Andrew Onwubolu , (born 6 June 1989), better known by his stage name Rapman, is a British rapper, record producer, screenwriter and film director. He is known for dealing socially conscious themes, as well as his uniquely vivid style of storytelling through the medium of rap. He made his debut with the ''Blue Story Trilogy'' (2013-2014), which he followed up with several charity music videos for

SBTV ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital ( en, Brazilian Digital Television System), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Ve ...

including ''Hope'' (2015), ''Pay As You Go'' (2016) and ''Promise'' (2017). Rapman experienced international fame with his three-part

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, 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 ...

trilogy ''Shiro's Story'' (2018), which gained a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

among the music scene in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and led to his signing with

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

Roc Nation Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, mana ...

. Rapman made his writing and directorial debut with ''

Blue Story ''Blue Story'' is a 2019 British musical crime drama film written, directed, and narrated by Rapman (Andrew Onwubolu) through the medium of rap and starring Stephen Odubola and Micheal Ward, with Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Khali Best, Karla-Simone Spence ...

'' (2019), an adaptation of his YouTube series of the same name. His other film and TV credits include ''American Son'', the remake of the 2009 French crime film ''

A Prophet ''A Prophet'' (french: Un prophète) is a 2009 French prison crime film directed by Jacques Audiard with a screenplay by Audiard, with Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, and Nicolas Peufaillit, from a story by Dafri. The film stars Tahar Rahim ...

'', and the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

superhero series ''Supacell''. In 2022, Rapman was appointed

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as par ...

from

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

for services to drama and music, through his rapping and filmmaking.

Early and personal life

Onwubolu was born on June 6, 1989, in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He was raised by his mother and from age 11 attended

Sacred Heart Catholic School, Camberwell ) , established = 1959 , closed = , type = Academy , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic , president = , head_label = Headteacher , head = Richard Lansiquot , r_head_label = , r_head = , ...

, in the midst of a postcode war between Deptford and

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

.Leigh, Danny (8 November 2019)
Rapman: the London film-maker who gatecrashed Hollywood in style
The Guardian. Onwubolu is a father of three children with a former partner.

Music career

Rapman made his debut with the ''Blue Story Trilogy'' (2013-2014), which depicted two best friends from different areas of London (Peckham and Deptford) who find themselves becoming enemies in a violent and insidious postcode war between their respective areas. The series was released on the YouTube channel

and gained positive feedback. Following the success of ''Blue Story'', Rapman released began collaborating with SBTV founder

Jamal Edwards Jamal Edwards (24 August 1990 – 20 February 2022) was a British music entrepreneur, DJ and founder of the online R&B/Hip-Hop platform SB.TV. Edwards was an ambassador for the Prince's Trust, a youth charity which helps young people set up ...

on several charity music videos for the channel including ''Hope'' (2015), which dealt with blood donors, ''Rollercoaster'' (2016) which dealt with suicide, ''Pay As You Go'' (also 2016), which dealt with unemployed fathers, and ''Promise'' (2017), which dealt with domestic abuse.

Film career

''Shiro's Story''

In 2018, Rapman created wrote, directed and produced the three-part YouTube musical crime drama series ''

Shiro's Story ''Shiro's Story'' is a three-part YouTube series, written, directed and narrated through the medium of rap by Rapman. It stars Joivan Wade as Shiro, Percelle Ascott as his best friend, Kyle, and has appearances from Konan, Deno, Ashley Wal ...

,'' which told about a young black man from London who enters a violent life of crime after he learns that his girlfriend's daughter is actually his best friend's. The series was inspired by a true story that Rapman heard from friends in Lewisham about a man whose daughter was actually his friend's. Starring

Joivan Wade Joivan Wade ( ; born 23 July 1993) is an English actor known for playing Manyou in the BBC comedy television series '' Big School'', Jordan Johnson on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', and Cyborg (comics), Victor Stone/Cyborg in the HBO Max se ...

Percelle Ascott Percelle Ascott (born 10 June 1993) is a Zimbabwean-English actor and writer. He is known for his roles in the CBBC series ''Wizards vs Aliens'' (2012–2014) and the Netflix series '' The Innocents'' (2018). As a trio, Ascott collaborated with ...

and Rita Bernard-Shaw, alongside rappers Konan, Deno,

Ashley Walters Ashley Walters may refer to: * Ashley Walters (actor) (born 1982), English rapper and actor * Ashley Walters (artist) (born 1983), South African artist {{Hndis, Walters, Ashley ...

Headie One Irving Ampofo Adjei (born 6 October 1994), known professionally as Headie One (formerly Headz), is a British rapper and singer. In 2018 he released his second solo mixtape, titled ‘''The One’'', which included the single "Know Better" featur ...

