BBC Sound of 2019 winner Octavian's rise to fame

When rapper Oliver Godji, better known by his stage name Octavian, found out he had won the BBC Sound of 2019 award, he grinned and said: “Mum, I made it.”

This simple admission of joy was made poignant by the fact that, while being kicked out of his family home for being an unruly teenager, his mother made a startling prediction: he would either become famous or end up behind bars.

Born in Lille, Godji spent his childhood shuttling between France and London before landing a scholarship to the Brit school – the same performing arts academy which trained the likes of Amy Winehouse and Adele. He quickly dropped out, believing you “can’t teach someone to be creative”, and became homeless agedturned out to be a celebrity endorsement courtesy of Drake, who shared lyrics to the song on Instagram. Weeks later, the buzz around Octavian reached fever pitch when Drake was filmed singing along to Party Here at the Golden Globes.

While admitting that the star's reaction to his music was “lit”, Octavian was quick to play down the celebrity endorsement – he made it so far on his own and said he intends to rise to the top that way too. “It proves that it’s all possible,” he said. “But I don’t want anything more from him.”

Now Godji is signed to Black Butter records, where he is labelmates with the likes of Clean Bandit and Rudimental. Last year he moved into his first flat and collaborated with peers Diplo