Ashley Walters

Ashley Anthony Walters (born 30 June 1982), also known as Asher D, is an English rapper and actor. --- Walters was born in Peckham, London. He was raised by his mother, Pamela Case, a local government officer. He attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School from the age of 6. After graduating, Walters starred in some popular stage productions of the time. Musically, he is best known as Asher D in the group So Solid Crew. He enjoyed relative success as a lyricist, particularly for their number 1 hit "21 Seconds". After the group split, he went on to focus on other projects, most recently 2006's In Memory of the Street Fighter, featuring the single "Andrea". He released a studio album in 2008 entitled The Appetiser, a 12-track album produced by both him and Laurence Ezra. With Dewi Bruce Konuah, he co-owns a production company called AD82 Productions, specialising in talent in the British music and film industries. Early 2012, he signed a recording contract with the independent record label, SK Records, founded by the British singer-songwriter Simon Webbe and his business partners Karan and Preeti Singh. Ashher's single "How You Like Me Now" was released on 29 July 2012. In November 2012, Asher appeared on Radio 1 DJ Charlie Sloth's "Fire in the Booth" show, while on November 12 2012 his second single for SK "Your Love" was released and featured vocals from Alesha Dixon. --- Walters is also an actor, appearing under his full name, Ashley Walters. He appeared as Omar in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles at the age of 10, and as Andy in Grange Hill at the age of 14. He appeared in Bullet Boy, where he played Ricky who had just came out of jail to start a new life, a role for which he was named Best Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards. He also appeared in Get Rich or Die Tryin'. He played the role of Wolf in the film Stormbreaker, and Danny in Life and Lyrics, for which he has received many plaudits. He starred in WΔZ alongside Selma Blair and Melissa George, and Sugarhouse. He played Lacey in the BBC Three drama pilot West 10 LDN. He appeared in five episodes of the fourth series of BBC TV drama Hustle, playing Billy Bond. He has appeared in the MTV series Top Buzzer and played the role of Al B in the 2006 production House of 9 alongside Dennis Hopper. He has appeared on stage at the Royal National Theatre in Roy Williams’ Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads and the Royal Court Theatre in Levi David Addai's Oxford Street. Another feature film, Tu£sday, sees him playing a jewel thief. He appeared in Bola Agbaje's play Off the Endz at the Royal Court Theatre during February and March 2010. --- Walters has two sons and two daughters with partner Natalie. In July 2001, following an argument with a traffic warden, he was found to be carrying a loaded Brocock air pistol modified to fire live ammunition. He was arrested and, in 2002, jailed for 18 months, in a young offenders' institute. Having spent the previous nine months in custody, he subsequently served an additional nine months to complete his sentence.