Flourishing Coventry-born rapper Pa Salieu made his US TV debut last night, performing ‘Frontline’ from his mixtape ‘Send Them to Coventry’ on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Salieu – donning a floral puffer jacket and black hoodie with quintessential British utilitarian elegance – staged his hit track over a dynamic set. First delineating a scene from his childhood in Gambia – performing on a shop front complete with ornamented yellow/green taxi – before emerging amid the glow of an intense light show to round off his performance.

Salieu tweeted a link of the performance clip on Youtube, writing: “My US TV debut performance on @jimmyfallon last night. COV & Gambia to the world thank you so much for having me familiaa!!!”

Salieu’s performance checked-off the next step on the rapper’s ascension to superstardom. Rising from humble beginnings – splitting his childhood years between The Gambia and Coventry – the artist turned to music after his friend was killed. Salieu himself was shot in the head outside a Coventry pub in October 2019, though fortunately went on to make a full recovery. In 2020 he made his mark on the UK music scene with the track ‘Frontline’ – the most played track of 2020 on BBC 1extra - as well as collaborating with fellow rising UK rap-star SL on ‘Hit The Block’.

Earlier this month, Salieu won the BBC’s Sound of 2021 prize, beating lauded rising artists such as Griff, Alfie Templeman and Bree Runway to the top spot, while also appearing on the NME list of 100 essential emerging artists for 2021.

“2020’s been sick. It’s just been a year of taking life in,” Salieu told the BBC after winning the Sound of 2021. “I’m excited for next year and what’s to come, and 2020 has given me the chance to see the light. The light’s there but I’m still in that tunnel.” On the importance and message of his music, he said: “Everything I say is exactly how I feel and exactly what I see and exactly where I’m coming from. My message is just build, build, build. Break down or make it out. Protect your energy. Protect everything.”

Pa Salieu plans to embark on a UK tour in May – find a list of his scheduled tour dates below:

11/05/2021 – Bristol, Thekla
12/05 – Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall
13/05 – Manchester, Gorilla
14/05 – Brighton, The Great Escape
17/05 – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
19/05 – London, Village Underground
19/05 – Birmingham, Institute 2
21/05 – Coventry, Kasbah