(Second studio album by N-Dubz. Dappy co-wrote and co-prod...)
Second studio album by N-Dubz. Dappy co-wrote and co-produced tracks including 'I Need You' and 'Say It's Over', and the album sold more than 200,000 copies.
Costadinos Contostavlos, known as Dappy, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as the lead singer and rapper of the Camden-based trio N-Dubz, and he later built a solo career, including the UK number-one single 'No Regrets' in 2011.
Background
Ethnicity:
Reference sources describe Dappy and his cousin Tulisa as being of Irish and Greek-Cypriot heritage.
Costadinos Contostavlos was born on 11 June 1987 in Camden Town, London, England, to Byron Contostavlos and Zoi Agorou. Camden Town is a district in north-west London, and all three members of N-Dubz were born there and grew up in the area.
His father had played bass with Mungo Jerry, a British band that rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hit 'In the Summertime'. Byron later worked at a local barber's shop and put much of his money into equipment and studio resources for his son's band, linking the family's musical background with Dappy's early career.
Reference sources describe Dappy and his cousin Tulisa as being of Irish and Greek-Cypriot heritage. The trio's music drew on grime, a style that developed in London in the early 2000s from UK garage and related genres.
Education
Dappy attended several schools in London before leaving formal education. He began at Richard Cobden Primary School and then attended St Aloysius, a Roman Catholic boys-only secondary school in Islington, where he was expelled for truancy after about a year.
He then moved to Bishop Douglass School at about the age of twelve, where he was frequently involved in fights, usually after other pupils had mocked him. He left formal education at the age of 15 but later returned to college, where he gained an A* in GCSE English and a B in GCSE Music. The GCSE is the qualification taken by most pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland at about the age of 16.
Career
Dappy's musical career began in Camden while he was still a teenager. From about the age of thirteen, he performed in and around Camden Town with his friend Richard Rawson, known as Fazer, after the two started making beats and writing lyrics together. His cousin Tulisa joined them, and the group, first called Lickle Rinsers Crew, came under the management of Byron Contostavlos, who spent much of his own money on equipment and studio resources for the act. The trio later adopted the name N-Dubz and became known as a Camden-based grime, hip hop and R&B group.
N-Dubz's early success was rapid. The group won a MOBO Award for Best UK Newcomer in 2007, and it signed with the dance label All Around the World Records, which released the debut album Uncle B in November 2008. Dappy co-wrote and co-produced much of that album, and its lead single 'Ouch' was a major commercial success. Dappy's professional associations in this period also included Polydor Records, a label originally founded in Germany in 1913.
The group's second album, Against All Odds, appeared in 2009, and that year N-Dubz won the MOBO Award for Best UK Act. Love.Live.Life followed in 2010, the same year the group worked with Def Jam Recordings, the New York hip hop label founded in 1984. While Dappy was choosing his debut solo single, Def Jam contacted him about demos of an unreleased N-Dubz track.
In June 2011 it was announced that N-Dubz had left their American record deal, and the group later announced a hiatus to focus on solo careers. Dappy's first solo prominence came as a guest on Tinchy Stryder's 'Spaceship', released in June 2011. His own single 'No Regrets' was released on 18 September 2011 and reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. Island Records, a label founded in Jamaica in 1959, released the compilation Greatest Hits in November 2011.
Dappy's debut solo album, Bad Intentions, was released on 22 October 2012 by Takeover Entertainment and Island Records. It debuted at number six on the Official Albums Chart, although critics gave it mainly negative reviews. He continued to appear as a featured artist, including on 'Comfortable' with Yungen in 2019 and '+44' with Lotto Boyzz in 2020. N-Dubz released the album Timeless in 2023, and his woolly chullo hats became a trademark of his public image.
Dappy's solo single 'No Regrets', released on 18 September 2011, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and number eight in Ireland. It marked the start of his solo career after N-Dubz's hiatus.
His debut solo album, Bad Intentions, debuted at number six on the Official Albums Chart in 2012.
(Second studio album by N-Dubz. Dappy co-wrote and co-prod...)
2009
Personality
Physical Characteristics:
Height is reported as 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 metres).
Quotes from others about the person
Queen guitarist Brian May was reported to have been impressed by Dappy's solo single 'No Regrets'.
Interests
Model aircraft, a pastime reported in press accounts.
Sport & Clubs
Football, as an Arsenal supporter
Music & Bands
Hip hop, grime, rap
Connections
Dappy's father, Byron Contostavlos, had been a bassist with Mungo Jerry and later managed N-Dubz. Byron died on 12 April 2007 after a heart attack, and the group's song 'Papa (Can You Hear Me?)' was played at his funeral. The group's debut album, Uncle B, is dedicated to him.
His cousin Tulisa and his childhood friend Richard Rawson, known as Fazer, were his bandmates in N-Dubz. Dappy first met Fazer at karate lessons when he was nine, and the two later became close friends at school. Dappy is the father of two sons, Milo and Gino.
Father:
Byron Contostavlos
Bassist with the 1970s band Mungo Jerry. He managed N-Dubz in its early years and died on 12 April 2007.
Mother:
Zoi Agorou
Brother:
Spiros
Son:
Milo
Son:
Gino
girlfriend:
Kaye Vassell
Collegue :
Tulisa Contostavlos
Cousin of Dappy and fellow member of N-Dubz.
Collegue :
Richard Rawson
Known as Fazer. Childhood friend and fellow member of N-Dubz.
References
Dappy
Encyclopedia article on Costadinos Contostavlos covering his career with N-Dubz, his solo albums and his family background.
IMDb
Database biography of Dappy with birth details and his credits as an actor and composer.
Won by N-Dubz, of which Dappy was a member, in 2007. The MOBO Awards recognise music of Black origin, and the group won the category before signing with All Around the World Records.
Won by N-Dubz, of which Dappy was a member, in 2007. The MOBO Awards recognise music of Black origin, and the group won the category before signing with All Around the World Records.
MOBO Award for Best UK Act
Won by N-Dubz, of which Dappy was a member, in 2009. The MOBO Awards recognise music of Black origin.
Won by N-Dubz, of which Dappy was a member, in 2009. The MOBO Awards recognise music of Black origin.
