Deno Michael Mebrahtu (born 23 September 2002), known mononymously as Deno, is a British singer, songwriter, rapper and actor from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. His parents are originally from Eritrea, and he was raised in South London. He came to the forefront of London's afro-wave music scene beginning in 2018 with a number of viral music videos and hit songs.

Music career

Beginnings (2016–2017)

Deno attended Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton,

. In 2016, a friend of Deno asked him to freestyle and sing on his Snapchat after school. This was posted to Instagram with the "#imjustbait" hashtag. He gained thousands of followers. Further videos caught the attention of Stormzy, who retweeted one of them, got in touch, and took Deno into the studio with him to guest on his album '' Gang Signs & Prayer''. In 2016, Deno met rapper AJ at a Stratford Westfield get-together. The two began a creative partnership, beginning with Deno singing the chorus on AJ's track "Know Me". The video netted over 2.5 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. The same year, the pair, often styled AJ x Deno, recorded multiple songs. They began performing more consistently, including opening for Migos at IndigO2. Deno & AJ were signed by Sony Columbia UK in 2017. They released singles from 2017, but did not find commercial success until 2018 with the hit "London" featuring EO. The video for "London" was streamed over 45 million times and peaked at No. 45 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Rise to fame (2018–2021)

Deno met rapper Cadet on the set of the short film ''Shiro's Story Part 3'' (2018). His ensuing collaboration with Cadet, the track "

Advice Advice (noun) or advise (verb) may refer to: * Advice (opinion), an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action, conduct * Advice (constitutional law) a frequently binding instruction issued to a constitutional office-holder * Advice (p ...

", went viral, with over 30 million YouTube views. It reached No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart with over 500,000 sales, earning a Brit certified Gold Award. More singles followed as he featured on the hit "

Pumpy "Pumpy" is a song by Da Beatfreakz featuring Cadet, AJ & Deno and Swarmz. It was released on 26 October 2018 and peaked at number 70 on the UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper sec ...

" by Da Beatfreakz, also featuring past collaborators AJ, Swarmz and Cadet. In 2019, Deno released " First Days", a tribute to Cadet, who had died in a road collision in February of that year. In September 2019, Deno released the single "Change" featuring DigDat, with a video directed by Darnell Depradine. He teamed with men's global fashion wear brand BoohooMAN for a 30-piece fashion collection, launched in September 2019. Deno appeared singing in the 2018 season of

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba (; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor.

's TV series ''In the Long Run''. In late 2019, Deno released the EP ''Eye 2 Eye'' which has features such as Krept, Jay1 and DigDat. In 2021, Deno released the mixtape "Boy Meets World" which has features such as

J.I the Prince of N.Y Justin Irvin Rivera (born September 23, 2001), better known by his stage name J.I the Prince of N.Y or more recently simply J.I., is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his 2019 breakout single "Need Me", which has ...

, Chunkz,

Unknown T Daniel Lena (born 17 August 1999), known professionally as Unknown T, is a British professional musician. His post release album “Rise Above Hate” (2020) was a major hit on the UK music scene, the album reaching the top of the charts in the ...

, Cadet,

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ''Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, after which he has re ...

, DDG, Jade Silva and

Bandokay Kemani Kane Duggan (born 9 May 2001), known professionally as Bandokay (formerly stylized as BandoKay), is a British rapper. He is a member of the UK drill group OFB. Beginning his career in 2018 alongside fellow OFB rappers SJ and Double Lz, ...

and Double Lz of rap collective OFB. The mixtape peaked at 31 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

Discography

Mixtapes

Extended Plays

Singles

As lead artist

As Featured Artist

Guest appearances

Filmography

Television

Web

References

{{authority control Living people 2002 births 21st-century Black British male singers Singers from London English people of Eritrean descent People from Brixton English hip hop musicians Columbia Records artists