Background and career
Kwasi Esono Danquah III ( KWAY-see dang-KWAH; born 14 September 1986), better known by his stage name Tinchy Stryder, is a Ghanaian rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and investor. Stryder has released three solo studio albums, Star in the Hood (2007), Catch 22 (2009), and Third Strike (2010). Stryder's business ventures include the clothing line Star in the Hood, the Cloud 9 X Goji headphone and audio equipment range in collaboration with Goji Electronics.
Stryder was born as Kwasi Esono Danquah III on 14 September 1986 in Accra, Ghana. Stryder has lived in the United Kingdom since 1995. In Bow, London, he attended St Bonaventure's Catholic School in nearby Forest Gate, Newham; He gained a B.A. (Hons) in Digital arts, Moving image and Animation at the University of East London. He began making music in 1997, aged 11, and started in business almost immediately after completing his A-levels in 2006.
Stryder's recordings date back to 1998. He appeared in 2000 on pirate radio along with Dizzee Rascal and Wiley, and was part of grime collective and record production team Ruff Sqwad from 2001. His pseudonym Tinchy Stryder derives from the video game Strider and from the nickname given to him, "Tinchy", which literally means "tiny". He has stated that his height is 5 ft 5 in. In 2002, the grime group Roll Deep was founded by Wiley, and included Stryder and Dizzee Rascal. They were making music that was a derivative of garage. For a while, there was not even a name for it. The name "grime" was the one that stuck. While performing with Roll Deep, Stryder performed some songs including "U Were Always" in 2002, which was released years later on Roll Deep's compilation album Street Anthems in 2009. He also performed on Roll Deep's 2004 mixtape, Creeper Vol. 2.
The debut album by Stryder, Star in the Hood, was released on 13 August 2007 on Takeover. The album spawned two main singles, "Breakaway", which was released on 9 April 2007 and "Something About Your Smile", was released on 6 August 2007. Bonus track "Mainstream Money" was also released as an underground single in November 2007. In 2008, Stryder released his debut extended play, Cloud 9 The EP, which was released on 31 March, also on Takeover. This was succeeded by him and grime record producer Maniac collaborating on the album, Tinchy Stryder vs. Maniac, which was released on 24 November 2008. Only one single was released from the album, "Rollin", which was released in October 2008. This track was also included on his 2009 second solo studio album, Catch 22, as part of the, Deluxe 2-Disc Edition, and he would collaborate with American band Gang Gang Dance on their album Saint Dymphna that was released in October 2008.
Stryder began a partnership with English record producer and songwriter Fraser T Smith. According to Smith in an interview with HitQuarters, "Kwasi had no shortage of beats and cool sounding production, but I think he wanted to try and break through into the mainstream, and I had some experience crossing underground over into mainstream having worked with artists like Craig David." The single "Stryderman", was released on 20 July 2008. It was the first single taken from Catch 22. The second single, "Take Me Back", was released on 19 January 2009. His third single, a collaboration with the English hip-hop band N-Dubz entitled "Number 1," peaked at number 6 on the European Hot 100 Singles and number 1 in the UK & Ireland and became the first single with the title "Number 1" to peak at #1 in any country. His fourth single from Catch 22, "Never Leave You", was released on 3 August 2009 with the album following on 17 August 2009. "Never Leave You" peaked at number 5 on the European Hot 100 Singles on the week of its release. Catch 22 debuted at number 11 on the European Top 100 Albums. The fifth and final single from Catch 22 is "You're Not Alone," which was released in November 2009 and samples the Olive song of the same name. In February 2010, Stryder headline toured for the third time, he invited the English singer Example and rapper JME as his supporting acts. The tour was Stryder's second sell-out tour after he toured in 2009 and helped in raising the profile of Example. Stryder opened on the pyramid stage at the England Glastonbury Festival, on Saturday, 27 June 2010. He also performed at the O2 Arena in England, for the Transformation Trust's first birthday alongside The Saturdays.
Stryder's third solo studio album, Third Strike was released on Monday, 15 November 2010 and was an unsuccessful album. Stryder began recording Third Strike shortly after he completed his previous album; he then released a promotional single, "Gangsta?", six months prior to the release of the studio album. This was followed by the release of the first official single, a year from the day he released his second studio album. He began working with Fraser T Smith who had also worked on his second studio album. English singer Taio Cruz produced the largely, along with Fraser T Smith. The album title was picked by the title of Street Fighter III 3rd Strike which was also a massive success. Third Strike features several artists, including English singer Amelle, with whom he collaborated on Catch 22 on the single "Never Leave You". The album features Taio Cruz who also featured on the Stryder's last album. The album also features artists affiliated with Roc Nation: Canadian singer Melanie Fiona on "Let It Rain", American singer Alexis Jordan, and American singer Bridget Kelly on "Take The World". The song "Game Over" features six different artists. Eric Turner from the Swedish rock band Street Fighting Man also features on the album.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
