Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper and entrepreneur. Born and raised in New York City, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by Billboard and Vibe in 2023. He served as the president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007 before founding the entertainment company, Roc Nation the following year.
Idrissa Akuna Elba is an English actor, rapper, singer and DJ. An alumnus of the National Youth Music Theatre in London, he is known for roles including Stringer Bell in the HBO series The Wire (2002–2004), DCI John Luther in the BBC One series Luther (2010–2019), and Nelson Mandela in the biographical film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013). For Luther, he received four nominations each for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, winning one of the former.
The Ghetto Boys is a street gang based in New Cross, Lewisham and Deptford, South London.
"Blue Magic" is the first single from Jay-Z's tenth studio album, American Gangster. The song was released as a single on September 20, 2007. In the chorus, Pharrell sings an interpretation of the song "Hold On" by the R&B girl group En Vogue, who are also featured in the song. The name "Blue Magic" is a reference to a potent form of heroin sold by Frank Lucas at the height of his drug trade in Harlem, New York. An official remix features Pharrell and Trey Songz.
Damian Jones is a British independent film producer.
Roc Nation is an American entertainment company founded by Jay-Z in 2008. Headquartered in New York City, with additional offices in Los Angeles and London. It serves as a record label, talent agent, media production firm, a clothing line, a school and philanthropic programs.
Jeymes Samuel, also known by his stage name The Bullitts, is a first generation Nigerian-British singer-songwriter, music producer and filmmaker. His debut album, They Die By Dawn & Other Short Stories..., was issued in 2013. The Harder They Fall, released in 2021, was his feature film directorial debut, which won him the 2021 BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.
Joivan Wade 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 Patrol and Titans.
Julie Oluwatoyin Chidozie Adenuga is a British broadcaster, radio host and the creator of Don't Trust The Internet. She was one of the three lead DJs for Beats 1, Apple's 24/7 radio station as part of Apple Music.
Lukman Olanrewaju Odunaike, better known by his stage name Not3s, is a British singer and rapper from Hackney, London. His songs include "My Lover" and "Fine Line", both of which are collaborations with Mabel.
Blaine Cameron Johnson, known professionally as Cadet, was a British rapper. Blaine Johnson began pursuing a career as a rapper in 2011, releasing a number of freestyles through YouTube outlets such as OSM Vision and Link Up TV. His debut project, The Commitment, was released in 2016, followed by The Commitment 2 the following year. He is perhaps best known for his single "Advice" featuring Deno, which peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart.
Shiro's Story is a three-part YouTube series, written, directed and narrated through the medium of rap by Rapman. It stars Joivan Wade as Shiro, Percelle Ascott as his best friend, Kyle, and has appearances from Konan, Deno, Ashley Walters, Headie One, Not3s and Cadet. Themes of betrayal, love and London gang rivalry play throughout, but there is no glamorisation of violence.
Blue Story is a 2019 British musical crime drama film written, directed, and narrated by Rapman through the medium of rap and starring Stephen Odubola and Micheal Ward, with Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Khali Best, Karla-Simone Spence, Richie Campbell, Jo Martin and Junior Afolabi Salokun in supporting roles. Serving as Rapman's feature directorial debut, the film is based on his 2014 YouTube series of the same name, which in turn is based on the real life gangs - the Peckham Boys and Ghetto Boys. The story follows best friends Marco (Ward) and Timmy (Odubola) who, from different areas of London, find themselves becoming enemies in a violent and insidious postcode war.
Deno Michael Mebrahtu, known mononymously as Deno, is a British singer, songwriter, rapper and actor from London. His parents are originally from Eritrea, and he was raised in South London. He came to the forefront of London's afro-wave music scene beginning in 2018 with a number of viral music videos and hit songs.
GRM 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 British hip hop. The platform also serves electronic genres such as UK garage and grime.
Sebastian Henry Thiel is a film director, writer and producer.
Rhys Angelo Emile Herbert, known professionally as Digga D, is a UK drill artist. He rose to fame in 2017 along with his UK drill collective CGM. His mixtapes Double Tap Diaries and Made In The Pyrex reached No. 11 and 3 on the UK Albums Chart, respectively. His third mixtape Noughty By Nature was released on 15 April 2022, debuting at number one on the UK Albums Chart. His fourth mixtape Back To Square One was released in August 2023.
Jovanni Shemar Sterling known professionally as Graft, is a British rapper and former professional youth footballer, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
Calvin Arron A. Demba is an English actor, writer and director. He is known for his roles in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2011–2012), the E4 series Youngers (2013–2014), and the BBC One drama Life (2020).
Supacell is a British superhero television series. Rapman serves as showrunner, creator, writer and lead director on the project for Netflix. Sebastian Thiel also directs three episodes.
