Rap Game UK winner: “I want to get big enough that I’m a mentor on the next series”

But it was 19-year-old Saidu, one of the youngest contestants of the season, who came out on top. What he lacks in age, he makes up for in confidence, telling BBC Three: “In the first year alone I want to be so big that I’m a guest mentor on the next season of The Rap Game UK – why not?”

Saidu’s Muslim and Sierra Leonean heritage have been a point of pride throughout the show, and sometimes a point of struggle – at one point, he said that his “life should be based upon faith” when finding it difficult to balance the show’s demands and find topics to rap about during Ramadan.

Growing up in a council estate in Bermondsey, South-East London, as one of five siblings, the desire to make it in the industry is for a cause bigger than himself – his family the root of his determination.

Just a year prior he was a semi-finalist in Margs’ Pengame Rap Battle series on YouTube, with many of the comments suggesting that he should have indeed been in the final. Although he reflects on that time as a “good experience”, those clashes could be regarded as training sessions for the real test: The Rap Game UK.

Before the show he was working at an Amazon warehouse – similar to Brighton rapper ArrDee, another sensation that has blown up this year – and was planning to leave the job even before the opportunity of the show presented itself to him. Some may say it was meant to be.

As well as believing in his own talents, Saidu also spoke highly of his co-stars. “When I saw the way Oakzy B was moving I thought, ‘yep he’s a hard MC’. I can’t lie though, KayDizzy stood out to me the most.”

Saidu finished the first week at the top of Krept, Konan and DJ Target’s rankings, helped by strong performances including opening up about his struggles domestically with his stepfather, but a left-field choice in week two let him down.

In a clash against the aforementioned KayDizzy, he used an American accent, leaving everyone, including grime pioneer Jammer, confused.

“Looking back at it now I’m like, ‘bro what the hell was you doing?’ I can’t watch it,” Saidu says.

In the lead up to the clash, the artists had the chance to sit down with London grime MC Scorcher, a meeting that stuck with him. “He really spoke to me... and he messed with man heavy and I respected him for it even more. He was telling me how much he believed in me,” says Saidu.

But despite the vote of confidence, Saidu almost lost his way. It was Ramadan by this point, and the week’s challenge was to write a love song – something he felt he had to tone down to respect his faith.

“The most challenging part of the show was when I was fasting,” he says. “I had to try and keep my energy up so I could perform.”

Throughout the show, other guest mentors included Ghetts and Chip with the former getting “goosebumps” and giving Saidu a round of applause for his performance. These encounters helped to add to his experience on the show Saidu explains, “meeting Ghetts, Chip and Scorcher was my favourite part of the show. Meeting the celebrity artists as a whole but them three in particular” he says proudly.

Saidu’s £20,000 prize will help propel him to the next stage of his career, and he’s raring to go.

“I can’t wait to perform,” he says. “I’m a performer. I want to have my set. I want my dancers in the back. I want to be doing routines. I want to have the crowd going nuts.”

The Rap Game Series 3 is on BBC iPlayer now