Dean Blunt

Music career

Dean Blunt, whose real name is Roy Chukwuemeka Nnawuchi, is a Nigerian-British musician, producer, and artist. He is known for his solo work, his time in the avant-garde duo Hype Williams with Inga Copeland, and the hip-hop project Babyfather.

Early life

He also founded the London rock band Graffiti Island. Critics have called him a prolific, category-rejecting artist and an art-pop provocateur. He has said he comes from a working-class family of Igbo descent in Hackney, London.

Blunt performed with Inga Copeland in Hype Williams from 2007 to 2012. The group was supposedly founded in 2005 as a relay project passed between artists every five years.

They gave few interviews, leaving their lineup and nature unclear. A representative named Denna Frances Glass was thought to be either the project’s manager or a fake identity created by Blunt and Copeland. In 2016, Glass said Blunt and Copeland had left the project, which would continue with others.

Blunt started his solo career in 2011, releasing albums, EPs, and singles. His early albums The Narcissist II (2012), The Redeemer (2013), and Black Metal (2014) got praise from music publications. His first Babyfather album, "BBF" Hosted by DJ Escrow, was named best album of 2016 by Tiny Mix Tapes and Resident Advisor. In 2018, he worked heavily on A$AP Rocky’s album Testing, with production and writing credits on "Purity" and "Gunz N Butter" and vocals on "Calldrops".

They had previously collaborated on the Babyfather track "Benzo Amore" and have since worked together on other recordings. In 2024, he released the collaborative album Backstage Raver with Joanne Robertson. On 1 January 2025, he put out Lucre, an EP with Iceage singer Elias Rønnenfelt and producer Vegyn.

Other artistic work

Blunt has directed music videos for Actress and Panda Bear. He has produced theatre works in Berlin, Lausanne, and London, including an opera called Inna at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 2017.

Personal life

He has held art exhibitions and published a book called Cîroc Boyz: Vol 1 about VIP club expenses. He is known for playful obfuscation: in 2015, he sent his bodyguard to accept an NME award, and in 2016, he listed a toy Foxtons Mini Cooper filled with marijuana on eBay. He practices Transcendental Meditation and promotes it openly.

Other artistic work

Blunt has directed music videos for Actress and Panda Bear. He has produced theatre works including The Narcissist at HAU1 in Berlin in 2012; Lord Knows at Le Romandie in Lausanne in 2013; and I'm Just Passin Thru To Show Some Love in 2013 and Urban in 2014, both at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.

In October 2017, Blunt also debuted Inna, an opera directed by himself with music from Mica Levi, at the same institute. Blunt has put on a number of art exhibitions, including Brixton 28s and New Paintings at Space Studios and W44VY at Arcadia Missa. He has also published a book compiling "excessive expenses made in the most popular VIP clubs in the hip hop scene", entitled Cîroc Boyz: Vol 1.

Did You Know?

• Blunt sent his bodyguard to accept his Philip Hall Radar Award at the NME Awards in 2015.
• In 2016, he listed a toy Foxtons estate agents Mini Cooper filled with marijuana on eBay for £250.
• At a New York concert in March 2016, media guests were asked to check in under aliases they received with their ticket confirmations.
• He is of Igbo descent and has described his family in Hackney, London as "Sun readers, working class, kind of ignorant in ways".