Last month Birmingham saw BBC Radio 1Xtra Live take place at the NIA with Mary J Blige, Rick Ross, BBK, Lethal B and Krept and Konan topping the bill.
Radio 1Xtra also met some inspirational local talent during their one month residency in the city and has made a video of their stories that featured locals Deci4Life, Affiejam and Troy. Have a watch.
DECI4LIFE
A grime MC turned spoken poet, Deci4Life uses his words to challenge young people’s identities and perceptions of how they are valued today. He producers, writes and works with a lot of children in the local community through workshops and also works in schools. He also produces for a range of up and coming artists within the Birmingham scene. He has recently started to perform again after taking a bit of time out to focus on the production side of things.
AFFIEJAM
Affiejam is a Songwriter / musician from Birmingham. She is currently studying Psychology at University as well as setting a side goal of recording her material. Her music is influenced by her faith and mellow music tastes and she writes because that’s how she was taught to express her emotions whilst growing up.
TROY
Troy started dancing from a young age with a dance troupe called WRG. He progressed within the dance scene in Birmingham and is now teaching as well as creating a dance group with his friend Leroy called ‘Clique’. His main motivation is to put Birmingham back on the map with his dancing and he does this through differentiation. He studies different techniques such as Whacking and Voguing as well as Pole Dancing to help with fitness and build his core. His motto is to always do things differently.