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Tracey Welch\/ BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nBeing featured next to artists including Kendrick Lamar, Skepta and Tyler, the Creator is every up-and-coming rapper’s dream.<\/p>\n And it’s the reality for Sliime, whose latest track has been playlisted by 1Xtra.<\/p>\n He burst onto the scene in 2023 with viral hit Lehenga, which was streamed millions of times on TikTok.<\/p>\n His latest, Bengali, builds on his first hit with lyrics referencing his identity and heritage.<\/p>\n Sliime tells BBC Asian Network News that hearing himself on air next to some of the giants of hip-hop is a huge moment.<\/p>\n “I would’ve never expected to actually be acknowledged, as a South Asian, by the wider audience,” he says.<\/p>\n “But it just shows that it’s possible.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sliime, from Sheffield, who keeps his real identity low-key and is never pictured without his signature face covering, says the runaway success of Lehenga was “really overwhelming” at first.<\/p>\n But performing the track at big events such as BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend<\/a> and hearing from fans about it showed him that Lehenga was resonating with people.<\/p>\n Following that success, Sliime says he wanted to really celebrate his heritage with Bengali.<\/p>\n “Before that, I wasn’t really catering my music to the South Asian audience. <\/p>\n “But then once I realised how much that song meant to South Asians, I realised what I needed to do.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sliime, whose mum moved to the UK from Bangladesh, says he “didn’t really grow up around a lot of South Asians” and only started to explore his background more recently.<\/p>\n According to government data<\/a>, just under 650,000 people in the UK identified as Bangladeshi at the time of the last census in 2021.<\/p>\n That’s about 1% of the whole population and, in the same survey, about 200,000 people said Bengali was their main language other than English<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We’ve been here for like half a century,” says Sliime. “I just feel like it’s not in the spotlight. <\/p>\n “But that’s what I’m here for.”<\/p>\n Bengali references South Asian people moving to the UK decades ago some of the stigma that still exists.<\/p>\n “The stereotype people say is that we take jobs,” he says. “But really and truly we’re making jobs.<\/p>\n “We’re looked at as the complete opposite. I just really felt like people need to know that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sliime hopes being on the 1Xtra playlist will introduce a new audience to Bengali culture, and that he’ll inspire up and coming rappers to follow in his footsteps.<\/p>\n “I’m stuck in between showing the rest of the world what we’re about but also representing people that are growing up just like me, making sure they’re not feeling left out.” <\/p>\n “Because it’s common with South Asians – we all grew up feeling like we had to fit in. <\/p>\n “I’m trying to make sure our kids, our grandkids, don’t have to do that. <\/p>\n “When they see people that look like them, grew up the same, it just means so much to people.”<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Riyah Collins <\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Listen to Ankur Desai’s show on BBC Asian Network live<\/a> from 15:00-18:00 Monday to Thursday – or listen back here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Tracey Welch\/ BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n‘We had to fit in’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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