He ran his own record label, Dank of England (formerly known as Black Magic Entertainment), which expanded into a clothing line and cannabis accessory company.
[2] West was one of the earliest artists to adopt the grime genre, where he gained recognition from his mixtapes Afro Samurai (2006), Summer Madness (2007), and Holla Black (2007).
[5] Black frequented the station with grime collectives Rowdy Squad and X Camp but it was when Axe FM owner Pabz created a clash competition that gained West considerable attention.
[6] In an interview with MTV, he stated that Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Mobb Deep, Busta Rhymes, Nas and Bob Marley inspired him to make music.
[10][13] [14] West was one of the earliest artists to record for SB.TV, having released numerous freestyles and bars session alongside ASB, Chip, Ghetts amongst others.
The album contained 60 tracks with features from numerous grime MC's including DJ Ironik, Wiley and Chip, amongst others.
[15][16] He was featured on the All Stars remix of the single "SB.TV" by Flexplicit and Royce da 5'9" alongside Lady Leshurr, Mic Righteous & Shotty released in January 2011.
[20] West performed at A Day in Dam with English Frank and Big Narstie in 2013 and the Hip Hop Kemp Festival in Czech Republic.
[24] West's 11th mixtape, High End Weed Music was a joint effort with Iron Barz and was released on 20 April 2014.
On 29 August 2014, West released the second installment to his Political hip hop mixtape series Outlaw.
The album opens with the song "My Name is Black The Ripper" in which West introduces his persona to new fans over a few seconds long intro.
His studio album Money Grows on Trees has been cited as an influence to the new generation of UK rap, including Capo Lee.
The launch has been very successful, and alongside co-founder and partner; Screechtree, the pair had been running pop-up shops on a seasonal basis since 2017.
[45][46][47] Black gained national recognition for a viral stunt with Trollstation to create a music video on the London Eye on 4/20, where they filmed each other smoking and dancing inside the enclosure in November 2016.
[48] During this time West was featured in Vice's documentary; How Weed Laws are Failing the UK released on 24 October 2016.
[55] Longtime collaborators Chip, Lowkey and Ghetts were among those who paid tribute to West, as well as Novelist, Skepta, Krept, Lethal Bizzle, Michael Dapaah, Yungen, Nadia Rose, AJ Tracey and Ambush.
[56] Chip released a tribute for Black the Ripper titled "0420" on 20 April 2020, a double entendre in light of the cannabis culture and the death anniversary of West.