Deno Michael Mebrahtu (born 23 September 2002), known mononymously as Deno, is a British-Eritrean singer, songwriter, rapper and actor from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His parents are originally from

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

, and he was raised in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

. He came to the forefront of London's afro-wave music scene beginning in 2018 with a number of viral music videos and hit songs.

Music career

Beginnings (2016–2017)

Deno attended Evelyn Grace Academy in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

. In 2016, a friend of Deno asked him to freestyle and sing on his

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia social media and instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of the app are that pictures and messages, known as "snaps", are usually availa ...

after school. This was posted to Instagram with the "#imjustbait" hashtag. He gained thousands of followers. Further videos caught the attention of

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'' ...

, who retweeted one of them, got in touch, and took Deno into the studio with him to guest on his album '' Gang Signs & Prayer''. In 2016, Deno met rapper AJ at a Stratford Westfield get-together. The two began a creative partnership, beginning with Deno singing the chorus on AJ's track "Know Me". The video netted over 2.5 million views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. The same year, the pair, often styled AJ x Deno, recorded multiple songs. They began performing more consistently, including opening for

Migos Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...

at IndigO2. Deno & AJ were signed by Sony Columbia UK in 2017. They released singles from 2017, but did not find commercial success until 2018 with the hit "London" featuring EO. The video for "London" was streamed over 45 million times and peaked at No. 45 on the UK Singles Chart.

Rise to fame (2018–2021)

Deno met rapper

Cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

on the set of the short film ''Shiro's Story Part 3'' (2018). His ensuing collaboration with Cadet, the track " Advice", went viral, with over 30 million YouTube views. It reached No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart with over 500,000 sales, earning a Brit certified Gold Award. More singles followed as he featured on the hit "

Pumpy "Pumpy" is a song by Da Beatfreakz featuring Cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian org ...

" by Da Beatfreakz, also featuring past collaborators AJ, Swarmz and Cadet. In 2019, Deno released " First Days", a tribute to Cadet, who had died in a road collision in February of that year. In September 2019, Deno released the single "Change" featuring DigDat, with a video directed by Darnell Depradine. He teamed with men's global fashion wear brand BoohooMAN for a 30-piece fashion collection, launched in September 2019. Deno appeared singing in the 2018 season of

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba Order of the British Empire, OBE ( ; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor and musician. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards. He w ...

's TV series '' In the Long Run''. In late 2019, Deno released the EP ''Eye 2 Eye'' which has features such as Krept,

Jay1 Jason Andrè Juami (born 27 January 1998), better known by his stage name Jay1 (stylised as JAY1), is a British rapper and songwriter who is from Coventry. He is of Congolese ancestry. He has had two top 20 singles in the UK. Jay1 is best known ...

and DigDat. In 2021, Deno released the mixtape "Boy Meets World" which has features such as J.I the Prince of N.Y,

Chunkz Amin Mohamed (, ; born 21 February 1996), better known as Chunkz, is a British YouTuber, influencer, host, entertainer, and former musician. He is a member of the YouTube group Beta Squad. , his YouTube channel had over 3.6 million subscribers ...

Unknown T Daniel Richie Lena (born 17 August 1999), known professionally as Unknown T, is a British-Ugandan rapper. His post release album ''Rise Above Hate'' (2020) was a major hit on the UK music scene, with the album reaching the top of the charts in i ...

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is an English singer. He rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, '' Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, to great commercial success. In to ...

, DDG, Jade Silva and Bandokay and Double Lz of rap collective OFB. The mixtape peaked at 31 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

Discography

Mixtapes

Extended Plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

Filmography

Television

Web

References

{{authority control Living people 2002 births 21st-century Black British male singers 21st-century British male singers Singers from the London Borough of Lambeth English people of Eritrean descent Actors from the London Borough of Lambeth People from Brixton English hip-hop musicians Columbia Records artists Rappers from the London Borough of Lambeth