Chiedu Oraka

Since emerging onto the scene from his native city of Hull, Chiedu Oraka is undoubtedly one of the most exciting voices in his genre. Cutting his own unique path in UK Black music, Oraka, aka 'The Black Yorkshireman', has long been known as a leading figure in the Northern Grime and Rap scene; defying genres with his blend of raw honesty and social poetry.

Oraka's music has been challenging perceptions of his city for some time now and is often referred to as the sound of a new working-class Northern England; captivating audiences with his broad Hull accent and telling the untold story of what it means growing up Black on a Yorkshire council estate.

As an established voice in the UK rap scene, Oraka’s releases from ‘Men Behaving Badly’ through to ‘Flex’ and ‘Darcy’ have attracted attention from Sian Anderson and Annie Mac through to Charlie Sloth and Sir Spyro with his highest performing single, ‘Darcy’ achieving 3 million+ streams and sitting on Spotify's Grime Shutdown for over 300 days (8th longest on playlist). Oraka also delivered the UK’s only official remix of viral hit ‘Thotiana’ and his single ‘War Chant’ held up for eight weeks in Music Week’s Black Music Chart, peaking at number 2. His work has also been featured multiple times on BBC Introducing, with ‘Men Behaving Badly’ and ‘N.H.E.’ being hailed as the 1Xtra Track of the Week.

Chiedu Oraka remains one of the scene’s most dynamic live performers, having supported UK artists such as Stormzy, Jaykae, Akala, Novelist, Mostack and Poundz, as well as US hip hop legend KRS One. He has also been a regular guest artist in the BBC ‘Contains Strong Language’ festival.