Ghostpoet

A U.K.-based MC whose beats and flow brim with drowsy anxiety, Ghostpoet (Obaro Ejimiwe) became involved with music while attending university. He was a member of a grime collective but eventually gravitated toward a less energetic production sound and MC'ing style, introduced on 2010's The Sound of Strangers, a self-released four-track missive that caught the ear of BBC DJ Gilles Peterson. Peterson licensed the EP for his Brownswood label and featured a demo version of the track "Liines" on the sixth Brownswood Bubblers compilation, issued that November. The following February, Brownswood issued Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam, the first Ghostpoet full-length and a Mercury Prize nominee. A subsequent alliance with the Play It Again Sam label yielded Some Say I So I Say Light, released in 2013 with Tony Allen, Lucy Rose, and This Heat's Charles Hayward among its guests. Featuring more guitar and a full band on most tracks, the 2015 album Shedding Skin was a musical departure for the artist, and featured a collaboration with indie rocker and Maximo Park vocalist Paul Smith. Dark Days & Canapés, led by the stirring single "Immigrant Boogie," arrived in 2017. ~ Andy Kellman