100% Pa Salieu

Frontline is a murky banger that confidently flexes the 22-year-old’s vocal versatility. Pushing hard rap lyrics up against a fusion of Afrobeat melodies, it’s hook has no doubt already been called back countless times by DJs in clubs up and down the country: “They don’t know about the block life / Still doing mazza inna frontline!” The track offers an honest and real insight into the dangers that came with growing up in his hometown of Coventry, a post-industrial city in the heart of the Midlands that’s still viewed by some as having never truly recovered, financially or socially, from the hugely damaging blitz bombings in World War II, 80 years ago.

Despite the video racking up a million views on YouTube in under a month and elevating Pa to a much larger platform, he’s not getting ahead of himself, or forgetting where he came from. “I saw they played the video on MTV the other day, but growing up I didn’t have access to that. We didn’t have that Sky Box ting,” he laughs. “I’m just happy like, I would be grateful even if it was on 100,000 views.”