''Shiro's Story'' is a three-part

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

series released in 2018, written, directed and narrated through the medium of rap by British rapper

Rapman Andrew Onwubolu , better known by his stage name Rapman, is a British rapper, record producer, screenwriter, and film director. He is known for his three-part YouTube series ''Shiro's Story'' (2018), his debut feature film ''Blue Story'' (2019 ...

. It stars

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 Victor Stone / Cyborg in the Max series ''Doom Patro ...

as Shiro,

Percelle Ascott Percelle Ascott (born 10 June 1993) is a Zimbabwean-British 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 ...

as his best friend, Kyle, and features appearances from Konan, Deno, Ashley Walters,

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" featuring ...

Not3s Lukman Olanrewaju Odunaike (born 17 April 1998), better known by his stage name Not3s (pronounced Notes), is an English rapper and singer from Hackney, London. His songs include "My Lover" and "Fine Line", both of which are collaborations with ...

and

Cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

. Themes of betrayal, love and London gang rivalry play throughout, but there is no glamourisation of violence. 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. The series as a whole has a run time of 45 minutes. 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 Br ...

's Video of the Year award in 2018. Rapman subsequently signed a contract with

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

and

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

ROC Nation Roc Nation is an American entertainment company founded by Jay-Z in 2008. Headquartered in New York City, the company is a successor to his previous Roc-A-Fella Records label, with additional offices in Los Angeles and London. It serves as a re ...

, and in late 2018,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

and

BBC Films BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), Truly, ...

bought the rights for his

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

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

''.

Episodes

Behind the scenes episode 1-4

References

{{Reflist YouTube original programming British drama web series

Episodes

See also

References