Half-British, half-Tanzanian pop-R&B singer/songwriter Ady Suleiman was born and raised in the historic market town of Grantham, in the East Midlands of England. Growing up on pop music and his DJ father's extensive record collection, he was influenced early by Jimi Hendrix and later by R&B, jazz, hip-hop, reggae, and soul. He started writing his own music at 14 and began performing while at university in Liverpool.
On returning to his hometown after graduating, he discovered that an exciting soul scene had developed, and decided to pursue music as a career. Championed by BBC Radio DJ Dean Jackson, he became popular locally, but really broke out after winning Breakthrough Act of the Year at influential British DJ Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards, leading to support slots with Michael Kiwanuka, Laura Mvula, Lianne La Havas, and others. He was briefly signed to Sony, which put out several of his EPs and singles.
While touring and doing promotions, he began to suffer from anxiety and depression, for which he sought treatment.
His frank portrayal of his mental health issues in his lyrics, and his willingness to talk about them in interviews, led to his being recruited as an ambassador for the charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably). 2018 saw him self-release his debut album Memories, which was entirely self-penned and co-produced with the likes of Eric Appapolay and Grades.
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