With malevolent charisma, he raps the unspeakable directly into your ear, like the Devil on your shoulder. M1llionz tends to steal the show with most of his features, but ‘No Chorus’ is balanced like a Champions League final, providing the satisfying feeling of hearing the two best MCs in the country go toe to toe.
Then there’s the duet with Birmingham’s most popping driller du jour. On chart smash ‘Bringing It Back’ he spars with grime MC and fellow Ladbroke Grover AJ Tracey. But that’s not to say Digga doesn’t challenge himself. The only other London drill artists on the album are CGM members ZK and Sav’O. Bafflingly, Digga’s even been barred from mentioning Ladbroke Grove in his lyrics, as he explained in a recent YouTube video, itself taken down within 24 hours. And proper heads will work out the missing names. The blanks - which Digga surely knew were coming - actually fuck up the rhyme scheme. I see my man turn into Usain Bolt and xxxx turn into Gatlin”. On the darkest, least chart-friendly track ‘Bluuwuu’: “This one’s old like xxxx. Even mentions of other rappers are censored. Watch the video to see Digga in his element. Cool, we established I’m toxic,” he raps on ‘Toxic’. “She said that she’s seen me on UK Gossip. Enfant terrible, heartthrob, poster boy and public enemy number one in certain parts of London: whichever cliché you’re using chances are you’re talking about him. LD claims godfather status, but is a man of the people, as proud of his disciples as his own achievements. Headie One is a transatlantic star, but shy, reclusive, private. This means personalities rarely shine through. Most of these artists obscure their identities, whether striving to keep their government names out of the press or hiding their faces entirely. It’s flourished in part because of the near-infinite number of rappers and crews competing for attention. Somehow his second mixtape - and first under these conditions - is one of the most daring, provocative and enjoyable records in recent memory. He’s been streamed 300 million times, served four spells in prison and, as detailed in BBC documentary ‘Defending Digga D’, is now only able to release music through a strict procedure, running every lyric by his lawyer to ensure none of it encourages violence. He grew up to Jamaican heritage on the Ladbroke Grove estate and made his name with drill crew 1011, now known as CGM.
In case they’re somehow yet to reach you: Digga was conceived in the ’90s, born in the noughties. Stories of this 20-year-old from West London have reached everywhere from UK Gossip TV’s Instagram to the BBC. Digga D is what’s happening in music right now.