Find out “20 Best British Hip-hop Rappers You Should Know” Hip-hop music, including rap, began in New York City in the 1970s. Rap music only became popular in Britain in the 1980s.
Road Rap, also known as UK Rap, was first brought to the British at that time by Jamaican immigrants. Rappers, a global phenomenon, have gathered to work together in a variety of ways.
Rap lyrics are normally spoken over a beat, however the genre frequently shifts to include major elements like artistic or lyrical content. Hip-hop music is covered in various ways by British rap. The distinctive British rap genre known as grime first appeared in London. Other extreme techno influences are present.
20 Best British Hip-hop Rappers You Should Know
British accents as being proper and unfitting with the grit of contemporary hip-hop from other rap, people find it challenging to adapt differences and write the music off in the act of dismissiveness. British rap has become more prevalent across the United States with American artists.
For every British rap and hip-hop lover, here are some of the Top 20 Best Rappers you should know.
1. Central Cee
Central Cee is a British rapper and songwriter born in 1998 named Oakley Neil H T Caesar-Su initially.
Central Cee has a unique voice unlike any other artist, and his songs have a British Jamaican milieu in a way that most viewers are unaware of. He is undoubtedly the most significant rapper in Britain with millions of views on his YouTube videos and 5.4 million followers on Instagram.
Also, he has four studio albums to his credit and is the most influential artist of 2022. No More Leaks is his most recent album released seven weeks ago, which he promoted on his Instagram.
In 2022, he released more songs apart from the album Don’t Like Drill, One Up, Chapters, Doja, Obsessed With You, and more.
2. Stefflon Don
Stefflon Don is a British rapper and singer born on December 14, 1991 initially known as Stephanie Victoria Allen.
Stefflon is a dancehall rap artist with a chaos of dancehall patios, grime verses, and honeyed vocals with ease and confidence. She holds a record label for Quality Control Music, Polydor Records, Universal Music Group, and Motown.
She released her debut mixtape in 2016 called Real Ting followed by another mixtape called Secure in 2018. Moreover, she has won NME Award for the Best New British Act. She is a bold and confident artist with 3.5 million followers on her Instagram.
3. Santan Dave
Santan Dave is a multi-talented British rapper, musician, singer, producer, and actor born in 1998 initially known as David Orobosa Omoregie. He celebrates his birthday on June 05.
He released his debut album No More Dreamz on July 20, 2019, and he also writes and produces music for other artists. Moreover, he has released many songs till now and some of his best lists are Location, Clash, Starlight, and Funky Friday.
He has started experimenting more with the contemporary pop sound and holds a record label of Warner Chappell Music. He is a successful rapper with 3.1 million followers on Instagram.
4. Stormzy
Stormzy is a rapper, singer, and songwriter born on July 26, 1993, initially known as Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr.
Before achieving fame, Stormzy released a freestyle song, Shut Up, on YouTube. It became trendy and is at number eight on the UK Singles Chart. Also, he won Best Grime Act not once but twice consecutively.
In 2017, he released his debut album called Gang Signs and Prayer. It was the first grime album to reach on top trend on the UK Albums Chart and also won the British Album of the Year. He released his second album called Heavy Is The Head on December 13, 2019. Moreover, his third album was recently released on November 25, 2022, named This Is What I Mean.
Stormzy has deactivated his Instagram and Twitter accounts and is not currently active on social media apart from Facebook.
5. Aitch
Aitch was initially known as Harrison James Armstrong. He is a rapper from Manchester with the record labels like Capital Records and Northern Quartz.
In August 2019, he released one of the biggest songs, Taste (Make It Shake). Also, he released a track Rain in collaboration with AJ Tracey and Tay Keith which gathered over 50 million views on YouTube.
In June 2021, Aitch released his single Learning Curve followed by Party Round My Place. The single was number six on the Top 100 Chart of UK Official Singles. On March 10, 2022, he released another single featuring an American singer. The song was titled, Baby. Aitch also released an inspiring song My G featuring Ed Sheeran about his sister with down syndrome.
Aitch is a famous artist with 2.3 million followers on Instagram and netizens love his rap style. The rapper is dating Amelia Dimoldenberg and they may be about to get married, acknowledging the post of Aitch referring to his girlfriend as Amelia Armstrong on his Instagram.
6. Ray BLK
Ray BLK is a British rapper, singer, and songwriter born on August 02, 1994, initially known as Rita Ekwere or Ray Blizzy. Her stage name BLK stands for Building Living Knowing.
