Michael Dapaah (born 10 August 1991) is a British actor, rapper, and comedian best known for portraying the fictional rapper Big Shaq (also known as Roadman Shaq). He is also known for his

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

''SWIL'' (Somewhere in London), which focuses on four characters and their journey to success.

Early life

Michael Dapaah was born in 1991 in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, south

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 ...

, to first-generation

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian immigrants. While he was growing up, his parents wanted him to study science in order to become a doctor, but he was never interested in the subject, instead being more interested in acting and comedy. He also spent time in South Africa as a child. For a time he was in prison. He studied film, acting and theatre at

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

and took a course from the National Youth Theatre.

Career

Dapaah began his career by garnering a social following among the British-African community for his brief comedic parts in shows like ''Meet the Adebanjos'', which deals with a Nigerian family in London. In May 2017 along with friend and fellow Brunel graduate Marv Brown, he launched a

series 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 ...

titled ''SWIL'' (Somewhere in London) which amassed over 1 million views in its first series. In this series he created the characters MC Quakez and Big Shaq. In 2020, Michael Dapaah started making the move to a fitness show called "Belly Must Go".

"Man's Not Hot"

Dapaah saw a rapid growth in public attention when he appeared on Charlie Sloth's

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...

show "Fire in the Booth". His comedic rap "

Man's Not Hot "Man's Not Hot" is a comedy hip hop novelty song by British comedian Michael Dapaah, in character as the fictional UK drill rapper Big Shaq. It samples an instrumental by GottiOnEm and Mazza, which was first used on 86's "Lurk" and later on "Let ...

" (whose backing track was sampled from 67 and Giggs' 2016 track "Let's Lurk") developed into a viral

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 ...

, and a studio track version of the song was released on 22 September 2017. The song's music video was released by Dapaah himself on 26 October of the same year; which features cameos from

Waka Flocka Flame Juaquin James Malphurs (born May 31, 1986), known professionally as Waka Flocka Flame, is an American rapper. He first became known for his 2009 single "O Let's Do It", which entered the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and led him to ...

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Yachty, is an American rapper. He first gained recognition in August 2015 for his viral hit "One Night (Lil Yachty song), One Night", the lead single from his debut extend ...

, Dutch rap-group Broederliefde and

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

, who calls Dapaah's character a "legend".

Discography

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dapaah, Michael 1991 births Living people Actors from the London Borough of Croydon Alumni of Brunel University London Black British male rappers Black British male comedians Black British comedians Black British male actors British comedy rappers British drill musicians Comedians from the London Borough of Croydon English male rappers 21st-century male rappers English people of Ghanaian descent Male actors from London National Youth Theatre members Rappers from the London Borough of Croydon UK drill musicians Island Records artists