Jovanni Shemar Sterling (born 27 May 1999) known professionally as Graft, is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

and former professional youth

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, from

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England.

Early life

Graft was born in

Gledhow Gledhow is a suburb of north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, east of Chapel Allerton and west of Roundhay. It sits in the Roundhay ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East parliamentary constituency. Etymology The name ''Gledhow' ...

, raised in Chapeltown, and later moved to Oakwood all of which are areas in the

city of Leeds Leeds, also known as the City of Leeds, is a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Gar ...

. He first started making music as a 14 year old. His first rap freestyle video was released on Leeds-based YouTube channel ''FirstMediaTV'' in February 2015. In February 2016 he released his first music video "Chapters" also on ''FirstMediaTV''. He's also done rap freestyles and music videos on other

YouTube channels such as; Bradford's ''KODH TV (King Of Da Hillz TV)'', Bradford's ''AIRES Films'', Leeds' ''HomeGrownMedia (HGM)'' and Leeds' ''JDZmedia''. In May 2015, he joined the

Leeds United F.C. Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship ...

under 18's youth academy, and previously captained the under 16's team. Leeds United are the team he supports. He then joined

Rotherham United F.C. Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

in July 2016, where he played for their B team and youth academy. On the 30th of June 2017 he was released by Rotherham United.

Film and TV appearances

In October 2020 Graft appeared in series 2 of The Rap Game UK by

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

. The judges as usual were

DJ Target Darren Joseph, known professionally as DJ Target, is an English DJ and presenter. He is best known for being part of grime collective Roll Deep and presenting on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Career Joseph is a former member of Roll Deep. Joseph began hosti ...

, and

Krept and Konan Krept and Konan is a British hip hop duo from London, consisting of Casyo Valentine "Krept" Johnson BEM (born 4 February 1990, Gipsy Hill) and Karl Dominic "Konan" Wilson BEM (born 3 September 1989, Thornton Heath), the son of Delroy Wils ...

. The celebrity mentors were

Aitch H, or h, is the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, including the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''aitch'' (pronounced , plural ''aitches'' ...

, ''Ashleigh Jade'', ''Ayishat Akanbi'',

D Double E Darren Jason Dixon (born 19 January 1980), known professionally as D Double E, is a British grime MC, DJ and record producer from Forest Gate, East London. He performs both as a solo artist and as a member of the grime duo Newham Generals. ...

, ''Deno'', ''The Fanatix'',

JME Jamie Adenuga (born 4 May 1985), known professionally as Jme, is a British grime MC, songwriter, record producer and DJ. He is the co-founder of the crew and label Boy Better Know. He also serves as a sole owner and director of an associated c ...

Kenny Allstar Kenny Enahoro, known professionally as Kenny Allstar (born 19 April 1993), is a British DJ and radio presenter who is the host of the BBC Radio 1Xtra Rap Show on Friday nights. He also hosts a ''Mad About Bars'' series on Mixtape Madness on YouT ...

Ms Banks Thyra Kigho Deshaun Oji (born 14 April 1994), better known by her stage name Ms Banks, is a Nigerian-British rapper, singer and songwriter. Oji has released three mixtapes as Ms Banks. In 2014, she released her first mixtape titled ''Once Upon a ...

Rapman Andrew Onwubolu , better known by his stage name Rapman, is a British rapper, record producer, screenwriter, and film director. He is known for his three-part YouTube series ''Shiro's Story'' (2018), his debut feature film ''Blue Story'' (2019 ...

, Tiffany Calver,

Wretch 32 Jermaine Sinclaire Scott (born 9 March 1985), better known by his stage name Wretch 32, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Tottenham, North London. He was a member of the grime collective Combination Chain Gang, before forming The ...

, ''Young T and Bugsey'', and

Yungen Clive James "CJ" Brooks (born 1 February 1992), known professionally as Yungen, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Herne Hill, South London. He first gained recognition for his 2011 freestyle video for SB.TV and in 2015 was nomina ...

