The Blurry Bits

Cutting his own unique path through UK Rap and Grime, Chiedu Oraka continues to make waves and turn heads with a steadily growing body of solo work. Long known as a leading figure in the Northern grime scene, ‘The Black Yorkshireman’ is defying genres with his blend of raw honesty and lyrical intensity.  Since emerging onto the scene from his native city of Hull, Chiedu is undoubtedly one of the most exciting voices in grime and UK rap. A string of straight up classics include 'Flex’, ‘Men Behaving Badly’ and the hit single ‘Darcy’, which sits in the top 10 longest tracks to feature on the Grime Shutdown playlist, holding its own for over 300 days running. In 2019, Chiedu also hit us with the UK’s only official remix of the viral hit ‘Thotiana’, further proof of his relevance to the culture. 2021 marks the start of broad new horizons for 'The Black Yorkshireman', having exploded into the year with the acclaimed EP Ave Life. Highlights include the autobiographical masterclass ‘The Trials and Tribulations of C.E.O.’, the anthemic bravado ‘G Finger’ (named as Charlie Sloth's Hood Heat Track of the Week), and the deep nostalgia of ‘Ave Life'. Meanwhile the formidable Helly Hansen freestyle series is grabbing attention and gaining momentum, with ‘Helly Hansen 4’ featuring proudly on the EP. With Chiedu Oraka having confirmed his position as a premier UK lyrical talent, all eyes are now on The Black Yorkshireman to see what’s up and where’s next. Links to music Instagram: @orakald Twitter: @orakald

Christian Graham is a playwright and actor with routes in live performance, who has been primarily focussing on creating work that delves into how people choose to define themselves and how they are defined by others. Christian was introduced to theatre through organisations like National Youth Theatre, BRIT School and the National Theatre Young Company, which served to ignite his passion for storytelling. Since concentrating on writing, he has had work developed by The Orange Tree Writers Collective, Hightide Writers Academy, Talawa Firsts and Park Theatre's Script accelerator.  His latest play Boys Cry will be featured at Omnibus Theatre in September 2021. Twitter:     @C_A_Graham Instagram: @christian_a_graham Website:   christiangraham-projects.com

After a time away from the limelight since his last solo record, Daniel Merriweather has been working on a collection of new tracks. The first of these, 'Everything I Need' came out late last year to coincide with his residency at London's Laylow: a reintroduction to solo performance after only sporadic appearances alongside partner in crime Mark Ronson. Daniel followed this up with 'Paradise' which continues to introduce the listener to the new iteration of Daniel's sound. The single, which shows off his incredible vocal - and with additional production by Kwes (Loyle Carner, Pusha T, Bobby Womack) - pushes the soundtrack into a soulful, jazz-leaning world but with an edge that keeps it firmly relevant. On the content of the track, Daniel explains; "I was in Hollywood living out of my car and things weren't going so well. Every night I would pretend I was living in paradise, I would pretend that I was happy and in love; I would do anything to make myself feel this way. None of it was real though; honestly it was hell. So one day I found the strength to break free. This song is about that strength" Alongside releasing his platinum selling, critically acclaimed debut album 'Love & War', which reached number 2 in the UK Charts and featured top 10 single 'Red', Daniel is a busy collaborator and has worked with some of the biggest names in pop. Initially working with Mark Ronson on his reworks album 'Version', appearing on a cover of The Smiths classic 'Stop Me', Daniel recently worked with Ronson and producer Diploon their Silk City project, appeared on the track 'Only Can Get Better'. He performed at the Brits in 2009 with Ronson, Amy Winehouse and Adele; with Adele also featuring on his debut album on the track 'Water and a Flame' alongside Wale who featured on the UK top 5 single 'Change'. Twitter: @DanMerriweather Instagram: @DanMerriweather

Jim Galvin is a former Royal Marines Commando who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Leaving the Marines after 5 years of service he trained to become a member of the Great Britain Bobsleigh Team, representing Team GB for 2 years around the World and missing out on the Sochi Winter Olympics by just 1 spot. Jim now lives in East Grinstead, West Sussex where he runs ATLAS Better Body Club & ATLAS Functional Fitness, 2 different types of fitness class that help build communities and break down boundaries through group exercise. Jim has also done public speaking work for ROCK 2 RECOVERY, a Forces mental health charity that helps encourage Forces veterans (especially men) to be honest about their struggles with mental health. It is for this charity that Jim currently has 2 Guinness World Records for endurance lifting events during which he and his team raised thousands for this cause. Instagram: @jimhhgalvin Website: www.afconditioning.co.uk

Joelle Taylor is an award-winning poet and author who prior to the pandemic completed a world tour with her collection Songs My Enemy Taught Me. She founded SLAMbassadors, the UK national youth poetry slam championships, as well as the international spoken-word project Borderlines. She is widely anthologised, the author of 4 collections of poetry and is currently completing her debut collection of inter-connecting short stories The Night Alphabet. Her new book C+NTO & Othered Poems was the subject of the Radio 4 arts documentary Butch and was published in June 2021. She has received a Changemaker Award from the Southbank Centre; a Fellowship of the RSA; and her poem Valentine was Highly Commended in the Forward Prize. She is a co-curator and host of Out-Spoken Live, a poetry and music club currently resident at the Southbank Centre; and the commissioning editor at Out-Spoken Press. Joelle Taylor is the author of 4 collections of poetry. Her newest collection C+NTO & Othered Poems (June 2021) was the subject of a Radio 4 arts documentary Butch. She is a co-curator and host of Out-Spoken Live resident at the Southbank Centre, and the current editor of Out-Spoken Press. Website: www.joelletaylor.co.uk Twitter: @JTaylorTrash Instagram: @JTaylorTrash

Daisy Hale is an award winning independent producer working across theatre, live art, cabaret and large scale events. They primarily work with Queer, Trans* and Disabled artists and specialise in experimental and socially engaged work. They take artists who have been historically ostracised to the mainstream and use populism to engage wider audiences with socio-political work. Much of their work has an activism strand therefore they tend to work within the models of co-creation and counterculture and are consistently looking to challenge our preconceptions of working models. Some of the artists they currently work with include Willy Hudson, Matty May, Katie Greenall, Pecs Drag Kings and Not Your Circus Dog. Daisy was part of the Old Vic 12 2019 and a Clore Emerging Leader 2020 and has gone on to be a facilitator for Clore Leadership experiences. Daisy previously worked for Theatre Royal Stratford East as an Associate Producer. They are also an access consultant and disability equality trainer for arts organisations.  Website: www.the-hale.com Twitter: @daisthehale  Instagram: @daisthehale

A weekly podcast exploring masculinity, with all it's beautiful and brutal, complex nuances. Presented by Charlie Josephine & Rob Watt (@wattnot).  We have interviewed some of our favourite people to dive into the tricky questions around gender, queerness and class. We want to explore masculinity in all its shapes and expressions. What's toxic about it? What's tender and vulnerable? When does masculinity feel good, feel sexy and useful? When does the patriarchy squash the good bits? What are the questions we haven't quite got answers for? Where are the edges, and what's in those blurry bits between the binaries? Follow us:  Twitter @theblurrybits Instagram @the_blurry_bits