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You’ve already heard that Emeli Sandé, Professor Green, Naughty Boy, and Gabrielle Aplin will be performing at Global Citizen Live on April 17, with comedy from Luisa Omielan and poetry from Hussain Manawer.

But now we’ve got three major new players joining us in Brixton from the worlds of UK rap, grime, and afro-swing.

Read More: Global Citizen Live Is Coming to London — and You Can Be There. Here’s How

It’s the ultimate variety show — and it’s super easy to get your hands on free tickets. Just take action on the world’s most challenging issues to earn your way through the door.

But first, let’s get to know the freshest faces on our lineup.

Lady Leshurr

The powerful rise of grime in commercial music has truly been groundbreaking — but so far it’s very male, and very London.

Lady Leshurr defies these stereotypes. The Birmingham rapper shot to infamy with 100 million views across the seven incarnations of her witty “Queen’s Speech” freestyles. She’s called Donald Trump a “wasteman”, asked “who stood up when Gren-fell?” — and can totally nail the insane Busta Rhymes bars from “Look At Me Now”.

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She’s fought tooth and nail to find her platform in a male dominated genre — and even turned down a record deal with Atlantic because they wanted to pit her against Nicki Minaj, protesting that “the industry just doesn't know what to do with women.”

“I’m going to show [them] that I’m better than the next man, not ‘good for a female’,” she told the Guardian in 2016. “So it pushed me to work hard, to write the best.”

Kojo Funds

Don’t know Kojo Funds yet? You will.

Kojo was raised in east London, and has mixed Ghanaian and Dominican heritage. It’s a background that you can hear immediately through what he describes as an “afro-swing” sound. He’s shared a studio with Kendrick Lamar, joined Young Thug on stage at Wireless, and has already sold out one Brixton show — so we’re giving him another.

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Clash Magazine noted that everything he releases “seems to go viral” — and you don’t need quick maths to run the numbers.

Little Simz

Everyone who’s anyone knows that Little Simz is one of the best rappers in the game.

Right now she’s on tour with Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz —  after already supporting living legend Lauryn Hill. Jay Z featured her mixtape on his Life + Times website when she was just 19, and a quote from a certain Kendrick Lamar has been doing the rounds ever since.

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“There’s a young lady out here that’s pretty dope by the name of Little Simz,” Lamar told Mistajam on BBC Radio 1. “She might be the illest doing it right now.”

It’s high praise for the Islington-born artist — and deserved. Despite never signing for a major record label, her debut record wonbest independent album at the AIM Awards, and heads back out on tour this May. But whatever you do, don’t call her a “female rapper”.

“I like to be my own person — I’m a musician, I’m a creative, I’m an artist,” she said to Cathy Newman on Channel 4 News. “For me, that doesn’t fall under the term female MC, female rapper, or female anything.”

On April 17, Global Citizen Live will bring musicians, poets, comedians, and world leaders together at O2 Academy Brixton. Tickets are free and can be earned by taking action online with Global Citizen to help end extreme poverty by 2030. Take action now to earn free tickets

TopicsLondonBrixtonLittle SimzKojo FundsGlobal Citizen Live LondonLady Leshurr

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Lady Leshurr, Kojo Funds, and Little Simz Join Global Citizen Live Lineup

By James Hitchings-Hales