07 June 2021
Brighton-born rapper ArrDee has had a big start to 2021.
Fresh from appearing on the chart-topping remix of Tion Wayne & Russ Millions’ Body – the first ever Drill Number 1 which spent three weeks at the top – the 18-year-old is now flying up this week’s Official Singles Chart with his freshly-dropped solo track Oliver Twist.
Oliver Twist is a fun, catchy single that has quickly captured the attention of the British public. Racking up 1.2 million UK streams over the weekend, Oliver Twist is already teetering on the edge of the Top 10 on the Official Singles Chart Update – and there’s still time for the song to climb even higher by Friday (June 11).
The song has also seen an immediate boost thanks to its refrain being used across TikTok, scoring dramatic outfit changes, haircuts and football content.
So how did the self-proclaimed ‘cheeky chappy’ get to this point?
ArrDee – whose stage name is derived from his real name Riley Davies (R.D., ArrDee, get it?) – has been writing songs since he was eight years old armed with a guitar. Now, he features on tracks across a range of styles, from Drill beats to Grime, and even some Afrobeats-inspired tracks. His influences range from Eminem to Travis Scott and Dappy.
ArrDee has been putting the work in for a couple of years now, but started picking up steam in early 2021 after releasing his Cheeky Bars freestyle in January, which boasts 3.4 million views at time of writing.
He made himself a bit of a viral star earlier this year on the chart-topping remix of Tion Wayne & Russ Millions’ Body, with lyrics from his verse proving popular on TikTok.
In March, ArrDee stepped it up with 6am In Brighton, a love letter to his hometown delivered via charismatic and comedic bars that has over 5 million views on its official video. The track has also notched up 3.6 million audio streams in the UK alone, according to Official Charts Company data.
If you want to hear more of ArrDee, make sure to check out his Bl@ckbox session from back in 2019, and his Plugged In session with Fumez the Engineer which is available on streaming services. Speaking in an interview with GRM Daily, he shared that there’s definitely more music to come this year, potentially even a mixtape.
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