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Chiedu Oraka The Black Yorkshireman

UPCOMING LIVE DATES 2025

09/01 - BEACON Showcase, Future Yard, Birkinhead

PAST SHOW DATES 2024

Glastonbury 2024 | The Great Escape 2024 | SXSW 2024 |25/10 - Hallamshire Hotel, Sheffield | 24/10 - Zerox, Newcastle | 17/10 - Royal Park, Leeds | 03/10 - The New Adelphi, Hull | 25 / 08 - Future Now Festival | 09/05 -The Chip Shop, Brixton, London | 01/05 - Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds | 03/02 - Northern Quarter, Huddersfield | 30/01 - The Engine Rooms, London

Latest release: Misfit mixtape

"Keen to act as the necessary representation for many Black people around the UK, Chiedu Oraka’s no-bars-held approach to music is putting him ahead of his contemporaries" - NME

"Who needs to fit in anyway? Not Chiedu Oraka, Hull's walking, talking middle finger to the UK's London centric, posey and plastic rap scene....The self-confessed "chav with a little hipster" delivers no fluff, no faff, and no frills. Instead we get a project steeped in the traditions of hip-hop, from an unlikely place and a crucial figure" - DJ Mag

"Chiedu is a prime example of setting the bar high for Northern talent, positioning himself as a premier UK lyrical artist." - THE BLK BRIT

"I like what Chiedu Oraka is doing. He's clearly in his own lane" - DJ Semtex, Capital Xtra

"Hull’s champion Chiedu Oraka is bringing his city to the spotlight. Challenging the London rap scene, he’s been one of the key names from a smaller city in the UK over the past five years or so, and more and more rap fans are taking notice" Wonderland

"Men Behaving Badly boasts genuine originality & one of the catchiest choruses this year" Chantelle Fiddy/Mixmag (8/10)

"He continues to take centre-stage in championing and leading Northern Grime talent, and we’re sure he’ll be hitting some big festival line-ups this summer." - Notion Magazine

"Oraka showcases his direct and unapologetic style on this intense new offering, pulling the track together with a smart hook. The artist is enjoying a new era of his career after his headline UK tour, as he prepares to visit Texas as part of SXSW." - Mixtape Madness

"I've been supporting him and I will continue too because i think he is so cold" - Kenny Allstar, Radio 1xtra

"He is not taking his foot of the gas, the levels in his music are so high" - Jeremiah Asiamah, Radio 1

"Honestly i can't tell you how nice it is to hear The Black Yorkshireman back on national radio, huge fan of his, make sure you check him out" - Ellie Prohan, Kiss FM

"A cerebral rapper, Oraka is known for excavating the undocumented Black working-class experience; his flow, vernacular and intonation a manifestation of the oft-derided “Black Yorkshireman" - CLASH

"He’s become one of Hull’s greatest advocates and uses his music as a platform to explore its spirit and uniqueness" - The Quietus

"Oraka holds back nothing and he is as unapologetic as they come" - EARMILK

"Chiedu Oraka has been Hull's ambassador to the wider UK scene for some time now. He's just released "Rhythm of My Pain" and he's not mincing his words." - Trench

"Won’t get along, put his social poetry up there with Mike Skinner as he tops a pitch-perfect Grime groove" - FRESH ON THE NET

CHIEDU ORAKA

Hailing from North Hull Estate, Chiedu Oraka is disrupting the reign of London-centric rap with his dynamic sound and powerful storytelling. His bars fill the dancefloor as capably as they serve as social poetry, capturing the Black, working-class experience in a predominantly white, economically deprived Northern region. Delivered in his city’s distinct accent with lashings of colourful slang, Oraka’s work amplifies voices often unheard and serves as a fierce representative of a new sound.

2024 was a landmark year for Oraka. Entering with his lengthiest project to date, Oraka ended the year as a ‘Best Newcomer’ finalist for the 2025 Northern Music Awards.

His 12-track mixtape Misfit (released via Launchpad+ and EMI North in April 2024) delved deep into themes of Black identity, masculinity, mental health, and the struggles of living on society’s margins. The project earned widespread critical acclaim, with praise from NME, Clash, DJ Mag, The Telegraph, and Wonderland, features from mental health platform, CALM through to Crack Magazine and strong support across BBC Radio 1, 6Music, 1Xtra, and Spotify’s NMF playlist. The single "Helly Hansen 6" landed on BBC 6Music’s C List for four weeks consecutively, and Oraka made history as BBC Radio 1’s first Future Flex freestyle performer for Sian Eleri.

Oraka’s live performances have electrified stages across the UK and beyond. From a sold-out UK headline tour to debuting at Glastonbury 2024 on the BBC Introducing Stage and showcasing at SXSW 2024 in Texas where he supported Skepta for the British Music Embassy, played the Selector stage and headlined the Line of Best Fit stage. His high-energy shows and lyrical prowess have earned him support slots over the years with Stormzy, Casisdead, Akala and US legend KRS-One to name only a few.

