London born, Cambridge educated ‘urban wordsmith’ George Mpanga also known as George the Poet, has been nominated for next years’ prestigious Critics’ Choice Brit Award.
The 23 year-old spoken word artist, who group up in North London before attending King’s College Cambridge to study Politics, Psychology and Sociology, will compete against singer-songwriter James Bay and band years and years for the award.
As spoken word artist, George brings something unique to the table; his poetry speaks out against the negativity often associated with rap music, and tries to bring something positive to the urban music scene.
Last year he became the first spoken word artist to perform on BBC Live Lounge, where he covered Maverick Sabre’s I Need.
George, whose Youtube videos have over 500,000 views, recently won a business challenge, run by Barclay’s and Channel 4 that allowed him to teach poetry to teenagers across London.
He believes that there is a lack of diversity when it comes to the intake at Britain’s top universities and believes that these Universities should forge links with young people from a younger age to afford them better opportunities.
“I feel privileged to have been shortlisted for the Brits Critics’ Choice Award,” George stated. “I always dreamed of reaching people and this nomination shows me that I’m on track.”
The Brits Critics Choice Award, whose previous winners include Emile Sande and Ellie Golding, is open to any artist who is signed to a label and will release their debut albulm in 2015.
This year over 100 nominations were made, but only 3 made the final list.
The winner will be announced next week.
