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Tommy Evans is based in London but was born and grew up in Leeds. Tommy was introduced to hip hop in 1984 through Run DMC's "Walk This Way" and Roland Rat's "Rat Rappin’". After spells of casually breaking and graf writing, Tommy started rapping seriously in 1995 and linked with various crews on the Leeds scene. In ‘96 he formed the duo of Junkyard Tactics; their career highlight supporting De La Soul in ‘97. Tommy went solo in ‘98 linking with the then Huddersfield based YNR crew making his recording debut in 1999 on Jehst’s "DeadlyCombination" on the "Premonitions" EP.
Since then Tommy's released 2 eps and 3 singles on his own label YNR (run with Jehst and Cee-Why). Tommy’s collaborated with some of the top producers and MCs in the country on material that's out there or in the pipeline: Task Force, Lewis Parker, Jehst, Harry Love, Mark B, Braintax, Karl Hinds, Apollo, Mr. Wiz (Krispy), Bone Idols, Beyond There, Ayaman (The Planets), Foreign Beggars, Dark Circle, Ricochet, Dupa Styles, Doc Brown, LG & Lopez, and of course, all his YNR bredrins like Usmaan, Asaviour, Evil Ed and Cee-Why.
Tommy has also been tearing up shows with long time collaborator Yungun and new recruit DJ Blakey (DMC Team Champ 2003) around the UK from Penzance... Read More ... to Edinburgh and everywhere in between, headlining venues, playing big bashes (Kung Fu and Itch FM’s 2nd Birthday Jams) or supporting international acts such as Junior Reid, Non Phixion, El Da Sensei, Bobbito Garcia, Peanut Butter Wolf, Freestyle (The Arsonists) and DJ Noize. Plus music lovers worldwide have been getting accustomed to Tommy's unique lyricism with performances in Europe and the USA, including Philidelphia’s legendary Black Lilly night! Tommy even made history alongside Jehst by being the first rappers to perform in the Channel Islands!
Tommy's single "Me/You" B/W "Silent Mobius” was released in summer 2002. It was playlisted on 1Xtra and lead to appearances on Itch FM, XFM and Westwood (Radio 1), the UKs number 1 hip hop radio show. Following this he contributed to the “Virgin Souls” project with Neneh Cherry and Cameron McVee (Massive Attack, SugaBabes) and collaborated with artists from round the globe: The Are from K-otix (USA), Nookie (Sweden), Equicez (Norway) and Fat Daddy (Switzerland). He released the single "Move.. Now" with the late Mark B in 2004 and in the same year dropped his debut LP "New Years Revolutions" on YNR. He was due to drop another album produced by Mr Thing, but this never saw the light of day. Shortly after releasing his debut album he retired from recording and converted to Islam. Although no longer rapping to beats or making records he is now still prolific in the spoken word scene with the name Tommy 'A-Man' Evans and his videos can be found on youtube.
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