Devonté "Dev" Hynes (born 23 December 1985), also known as
Blood Orange and formerly
Lightspeed Champion, is a British singer, composer, songwriter, producer and author. He has written for artists such as Florence and the Machine, Diana Vickers and The Chemical Brothers on their 2007 Grammy award winning album
We Are The Night. He is currently signed to Domino Records.
Dev Hynes was born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Ilford, East London. He was educated at the Chadwell Heath Foundation School, now known as Chadwell Heath Academy. He has resided in New York since 2007. The name 'Lightspeed Champion' comes from a series of comic strips Hynes drew as a teenager in his school mathematics books. jumping to position 20 in the following year's list. From their formation in 2004 until their break-up in 2006, Hynes was a member of the band Test Icicles, playing guitar, synth, and occasionally performing vocals. They released only one full-length album (
For Screening Purposes Only) in 2005.
Hynes released his fourth studio album in November 2013 under his 'Blood Orange' moniker entitled
Cupid Deluxe. Currently Hynes has been working with Mutya Keisha Siobhan on their forthcoming album.