For the last two years, Octavian has been riding a wave entirely of his own. His unique, off-kilter style injected a fresh perspective into the UK hip-hop scene, exposing international listeners to something more than the region's prolific grime exports. His breakout single “Party Here” used scattered flows, melodies and a mixture of hip-hop and house music to separate him from the crowd, and foreshadowed an artist bound to make a splash on a global scale.
With the release of his new mixtape Spaceman, it seems like the whole world is watching Octavian; and of course, everybody's loving it. But his rise to stardom has been so fast that it can be hard to pinpoint where he began. With a documented grind and hunger for success, it's not surprising when looking into his past, that his bright future was inevitable.
Co-Signs from the 6 Side
Octavian's music spreads across a sparse palette of sounds. Dancehall, house, pop, R&B, trap and grime all blend together in his catalogue. While they all differ sonically, they share the commonality of wanting to make you dance; something Octavian has loved since his rave days.
Octavian would regularly attend a legal rave for people ages 16-18 called BPM; where he fell in love with the music these events played. In an interview with Red Bull, he says that he “loved the idea of people dancing and partying to music,” and that he wanted to “fuse all of that into the basic rap influence”. These statements ring true throughout his music, as he combines the gritty quality of U.K hip-hop with the melodic sonics of club and rave music.
He Attended the Same School as King Krule and Adele
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Octavian attended the prolific BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, which was also home to acts like King Krule, Adele, and the late Amy Winehouse. Octavian studied and finished a community arts course, all while learning some valuable lessons about adapting, stating in an interview with FACT magazine that "People you meet there are so much different than in south London. They've grown up always having everything and you start putting yourself into that mentality because you have to be that way with them." While Octavian is hardly an artist that tries to fit in, his time at BRIT School has seemed to help him apply his stories to a mainstream crowd through music.
Although he had a local buzz on the way to "Party Here", Octavian was struggling through homelessness leading up to his breakthrough single. A childhood of rebellion saw him kicked out of his home at 15 by his mother, resulting in years of public housing stints, couch surfing and street-dwelling. When "Party Here" blew up, Octavian quickly inked a deal with record label Black Butter and moved into an apartment of his own. “When the music popped off with "Party Here", I went from being poor to having Ps, from being homeless to having a house," he stated in his interview with Red Bull this year.
Octavian's music exists in the realms of hip-hop but does have a soft, emotional undertone. However, Octavian doesn't source his inspiration from acts like Drake when it comes to singing, he looks to the alternative side of soul with artists like James Blake and Bon Iver.
Octavian has explained his affinity for the music of James Blake and Bon Iver because they don't follow any rules; a trait he has inherited in his music. Combining hip-hop, dance and R&B are genres his influences have blended and made careers out of doing so. It's no surprise that Octavian follows in these footsteps, all while adding his own sauce to the recipe.
While the story of Octavian is still a fairly new one, he’s pushed boundaries and seen struggles that some seasoned veterans don’t experience. From fighting homelessness to exploring genres, he’s obliterating any limitation that stands in front of him; striving for a career that sees his stardom soar hemispheres. With Spaceman releasing to acclaim from critics and fans, it’s time to get familiar with Octavian.
