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 the age of 13, Carner had 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 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] Loyle Carner supported American rapper Joey Badass on his UK tour and went on to play the 2015 UK festival season, including Glastonbury Festival.^[15][16] He played on Huw Stephens' BBC Radio 1 show as part of their Piano Sessions series in October of that year.^[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]

Carner's debut album, entitled Yesterday's Gone, was released on 20 January 2017.^[21] It garnered acclaim from music critics,^[2][22] with The Independent naming it the album of the year.^[23] The album was nominated for the 2017 Mercury Prize, which was won by Sampha for Process.^[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.^[23] Loyle Carner's second album, Not Waving, but Drowning, was released on 19 April 2019.^[26] On 30 June, he 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] In 2020, Carner and his brother co-directed a music video for the song "Eugene" by Arlo Parks.^[29]

Carner employs a "languid" style of rapping.^[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.^[30][31] He also regards American poet Langston Hughes and British writer Benjamin Zephaniah as inspirations.^[31][32]

As of January 2017, Carner lived in Croydon, South London with his mother and brother.^[9] He has one son, born in late 2020.^[33] He loves to cook and also runs a cooking school for children with ADHD called Chilli Con Carner.^[34][35] 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.^[36] The following year, he curated an art exhibition and donated its proceeds to CALM.^[1]

Carner is a supporter of Liverpool F.C.^[37] 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][38] 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.^[39]

• A Little Late (2014)^[7]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Loyle Carner.

• Official website
• Loyle Carner at IMDb