Jamie XX

Jamie xx is the bashful beatmaker of lo-fi Mercury Music Prize winners the xx, who carved out a name for himself outside the band thanks to a host of critically acclaimed post-garage/dubstep remixes. Born Jamie Smith in Putney, London, he began his musical career playing the drums, but after realizing he couldn't use his innovation skills on the instrument, he instead turned to the '80s Media Production Centre, which programmed his computer-based sounds onto electronic percussion pads, allowing him to play both live and in the studio. In 2008, he teamed up with former school friends Oliver Sims, Romy Madley Croft, and Baria Qureshi to form the xx, who signed to XL subsidiary Young Turks a year later, and went on to record one of the most well-received albums of the decade with their self-titled debut. As well as reworking his own band's tracks, he also became a sought-after remixer for a number of pop artists including Adele, Jack Peñate, and Florence + the Machine. His atmospheric version of the latter's "You've Got the Love" sparked the interest of XL boss Richard Russell, who asked him to remix rap pioneer Gil Scott-Heron's most recent album, I'm New Here, which was retitled We're New Here on its release. Smith also released a solo single, "Far Nearer," performed a series of DJ sets across Europe, and worked with Drake on his new album, Take Care, while the rest of the xx took a break at the end of 2010.