“I get inspired and I try to make a new sound every day."

Octavian has been announced as the winner of BBC Music’s Sound Of poll for 2019.

The South London star secured the prestigious accolade after impressing a panel of 136 influential music industry insiders that included Radio 1 DJs, industry experts and artists, including last year’s winner Sigrid.

The genre-fusing rapper is known for flitting between musical styles that include house, hip-hop, dance, trap and grime. He’s even received the backing of Drake after releasing a video that saw him dancing to Octavian’s ‘Party Here.’

Octavian’s victory comes after he released his first full length mixtape ‘Spaceman’ in 2018.

“I get inspired and I try to make a new sound every day. It’s going to be a very loud year for me. Loads of music, loads of visuals, loads of albums,” Octavian said of the honour.

He also told the BBC how he’d battled being kicked out of school and resulting homelessness before eventually securing success.

“A year ago I was poor, I had no money,” he explained.

“But I was never depressed. I was never in the mode to give up. Around me it was bad, but I kept motivated.”

Annie Mac said: “BBC Sound Of is always a wonderful opportunity to get a snapshot of the new music landscape in the UK and this year is really interesting. 6 of the 10 artists are women. And we have two rappers in the top five!

“I am delighted that UK rap music has got such great placement in the list – Octavian is a truly original and exciting artist, pushing the boundaries of the genre and it’s great to see such a progressive artist getting such a huge accolade.”