Cadet

South London grime artist Cadet, born Blaine Johnson, came of age in the company of fellow MCs Konan, Krept, and Redz inside the notorious Gipset crew. Toward the close of the noughties the teenage collective built a sizable online following through social-media clips of freestyles that chronicled gang life and London streets. Turning to music as an outlet, each member pursued a professional path; Krept and Konan secured a major-label deal in 2013 while Cadet stayed independent. His fortunes shifted in 2015 after he supplied freestyles to the underground London platform OSM Vision and his visibility surged. Moving away from gang narratives, he began crafting introspective verses about everyday struggles, thereby attracting a fresh listenership. That same momentum carried into 2016 with the self-released mixtape The Commitment, on which he enlisted Donae’o and Tis Rome. Additional freestyles for outlets such as SBTV helped solidify a loyal audience, setting the stage for the 2017 sequel The Commitment 2. Tracks such as “Instagram Girls” and “No More Letters” featured on the project, marking Cadet’s transformation from youthful troublemaker into an established grime figure.