Rapper ArrDee on fame, manifesting success and staying humble

14 August 2023

By Manish Pandey & Pria Rai

BBC Newsbeat

When ArrDee performed at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people, there was a moment where he looked pretty emotional.

He joined his hands together after finishing his hit Home For My Heart, and looked out at the Capital Summertime Ball crowd.

"I had my family, my little cousins, my auntie and uncle in the crowd and dedicated [it] to them," he says.

"Sometimes I struggle with genuinely soaking in the moment because I'm so focused on the performance.

"So moments like that, where the beat of the music stops and I get a second to take a deep breath and take it in, it can be surreal."

With five top 10 hits in the UK, it's easy to forget that ArrDee, real name Riley Jason Davies, only really hit the big time two years ago.

"That trajectory was steep. And I was young when I first came in," he tells BBC Newsbeat.

Manifesting success

Now 20, the rapper celebrated turning 18 while the country was dealing with the Covid pandemic.

"By the time the world got back to normal, I was a teenager thrown into adulthood.

"But the trajectory of fame [is something] that I couldn't have possibly imagined, even though it was manifested."

And it turns out manifesting is something ArrDee is big on.

While it might be something that's seen as a cool trend now, ArrDee was already a believer when he was 14.

"But by the time I grasped the concept of it, I'd already been doing that from quite a young age and that's probably props to my mum.

"My mum's always been heavily into that, being in touch with your spiritual self as well as your physical self."

Getty Images

Growing up, ArrDee describes himself as being a "massive attention-seeker me"

One of the tracks which propelled ArrDee to the big time was Body by Tion Wayne and Russ Millions in 2021.

The chart-topping tune also featured rapper Bugzy Malone, who ArrDee credits as being an inspiration.

"He was one of the first rappers I saw growing up once I fell in love with UK rap," he says.

ArrDee is from Brighton but says the British rap scene is historically London-centric.

So seeing Bugzy, a rapper from Manchester, succeed while keeping his core identity gave him the belief he could also make it.

Bugzy's business interests - such as a clothing brand - have also provided a template for ArrDee on developing things alongside the music.

But he's recently fallen foul with one of his own brands, alcohol brand Litty Liquor.

Two adverts were banned after one person complained to Ofcom, who ruled they were "likely to encourage excessive consumption of alcohol".

ArrDee tells Newsbeat "nothing is ever forced" on him to advertise and accepts the decision by the regulator, calling it "a learning curve".

"It was something that was never intentional. We'd never implied for anybody to drink irresponsibly."

PA Media

Manchester rapper Bugzy Malone is one of ArrDee's big inspirations

While ArrDee's fame and name have grown over the past two years, he's keen to keep evolving while staying close to his roots.

He says he's "not into acting famous", preferring to live in his home town where "everybody's friends with everyone".

"Keeping the same people around me that believed [in me] before it all took off.

"I feel like it's hard especially at my age to navigate when you're making new friends post-fame."

And ArrDee says he wants to make the next few years count and "make the steps to get to superstardom that I know it will all eventually lead to".

"I've got a pretty good grasp on myself as a person now", he says, but understands with more attention he'll have to adapt.

"For a long time, I was trying so hard to not change and not grow with the fact that I'm in this new limelight," he says.

"But if you don't ever change, then there's no room for growth."

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.