palace Nights Collection Launch.

Discography

Studio albums

• 2009: Concrete Jungle

Mixtapes

• 2006: Simply The Best
• 2006: Tempo Specialists
• 2007: Leader of the New School
• 2007: Thunder Power
• 2008: Simply The Best 2
• 2010: Jungle Book
• 2011: Audio Wave
• 2012: Simply The Best 3
• 2014: 1 of 1
• 2016: Rocket x Scorcher EP

Guest appearances

Filmography

Film

• Offender (2012) - Essay
• The Intent (2016) - Hoodz
• Road (2017) - Diesel
• Mangrove (2020) - Linton

Television

• Top Boy (2011) - Kamale (season 1)
• You Don't Know Me (2021) - Spooks

Personal life

Following the Death of Mark Duggan by Police in 2011, which resulted in the 2011 England riots, Scorcher revealed via Twitter that his grandmother was Cynthia Jarret, a 49-year-old Afro-Caribbean woman who was killed by Police on 5 October 1985 during the search of her home. Together with the death of Cherry Groce the previous week (which caused the 1985 Brixton riot, her death is credited with being one of the main causes of the Broadwater Farm riot the following day.

"25 years ago police killed my grandma in her house in Tottenham and the whole ends rioted, 25 years on and they're still keepin up fuckry. Police R here 2 uphold the law & protect us leadin by example so wen they stop upholdin the law its natural reaction 4 there 2 B lawlessness."

Scorcher is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Notes

1. "ALL ROSEY AT LEFT BACK". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
2. "Scorcher – Leader of the New School". Ukrecordshop.com. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
3. Hancox, Dan (12 August 2011). "Rap responds to the riots: 'They have to take us seriously'". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2014. leading Tottenham MC
4. Clark, Martin (7 June 2006). "The Month in Grime / Dubstep". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
5. "New Mixtape from (OMA Best Producer Award Winner 2009) Scorcher Audio Wave". Official Mixtape Awards. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
6. "OMA Nominee/Host Hustle- G Frsh, Kele Le Roc & Scorcher Live @ G Shock East Sessions". Official Mixtape Awards. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
7. Patterson, Joseph. "Scorcher: The Interview (Video)". MTV UK. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
8. Bradshaw, Peter (28 July 2016). "The Intent review – pulsating south London crime thriller". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
9. "Wallis Day Spotted at Christian Louboutin Palace Nights Collection Launch". 4 October 2019.
10. Keith Tompson; John Pilger (29 September 1988). Under Siege: Racism and Violence in Britain Today (1st ed.). England: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0140523911.
11. Brain, Dr Timothy (13 May 2010). A history of policing in England and Wales from 1974 : a turbulent journey (1st ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199218660.
12. "North London rappers on riots in their hometown". The Voice. London. 8 August 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
13. Hancox, Dan (12 August 2011). "Rap responds to the riots: 'They have to take us seriously'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
14. Hancox, Dan (19 August 2011). "Britain's summer of discontent simmers, but what have we learned?". The National. Abu Dhabi. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
15. Bramwell, PhD, Richard (2015). "Conclusion". UK hip-hop, grime and the city : the aesthetics and ethics of London's rap scenes (1st ed.). Abingdon: Routledge Advances in Ethnography. p. 144. ISBN 9781135085988. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
16. Hancox, Dan (18 February 2016). "Party politics: why grime defines the sound of protest in 2016". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
17. Burtenshaw, Ronan; Flip, Novar (20 May 2017). "Grime for Corbyn". Jacobin Magazine. New York. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
18. Jarret, Tayo (6 August 2011). "25 years ago police killed my grandma in her house in Tottenham and the whole ends rioted, 25 years on and they're still keepin up fuckry". Twitter. @ScorchersLife. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
19. Jarret, Tayo (7 August 2011). "Police R here 2 uphold the law & protect us leadin by example so wen they stop upholdin the law its natural reaction 4 there 2 B lawlessness". Twitter. @ScorchersLife. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
20. "Scorcher's Spurs rap for the FA Cup". BBC Sport. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2021.

External links

Scorcher at IMDb

• 1986 births
• Living people
• Black British male rappers
• English people of Nigerian descent
• People from Enfield, London
• Grime music artists
• English male rappers
• Rappers from the London Borough of Enfield
• English people of Jamaican descent
• Male actors from London
• Actors from the London Borough of Enfield