Alex Mann has become a viral sensation following the unexpected, but brilliant collaboration with Dave, on the Other Stage at Glastonbury on Sunday 30. Dave, real name, David Orobosa Omoregie, the Brixton based rapper, was set to play his hit featuring AJ Tracey, ‘Thiago Silva’, named after the PSG and Brazil footballer.

The youngest recipient of the Ivor Novello Award, and responsible for hits such as ‘Funky Friday’ and ‘Streatham’, Dave looked out into the crowd, searching for someone to perform with, asking them, “Who is sober enough to sing these lyrics with me?”

From the crowd was Alex Mann, sporting a PSG shirt that Dave noted when saying, “I see a PSG shirt over there, but do you know the lyrics?.” In response, Alex gestured lines from the track in confidence, and it was all Dave needed to take a chance on the fifteen year old, inviting him on stage, much to the acclaim of the thousands watching and cheering.

“He looks like he knows the lyrics” said Dave. “Yeah, let’s take a chance.”

At first, on Dave’s instruction, Alex was set to cover AJ Tracey’s part of the song, but the end result had Alex go through the majority of the track without hesitation and a startling confidence that left Dave stunned, and the crowd amazed.

For all the ‘it’s a set-up’ bores, Dave regularly asks for someone in the audience to rap the AJ Tracey bits in Thiago Silva.This kid knew that cos he’s clearly a Dave fan, so he put on his TS shirt, got down the front and hoped he’d be picked. Dave saw him and he smashed it, end https://t.co/z7YEyM3aEw

— Miranda Sawyer (@msmirandasawyer) July 1, 2019

Speaking to The Guardian, Alex challenged claims that he’d not been entirely sober during the performance, saying, “If I was drunk I wouldn’t have been able to remember the lyrics like that.”

Following his moment on stage, Alex said, “I walked off stage and the security guards took me back down and it was just amazing” 

The ‘Psychodrama’ rapper provided Alex constructive feedback on his performance, and noted his evident talents as a rapper. Dave’s set was a more laidback event, but was as dynamic and spirited as it was deep and thought provoking toward the rapper’s self confessed mental health struggles and emotional susceptibility.

Dave finished his set with the Burna Boy crossover, ‘Location’ and the Fredo collaboration, ‘Funky Friday’, with Fredo joining Dave on stage.