Chip (rapper)

Jahmaal Fyffe (born 26 November 1990), better known by his stage name Chip or Chipmunk, is an English rapper and songwriter. He is from Tottenham, North London.

Chip signed a record deal with Jive Records of Sony Music UK. He has successfully released eleven top-ten hits on the UK Singles Chart, of which "Oopsy Daisy" debuted at number-one. He released his debut album, I Am Chipmunk in 2009, which charted at number-two on the UK Albums Chart. His follow-up debut album, Transition was released on 18 April 2011.

In 2008, Chip was nominated for best newcomer at the MOBO Awards, winning two awards: Best UK Newcomer and Best Hip-Hop act. He also won Best Hip-Hop Act at the MOBO Awards 2009. He also won an award with Emeli Sandé for Best British Single for their song "Diamond Rings". The same year Chipmunk won an Mp3 Award at Mp3 Music Awards 2009 for his single, "Diamond Rings", which was published and promoted by MTV Network. On 13 January 2012 he announced via Twitter that he had permanently abbreviated his name from Chipmunk to Chip. Chip announced his signing to American rapper T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records in March 2012 after leaving Sony following the shuttering of Jive, Sony Music.

At the start of 2015, Chip announced his two-part Believe & Achieve EP project – with EPisode 1 to be released independently on Monday 4 May via his own label Cash Motto. The EP features productions from New Machine (Plan B) and Chris Loco (Labrinth) as well as collaborations with Irish troubadour Maverick Sabre and grime legends D Double E, Jammer, Stormzy, Kano, Wretch 32 and Shalo.

Chip runs a company called Cash Motto, formerly Cash Motivation, which he uses to release his music and clothing. The company has also released numerous singles by Chip's friend and frequent collaborator Shalo.

2006–2010: I Am Chipmunk and UK breakthrough

In 2006, at the age of 16, he uploaded the song "Who Are You ?" which received a lot of underground success and has reached over 3 million views on YouTube. Later in 2008, at the Mobo Awards Chipmunk won best newcomer awards while being signed to an independent group. Soon after, in late 2008, at the age of 18, Chip signed a record deal with Columbia Records, Sony Music and began recording his first album. On 2 March 2009, he released his first single from the album, "Chip Diddy Chip". The single charted at number twenty-one on the UK Singles Charts. It was written by Jahmaal Fyffe. The music video of the track featured Tim Westwood and Dappy of N-Dubz, and was filmed in his secondary school, Gladesmore Community School. After the release of the single, he announced his album would be titled, I Am Chipmunk. Following the release of "Diamond Rings" which featured guest vocals from Emeli Sandé. The song became Sandé's and Chip's first top 10 hit, after it charted at number-six on the UK Singles Charts.

He released "Oopsy Daisy" as the third official single. It featured guest vocals from Ms D and was written by Talay Riley. "Oopsy Daisy" is Chip's most successful single to date. The track debuted at number one on the UK Singles Charts and later gained a certification of Silver, by the BPI. It was Chipmunk's first single released internationally. The song was accompanied by a music video, Chipmunk's love interest was played by Red Madrell, a British actress. The song beat song candidates to the top spot, beating British girl-group, The Saturdays to number-one with their come-back single, "Forever Is Over". After the release of I Am Chipmunk on 12 October 2009, it gained mainly positive reviews from critics. It debuted at number-two on the UK Albums Chart. However, the album charted at number-one on the UK R&B Albums Chart.

Chipmunk announced that he was going to release a platinum edition of the album with new tracks. The first single released from I Am Chipmunk was "Until You Were Gone" which featured guest vocals from Esmée Denters. The single charted at number-three on the UK Singles Charts. I Am Chipmunk: The Platinum Edition was released on 3 May 2010. It contained four new songs. The album then gained a Platinum Certification by the BPI. After making a gross income of £1,550,000 last year making him the highest paid UK rapper. Chipmunk also performed at the Mobo Awards in 2009 and Capital Summertime Ball in 2010 at Wembley Arena and the Brit Awards.

2010–11: Transition and "Champion" featuring Chris Brown

Chipmunk announced he was working on a new studio album in late 2010, and confirmed it would be titled, Transition which he stated it would be different from the first album, stating: "It kinda represents the growth in me as a person since my last album, so the sound has matured as well as I have and that’s the main thing for me with the record - I just wanted the sound, the sound and the feel of the album to feel… I feel like a granddad but you know, just more mature than my first album, you know life’s changed." The album features American artists Keri Hilson, Chris Brown, Trey Songz and Kalenna Harper from Diddy-Dirty Money, and British rapper Wretch 32. He released a promotional single onto iTunes on 12 November 2010. The single charted at number seventy-two on the UK Singles Charts, with limited promotion.

