Octavian has announced his exit from the music industry, the French-British rapper declared his departure via social media.
The 25-year-old artist posted an emotive statement concerning his decision.
During his career, Octavian has released one EP, various mixtapes and multiple singles. The rapper began to gain traction within the industry and became a critical success. The artist’s first mixtape, 22, was released in 2016 under the stage name Octavian OG. In 2017 the first EP Essie World was released and 13 singles followed, one particular single became the catalyst to his rising success. “Party Here” was released in 2017 and sired great attention. In January 2018 Drake posted an Instagram video featuring a sing along to the single, the post went viral and brought Octavian to the spotlight. In August 2018 the artist was signed with the major label Sony/ATV Records.
The former BRIT School student has collaborated with some of music’s most popular artists. On 2019 single “Bet”, the rapper teamed up with Michael Phantom and hitmaker Skepta. Octavian and Skepta worked together again the following year on the single “Pap Chulo”, the track reached number 37 within the UK singles charts.
In 2019 Octavian released the single “Lit” which featured American rapper, ASAP Ferg. The single was taken from the artist’s second mixtape, Endorphins, released on 13th June 2019 via Black Butter Limited. Octavian has also lent his talent to other artists, his most notable collaboration has been with Gorillaz. In 2020, the rapper featured on the group’s single “Friday 13th” taken from the band’s seventh studio album.
The buzz surrounding the artist paid off and the London based rapper won the BBC Sound of 2019 award. Octavian was presented with the prestigious accolade for new artists in January 2019 and was described as a maverick. The winner is decided by a panel made up of 136 industry professionals, each member is asked to nominate three promising acts. In 2019 the panel included prior nominees Ellie Goulding and Stormzy. The title has previously been won by Adele, Haim, Sam Smith and Sigrid. Octavian was the first rapper to win the award since 2003, 16 years prior 50 Cent was awarded the prize. Speaking on his win over two years ago the rapper stated, “That’s lit, I don’t even know how to feel right now… Mum, I made it!“.
Born as Octavian Oliver Godji, the artist faced some controversies during the end of his career. Last year the artist’s ex-girlfriend accused him of abuse, subsequently, the reports led to his debut album being pulled and his relationship with Black Butter ended. Octavian denied all allegations and provided the following statement to the BBC. “I wholly deny Hana’s allegations, which are only one – grossly distorted – side of a troubled relationship. Much of what she has said, and has been reported, has been manipulated or is simply untrue. I will not go on trial by media, but I will repeat that I have not been violent or coercive towards Hana, and I am not a misogynist.”
