The return of Chiedu Oraka

Northern Grime pioneer, Chiedu Oraka drops ‘Stay The Same’, the rappers first venture into dance music since his hit single ‘Darcy’ was released in 2018.

Off the back of his thoughtfully crafted, 7 track EP ‘Ave Life’, a project that featured Charlie Sloth’s Hood Track Of The Week ‘G Finger’, Chiedu ups the tempo with a prolific lyrical performance on ‘Stay The Same’. Chiedu has teamed up with fast rising UK Garage producer Zefer, who approaches the release fresh off the back of BBC Radio 1 support from Annie Mac on his latest release ‘Soul President’, alongside Manchester based vocalist Chesqua.

‘Stay The Same’ provides a raw showcase of the ‘NUKG’ (New UK Garage) sound that is taking recently re-opened clubs by storm, whilst shedding a nostalgic light on ‘midnight raves’ of yesteryear in Chesqua’s captivating vocal performance for the hook. Chiedu’s verses knit the song together, paying homage to his younger days contrasted with the current success of his music, with references to features in Mixmag and the high demand to book him for shows (“now I get paid to spit a bar, no demba’).

Both vocal performances are supported by the production of Zefer, who has gone from strength to strength in the rapidly growing new wave of UK Garage. Having received extensive support from legends of the scene, including DJ EZ, Conducta, DJ Q, Flava D and many more, the Norwich based producer has continued to stamp his authority on the genre with each release he has put out. His recently dropped ‘Be With Me’ has sat in Spotify’s editorial playlist ‘New UK Garage’ for over 2 months, whilst the track has received extensive radio support across the BBC network, as well as Rinse FM and Kiss FM.

Coined as ‘The Black Yorkshire Man’, Oraka describes his music as the sound of a new working-class Northern England. With his distinctive Yorkshire slang permeating each of his tracks, Oraka has built a solid foundation with singles such as ‘Darcy’, ‘Men Behaving Badly’ and ‘Serve You A Taster’, attracting support from the likes of BBC Radio One, 1Xtra, 6 Music, Kiss FM and more. Oraka’s ‘Helly Hansen’ freestyles have caught the attention of Toddla T, Tom Robinson on BBC 6 Music, Jeremiah Asimiah on BBC Radio One, Ellie Prohan on Kiss FM and Kenny Allstar on 1Xtra who recently supported Chiedu’s latest single ‘Foot Off The Gas’. His 2018 single ‘Darcy’ has picked up over 3M streams, sitting on Grime Shutdown for over 300 days, only the 8th longest track to sit in this position.

One of the key pioneers of the Northern Grime scene, Oraka is single-handedly responsible for creating the Black Music scene in Hull, nurturing and developing talent such as Deezkid and Joe The Third with his label, ‘Room 73’ and collective, Lockdown; bringing the likes of Jammer, Tempa T, Devilman and Manga St Hilare to his city.

His own credits include performing at BBC Big Weekender in 2017, headlining the Humberside Street Sesh in 2019 and supporting the likes of Stormzy, Jaykae, Akala, Novelist and Krs One to name a few.

Chiedu was announced earlier this year as one of the artists to be supported by the MOBO Help Musicians Fund, coinciding with the drop of the second episode to his ‘Black Kings’ documentary series where he speaks to Janet Alder on the tragic death of her brother, Christopher Alder and the profound impact this has had in his native Hull. The four-part series is available to watch on creative platform, Back To Ours here.

With his strong freestyles and thought-provoking lyrics, Chiedu Oraka sets the bar high for Northern talent in 2021 and beyond.