In early 2011, he confirmed that "Champion" would be released as the first mainstream single from the album, and the single would feature American R&B singer, Chris Brown. The single was written by Harmony "H-Money" Samuels, Jahmaal Fyffe, Eric Bellinger, Erika Nuri. The single charted at number-two on the UK Singles Charts, being held off the top spot by Jessie J and B.o.B with their entry with "Price Tag". However, both songs sold over 90,000 in their first week and Jessie J gained the top spot by 5%. The song serves as the theme for the reality competition show WWE Tough Enough. It was announced that "In the Air" would be released as the second mainstream single released from Transition the single would feature guest vocals from American R&B singer, Keri Hilson. The single was released on 11 March 2011. The album Transition itself attained its UK release through Sony Music's Jive label on 18 April 2011. He makes a cameo appearance in Wretch 32 and Example's video for Unorthodox.

The third single to be released from the album is titled "Take Off" and features Trey Songz. Chipmunk also released a net video for the song "Every Gyal" featuring Mavado. In August 2011 Chipmunk performed a free concert in Dumfries, Scotland and Wales.

2012–14: Grand Hustle and London Boy Mixtape

On 7 October 2011, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records, along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, Chip, and all other artists previously signed to these three labels, had the option to release their future material on the RCA Records brand. Chip chose not to do so, and certain media outlets speculated that he may be dropped from the label. However, Chip instead decided to sign with Grand Hustle, the label of fellow rapper and collaborator, T.I.. In December 2011, Chip announced that he would be shortening his stage name to "Chip", under the advice and instruction of T.I., and that all of his future releases would appear under his new stage name.

In January 2012, Chip announced via his official Twitter account that he had been working with Sean Garrett and T.I. on his next project, but did not reveal the name of the project in question. He also posted a picture of himself recording in a studio in Atlanta with T.I. Shortly after the announcement, Chip revealed that throughout the year, he would be posting a series of online video blogs to keep his fans updated on what he was up to. On 10 February 2012, Chip uploaded his own freestyle version of fellow rapper Tyga's smash hit, "Rack City" to his official YouTube account. The video received over 70,000 views and 10,000 likes within the first 48 hours of being online.

Chip returned to the studio to complete recording on the project during August and September 2012, before unveiling his single "Londoner", a collaboration with Wretch 32, Professor Green and Loick Essien. The track was released as the project's third underground single on 25 November 2012. On 9 October 2012, Chip was featured on the annual BET Hip Hop Awards cypher, alongside his Grand Hustle label-mates Iggy Azalea, B.o.B, T.I. and Trae tha Truth. On 10 December, Chip revealed the track listing of the mixtape, including collaborations with label mates Iggy Azalea, Trae Tha Truth, T.I, previous collaborators Skepta, Mavado, Wretch 32 and Professor Green as well as Meek Mill and Young Jeezy. He also re-confirmed the release date of 25 December 2012, and revealed the tape would be available to download free of charge.

2014–present: Believe & Achieve and Grime Beef

On 31 October 2014 Chip dropped his "Fright Night" freestyle on YouTube, and announced to fans that his new project Believe & Achieve would be coming in 2015. In November 2014 Chip collaborated with hotly tipped Stormzy and Shalo on "I’m Fine" which he filmed on his 24th birthday and released shortly after. A remix of "I’m Fine" featuring Frisco, Krept and Konan appeared online on 16 January 2015 via i-D Magazine. On 1 January 2015, Chip dropped the track ‘School of Grime’ via his Soundcloud, and followed by a video a couple weeks later. The track featured grime legends D Double E and Jammer and instantly started blowing up at specialist radio, online and across the urban world for weeks. After the success of the original song "School of Grime" featuring D Double E and Jammer, Chip released a remix blended with UK Garage classic,"The Streets - Has It Come to This" and it was accompanied by a new music video which contained footage of a live performance at student event, Rampage. [6]

On Saturday 24 January, Chip appeared for the second time on Charlie Sloth’s trademark show Fire In The Booth on 1Xtra, which had a huge listenership and was trending on Twitter. In Chip’s freestyle, he opened up some questions about the UK rap scene and caused controversy by calling out Tinie Tempah for his current lack of commitment to music. The YouTube video from Fire In The Booth instantly went viral with 100k views in just a few days, and was followed by a 1Xtra debate which also trended on Twitter. Chip also took part in ITV’s new entertainment show Get Your Act Together on 25 January, having been invited by the Shaolin Monks to learn Kung Fu martial arts. The performance culminated in him balancing on two spear points to widespread audience acclaim. He competed against three other celebrity teams and won the round. Chip performed with the Shaolin Monks in the final of the show on 22 February 2015

A remix freestyle of ‘School of Grime’ was organically conceived by Chip, D Double E and Jammer in the back of a cab after the official video shoot. Using The Streets ‘Has It Come To This’ as the beat, a freestyle was filmed in one take by a camera phone was shot and then uploaded to YouTube. The track was then recorded properly in the studio and premiered via Pigeons and Planes on 21 February A week later, a visual for the remix was made by legendary Risky Roadz and hosted on SBTV channel.

