Chip
Background information
Birth name	Jahmaal
Born	(1990-11-26) 26 November 1990 (age 22)
Origin	Tottenham, London, England
Genres	Grime, hip hop, R&B
Occupations	Rapper, singer, songwriter
Instruments	Rapping, vocals
Labels	Grand Hustle
Associated acts	Wretch 32, Angel, Wiley, Mavado, Iggy Azalea, T.I., B.o.B, Sherif, Keri Hilson, Double S, CMAR, Krept & Konan, Chris Brown, Tinchy Stryder
Website	www.officialchip.com

Jahmaal Noel Fyffe^[1] (born 26 November 1990),^[2] known by his stage name Chip, formerly Chipmunk^[3] is an English rapper and songwriter from Tottenham, London.^[4] He signed a record deal with Columbia Records of Sony Music UK.^[5] He has successfully released five 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, Chipmunk was nominated for best newcomer at the MOBO Awards, winning two awards: Best UK Newcomer and Best Hip-Hop act.^[6] He also won Best Hip-Hop Act at the MOBO Awards 2009.^[4] He also won an award with Emeli Sandé for Best British Single for their song "Diamond Rings".^[7] The same year Chipmunk won an Mp3 Award at Mp3 Music Awards 2009 for his single, "Diamond Rings",^[8] 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.^[9]

Career [edit]

2009-2010: I Am Chipmunk [edit]

In 2008, he signed a record deal with Columbia Records, Sony Music and began recording his first debut 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.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12]

He released "Oopsy Daisy" as the third official single. The single 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 it later gained a certification of Silver, by the BPI.^[13] 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.^[14] 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".^[15] 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.^[16] However, the album charted at number-one on the UK R&B Albums Chart.^[17] A fourth single was released from the album, "Look for Me" featuring vocals from Talay Riley. The single charted at number-seven on the UK Singles Charts, the song also gained a Silver certification by the BPI.^[18] 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.^[19]

2010-2011: Transition [edit]

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,^[20] Chris Brown, Trey Songz^[21] and Kalenna Harper from Diddy-Dirty Money,^[22] Jamaican dancehall musician Mavado^[23] and British rapper Wretch 32.^[24] 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 main-stream 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.^[25] 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%.^[26] The song is now used by the WWE as entrance song for their show Tough Enough. It was announced that "In the Air" would be released as the second main-stream 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.^[27] The album Transition itself attained its UK release through Sony Music's Jive label on 18 April 2011.^[28] 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.^[29] Chipmunk also released a net video for the song "Every Gyal" featuring Mavado.^[30] In August 2011 Chipmunk performed a free concert in Dumfries, Scotland and Wales, along with Basshunter, Twenty Twenty, Emma's Imagination, DomiBoi, N-Dubz and Reece Robertson.^[31][32] and in September, Chipmunk released a mixtape called Spazzz.com. as a free download. It received positive feedback from fans and was very pleased. In November 2011, the day before his 21st Birthday, Chipmunk returned to his home town of Tottenham to switch on the Christmas Lights.^[33] In December 2011, Chipmunk featured with Tinie Tempah on the track 'Mayday' from his Happy Birthday mixtape. The track also features Soulja Boy.

2012–present: Grand Hustle era [edit]

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.^[34] However, Chip instead decided to sign with Grand Hustle, the label of fellow rapper and collaborator, T.I..^[35] 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.^[36] He also posted a picture of himself recording in a studio in Atlanta with T.I.^[37] 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.^[38] 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 forty-eight hours of being online.^[39] Chip also managed to bag himself a cameo in the music video for British singer-songwriter Tulisa's debut solo single, "Young", while working with her on material for a separate project.

In May 2012, Chip revealed via his official Twitter account that his first project under his new record label would be a mixtape entitled London Boy, named after the alias he received during his time in America. He also premiered an underground single from the project, "Let It Breathe", to positive reception. Four weeks later, a second underground single, "More Money, More Gyal", featuring Mavado, premiered online, showing the reggae-influenced side of the project. Chip returned to the studio to complete recording on the project during August and September 2012, before unveiling his brand new single, "Londoner", a collaboration with Wretch 32, Professor Green and Loick Essien.^[40] 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.^[41] On 10 December, Chip revealed the tracklisting 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.^[42]

Discography [edit]

Studio albums [edit]

• 2009: I Am Chipmunk
• 2011: Transition
• 2013: Third Studio Album^[43]

Mixtapes [edit]

• 2012: London Boy

Awards [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Chipmunk interview in the Virgin Red Room