Sekou Sylla is a British singer from

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. He was nominated for the

Brit Award for Rising Star The Rising Star Award (previously Critics' Choice Award) is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. The accolade is presented at the Brit Awards ...

in 2024.

Early life

From

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...

, he attended

Ashby School Ashby School, formerly known as Ashby Grammar School, is a co-educational day secondary school and sixth form in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England. The school is situated in the centre of Ashby on two sites. History Ashby Grammar Sc ...

and Ivanhoe College.

Career

Described as having a rich and bottom-heavy

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

voice, Sekou was signed to ''Good Soldier Records'' at 16 years-old after posting songs of himself singing on platforms such as

Tik Tok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

and Soundcloud. In 2022, he played in the BBC Music Introducing tent at the

2022 Glastonbury Festival The 2022 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 22 and 26 June. The three headlining acts were Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Paul McCartney, with Diana Ross performing in the Legend's slot. This is the fir ...

after being handpicked to play by Arlo Parks. Prior to that he performed at the wedding of Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz. He also supported John Legend on tour that year. His debut EP ''Out of Mind'' was released in June 2023, was released when he was 18 years-old. He co-wrote songs on the EP with Dixson as well as working with Sounwave and Al Shux His single ''Better Man'' and follow-up ''Time Will Tell'', co-written with Theron Thomas, were released in 2023. In 2023, he performed on the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

television show '' Later… with Jools Holland'' and had his music featured on the television dating show ''

Love Island Love Island may refer to: Film * ''Love Island'' (1952 film), an American film directed by Adam Lloyd starring Todd Wathen and Eva Gabor * ''Love Island'' (2014 film), directed by Jasmila Žbanić Music * ''Love Island'' (album), a 1978 album ...

''. Sekou was nominated for the

at the 2024 BRIT Awards. In 2024, Sekou performed the theme tune for the BBC One musical drama ''

This Town This Town may refer to: * "This Town" (Frank Sinatra song) * "This Town" (Niall Horan song) *"This Town", a song by Kygo, featuring Sasha Sloan * "This Town", a song by O.A.R. from the album All Sides * "This Town", a song by Roger Miller from ...

'', created by

Steven Knight Steven Knight (born 1 April 1959) is a British screenwriter, film director and film producer. Knight wrote the screenplays for the films ''Closed Circuit'', '' Dirty Pretty Things'', and ''Eastern Promises'', and also wrote and directed the f ...

and set in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

Discography

Extended plays * ''Out of Mind'' (2023) Singles * "Better Man" (2023) * "Forgiving Myself" (2023) * "Time Will Tell" (2023) * "Crying" (2024) * "Let Go of Me Slowly" (2024) Guest appearances and collaborations * "Longevity" (2024). Collaboration with

Skrapz Ice City Boyz, often abbreviated as ICB, also known as CSB (Crime Scene Boyz) and CRS (Church Road Soldiers), is a British hip hop collective from Church End, London. History The rap collective has been around since the early 2000s and started ...

and Potter Payper

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sekou 21st-century British singer-songwriters 21st-century British male singers People from Leicestershire British male singer-songwriters People from Ashby-de-la-Zouch Place of birth unknown Date of birth unknown Living people