She is from Catford, South London. She started her career in the music industry as a rapper on October 28, 2016. She released her debut album which was Durt and signed to Island Records on the UK branch. Access Denied was her full-length studio album released in October 2021.
Ray was nominated for MOBO Awards 2016. Next year, she won the BBC Sound of 2017. She was also a part of a tour with American rapper Nicki Minaj as the opening act for The Nicki World Tour. She released another song called Action in November 2019 and the latest album was out in 2021.
She has 99.7K followers on Instagram and she is the founder of BLK Listed.
7. Skepta
Skepta is a British-Nigerian rapper, grime MC, and record producer born on September 19, 1982, initially known as Chief Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr.
In 2007, he released his debut album Greatest Hits and his second album Microphone Champion released two years after the first one. Also, he made his debut in acting in the film Anti-Social in 2015. Eventually, he featured many of his hit singles and also won the Mercury Prize.
In 2018, Skepta produced and featured a song by ASAP Rocky which became the highest-charting for both artists. He has been nominated for many awards like Brit Awards. Also, he received a Nigerian chieftain in 2018.
Skepta has huge popularity in the rap industry. He has 3.5 million followers on Instagram and his most recent post is about K-TRAP and Skepta at Silencio club in Paris.
8. Tion Wayne
Tion Wayne was initially known as Dennis Junior Odunwo and was born on September 01, 1993.
He is a rapper and DJ who started his career in 2010 after dropping some videos on YouTube. He released his first mixtape in 2014 titled Wayne’s Wood. He already has a handful of supported artists such as American rappers Rick Ross and Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie.
One of his singles Keisha and Becky reached the UK top trending peak at number seven. Tion was featured alongside rappers Swarmz and KSI in Houdini, which was out in 2020. Eventually, a second collaboration with Russ Millions was released in 2021 followed by a remix released in the same year of April 22.
Tion has 927K followers on Instagram. His recent picture reveals that he was in Dubai last November.
9. Russ Millions
Russ Millions is a British rapper and songwriter born on March 20, 1996, initially known as Shylo Batchelor Ashby Milwood.
Russ has released many singles and albums. The most successful single was Gun Leon released in December 2018. The track was the trending number nine on the UK Singles Chart. He has songs in collaboration with artists like Taze, Buni, Tion Wayne, Digga D, Pressa, Dappy, and LD.
He was featured in a music video where he performed a dance craze that footballers mimicked. It was highly ranked on the list of the greatest pop music dance crazes.
He has 1 million followers on Instagram, and his recent release was out just a few days prior.
10. AJ Tracey
AJ Tracey is a multi-talented rapper initially known as Che Wolton Grant was born on March 04, 1994.
Apart from being a rapper, he is a talented singer, songwriter, dancer, and record producer who aces various genres like British hip-hop, grime, UK garage, UK drill, trap, dancehall, and more. AJ debuted his EP The Front in 2015 and released his next EP Alex Moran featuring Spirit Bomb and Naila.
AJ released his fifth EP, Secure the Bag, in 2017 and announced the pre-order of his self-debut album, which was released in February 2019. The tracklist of his sixth EP is still going on and it debuted at rank 75 on the UK Albums Charts.
AJ Tracey is famous for his self-titled album and has over 1 million followers on Instagram.
11. ArrDee
ArrDee is a young rapper and songwriter born on September 17, 2002, initially known as Riley Davies.
He has been featured on the remix of Tion Wayne and Russ Millions song Body which was ranked at the top charts in many countries. He released his single Flowers on November 11, 2021 and it was ranked number 5 on the UK Official Chart Top 100, spending more than twelve weeks in the top charts.
Also, he released another single War featuring rapper Aitch. On that particular day, he announced the release of his debut mixtape titled Pier Pressure. The song ranked at number 21 on the UK Official Singles Sales Chart. ArrDee is the youngest rapper with 1.1 million followers on Instagram.
12. Bugzy Malone
Bugzy Malone is a rapper in the hip-hop and grime genre born on December 20, 1990, and is initially known as Aaron Davies.
Bugzy released his debut mixtape in 2010 titled SwaggaMan. In his initial career, he began freestyle for the northern grime YouTube channel on Spray Out Freestyle. He released his second mixtape inspired by Batman and titled it Why So Serious.
The most viewed music video which was a single from the mixtape was Hip Hop Heavy Metal, which crossed over one million views on YouTube. Currently, his most popular singles have been Feud with Chip, Walk with Me, Facing Time, and King of the North.
Bugzy Malone has a unique style of rap that is loved by millions. He has 1.3 million followers on Instagram.
