Guvna B: How cousin Michaela Coel inspired rapper's new single

Guvna B has released 10 albums and won two MOBO awards

Like a lot of people, Guvna B regularly makes what's usually an uneventful trip to his local café for his morning coffee.

But on one occasion, when the rapper got back to his car there were three white men standing in front of it, blocking his way back.

He describes the following 15 seconds as a blur.

"It ended with one of them throwing hot coffee in my face and punching me in the eye," he tells BBC Newsbeat.

"It was in broad daylight and I didn't do anything to antagonise them. I just feel like in 2023 these things shouldn't be happening."

It's this assault that inspired Guvna to get back in the studio - with a nudge from his cousin Michaela Coel.

If you're not familiar with Michaela's work, she's the writer behind I May Destroy You, an award-winning series inspired by her own experience of sexual assault.

After hearing what had happened to Guvna, Michaela voice-noted him, encouraging him to turn his trauma into art.

Michaela Coel and Guvna B consult each other on their art

"I didn't want to talk about it at all," Guvna says.

"I didn't really know how I felt about it. But Michaela is very good at using difficult situations she's faced and pouring it into her art.

"She said it would be cathartic and help people who haven't been heard when they've been in similar situations."

And speaking to Guvna, it seems Michaela was right.

"It was really helpful actually, because if not for her advice, I'd probably be in my house still really livid about the attack."

Since writing I May Destroy You, Michaela has gone on to act in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

And knowing his cousin's status, Guvna wanted to get her on the track.

"I said to her 'you're a big actress at the moment, so I'm not doing it unless you jump on a song with me'."

And if you take a listen to Bridgeland Road, you'll hear the exact voice note Michaela sent to Guvna.

Michaela isn't the only voice to be featured on the single - it also includes a mock-up of police phone calls.

Guvna reported his assault shortly after it happened in August 2021, but the case was officially closed after a six-month investigation.

It's something he wanted to reflect in the song, although the east Londoner stresses he isn't anti-police.

"I've got a couple of people in my family that are policemen and I really didn't want to villainise the police force," he says.

His single's released just after the Met Police was called institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic in a highly critical report.

The force admitted it had problems around policing black communities, but rejected the term "institutional racism".

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Guvna says his aim was to highlight the way police "treat people differently".

"When I called them after my assault, they were asking questions like 'have you ever been in trouble with the police before?'

"I just remember thinking 'I don't think these same questions would be asked if I was an elderly person or if I was a middle-aged white woman.'

"The record is a way to challenge the community we see around us and help us build bridges with people like the police because I think safer communities can only come about when we're all working together."

Guvna says it took him quite a while to tell people that he'd been attacked

As well as having conversations with family members who work in the police force, there was someone else Guvna needed to speak to - his mum.

Because up until the album release was announced, Guvna hadn't mentioned the attack to her.

"She was very upset, but also very supportive," he says.

For Guvna, learning to be independent comes from his childhood.

"I think you got to realise I've been conditioned from a young age that real men aren't supposed to show weakness.

"We're not supposed to be the victim so it actually felt vulnerable sharing and telling people about it."

As the dad of two children now, the rapper is reflecting on doing things differently.

"I just thought 'this is bigger than me' and I want guys to be able to feel that even if they've been attacked or a victim of something, that it's not weak to talk about it.

"I think that's why I put it in the music and eventually told the people in my life that love me."

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