. And Graft's rival contestants were ''D Live'', ''DDroid'', ''Lesia'', ''Micahh'', ''Shogun'' and ''Zones''. In May 2021 he appeared in an episode of BBC Three's MOTDx with

Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional Association football, football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English foot ...

footballer

Kortney Hause Kortney Paul Duncan Hause (born 16 July 1995) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa. He will become a free agent on 1 July 2025. He was a regu ...

. In October 2021 he appeared in 5 episodes of E4's Celebrity Ghost Trip. Graft was paired with The Apprentice series 14 winner

Sian Gabbidon Sian Marie Gabbidon (born 28 October 1992) is a British businesswoman, fashion designer and media personality. In 2018, Gabbidon won Series 14 of The Apprentice''.'' Early life and education Gabbidon was born in Leeds, Yorkshire on 28 Octob ...

who is also from Leeds.

Music career

Graft along with his fellow ''The Rap Game UK'' contestants, released the single "Dirty" as part of one of their challenges in the show. The music video was released on

GRM Daily GRM Daily (Grime & Rap Music Daily), formerly Grime Daily, is a British urban music outlet and entertainment platform. As the name suggests, the platform is an outlet for UK rap and its various genres, such as UK drill, afroswing, trap, and Br ...

and ''BBC Three's'' YouTube channels in November 2020. He released his long anticipated, ''The Rap Game UK'' winning single "You Know What" in July 2021, with the music video being posted on ''GRM Daily''. It was released by ''Krept and Konan's'' record label ''Play Dirty'', as part of the prize for winning ''The Rap Game UK''. It featured cameos from ''The Rap Game UK'' series 1 runner up ''FOS'', fashion designer

, former IBF featherweight world boxing champion

Josh Warrington Josh Warrington (born 14 November 1990) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time featherweight world champion, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title twice between 2018 and 2022. In 2018, a documentary style movi ...

, along with ''Krept and Konan'' themselves. It was filmed all across the city of Leeds, and featured local landmarks

Leeds Kirkgate Market Kirkgate Market (pronounced ) is a Market (place), market complex on Vicar Lane, Leeds, Vicar Lane in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest covered market in Europe and a Grade I listed building. There are current ...

Leeds Corn Exchange The Leeds Corn Exchange is a shopping mall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is a grade I listed building. History The first corn exchange in Leeds was located at the north end of Brig ...

, and

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

. He's supported the likes of

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations *Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town *Wiley, Georgia, an U.S. unincorporated community * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People *Wiley (musician), ...

Bugzy Malone Aaron Daniel Davies (born 20 December 1990), known professionally as Bugzy Malone, is a British rapper and actor from Manchester, England. Malone has been described as one of the key artists instigating a "grime revival" moving the UK urban ...

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

Nadia Rose Nadia Rose (born 11 June 1993) is a British rapper and songwriter from Croydon, London. Education Rose studied Music and Music Management at university. Career Rose released her debut EP ''Highly Flammable'' on 13 January 2017 following the su ...

on tour.

Awards and nominations

In October 2018 Graft was nominated in the ''Best Upcoming Artist'' category, at ''The Yorkshire Entertainment Award's'' 2018, which he went on to win. He was also co-nominated in the ''Best Video'' category, at ''The Yorkshire Entertainment Award's'' 2018, along with Bradford's ''Leejay'' and Huddersfield's ''Prince Omari'', for their music video "Can't Hear Us" which they also won. Graft, Leejay, and Prince Omari, wore

Bradford City A.F.C. Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

and

Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football. Huddersfield Town were founded on 15 August 1908. T ...

shirts respectively, to represent their home towns and cities. The video was filmed at the football club stadiums

Valley Parade Valley Parade, currently known as University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium was built in 1886 as the home of Manningham F.C. ...

and

Kirklees Stadium Kirklees Stadium, currently known as the John Smith's Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Huddersfield Town A.F.C., Huddersfield Town A ...

. In February 2019 he won the 2018 MOBO UnSung Award, with Fred Fredas and Ike Chuks finishing as runners up. In November 2020 he won ''The Rap Game UK'', with Lesia and Zones finishing as runners up.

References

External links

* *{{Facebook, iamgraft, Graft 1999 births Living people Black British male rappers British male rappers Grime music artists Musicians from Leeds Footballers from Leeds Men's association football players not categorized by position English men's footballers 21st-century English sportsmen