Astro

Astro was born on September 27, 1996, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. In the absence of his father, Brian Vaughn Bradley Sr., he and his younger sister Regan were raised by their Jamaican mother, Cascia Thompson. Since his childhood, he had been listening to a wide range of music and was influenced by the likes of Marvin Gaye, Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder, Biggie Smalls, Boyz II Men, Mary J. Blige, Fu-Schnickens, Tupac Shakur, and Nas. He also found inspiration in the works of filmmaker Spike Lee.

Astro has been musically inclined all his life. After he turned ten years old, he started rapping professionally as his mother had told him that she would sponsor his studio time if he performed better in school.

Astro had garnered a reputation for being a talented young rapper in his hometown even before he was featured on ‘The X Factor’. In 2010, he released his debut single ‘Stop Looking at My Mom’, which was followed by his debut mixtape ‘B.O.A’ (Birth Of Astro). Prior to this, in 2009, he had put out his first extended play, ‘The Astronomical Kid’. Astro subsequently released one more mixtape in 2010, titled ‘’The Chosen One’, and one in the following year, ‘The Chosen One Reloaded’.

Astro appeared on the stage of Fox’s reality television music competition show ‘The X Factor USA’ when he was 14 years old. Calling out to Simon Cowell, who was serving as one of the four judges, he started singing ‘Stop Looking at My Mom’ and instantly drew the judges’ attention. He passed the audition round and was the first performer in the week one (25 October). Performing Kris Kross’ ‘Jump’, he progressed to the next round. In the following weeks, he sang Naughty by Nature’s ‘Hip Hop Hooray’ and Missy Elliott’s ‘Get Ur Freak On’ (week two: 2 and 3 November), Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ (week three: 9 and 10 November), Puff Daddy and Faith Evans’ ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ (week four: 16 and 17 November), and Jay-Z’s ‘Show Me What You Got’ (week five: 22 and 23 November). He was eventually eliminated after performing Michael Jackson’s ‘Black or White’ (week six: 30 November and 1 December).

After leaving the show, Astro brought out his fourth mixtape, ‘Loser’. In 2013, he released two mixtapes, ‘Deadbeats & Lazy Lyrics’ and ‘Starvin Like Marvin For A Cool J Song’. In 2014, he released his second single, ‘Champion’, which was accompanied by the release of his second EP, ‘Computer Era’. He is currently signed to Grade A Tribe Records. His first studio album ‘Grade A Frequencies’ was released in 2017.

Astro started off his acting career in 2012 by playing a character named Darren McGrady in an episode of CBS’ science fiction crime drama ‘Person of Interest’. He was later cast as Dash Hosney, one of the main characters of Fox’s short-lived teen medical comedy drama ‘Red Band Society’ (2014-15).

He made his cinematic debut in the 2014 found footage science fiction film, ‘Earth to Echo’, portraying a character named Tucker Simms. He then appeared in the neo-noir crime drama-thriller, ‘A Walk Among the Tombstones’, which also starred Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, and David Harbour.

In the first season of ‘The X Factor USA,’ Astro was the youngest contestant in the boys’ category.