Stephan Allen (born 11 November 1993), better known by his stage name Dutchavelli, is a British rapper. His name comes in part from the fact that he and his family (including his sister,

Stefflon Don Stephanie Victoria Allen (born 14 December 1991), known professionally as Stefflon Don, is an English rapper. She rose to fame with her 2017 single "Hurtin' Me" (featuring French Montana), which peaked at number seven on the UK singles chart, ...

, a rapper) spent their formative years in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, and he initially went under the name 'Dutch'. He has worked with artists such as

Stormzy Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. (born 26 July 1993), known professionally as Stormzy, is an English-Ghanaian rapper, singer, and songwriter. In 2014, he gained attention on the UK underground music scene through his ''Wicked Skengman'' ...

, Gzuz, and

Tion Wayne Dennis Junior Odunwo (born 1 September 1993), known professionally as Tion Wayne, is a British rapper and DJ from Edmonton, North London. He appeared on three top-10 singles on UK Singles Chart as a guest – NSG's " Options", "Keisha & Becky ...

and has achieved Top 40 hits with songs such as " I Dunno", "Burning" and "808", the former peaking at number 7 in the charts.

Early life

Stephan Allen was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

to parents of Jamaican descent. He has six siblings including rapper,

and X-factor contestant, Princess Diamz and is the fourth of seven children. When he was a year old, his family moved to

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, (hence Allen's stage name); around a decade later they moved back to Clapton in Hackney,

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. He cites that instead of sitting around the dinner table to eat they would play each other music ranging from

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

. After first recording in his teens, although he was spurred on by those around him, at age 17 he was handed a six months prison sentence for an unspecified offence which delayed the start of his music career.

Career

Dutchavelli began his career as Dutch in 2016 releasing songs such as 'New Jack City' whilst making appearances on

Rinse FM Rinse FM is a London-based community radio station, licensed for "young people living and/or working within the central, east and south London areas". It plays garage, grime, dubstep, house, jungle, UK funky and other dance music genres po ...

. Further legal trouble involving an armed robbery and stabbing charge in 2018 curtailed his career for another two years while imprisoned on remand. He was later acquitted of the main charge but convicted of perverting the course of justice, and sentenced to 22 months. After being released on licence he began to gain recognition in 2020 with a series of hits which began with 'Only If You Knew' which racked up 20 million views in eight months. Further hits such as 'Surely' alongside collaborations with artists such as

and M Huncho began to cement his name as one of the leading emerging talents within the drill scene.
Dutchavelli was named on the BBC Sound of... 2021 longlist. 10 artists were nominated by industry experts and artists such as

AJ Tracey Ché Wolton Grant (born 4 March 1994), known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper and record producer from Ladbroke Grove, London. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by ''The Guardian'' in a list of "best new acts to c ...

, and

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes (song), Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her broth ...

In popular culture

Dutchavelli has gained a reputation for being seen as a tough individual. This, paired with his large stature – he is 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) in height – has led to a proliferation of

meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...

s relating to this within popular culture.

Personal life

Allen converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

in 2022.

Discography

Mixtapes

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

{{reflist 1993 births Living people Rappers from Birmingham, West Midlands English male rappers English hip-hop musicians Black British male rappers English people of Jamaican descent English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent English expatriates in the Netherlands Rappers from the London Borough of Hackney English prisoners and detainees UK drill musicians British drill musicians Gangsta rappers Musicians from Rotterdam Converts to Islam