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About Kano
Before making the
decision to dedicate
himself to music, Kano
obtained a diploma in
graphic design and
always had a flair for
visual communication and
publicity. To add to his
talents, Kano was
potentially a very good
footballer and played
for Chelsea, junior
hammers and Norwich
before he reached 13. He
eventually decided to
give up his football
potential in order to
follow his musical
aspirations; his cousins
are still footballers
and play for Charlton
and Darlington.
His first entrance into
the music industry came
when he joined the
Natural Artistic Sounds
Touching You crew or
N.A.S.T.Y for short.
From here he was able to
make himself noticed and
was soon signed as a
solo artist in order to
work on his first album.
He came up with his
first solo track in 2002
when he released boys
luv girls which was
later re-mastered by
Dizzee rascal. His
first solo single was #ps
and Qs which was release
on a 12” vinyl only.
This became a huge hit
and gained Kano
recognition as an
underground music star.
He later broke up with
his record company and
signed with Bigger
Picture music. He has
been adamant that he
wishes to keep in touch
with his grime music
roots. N.A.S.T.Y
remained popular for a
while yet only on the
pirate radio scene and
lost support following
many disputes and
members leaving.
In 2004, Kano took the
bold decision to turn
down an offer from Hugo
Boss to star as the face
of their new collection
and opted instead to
work on his new album
and tour. In 2005 he
released his first
widely available single
named typical me which
made it to number 22 in
the UK singles charts.
His album was released
later in 2005 and became
the highest new entry
into the charts, making
it to number 36. He
released two other
singles called Remember
me and Nite nite, the
latter of which become a
top 40 hit. His début
album, Home sweet home,
achieved gold status in
the UK and was the
recipient of much
critical acclaim
including reviewers of
the Independent and
Observer newspapers.
Kano has also had
success with mix tapes
and other recordings
which were not made
widely available. Many
of his recordings were
only available at his
own concerts. By far his
biggest success in the
UK charts to date is
London town, his second
album which peaked at
number 14 in the UK
album charts. 140 grime
street, his third album
just missed out on a top
40 appearance at number
48.
Kano has received 4 MOBO
award nominations and
has won a Channel U
award at the Best of
British awards. He was
also nominated for a
BRIT award and Ken
Livingstone (former
London Mayor) named him
as one of the Heroes of
London in 2005.
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