Most of the tips for 2015 lists are now in and alongside James Bay and Years & Years, George the Poet is the third recurring name that everyone agrees is in for a great 12 months.
Born George Mpanga of Ugandan descent, he’s the one with the most interesting back-story. He grew up on Harlesden’s Stonebridge Park estate and went on to study politics, psychology and sociology at King’s College, Cambridge. Meanwhile, he was running poetry workshops for teenagers in London, performing at the Albert Hall’s Elgar Room while still studying, and enjoying an internet hit with his poem My City during the Olympics year.
Having first been keen on rapping, he turned to poetry to pack more power into his social commentary.
Even as he’s come back to music, dealing with infidelity and accidental pregnancy on his The Chicken and the Egg EP, the accompaniment is minimal to ensure clarity for his words. His latest single, 1, 2, 1, 2, is poppier but is still a long way from rap music as we know it. He ought to be a positive influence on the scene during a triumphant 2015.
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