Slowthai appears in court charged with two counts of rape

(Image credit: Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty Images)

Slowthai, aka Tyron Frampton, has appeared in court on two charges of rape.

The 28-year-old rapper, whose third album UGLY debuted on the UK charts at number 2 earlier this year, appeared before Oxfordshire magistrates court via a video link today (May 16), charged with oral and vaginal penetration of a woman without her consent in Oxford in September 2021.

Frampton spoke only to confirm his name, his date of birth, and his home address in Northampton. He has been bailed and will appear before Oxford Crown Court next month. The rapper is yet to enter a plea to the charges.

With its title standing for ‘U Gotta Love Yourself’, UGLY was described by Slowthai as "completely me — about how I feel and what I want to be… it’s everything I’ve been leading up to."

Slowthai appeared at Coachella festival last month, and has UK and European tour dates booked for September. He's also due to play Glastonbury festival next month, to support Blur at Wembley Stadium in July, and to perform at Reading / Leeds festivals in August.

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.