Octavian (rapper)

Octavian was born in Lille, France to an Angolan family. After his father died, he moved to the UK with his mother at the age of three, settling in Camberwell, South London.[1] As a teenager, he won a scholarship to the Brit School, but dropped out after a year and a half.[2]

Octavian's first mixtape, 22, was released in 2016 under the name "Octavian OG", followed by the Essie World EP in 2017.[1] His recognition increased in January 2018 after a video of Drake singing along to the track "Party Here" at a Golden Globes afterparty was posted on Instagram.[1][3] The track was produced in collaboration with producer J Rick.[4]

The Fader have described Octavian's sound as a mixture of house, rap, and drill, as well as noting that his sound was influenced by Drake and Bon Iver.[5] Pitchfork have described the sound as mixing "R&B and dancehall with downbeat grime, peppy house, and UK hip-hop".[6] Critics have disagreed about how to classify Octavian's style, with High Snobiety noting that he is "Too British to be labeled trap but too American to be classed as grime".[3]

The Guardian described his 2018 mixtape Spaceman as "a spectacular medley of the past decade of UK subgenres – the raspy-voiced rapper amalgamates elements of drill, grime and house to create something dextrous and distinctive."[2] Pitchfork described the release as "daring eclecticism".[7]

In August 2018, Octavian signed with Sony / ATV Records.[8]. He won BBC Music's Sound of 2019 in January of that year [9].

In January 2019, Octavian won the BBC Sound of 2019 award, their top award for new artists.[10]