Digga D wins Trailblazer Award at Rolling Stone UK Awards in collaboration with Rémy Martin

Digga D has won the Trailblazer Award at the first ever Rolling Stone UK Awards in collaboration with Rémy Martin.

The drill pioneer, who released his fourth mixtape Back To Square One in August, has been recognised for his efforts in bringing the genre to the mainstream – as well as highlighting the legal hurdles that some rappers face when they want to play gigs.

Collecting the award at London’s Roundhouse from Skepta, the rapper said: “Last month, I was the youngest rapper to headline the Royal Albert Hall. It was very special to me because I grew up in walking distance of the venue.

“If there’s young people watching this right now and they want some advice, my advice would be to listen to some of the people that actually care about you, but to follow your gut. If I didn’t follow my gut, I wouldn’t be up here right now.”

Hailing the rapper’s journey so far in a piece published in the Awards Issue, out tomorrow, Rolling Stone UK said: “A beast with bars, Digga D flexes a staggering lyrical dexterity with a comic wink that outstrips most of his drill rap peers alongside battle tactics to leverage his talent with strategy and an otherworldly tenacity to rap through adversity.

“He might have dropped out of school at 14, but Digga D is a class-leading graduate of the fiercely raw underground rap subgenre of drill. Since its inception in 2011, the genre has percolated through localised London communities, battled the forces of police censorship and mainstream media moral panic to rise up as a dominant, commer-cially viable musical force, and much of that formidable success is thanks to Digga D.”

The first Rolling Stone UK Awards kicked off earlier tonight with a performance from The Last Dinner Party, who stunned attendees with a powerful rendition of ‘My Lady Of Mercy’.

You can check back here for all the latest coverage of the Rolling Stone UK Awards throughout the evening.