23-year-old Gambian-British rapper Pa Salieu has won BBC Music's Sound of 2021, the annual poll highlighting the music world's hottest new acts.
He was chosen after deliberation by a panel of 160 figures from the British music media. Previous winners of the accolade include Sam Smith, Adele, Keane, Michael Kiwanuka, Jessie J, Haim, who have all gone on to global success.
The shortlist of 10 acts for the 2021 poll was announced in December and included rapper Dutchavelli, singer-songwriter Alfie Templeman and r&b singer Greentea Peng.
Coventry-based Pa Salieu said: "I was just really happy to even be included on the list alongside some amazing artists, a few of who I know personally. They’re all crazy talented, so to be the winner of something like this so early in my journey just feels mad."
The top five acts are:
Pa Salieu
Holly Humberstone
BERWYN
Greentea Peng
GRIFF
The BBC says that Pa Salieu was chosen for "his adventurous, infectious tracks with hard-hitting lyrics about life and death on the "frontline" in Coventry".
The rapper was shot in the head outside a pub in Coventry in 2019, and speaking to the BBC he said, "If I died last year. If I actually died - in their eyes, I would be a criminal."
He added, "'Gang related. Drive-by shooting.' Trust me, the whole perception would be different right now. You would have never heard of me. If you do hear of me, it's, 'That's that kid that died.' 'Gun crime.' 'These foolish youths.' No."
