Name: DigDat

Where He’s From: South East London

When He Started: 2017

Genre: Drill

File Next To: Unknown T, KO, Headie One, Skengdo x AM

Sounds Like: Unfiltered, high-calibre UK drill

It says a lot about you when you’re a feature on someone else’s song and yet your verse is what everyone is talking about—and that’s exactly what happened when DigDat featured on “Back 2 Back” from Headie One’s The One Two, arguably the biggest drill project to come out this year. Add to that the remix of his song “Air Force”, featuring UK rap heavyweights Krept & Konan and K Trap, reaching the Top 20 in the Official Singles Chart (the highest position ever for UK drill) and you have a formidable artist on your hands.

Complete with tales from the jailhouse and the roads, immersive imagery and witty wordplay, DigDat reeks of authenticity and is unafraid to speak his mind on a verse. Take his Mad About Bars freestyle with Kenny Allstar, for example, where he spits “I can tell you about calls on the jail phone, bro don’t answer, you lose 10p” as casually as if he was telling you he went to the shops. It’s his nonchalant attitude that makes his obvious talent seem so effortless that it feels as if he hasn’t even got out of first gear yet—which is only that much more exciting for the future, considering what he’s already done for the genre of drill thus far.

DigDat’s penmanship is already so established that he’s been able to produce high-quality tracks (making drill history in the process), and still include lyricism that at times makes you double back and question what you heard due to the cleverness of the lyrics with double entendres and intricate wordplay. And in a time where remixes are often lazy affairs—with a feature usually the only addition to the track—DigDat added a whole new verse to the chart-bothering “Air Force” remix, holding his own with some of the biggest names in the scene. If you’re not already switched on to DigDat, then you definitely should be.