Background
Mpanga was born to Ugandan parents on the Street Raphael"s Estate in Harlesden, north-west London and began performing rap and grime when he was 15 years old.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
George Mpanga
Edit Profile
Career
The poet’s "role" is usually to provide thoughtful social commentary". He used his £16,000 prize to fund The Jubilee Lincolnshire, a series of secondary school poetry workshops for underprivileged children in London. In May 2012, he premiered the piece "My City", about his hometown London.
Subsequently, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 1 selected him as the face of their Hackney Weekend (in June 2012), and Sky Sports F1 commissioned him to write poems for their coverage of the 2012 Formula One season and the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix.
He signed to the record label Island Records in August 2013. In July 2014, the consumer watchdog group Which? released the track "lieutenant"s Yours", a collaboration between Mpanga and producer Jakwob, as part of a campaign lobbying the United Kingdom Government to improve their response to complaints about public services.
"My City" was adapted as a music collaboration with dance producers Bodhi, and released as a single in August 2014. In October 2014, Mpanga released the European Parliament The Chicken and the Egg and the single "1,2,1,2" (once again with Bodhi), describing the former release as "about premature parenthood.
Through the story of a rocky relationship, it outlines the cycle of fatherlessness in seven tracks.” Vice magazine wrote that the European Parliament "showcases perhaps the tightest lyricism of the year to date".
In November 2014, it was announced that Mpanga had been shortlisted for the Critics" Choice category at the 2015 BRIT Awards. He came fifth in the British Broadcasting Corporation Sound of 2015 poll. As of late 2014, Mpanga was writing a debut album and working on theatre and film projects.
He released the single "Cat Doctorate" in February 2015.
Achievements
Politics
He attended Queen Elizabeth"s School, Barnet and studied politics, psychology and sociology at King"s College, Cambridge, where he decided to adapt his rap output into poetry to communicate more effectively with his audience. Mpanga said, "I think rappers are primarily expected to make money for the industry and provide party soundtracks, but obviously there are exceptions and grey areas.