Oraka is a titan in the northern arena, but his successes chart on a national - and global - scale. His breakthrough hits ‘Darcy’, ’Men Behaving Badly’, and ‘Flex’ garnered streams in the millions with his work championed by The Guardian, Mixmag, i-D, and TRENCH. He continues to push boundaries as a founding member of Hull’s Lockdown collective and ROOM 73 label, which produced Oraka’s breakout single "Darcy." The Lockdown collective also promote their own club night in the city, bringing national heavyweights Devilman, Manga St Hilare, Jammer and Tempa T to its most historic music venue, The New Adelphi Club, dismantling regional barriers.

Beyond music, Oraka is a vocal advocate for equality and justice. His ongoing work and voice in the community is significant, regularly providing talks to schools across Hull, empowering education which proved to be a key factor in his own survival. Oraka also delivers lyric-writing workshops to children who have been displaced from mainstream education, including asylum seekers and refugees. As co-facilitator of the Racial Equality Youth Collective, he supports young people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Oraka’s activism intersects with his art, from lending his voice to the documentary series ‘Black Kings Upon Hull’, which showcased the Black experience outside of the big cities - through to taking part in the Enough is Enough cost-of-living campaign, Oraka has cemented his role as a fierce representative of the Black British experience.

Highlights

PRESS: The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Crack Magazine, Wonderland, Notion, Mixmag, DJ Mag, i-D, CALM, The Yorkshire Times, BBC Newsbeat, The Quietus, The Daily Express, Clash, Viper Magazine, Culted Magazine, TRENCH, Pause, BLK BRIT and more coverage across board.

RADIO: Multiple plays on BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6Music, including an interview with Chris Hawkins on Misfit / Glastonbury + interview with Huw Stephens on BBC 6Music + performed the first ever Future Flex Freestyle on BBC Radio One for Sian Eleri. Further support from BBC 1 Xtra, Apple Music 1 (Hood Heat Track Of The Week x 2 and The Dotty Show, 'Best New Find'), 'Radio X, KISS FM, Capital Xtra, Reprezent and more.

KEY DJ SUPPORT: Huw Stephens, Chris Hawkins, Sian Eleri, Charlie Sloth, Craig Charles, Theo Johnson, DJ Semtex, Annie Mac, Toddla T, Kenny Allstar, Tiffany Calver, Jeremiah Asiamah, Ellie Prohan, Tom Robinson, Chris Hawkins, Jess Iszatt, DJ EZ.

PLAYLISTS: BBC 6Music (C-list), BBC Introducing track of the week on BBC 1 Xtra with N.H.E & Men Behaving Badly

STREAMING PLAYLISTS: New Music Friday, Who We Be, Grime Shutdown, Just Dropped, Viral 50 UK, Viral 50 Ireland, Shisha Lounge (Spotify), Hood Heat and New Fire (Apple Music), Instant Grime (Deezer), UK Hip Hop (YouTube Music), Vevo Playlist: UK Grime, UK Rap Flow,

LIVE HIGHLIGHTS: Support shows for Skepta (SXSW 2024)Stormzy, Wretch 32, Jaykae, Akala, Novelist, KRS-One, Mo Stack & Poundz, Casisdead. Performance at Leeds Festival, Radio 1 Big Weekend & headline artist for Humber Street Sesh in 2019, 2021 and 2023. Newcastle Headline show at Cobalt in 2021. Leeds Headline Show at the Belgrave Music Hall in 2023. The Great Escape in 2023 (The PRS Momentum Fund Showcase) + 2024, Headline Tour in October 2023 (London, Newcastle, Leeds & Southampton), SXSW 2024, The Chip Shop Brixton headline show in London 2024, Hyde Park Book Club show in Leeds 2024, Glastonbury 2024

FUNDING: Supported by MOBO Help Musicians Fund + PPL Momentum Fund (2023) (PRS Foundation) + Momentum Accelerator Fund (PRS Foundation) + International Showcase Fund (PRS Foundation)

OTHER KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

  • A finalist for 'Best Newcomer' at the 2025 Northern Music Awards
  • Over 3 million streams on Spotify alone with hit single 'Darcy'
  • Over 2 million streams on Spotify alone with single 'Men Behaving Badly'
  • Only official UK remix of 2019's biggest viral banger, Blueface’s 'Thotiana'
  • 'Darcy' is the 8th longest track (309 days) to ever be on Spotify’s Grime Shutdown.
  • 'G.Finger' and 'North Face' was Charlie Sloths 'Hood Heat Track of the Week' on Apple Music 1
  • Single, 'War Chant' (produced by Majestic) in Music Week's 'Black Music Chart' for over 8 weeks, peaking at number 2.
  • Man of the Match performance on Sir Spyro's BBC 1 Xtra Grime on tour feature. View here
  • From 2017-2020 Chiedu was heavily involved with The BBC's, Contains Strong Language Festival for the last three years.
  • Interviewed Aniefiok Ekpoudom on his book 'Where We Began' for Deershed Festival

CHIEDU ORAKA ONLINE

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MUSIC VIDEOS

CONTACT: EMMA@YOUTAN-MUSIC.COM

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