Hailing from London via Birmingham and Rotterdam, Stephan Allen AKA Dutchavelli is operating at the forefront of UK hip-hop and drill music. He’s got the attention of the likes of Drake and can claim to have released some of the most essential singles of 2020, including ‘Only If You Know’, ‘Bando Diaries’, and ‘Cool with Me’, the latter giving him his first UK Top 30 solo hit. He’s also made the Top 10 with his guest appearance alongside Stormzy on Tion Wayne’s hit, ‘I Dunno’.

Dutchavelli was born in Birmingham to Jamaican and Trinidadian parents. Along with his sister (who has built a huge musical rep of her own as Stefflon Don), he grew up devouring the likes of Bob Marley and Aretha Franklin whilst also being encouraged to have rap battles with his sister. The family moved to Rotterdam when he was four but returned when he was 12, settling in Clapton. Christened ‘Dutch’ because of the strong accent he’d developed in the Netherlands, he became a promising teenage rapper, obsessed with the legendary likes of Eminem and Tupac and, later, the seminal Lord of the Mics DVD series.

Personal troubles delayed the start of his musical career, but in 2017 Dutchavelli eventually released his debut track, ‘New Jack City’, on YouTube to instant acclaim. When ‘Only If You Knew’ dropped in the first weeks of 2020, it quickly went viral, being viewed and streamed enough to help it enter the UK charts. His debut mixtape, Dutch from the 5th, followed shortly after, cementing his position as one of the leaders of the drill pack.