Slowthai Denies Rape Charges – Billboard

Slowthai has pleaded not guilty plea to two charges of rape, stemming from an alleged incident in September 2021.

The 28-year-old artist entered his plea in a British court on Thursday (June 15).

Born Tyron Frampton, the hip-hop artist was charged last month with the oral and vaginal penetration of a woman without her consent.

Frampton’s co-defendant, Alex Blake-Walker, pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and two sexual assaults, the BBC reports.

Both men are accused of raping the same woman, but Blake-Walker is also accused of sexually assaulting another woman.

Both men were released by Oxford Crown Court, and have been placed on conditional bail until their trial begins in July 2024.

During that earlier court appearance, where he appeared before Oxfordshire, England, magistrates court via video link, The Guardian noted, Frampton did not enter a plea and only confirmed his real name, date of birth and Northampton address. 

Prosecuting lawyer Adam Yar Khan said at the time that the rape charge must be heard at crown court, due to it being an indictable-only offense. 

Slowthai made his break into the music mainstream with his Mercury Prize-nominated 2019 album, Nothing About Great Britain, which hit the U.K. top 10. The following year, he collected the “hero of the year” at the 2020 NME Awards, though the talking point from the evening was his behavior towards host Katherine Ryan, which erupted into a fracas with members of the audience. He later admitted in an apologetic tweet that his actions were “shameful”.

Slowthai’s popularity soared. His sophomore album, 2021’s Tyron, topped the Official U.K. Albums Chart, and, in the same year, he earned a Grammy Award nomination for dance recording. Earlier in 2023, his Ugly LP peaked at No. 2.

When the allegations were made public, the rapper was quietly scrubbed from the lineup for the U.K. summer festivals, including Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, and Australia’s mid-winter event, Splendour In The Grass, and he withdrew from a July 8 concert at Wembley Stadium with Blur.