On 19 February 2015, Chip formally announced the track listing to the first EP of the two-part Believe & Achieve project. Believe & Achieve: EPisode 1 will be released independently on Monday 20 April via his own label, Cash Motto and features productions from New Machine (Plan B) and Chris Loco (Labrinth) as well as collaborations with Irish troubadour Maverick Sabre and grime legends D Double E, Kano, Stormzy, Wretch 32 and Jammer. The second EP, Episode 2 will be released in the second part of 2015. Kano and Wretch 32 will feature on Chips track called "Feeling Myself".

On 20 March 2015, Chip released a freestyle ‘Pepper Riddim’ hitting back at 5 MCs who had dissed him since his Fire In The Booth. ‘The End’ was then filmed in one take and released to put an end to the negativity coming from fellow MCs in the grime scene, and to look forward to the next chapter of Chip with a positive outlook.

On Christmas Day 2015, Chip released his tenth mixtape, Rap vs. Grime, for free download. The project, which features a guest appearance from Stormzy, consists of remixes of hit songs from 2015 such as "My Way" and "Classic Man" (the "rap" songs) and diss tracks aimed at Tinie Tempah and Bugzy Malone (the "grime" songs). Also on Christmas Day 2015, Chip released "Hear Dis" featuring Stormzy.

Motorcycle accident

In 2014, Chip was involved in a quad bike accident which led to him having 12 stitches in his head. Chip now drives a Smart car, as he was forbidden by his mother from riding quad bikes following the accident.

Feud with Tinie Tempah

In 2015, Chip appeared on Charlie Sloth's radio show where he called out a fellow London based rapper Tinie Tempah over the latter's interests and perceived exploitation of their relationship for personal benefit. On 9 October 2015 he released "96 Bars of Revenge" in which he dissed both Tempah and Bugzy Malone. He then followed this up with "Coward", which was aimed directly at Tempah.

Feud with Bugzy Malone

Bugzy Malone released his "Fire in the Booth", a freestyle session hosted by BBC 1Xtra presenter Charlie Sloth, on 14 March 2015, mentioning Chip. Chip replied to Malone's critics including him on his war dub "Pepper Riddim". This started the feud and drew attention to the grime scene early on in 2015. Malone released a war dub for Chip entitled "Relegation Riddim", travelling to Chip's hometown of Tottenham to film the video for the song.

Five months later, Chip released a number of tracks in his defence starting with "Light Work" on 11 September 2015. He then went on to release "Run Out Riddim" and "Hat Trick" in the same week. Around a month later on 9 October 2015 he released "96 Bars of Revenge" in which he dissed both Malone and Tinie Tempah. The rivalry continued as Malone then replied back with "Wasteman", Chip replied within 7 hours with "Dickhead", Malone then released the pre-recorded track "Zombie Riddim" via his Twitter account straight after "Dickhead" was uploaded. The feud continues with hints at a clash between the two artists. Malone has stated that he will clash with Chip on Lord of the Mics, a battle rap show hosted by Boy Better Know member Jammer, for the right amount of money, and Chip has also stated that he would be willing as long as he would be clashing against both Malone and Tempah.

Feud with Yungen

This feud started when Chip mentioned Yungen in "96 Bars of Revenge". Yungen replied the following year on his track "Comfy", which sparked the feud further. On 19 February 2016, Chip released "One Take" (freestyle) on his YouTube channel, dissing Yungen. Yungen released a pre-recorded track one hour later titled "Punk (Shitmunk Diss)" which was a warning to Chip to take his freestyle down. Chip replied in 24 hours with "Michelle Riddim", a diss track towards Yungen and Tinie Tempah. Yungen responded quickly with "Oopsy Daisy Riddim", and Chip has since responded once again with "L (Lil' Clive Diss 2)". Recently the 'Oopsy Daisy Riddim (Shitmunk Diss) was taken down from YouTube after it contained a sample of Chipmunk's single "Oopsy Daisy", it was re-uploaded, this time with the copyrighted audio removed.

Sports

Chip has been since boyhood an Arsenal fan of whom has even visited the Emirates Stadium.

• 2007: Steal This Film: Part II

• I Am Chipmunk (2009)
• Transition (2011)
• London Boy (2012)
• Believe & Achieve Episode 1 - EP (2015)
• Believe & Achieve Episode 2 - EP (2015
• Rap vs Grime (2015)
• Power Up (Mixtape) (2016)

Urban Music Awards

Chip won 2 awards.