In October last year, Che Lingo told the taste-making site Hypebeast that he had no plans to sign to a label. But when Hollywood actor Idris Elba comes along waving a record contract, it’s clearly impossible to resist; the 28-year-old rapper and singer recently announced that he’s joined Elba’s 7Wallace roster.
Lingo calls himself the “wizard of Wandsworth”, which suggests a sense of humour about his south London ends. His potent single My Block, however, takes aim at the serious matter of police brutality, like a UK answer to Kendrick Lamar’s Alright. The song touches on what he perceives as the injustice surrounding his friend Julian Cole, who was left brain damaged by police after an incident at a nightclub in Bedfordshire in 2013. The officers involved faced no criminal charges, while, according to Lingo, he has friends “who have been to jail for much less”.
Lingo has the sort of integrity that, it appears from his songs, he feels has been lacking in music lately, although his music suggests the versatility of more established artists like Dave and Kojey Radical. On his 2019 track Big Doubts, he raps how people “just want trash rap nowadays”. But he can do sentimental R&B, too – his EP last year was called Sensitive and included the crushed-out single Circles, in which he sings about how “emojis don’t replace emotions” over a beat recalling Cameo’s Candy.
His debut album is due to be announced in the spring. With Elba’s help, he could well have a blockbuster on his hands.
