Fumez the Engineer
- British hip hop
- UK drill
Jahrell Bryan, commonly known as Fumez the Engineer, is a British rapper and audio engineer from London. Joining Pressplay Media - a UK rap platform - in 2012, he later moved to Link Up TV, where he would stay before moving back to Pressplay Media following the beginning of his Plugged In freestyle series in 2020. Between his move to Link Up TV and his return to Pressplay, he would release two mixtapes, named The Mix-Tape and The Mix-Tape 2, with the latter being released in 2018.[3]
Career
In a 2016 interview with Trapped, Fumez said that he began his career at the age of 15 in a youth club; at the time, however, he wouldn't take a career that seriously.[4] In 2012, Fumez helped to launch Pressplay Media,[5] a major UK rap platform,[6] at the age of 18. Later becoming its owner, he would go into debt as a result of the company; he would sell his shares to Daniel Olkhovski, a former director of Pressplay who Fumez used to manage.[5]
Following this, Fumez went to Link Up TV, another UK rap platform. During his time there, he would engineer for Link Up TV's Mic Check and Behind Barz freestyle series;[5] he would also begin several series, such as Studio with Fumez - where he would ask artists questions submitted by the audience[7] - and the Plugged In series of freestyles, with the first Plugged In freestyle being released on 29 March 2020.[8] Sometime following this, he was asked to return to Pressplay Media by Olkhovski.[5] By April 2021, the Plugged In series had over 100 million views and over 100 million streams;[9] by the end of the year, his "Plugged In Freestyle" with A92 and Offica reached number 29 on the Irish Singles Chart and number 39 on the UK chart.[10][11][12]
In 2021, Fumez engineered a remix of "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran, which featured Tion Wayne and Central Cee.[13] The remix was credited with "boosting" the song to 8 weeks at number one.[14] He would also begin the In the Mix series, which followed his journey in the music industry.[15][16] In November, his headline show at the Islington O2 Academy was canceled to due a section 60 order being placed over the N1 postcode, where the O2 Academy was located.[3]
Discography
Mixtapes
- The Mix-Tape (2016)[5]
- The Mix-Tape 2 (2018)[5][17]
Singles
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |
---|---|---|---|---|
IRE [11] | UK [12] | |||
"Plugged In Freestyle" (with A92 and Offica) | 2020 | 29 | 39 |
|
"Plugged In Freestyle" (with BM and Sava) | – | 81 |
| |
"Plugged In" (with Skepta) | 2021 | – | 93 |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Work | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Urban Music Awards | – | Best Entertainer | Nominated | [19] |
References
- ^ Kanengoni, Jonathan (9 March 2023). "Fumez the Engineer: 'People were speaking on my name, and they didn't even know who I was.'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- ^ Sweney, Mark (14 March 2022). "Music group Believe advises clients how to work around Russia sanctions". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
Believe has almost 1,500 staff working in 50 countries and claims to provide artists and repertoire (A&R) and management services to 850,000 acts worldwide. Its UK operation lists La Roux, the singer of hits including Bulletproof whose real name is Elly Jackson, Girli, Fumez the Engineer and The Plug as acts on its books.
- ^ a b Richards, Will (15 November 2021). "Police cancel Fumez The Engineer's London gig 20 minutes before doors". NME. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ "Fumez The Engineer: Exclusive Interview". trappedmagazine.com. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Kazandjian, Robert (21 May 2021). ""My Time Is Now! I've Waited For My Time": Meet 'Plugged In' Star Fumez The Engineer". complex.com. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ Wright, George (20 May 2021). "Pete & Bas: The grandfathers of UK drill". BBC. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
By 2019 they were releasing songs on major UK rap platforms GRM Daily and Pressplay Media.
- ^ Herlock, Ethan (1 May 2020). "How UK drill's filmmakers are driving its thriving scene". djmag.com. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
- ^ Fumez the Engineer [@FumezEngineer] (29 March 2020). "Hope Dealers - First Episode of my new Freestyle series 'Plugged in' OUT NOW via @linkuptv" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 September 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ Collymore, John-Mark (20 April 2021). "Fumez the engineer released two new plugged in freestyles". The Voice. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
- ^ "A92 breaking records in Ireland and UK". independent.ie. 19 December 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Discography Fumez the Engineer". irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ a b Peaks in the UK:
- "Plugged In" with A92 and Offica: "FUMEZ THE ENGINEER/A92/OFFICA | full Official Chart History". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- "Plugged In" with Sava and BM: "SAVA/FUMEZ THE ENGINEER/BM | full Official Chart History". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- "Plugged In" with Skepta: "SKEPTA & FUMEZ THE ENGINEER | full Official Chart History". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ Pierre, Alphone (20 August 2021). "Breaking Down the Many Indignities of Ed Sheeran's UK Drill Video". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ "Ed Sheeran's Bad Habits claims eighth week at Number 1 with Bad Habits following drill remix". officialcharts.com. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ W, Courtney (20 September 2021). "WATCH EPISODE 1 OF FUMEZ THE ENGINEER'S VLOG SERIES 'IN THE MIX'". grmdaily.com. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
- ^ Zadi, Grace (22 September 2021). "Fumez The Engineer Releases Mini-Documentary 'In The Mix' & Announces Two Headline Shows". newwavemagazine.com. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
- ^ "The Mix - Tape 2". Apple Music. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ a b "British certifications – Fumez the Engineer". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 March 2023. Type Fumez the Engineer in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- ^ "Kanye West, Dua Lipa, Beyonce, Russ Millions, Dave, Ghetts & Jorja Smith make the shortlist for this year's 18th annual Urban Music Awards". 25 August 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.