A: Drill rappers become friends after chance meeting at Belmarsh

Two of the UK’s leading performers of drill rap music became friends after they coincidentally ended up on the same prison wing.

Unknown T has described how he met Digga D while they were both held at Belmarsh last year. The pair – real names Daniel Lena and Rhys Herbert, both 20 and from London – began rapping from window to window, then started giving impromptu performances for prisoners at lunchtimes, and ended up sharing a cell.

Unknown T was a rising star who had had a top-50 hit in the mainstream pop charts and had made a guest appearance at a Drake concert at London’s O2 Arena when he was arrested last year and charged with murder. He spent eight months in custody on remand before being acquitted and released in February, since when he has resumed his music career.

Digga D was released in May this year after serving a two-and-a-half year sentence for his part in a London gang fight, although he has since reportedly been recalled to prison.

Although both artistes were involved in London’s drill music scene – a genre of rap which often features lyrics about gang rivalries, and has been criticised for inciting violence – they had not met before their chance encounter behind bars.

Describing what happened in an interview with Vice magazine, Unknown T said: “I met Digga when I went to Belmarsh prison. I got transferred to a different prison and he was there, so things happen for a reason. I didn’t even know what side of the prison he was or where he was exactly, but I basically was moved to a place where he was next door to me and we built a vibe naturally.

“It all started from me rapping from my window to his window. Everyone in the cells could all hear and engage, gassing it up and that – proper organic vibes. From there, we started rapping back to back at lunchtime, doing little sessions with the prisoners on Christmas day and that. Obviously, I moved into his cell, then we started growing a closer relationship, on a brother ting. We started making music. We made a lot of tunes still, but obviously that’s all due to come.”

Asked in the interview whether his prison experience had changed him, Unknown T replied: “I felt like it definitely helped me grow as a person. That prison time enabled me to internally grow within myself, do you understand? [It helped me] to mature and understand life values, do you get me? With all of that, I incorporated it into my music. It made me become a deeper person and have a deeper understanding of life. So, for me, prison was a life lesson for me. It made me a stronger person and helped my characteristics as well.”

He added: “A lot of people have told me that since I’ve come out, they can feel the energy difference when I go on the mic, you can hear the difference in my flow and you can tell I really want it. Prison definitely woke me up to the reality of life.”