Alex Wheatle was born in 1963 to Jamaican parents living in Brixton. He spent most of his childhood in a Surrey children's home. He returned to Brixton in 1977 where he founded the Crucial Rocker sound system, performed his own songs and lyrics under the name of Yardman Irie and later became known as the Brixtonbard. Alex's first novel, Brixton Rock, was published to critical acclaim in 1999 and twelve more highly praised novels have followed.