DIGGA D
Rolling Stone UK|December/January 2024
Digga D is more than just a multi-headed hip-hop hydra breathing fire into the potent rap subgenre of UK drill, he's empowering the next generation of London rappers. Away from his music, he's an example of how a person's past does not dictate their future, having scored a number one album in 2022 and a top-10 mixtape this summer
Tracy Kawalik
DIGGA D

DRILL PIONEER D is DIGGA achieving global fame and making hip-hop history with an arsenal of bold bars that articulate the complexities of the world around him while inspiring the new wave of rappers and marginalised youth to fulfil their sonic potential.

Digga D's rise has been exponential. Since making headlines and seismic waves in the UK music scene in 2017, he's racked up half a billion global streams, released multiple top-10 tracks, been the subject of a BAFTA award-winning documentary, Defending Digga D, and last year he put out a number-one mixtape, Noughty by Nature, dethroning the likes of Ed Sheeran and Olivia Rodrigo from the top of the charts as he did so.

Fast-forward to 2023, and at 23 years old, he became the youngest rapper to headline the prestigious Royal Albert Hall, launched his own record label, Black Money Records, as well as a critically lauded fourth mixtape, Back to Square One. All of these achievements cement his music status and commitment to personal growth.

A beast with bars, Digga D flexes a staggering lyrical dexterity with a comic wink that outstrips most of his drill rap peers alongside battle tactics to leverage his talent with strategy and an otherworldly tenacity to rap through adversity.

This story is from the December/January 2024 edition of Rolling Stone UK.

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This story is from the December/January 2024 edition of Rolling Stone UK.

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