Octavian

Oliver Godji (born 1996), better known by his stage name Octavian, is a French-British rapper from London. He released his first full-length mixtape, Spaceman, on 10 September 2018, and has appeared on tracks by Mura Masa and A2. He is signed to the Sony label Black Butter. He was born in Lille, France, from an Angolan family. After his father died he moved to London when he was three with his mother, and settled in Camberwell, South London. As a teenager he won a scholarship to the Brit school, but dropped out. His first mixtape, 22, was released in 2016, followed by the Essie World EP in 2017. Octavian's recognition increased in January 2018 after an Instagram video of Drake singing along to the track "Party Here" at a Golden Globes after party. The Fader have described Octavian's sound as a mixture of house, rap, and drill, as well as noting that his sound was influenced by Drake and Bon Iver. Pitchfork have described the sound as mixing "R&B and dancehall with downbeat grime, peppy house, and UK hip-hop". Critics have disagreed about how to classify Octavian's style, with High Snobiety noting that he is "Too British to be labeled trap but too American to be classed as grime". The Guardian described his 2018 mixtape Spaceman as "a spectacular medley of the past decade of UK subgenres – the raspy-voiced rapper amalgamates elements of drill, grime and house to create something dextrous and distinctive." Pitchfork described the release as "daring eclecticism". In August 2018, Octavian signed with Sony/ATV and Stellar Songs.