Profile: Alec J

By Luke Collinson

Early life and career• Alec Josiah didn’t have a particularly bright prospects; born in

the east end of London, no father figure and his ill mother with bad (and worsening ) Parkinsons.

• He quickly got involved with gangs at the age of 13, however this was short lived, Alec was viciously attacked at the age of 15 by 6 rival gang members.

• He ended up in intensive care for 2 week and stayed in the hospital for a further 3 weeks.

• At the age of 16 his mother died and a devastated Alec moved to live with his uncle in Manchester, however this was going to be the beginning of his road to stardom.

Early life and career (continued)

• With no friends, 3 GCSEs and little prospect of anything meaningful in his new town; Alec began to spend his time writing raps and recording them on his phone. He also spent lots of his time revisiting his better times by listening to Skepta.

• In 2010 still 16, but almost 17, he put on of his songs “where I came from” on Facebook; it got 687 likes in the first week and had over 1000 views.

• Several people encouraged him to make his own page where he could upload songs regularly and build a following and so he did.

• Over the next 3 and a bit years Alec continued to upload his songs to Facebook and a YouTube channel he made, this earned him enough money to move out of his uncle’s house and get his own.

• At the age of 20 (2014) Alec was signed by DRM™ and released his debut album “My Way”. It sold 100,000 in a year. During the year Alec continued to release EPs all of which were fairly successful.

• In the march of 2015 at the age of 21 Alec left DRM™ and with his friend Levi Agbonso better known by his stage name ‘Young Money’ made his own label “south northward” under which he now released his last album “Riches to Rags”

Early life and career (continued 2)

Who are the people behind the scenes of Alec J?

• Alec is in a group of people called ‘south northward’ they are all rappers and occasionally do songs together.

• He spends most of his time with them and when on and goes on tour with them. His best friend and co founder of the group ‘Young money’ often does songs with Alec

How is he funded?

• When under DRM™ Alec was funded this way, they payed his wage and funded any shows and songs that he wanted to do.

• Now he has his own label he earns all his own money with no on above him, Alec earns much more in his group, but because he has to pay for everything it doesn’t work out- overall that much more.

Outfits

• Alec wears a big verity of clothes. When out he is often seen wearing a tracksuit or jeans and a polo shirt.

• His outfits are usually quite dark with one element of brightness. He is known for often wearing a green a green hoodie at his shows. This green hoodie is from his own clothing brand so when wearing it is almost a form of advertising.

Fans

• Fans of Alec J are usually people from around the age of 14 – 25.

• Of course it isn’t exclusive to males but his fan base and crowd he gathers are predominantly male.

• His fans are very lively and his shows are usually full of jumping and mosh-pits, which can get very rough sometimes.