Bashy
Thomas at theAdulthood premiere in 2008.
Born	Ashley Thomas (1985-02-04)4 February 1985 (age 40) Hammersmith,London, England
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Education	BRIT School
Occupations	Actor rapper
Years active	2002–present
Musical career
Also known as	Bashy
Genres	Hip hop British Hip Hop Alternative Rap Grime
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	2002–present
Musical artist
Website	bashy.com

Ashley Thomas (born 4 February 1985), also known by his stage nameBashy,^[1] is a British actor and rapper.^[2]

Thomas was born inHammersmith, West London, the first born of his mother ofJamaican heritage,^[1] and his father ofDominican heritage.^[1] He attended St. Mary's of the Angels RC Primary School. Aged 11, his family moved toKensal Rise, northwest London, and he attendedCardinal Hinsley High School,^[1] where he excelled in drama.^[1] Thomas went on to join theBRIT School for Performing Arts as a theatre student.^[1]

Before becoming an actor and musician, Thomas worked as a postman for the Royal Mail and later as a London bus driver.^[3]

In 2007, Thomas released the song "Black Boys".^[3] 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.^[3]

In 2008, Thomas started working onAdulthood.^[3]Noel Clarke, the writer and director ofAdulthood, first encountered Thomas when he was passed a copy ofThe Chupa Chups Mixtape, which contained samples from Clarke's previousKidulthood film.^[4] Clarke was so impressed with what he heard that he disregarded any concerns around the copyright to finding a way to record theAdulthood theme song.^[4] He asked Thomas to submit a track to be included on the official soundtrack, and Thomas delivered "Kidulthood to Adulthood".^[4]

Thomas released his debut album,Catch Me If You Can in June 2009.^[3] "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".^[5] "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".^[5]

In 2010, Bashy featured on the song "White Flag" by Gorillaz from their critically acclaimed albumPlastic Beach.^[3] The song saw Bashy feature alongside UK rapper Kano and theSyrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music.^[3]

Bashy released his first full-length album in 15 years,Being Poor Is Expensive, on 12 July 2024.^[6]

Thomas landed his first role in 2010 as Rager in British flick,Shank,^[3] an independent action film set in a decaying future London. He then went on to feature as Smoothy in the movie4.3.2.1. that same year.^[3] In April 2010, BBC Learning launched Off By Heart Shakespeare, a recital contest for secondary school pupils,^[7] and Thomas was asked to play the role of Shylock fromThe Merchant of Venice.^[7]

In 2011, Thomas played the part of Mental Mickey inCockneys vs Zombies.^[8] Later that year, he played Tyrone Jones inThe Veteran.^[8] His first television role came in the winter of 2011, in theEmmy award-winning seriesBlack Mirror, byCharlie Brooker forChannel 4 as Judge Wraith in the episode "Fifteen Million Merits".^[7]

In 2012, Thomas played the lead role inThe Man Inside, oppositePeter Mullan,David Harewood andMichelle Ryan. His next film wasMy Brother the Devil,^[8] 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 inTop Boy, a role he reprised in 2019 after it was announced thatNetflix was to revive the British drama series.^[7]

Early in 2015, Thomas guest-starred in theBBC seriesThe Interceptor. Thomas' next TV appearance would be as Gil in the short-lived fantasy dramaBeowulf: Return to the Shieldlands forITV in January 2016. Thomas signed up to the ensemble cast of A Hundred Streets released the same year.^[7]

Early in 2016, it was confirmed Thomas was to appear as Calvin Hart in theHBO limited seriesThe Night Of directed byJames Marsh andSteve Zaillian.^[9] In March 2016, Thomas was set as a lead role in the20th Century Fox Television reboot of franchise series24 as Isaac Carter.^[10] In 2018, Thomas played the brother of Luca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) in the legal dramaThe Good Fight, airing onCBS All Access.^[7]

In 2019 it was announced Thomas would co-star in theNYPD Blue reboot.^[11] That same year Thomas was set to headline the Amazon Prime seriesThem;^[12] for his performance he received anIndependent Spirit Award nomination.^[13]

• 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)

• "Clones" – 2006 (byAkira the Don)
• "Time Is Right Remix" – 2009 (by Frisco, also featuringJme andBlack the Ripper)
• "She Likes To" (England Top 10) – 2009 (byWiley)
• "White Flag" fromPlastic Beach – 2010 (byGorillaz, also featuringKano)
• "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 featuringPaloma Faith andAdam Deacon)
• "It's All Love" (Remix) – 2012 (byScorcher, also featuringTalay Riley, Kano andWretch 32)
• "Bad Boys Don't Cry" – 2013 (byLoick Essien)

• Official website
• Bashy atIMDb

• 1985 births
• English people of Dominica descent
• Black British male rappers
• British male rappers
• Grime music artists
• English male film actors
• Black British male actors
• 21st-century English male actors
• English male television actors
• Rappers from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
• Rappers from the London Borough of Hounslow
• People from Chiswick
• Actors from the London Borough of Hounslow
• Male actors from London
• People from Hammersmith
• Actors educated at the BRIT School
• Living people
• English people of Jamaican descent
• Actors from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from June 2018
• Use British English from April 2014
• Articles with hCards