Jacob Lee Williams was born on June 5th, 1983 in Harlesden, London to a Jamaican father and a Dominican mother. He struggled with homelessness after leaving school and he began working with radio and playing on various live shows which lifted him up. Ranks hooked up with his childhood friend Redmann and he joined the UK dancehall collective named ‘Suncycle’ which included artists like Cash Money, Lady Chann and Naff Skrilla. Together they release their first album “Suncycle’ in which Ranks recorded a dedication to his hometown, “Harlesden” They released their second album on the UK label Jamdown Records, and Ranks left the group in 2004 to embark on his solo career.
He was nicknamed Gappy because of the gap that was in between his front teeth. In 2005 Ranks featured on the Vice Law entertainment mixtapes and in that same year he won the ‘Best Song’ award at London’s Silk Awards for the song titled “Little Understanding”. He went on a full UK tour and recorded for former UK reggae giants Jet Star Records and he became an assistant engineer there whilst polishing his musical career. In 2009 Ranks signed with Greensleeves releasing his debut album for the label “Put The Stereo On” in 2o1o. In 2011 he release “Thanks & Praise” which had mostly dancehall cuts and an RnB influence. In 2013 “Shining Hope” was released by VP imprint HotCoffee Music and it included Bob Marley’s tribute “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”. In 2014 Ranks collaborated with producer Tom Chasteen for the project “Gappy Ranks Meets Dub Club which had 6 new songs and 4 dub mixes. In 2016 he released an LP titled “Guide Me” and the following year he recorded his 8th studio album, “Pure Badness”.
