Rap scene 'needs to know' about South Asian culture

Sliime, whose mum moved to the UK from Bangladesh, says he "didn't really grow up around a lot of South Asians" and only started to explore his background more recently.

According to government data, just under 650,000 people in the UK identified as Bangladeshi at the time of the last census in 2021.

That's about 1% of the whole population and, in the same survey, about 200,000 people said Bengali was their main language other than English.

"We've been here for like half a century," says Sliime. "I just feel like it's not in the spotlight.

"But that's what I'm here for."

Bengali references South Asian people moving to the UK decades ago some of the stigma that still exists.

"The stereotype people say is that we take jobs," he says. "But really and truly we're making jobs.

"We're looked at as the complete opposite. I just really felt like people need to know that."

Sliime hopes being on the 1Xtra playlist will introduce a new audience to Bengali culture, and that he'll inspire up and coming rappers to follow in his footsteps.

"I'm stuck in between showing the rest of the world what we're about but also representing people that are growing up just like me, making sure they're not feeling left out."

"Because it's common with South Asians - we all grew up feeling like we had to fit in.

"I'm trying to make sure our kids, our grandkids, don't have to do that.

"When they see people that look like them, grew up the same, it just means so much to people."

Additional reporting by Riyah Collins