Coventry finance manager who was once a Malia party rep releases grime music

A Coventry finance manager whose playground was once the party strip in Malia said he is putting down roots in the city to flourish as a rapper.

Ashley Patel, known as Switch, describes his music as “uplifting rap, grime, drill music with hard hitting lyrics but a club-like feel.”

His latest musical offering, ‘Bad Man’, was released on January 7 on Spotify and Apple Music.

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The 33-year-old Coventrian works as a finance manager in Warwick, but says his heart will always be in his music as he works to make a name for himself.

“I worked abroad so when I came back to Coventry in 2019 just before Covid, I thought will I really get on?

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“I started to do racism campaigns as that got my blood boiling and started on a few grimey tracks,” he told CoventryLive.

Ashley, from Wyken, spoke to CoventryLive in 2020 after releasing music to shine a spotlight on racism following the Black Lives Matter protests that summer.

“When I worked abroad it was meeting artists,. hosting boat parties, selling tickets and interacting with famous artists, you get used to being in that industry and being well known and respected.

“Coming home it’s a very hard-hitting thing from partying every night.

“I thought I’m gonna make this, I’m good at music!”

His new tune, Badman, certainly has smatterings of Kano and old school grime in there, but the beat has a dance flavour.

Ashley said in order to find success as a rapper he has changed his life around: “I’m stripping back and starting all over again, it’s a hard thing to do, doing a normal 9-6 non-alcohol line of work, it’s a big transition.”

Who, if anyone, would he compare himself to?

“It’s a bit of a weird one, I’ll go old school like Kano, Devlin, D Double E, but also trying to appeal to the upcoming market like Aitch, Young T & Bugsey and ArrDee, that sort of music is hitting hard at the moment.

“I just want to be heard in Coventry first and the music will speak for itself.”

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On his new track, Badman, Ashley said: “I’m a very conscious lyrical rapper, ‘Badman’ can transition into two ways, I explain on the track it’s going through life transitions, good to bad in life. Maybe getting in a relationship and seeing a girl and it always swings back to music, when I’m behind the mic I turn into the Badman that I am, really feeling myself.

“If I’ve been happy or sad I’ve always written lyrics.”

Visit www.linktr.ee/anditsswitch to listen to Badman.

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