Not3s Lukman Olanrewaju Odunaike (born 17 April 1998), better known by his stage name Not3s (pronounced Notes), is a British singer-songwriter, rapper and actor from Hackney, London. His songs include "My Lover" and "Fine Line", both of which are colla ...

and

Cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

, the series was shot guerrilla-style on a budget of £3,000 and had been seen 7.2 million times as of early November 2019. Part 2 of the series won

GRM Daily GRM Daily (Grime & Rap Music Daily), formerly Grime Daily, is a British urban music outlet and entertainment platform. As the name suggests, the platform is an outlet for UK rap and its various genres, such as UK drill, afroswing, trap, and Briti ...

's Video of the Year award in 2018. The success of ''Shiro's Story'' led to Rapman signing a contract with

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

and

''Blue Story''

In 2019, Rapman made his feature-length film debut by writing, directing and narrating ''

'', a film adaptation of his YouTube series of the same name. The film, told through the medium of rap, starred Stephen Odubola,

Micheal Ward Micheal Ward (born 18 November 1997) is a Jamaican-British actor and former model. His films include ''Blue Story'' (2018) and '' The Old Guard'' (2020). On television, he appeared in ''Top Boy'' and '' The A List''. Ward was awarded the 2020 B ...

, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Khali Best,

Karla-Simone Spence Karla-Simone Spence (born 19 July 1996) is a British actress. She is best known for her roles in the film ''Blue Story'' (2019) and the ITVX period drama ''The Confessions of Frannie Langton (TV series), The Confessions of Frannie Langton'' (202 ...

, Richie Campbell,

Jo Martin Jo Martin (born 29 April) is a British actress. She played Natalie Crouch in the BBC One sitcom ''The Crouches'', which aired between 2003 and 2005. She joined the cast of ''Holby City'' in 2019 as neurosurgeon Max McGerry. Martin portrayed an ...

and Junior Afolabi Salokun. Despite the

Vue Cinemas Vue International (, like "view"), is a multinational cinema holding company based in London, England. It operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland as Vue, with international operations in Denmark and Germany (as CinemaxX); Italy (as The Space ...

chain cancelling all screenings of the film following a machete incident in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, ''Blue Story'' received critical acclaim and grossed £4.7 million on a budget of £1.4 million, surpassing

Noel Clarke Noel Anthony Clarke (born 6 December 1975) is a British actor, screenwriter, director, and comic book writer. Rising to prominence for playing Mickey Smith in ''Doctor Who'' (2005–2010), he played Sam in the films ''Kidulthood'' (2006), ''Adu ...

's crime film ''

Brotherhood Brotherhood or The Brotherhood may refer to: Family, relationships, and organizations * Fraternity (philosophy) or brotherhood, an ethical relationship between people, which is based on love and solidarity * Fraternity or brotherhood, a mal ...

'' to become the highest grossing British urban film of all time. The film won the

BAFTA Rising Star The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Rising Star Award, currently styled as the EE Rising Star Award for commercial reasons and previously known as the Orange Rising Star Award, is an award that acknowledges new talents in the ...

for Ward at the

73rd British Academy Film Awards The 73rd British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFAs (or BAFTAs), were held on 2 February 2020 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2019. Presented by the British Academy of Film ...

and was short-listed alongside nine other films by the

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

for the category of the

BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer The BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer is presented annually at the British Academy Film Awards in London. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual ...

but did not make it in the final nominations. At the 2020 NME Awards the film won two awards for Best Film and Best Film Actor for Ward.

TV career

''Supacell''

In 2022, it was announced that Rapman would serve as showrunner, creator, writer and lead director on ''Supacell'' for

, a superhero series about a group of seemingly ordinary black people from South London who unexpectedly develop super powers.

Influences

Rapman cites

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the Li ...

the Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

and

as an influence on his rap storytelling, claiming that "all of their albums had a storytelling song on it. The storytelling song was always my favourite song, but they never used to do the visuals to it! So, when I started rapping, I wanted to rap like them but take the visuals to another level". In regard to his filmmaking, Rapman cites

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

as a source of inspiration, with his favourite film being ''

GoodFellas ''Goodfellas'' (stylized ''GoodFellas'') is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book '' Wis ...

''. Some of his other film influences include

Ryan Coogler Ryan Kyle Coogler (born May 23, 1986) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is a recipient of four NAACP Image Awards, four Black Reel Awards, a Golden Globe Award nomination and an Academy Award nomination for Best Pictu ...

F. Gary Gray Felix Gary Gray (born July 17, 1969) is an Americans, American film director, film producer, and music video director. Gray began his career as a director on numerous critically acclaimed and award-winning music videos, including "It Was a Good ...

the Hughes Brothers In professional wrestling, TNT is a tag team consisting of twin brothers Terrell Hughes and Terrence Hughes (born February 25, 1995), the sons of Impact and WWE Hall of Famer Devon "D-Von Dudley" Hughes. Early lives Terrell and Terrence compe ...

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

and

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control English male rappers Rappers from London British record producers Living people British film directors People from Deptford Members of the Order of the British Empire 1984 births