Cutting his own unique path through UK Rap and Grime, Chiedu Oraka continues to make waves and turn heads with a steadily growing body of solo work. Long known as a leading figure in the Northern grime scene, ‘The Black Yorkshireman’ is defying genres with his blend of raw honesty and lyrical intensity.

Since emerging onto the scene from his native city of Hull, Chiedu is undoubtedly one of the most exciting voices in grime and UK rap. A string of straight up classics include 'Flex’, ‘Men Behaving Badly’ and the hit single ‘Darcy’, which sits in the top 10 longest tracks to feature on the Grime Shutdown playlist, holding its own for over 300 days running.

In 2019, Chiedu also hit us with the UK’s only official remix of the viral hit ‘Thotiana’, further proof of his relevance to the culture.

2021 marks the start of broad new horizons for 'The Black Yorkshireman', having exploded into the year with the acclaimed EP Ave Life. Highlights include the autobiographical masterclass ‘The Trials and Tribulations of C.E.O.’, the anthemic bravado ‘G Finger’ (named as Charlie Sloth's Hood Heat Track of the Week), and the deep nostalgia of ‘Ave Life'. Meanwhile the formidable Helly Hansen freestyle series is grabbing attention and gaining momentum, with ‘Helly Hansen 4’ featuring proudly on the EP.

With Chiedu Oraka having confirmed his position as a premier UK lyrical talent, all eyes are now on The Black Yorkshireman to see what’s up and where’s next.

Links to music

Instagram: @orakald

Twitter: @orakald

Christian Graham is a playwright and actor with routes in live performance, who has been primarily focussing on creating work that delves into how people choose to define themselves and how they are defined by others. Christian was introduced to theatre through organisations like National Youth Theatre, BRIT School and the National Theatre Young Company, which served to ignite his passion for storytelling. Since concentrating on writing, he has had work developed by The Orange Tree Writers Collective, Hightide Writers Academy, Talawa Firsts and Park Theatre's Script accelerator.

His latest play Boys Cry will be featured at Omnibus Theatre in September 2021.

Twitter: @C_A_Graham
Instagram: @christian_a_graham
Website: christiangraham-projects.com

After a time away from the limelight since his last solo record, Daniel Merriweather has been working on a collection of new tracks. The first of these, 'Everything I Need' came out late last year to coincide with his residency at London's Laylow: a reintroduction to solo performance after only sporadic appearances alongside partner in crime Mark Ronson.

Daniel followed this up with 'Paradise' which continues to introduce the listener to the new iteration of Daniel's sound. The single, which shows off his incredible vocal - and with additional production by Kwes (Loyle Carner, Pusha T, Bobby Womack) - pushes the soundtrack into a soulful, jazz-leaning world but with an edge that keeps it firmly relevant.

On the content of the track, Daniel explains; "I was in Hollywood living out of my car and things weren't going so well. Every night I would pretend I was living in paradise, I would pretend that I was happy and in love; I would do anything to make myself feel this way. None of it was real though; honestly it was hell. So one day I found the strength to break free. This song is about that strength"

Alongside releasing his platinum selling, critically acclaimed debut album 'Love & War', which reached number 2 in the UK Charts and featured top 10 single 'Red', Daniel is a busy collaborator and has worked with some of the biggest names in pop. Initially working with Mark Ronson on his reworks album 'Version', appearing on a cover of The Smiths classic 'Stop Me', Daniel recently worked with Ronson and producer Diploon their Silk City project, appeared on the track 'Only Can Get Better'. He performed at the Brits in 2009 with Ronson, Amy Winehouse and Adele; with Adele also featuring on his debut album on the track 'Water and a Flame' alongside Wale who featured on the UK top 5 single 'Change'.

Twitter: @DanMerriweather

Instagram: @DanMerriweather