Courtney Freckleton , known professionally as Nines, is a British rapper and songwriter from Church Road, North-West London. After releasing a string of mixtapes between 2011 and 2015, Nines signed to XL Recordings and released his debut album One Foot Out, which charted in the top 4 of the UK Albums Chart. He later released a short film entitled ‘Crop Circle’. Two days after this, he released an album under the same name of the film on 20 April 2018 with features from artists such as Dave, Skrapz, Yung Fume, SL, Ray BLK and Haile from WSTRN.
Early life
Nines was born Courtney Freckleton on 17 January 1990, to Jamaican and Somalian parents. He grew up in Church End Estate in North-West London. In April 2008, Nines' brother, Wayne Freckleton, was gunned down and murdered in an alleged gangland attack. He was thought to be a member of CRS. In 2013, Nines was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for possession of cannabis with intent to supply. He is an active member of the rap collective CRS/ICB/CSB alongside Likkle T, Skrapz, J Styles, Fatz, Keyz, Trapstar Toxic, Streetz, Inch, Supa, Fundz, Jambo and others.
Musical career
2010–14: Early mixtapes
In 2012, Nines released his debut mixtape From Church Road to Hollywood. This was followed by Gone Till November the following year and titled after his absence from the music scene due to his imprisonment. Nines gradually saw a rise in popularity through his freestyle videos posted on online rap platform SB.TV. Nines' online music videos for his third mixtape, Loyal to the Soil, gained significant attention. "Money on My Mind" quickly amassed millions of views on YouTube.
2015–17: ''One Foot In'' and ''One Foot Out''
The song "Can't Blame Me" from his fourth mixtape One Foot In gained 10 million views. The mixtape One Foot In served as a prequel to his debut album. The first promotional music video for One Foot Out was "Trapper of the Year", released on 27 August 2016, amassing more than 10 million views. In December 2016, Nines signed to British independent label XL Recordings, partnering with them to release his debut studio albumOne Foot Out. The release date was announced the day before its release, becoming available for purchase on 10 February 2017. It entered the UKAlbums Chart at number 4, becoming one of the few English rappers to receive a top 5 album in recent years, among the likes of Skepta, Giggs and Krept and Konan.
2018–present: ''Crop Circle''
In early April 2018, Nines released his first single since the release of his debut album, "I See You Shining", alongside a music video. It peaked at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Nines' first and highest-charting single. Also 2018 was the start of many shows for Nines. It was later revealed to serve as the lead single to Nines' second album, Crop Circle, which was announced three days before release. It was released on 20 April 2018 by XL Recordings.
