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 first couple of weeks.

Career

Unknown T was born in London to

Ugandan }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southe ...

parents. His debut single, "Homerton B", peaked at number 48 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 ...

in October 2018. Though it was originally released without a

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

, its chart performance led to him being signed by Island Records through

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

and appeared at

Wireless festival The Wireless Festival is a rap and urban music festival that takes place every year in London, England. It is owned and managed by Live Nation. While it started as primarily a rock and pop festival, in recent years it has focused on hip hop and ...

in 2019. It was included in a number of publications "best of 2018" lists, including ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'', and ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

''. In March 2019, "Homerton B" became the first

UK drill UK drill is a subgenre of drill music and road rap that originated in the South London district of Brixton from 2012 onwards. Initially borrowing heavily from the style of Chicago drill music before creating its own unique sound, UK drill artists ...

track to be certified Silver by the BPI. Follow up tracks "Throwback", "Meat" and "Leave Dat Trap", the latter featuring

AJ Tracey Ché Wolton Grant (born 4 March 1994), known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is from Ladbroke Grove, West London. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by ''The Guardian'' i ...

, have accumulated over 5 million views. Unknown T's first mixtape ''Rise Above Hate'' was released on 17 July 2020 and peaked at 14 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 C ...

. On 7 January 2021, Unknown T released the single "WW2". On 10 June, the second single "Wonderland" featuring

M Huncho M Huncho is a British rapper and singer from London. He performed a Mad About Bars online freestyle session in 2017, and releasing his first EP ''Get Out'' that October, with the single "Mediocre" and another EP, ''48 Hours'', following in 201 ...

was released. On 25 June, he released the third single "Goodums". On 15 July, he released the fourth single "Driller sh!t". On 30 July 2021, Unknown T released his second mixtape ''

Adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...

'', including guest appearances from

Digga D Rhys Angelo Emile Herbert (born 29 June 2000), known professionally as Digga D, is a British rapper and director. He had multiple singles that have been placed in the UK Singles Chart; his mixtape albums '' Double Tap Diaries'' and '' Made In ...

M1llionz Miguel Rahiece Cunningham (born 6 February 1997), known professionally as M1llionz, is a British rapper from Birmingham, West Midlands. Career Born in Handsworth, West Midlands, Handsworth, M1llionz spent some of his childhood in Birmingham but ...

Potter Payper Jamel Bousbaa (born 15 November 1990), known professionally as Potter Payper, is a British rapper and songwriter from Barking, London. In 2021, he signed to the UK division of Def Jam Recordings. In 2022, " Gangsteritus" - recorded with Tiggs ...

, and

Nafe Smallz Nathan Adams (born 16 July 1996), known professionally as Nafe Smallz, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Luton, Bedfordshire. He took the UK trap scene by storm with the song "What Do You Mean" on Link Up TV. He’s also signed to ...

Personal life

Lena is a supporter of

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

Legal issues

In 2017, aged 17, Lena was cleared of hiding a 4 mm revolver and ammunition under his bed after claiming the gun was foisted upon him by a stranger. More recently Lena was cleared of murdering Steve Narvaez-Jara, 20, at a house party near Old Street, Islington, London in the early hours of 1 January 2018. Speaking to the Guardian in 2018, Lena complained that the drill scene – long the subject of criticism in the media – was being unfairly attacked. "They don't understand the reality," he said. "It's not about the music, it's about what's behind the music. You can't blame the music, or say you're giving a helping hand with no aid. They're pointing the finger at us but forgetting there's three fingers pointing back."

Discography

Mixtapes

Compilation albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

References

{{Authority control People from the London Borough of Hackney Black British male rappers Rappers from London UK drill musicians Gangsta rappers Living people English male rappers 1999 births