Chiedu Oraka - Undeniable

Hull might not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of UK rap, but Chiedu Oraka is on a mission to rewrite the map. Over the past few years, he’s built a reputation as one of the North’s most uncompromising voices, and EP ‘Undeniable’ is exactly that: impossible to ignore. Across these tracks, Chiedu flexes the grit and quick-fire lyricism that’s earned him co-signs from Skepta to Coldplay, his verses spilling out as unfiltered snapshots of Northern, Black, working-class life - with wit and heart at the centre of it all.


Across the record’s five tracks, he charts the path from his beginnings to the resilience that defines him today, spanning from underground notoriety to mainstream recognition. ‘Last Laugh’ bites back at doubters with sharp wit, flipping rejection into hard-earned fuel, while ‘Story of A Pauper’ casts his rise as a modern Dickensian tale, steeped in hardship but carried by defiance and determination. Closing track ‘ACRA Freestyle’ ties it all together: a bold statement of creative independence that honours his roots while marking just how far he’s come. It feels like a shared victory; an amplification of his community of Black creatives back home.


With heavyweight production from long-time collaborator Deezkid, alongside Dot Inc and Shadow On The Beat, ‘Undeniable’ hits hard across the board, balancing garage-fuelled energy with darker, introspective cuts. But it’s Chiedu’s pen that leaves the deepest impression: angry but never aimless, political but never preachy, and always rooted in lived experience. If 2024’s ‘Misfit’ mixtape was about setting out his stall, then ‘Undeniable’ is the well-earned victory lap - the full-circle story of a kid from a council estate in Hull who, against the odds, has become one of the most formidable forces in UK rap.