13. Headie One
Headie One is best known for his tracks featuring other rappers like Dave and Drake. He was born on October 06, 1994.
He has released a series of mixtapes. The most popular one was Music x Road which ranked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart. His debut album was Edna, released in 2020, and it was the most successful album dedicated to his mother. The album ranked at number one on the UK Albums Chart.
Talking about his personal life, Headie One is an avid supporter of Manchester United. He has 881K followers on Instagram and his recent posts promote his new release 50s.
14. Digga D
Digga D was born in Ladbroke Grove, London on June 29, 2000. Digga is known for the labels like Black Money Records and Groundworks.
Digga gained fame after being a part of the UK drill collective 1011 also known as CGM. He along with his friends in a local youth club released many singles including Next Up, Play for the Pagans, No Hook, and more.
Next Up was his freestyle mixtape released on November 30, 2017. It was certified single by the British Phonographic Industry. Eventually, he released many singles and albums, and his album No Diet ranked at number 20 on the UK Singles Chart. The track Doing Me featuring Aitch and Sam X ranked number 8 in 2018.
Digga D is a popular young artist with 1.3 million followers on Instagram.
15. Fredo
Fredo was born in Queens Park, London initially known as Marvin William Bailey. He is 28 years old British rapper.
Fredo released his full-length album titled Third Avenue on February 01, 2019. Also, he released a track dedicated to his mother titled Love You for That. He released his second album Money Can’t Buy Happiness featuring Pop Smoke, Dave, Young Adz, and Summer Walker. The album ranked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart.
He announced his third album on June 24, 2021 and it was released on August 05. The album was titled Independence Day and was announced to be released independently. Fredo has 1.3 million followers on Instagram.
16. Dutchavelli
Dutchavelli was initially known as Stephan Fabulous Allen, born on November 11, 1993 in London.
He has worked with many known artists including Tion Wayne, Stormzy, and Gzuz and has achieved top hits with songs such as I Dunno which ranked at number 7 in the charts. Dutchavelli has gained fame for being a tall and rugged individual and has 780K followers on Instagram. In his recent Instagram post, he promoted Milan and Zurich and hopes to see them soon after shooting God Willing.
After his series of hit lists like Only If You Knew which collected millions of views just in eight months, he began to give further hit songs in collaboration with artists like M Huncho and Stormzy.
17. Big Shaq
Big Shaq was born in Croydon, London and he is known for his labels like Island Records, Bagel King, and Whitehall.
Initially, he launched a series on YouTube titled Somewhere in London which crossed over 1 million views. He is a rapper as well as an actor. In 2020, he started making a fitness show called Belly Must Go.
Big Shaq has 14.6K followers on Instagram but he has not uploaded any posts yet.
18. Lady Leshurr
Lady Leshurr is the stage name of the rapper Melesha Katrina O’Garro born on December 15, 1987. Melesha is not only a rapper but a talented singer and record producer.
In her early life, she grew up around music and her mother used to play reggae like Bob Marley and Sister Nancy. She started rap since a kid and headed her career towards it.
In 2010, Leshurr first music video featured Amplify Dot, Ruff Diamondz, Mz Bratt, and other artists. She also won MOBO Award for Best Female Act in 2019. Moreover, she has had many achievements and awards throughout her career. She recently appeared as a guest panelist on a show called Loose Women.
Lady Leshurr has 524K followers on Instagram and her recent post is promoting Don’t Hate The Playaz and its crew.
19. Unknown T
Unknown T is a British musician initially known as Daniel Lena. He was born on August 17, 1999 in London.
He released his first single Homerton B in October 2018 and it ranked at number 48 on the UK Singles Chart. Also, the track became the first UK drill to be certified, Silver. Other tracks were released eventually featuring artists like AJ Tracey. Throwback, Leave Dat Trap, and Meat crossed over 5 million views.
Unknown T has 580K followers on Instagram and he uploads his original audios a lot.
20. Giggs
Giggs is the stage name of the rapper Nathaniel Thompson born on May 11, 1983 in London.
He released his debut album in 2008 titled Walk in da Park followed by another album Let Em Ave It. In 2013, Giggs released his third studio album titled When Will It Stop and his fourth album was Landlord which ranked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. It was the highest-charting album of his career.
Eventually, he released many mixtapes like Wamp 2 Dem, Now or Never, and more. Also, he has collaboration videos featuring Gunna Dee, Joe Grind, Tiny Boost, and Kyze. Giggs has over 1 million followers on Instagram.
