Bashy

Ashley Thomas (born 4 February 1985), also known by his stage name Bashy, is a British actor and rapper.

Early life
Thomas was born in Hammersmith, West London, the first born of his mother of Jamaican heritage, and his father of Dominican heritage. He attended St. Mary's of the Angels RC Primary School. Aged 11, his family moved to Kensal Rise, northwest London, and he attended Cardinal Hinsley High School, where he excelled in drama. Thomas went on to join the BRIT School for Performing Arts as a theatre student.

Before becoming an actor and musician, Thomas worked as a postman for the Royal Mail and later as a London bus driver.

Music
In 2007, Thomas released the song "Black Boys". With frequent reports of shootings and stabbings on news bulletins, and with the media continuously focusing on the lack of role models in black communities, he felt that the nation's inner-city youth needed a reminder that they had a number of positive role models they could look to for inspiration, he became a spokesperson opposing knife crime.

In 2008, Thomas started working on Adulthood. Noel Clarke, the writer and director of Adulthood, first encountered Thomas when he was passed a copy of The Chupa Chups Mixtape, which contained samples from Clarke's previous Kidulthood film. Clarke was so impressed with what he heard that he disregarded any concerns around the copyright to finding a way to record the Adulthood theme song. He asked Thomas to submit a track to be included on the official soundtrack, and Thomas delivered "Kidulthood to Adulthood".

Thomas released his debut album, Catch Me If You Can in June 2009. "Hiphop.com" rated the album "good" and stated, "Catch Me If You Can is a debut album that perfectly demonstrates how hip hop has become the world's local music". "With vocal accents, lyrical references, swagger and varied production styles that will take a minute for the non-Brit to get their head around, much of this likable and well-intentioned set still deserves wider attention".

In 2010, Bashy featured on the song "White Flag" by Gorillaz from their critically acclaimed album Plastic Beach. The song saw Bashy feature alongside UK rapper Kano and the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music.

Bashy released his first full-length album in 15 years, Being Poor Is Expensive, on 12 July 2024.

Acting
Thomas landed his first role in 2010 as Rager in British flick, Shank, an independent action film set in a decaying future London. He then went on to feature as Smoothy in the movie 4.3.2.1. that same year. In April 2010, BBC Learning launched Off By Heart Shakespeare, a recital contest for secondary school pupils, and Thomas was asked to play the role of Shylock from The Merchant of Venice.

In 2011, Thomas played the part of Mental Mickey in Cockneys vs Zombies. Later that year, he played Tyrone Jones in The Veteran. His first television role came in the winter of 2011, in the Emmy award-winning series Black Mirror, by Charlie Brooker for Channel 4 as Judge Wraith in the episode "Fifteen Million Merits".

In 2012, Thomas played the lead role in The Man Inside, opposite Peter Mullan, David Harewood and Michelle Ryan. His next film was My Brother the Devil, which received critical acclaim, winning awards at both the Sundance Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival.

In 2013, he played the recurring character Jermaine Newton in Top Boy , a role he reprised in 2019 after it was announced that Netflix was to revive the British drama series.

Early in 2015, Thomas guest-starred in the BBC series The Interceptor. Thomas' next TV appearance would be as Gil in the short-lived fantasy drama Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands for ITV in January 2016. Thomas signed up to the ensemble cast of A Hundred Streets released the same year.

Early in 2016, it was confirmed Thomas was to appear as Calvin Hart in the HBO limited series The Night Of directed by James Marsh and Steve Zaillian. In March 2016, Thomas was set as a lead role in the 20th Century Fox Television reboot of franchise series 24 as Isaac Carter. In 2018, Thomas played the brother of lead character Luca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) in the legal drama The Good Fight, airing on CBS All Access.

In 2019 it was announced Thomas would co-star in the NYPD Blue reboot. That same year Thomas was set to headline the Amazon Prime series Them; for his performance he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Mixtapes/EPs

 * Ur Mum Vol One (2005)
 * The Chupa Chups Mixtape (2007)
 * Bashy.com (2008)
 * The Fantasy Mixtape (2010)
 * The Crunchie Mixtape (2011)
 * The Great Escape EP (2012)
 * Mixtape Legend compilation (2013)

Guest appearances

 * "Clones" – 2006 (by Akira the Don)
 * "Time Is Right Remix" – 2009 (by Frisco, also featuring Jme and Black the Ripper)
 * "She Likes To" (England Top 10) – 2009 (by Wiley)
 * "White Flag" from Plastic Beach – 2010 (by Gorillaz, also featuring Kano)
 * "Dead Butterflies" – Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (by Gorillaz, also featuring Kano and Roxani Arias)
 * "4,3,2,1" – 4.3.2.1 OST (Bashy featuring Paloma Faith and Adam Deacon)
 * "It's All Love" (Remix) – 2012 (by Scorcher, also featuring Talay Riley, Kano and Wretch 32)
 * "Bad Boys Don't Cry" – 2013 (by Loick Essien)