Deno Michael Mebrahtu (born 23 September 2002), known mononymously as Deno, is a British-Eritrean singer, songwriter, rapper and actor from London. His parents are originally from Eritrea, and he was raised in South London. He came to the forefront of London's afro-wave music scene beginning in 2018 with a number of viral music videos and hit songs.
Music career Beginnings (2016–2017) Deno attended Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton, London.
In 2016, a friend of Deno asked him to freestyle and sing on his Snapchat after school. This was posted to Instagram with the "#imjustbait" hashtag. He gained thousands of followers. Further videos caught the attention of Stormzy, who retweeted one of them, got in touch, and took Deno into the studio with him to guest on his album Gang Signs & Prayer.
In 2016, Deno met rapper AJ at a Stratford Westfield get-together. The two began a creative partnership, beginning with Deno singing the chorus on AJ's track "Know Me". The video netted over 2.5 million views on YouTube. The same year, the pair, often styled AJ x Deno, recorded multiple songs. They began performing more consistently, including opening for Migos at IndigO2.
Deno & AJ were signed by Sony Columbia UK in 2017. They released singles from 2017, but did not find commercial success until 2018 with the hit "London" featuring EO. The video for "London" was streamed over 45 million times and peaked at No. 45 on the UK Singles Chart.
Rise to fame (2018–2021)
Deno met rapper Cadet on the set of the short film Shiro's Story Part 3 (2018). His ensuing collaboration with Cadet, the track "Advice", went viral, with over 30 million YouTube views. It reached No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart with over 500,000 sales, earning a Brit certified Gold Award. More singles followed as he featured on the hit "Pumpy" by Da Beatfreakz, also featuring past collaborators AJ, Swarmz and Cadet. In 2019, Deno released "First Days", a tribute to Cadet, who had died in a road collision in February of that year.
In September 2019, Deno released the single "Change" featuring DigDat, with a video directed by Darnell Depradine.
He teamed with men's global fashion wear brand BoohooMAN for a 30-piece fashion collection, launched in September 2019.
Deno appeared singing in the 2018 season of Idris Elba's TV series In the Long Run.
In late 2019, Deno released the EP Eye 2 Eye which has features such as Krept, Jay1 and DigDat.
In 2021, Deno released the mixtape "Boy Meets World" which has features such as J.I the Prince of N.Y, Chunkz, Unknown T, Cadet, Craig David, DDG, Jade Silva and Bandokay and Double Lz of rap collective OFB. The mixtape peaked at 31 on the UK Albums Chart.
Discography Mixtapes Title Album details Peak chart positions UK Boy Meets World Released: 14 May 2021 Label: Columbia Format: Digital Download, Streaming 31
Extended Plays TitleDetails Eye 2 Eye Released: 25 October 2019 Label: Columbia Format: Digital Download, Streaming
Singles As lead artist + List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album UK "London" 2018 45 BPI: Platinum "Advice" 14 BPI: Platinum The Rated Legend "Pumpy" 70 BPI: Silver rowspan="4" "First Days" 2019 71 "Lifestyle" 82 "Motorola" 32 BPI: Silver "Change" 53 Eye to Eye "Walking On" — "Link Up" 84 22 "Self-Obsessed" 2020 26 BPI: Silver "Circles" 36 Boy Meets World "Lingo" 2021 57 "Drizzy" — "Reload" — rowspan="2" "Better Now" 2022 —
As featured artist + List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak chart positions Album UK "Lamborghini" 2020 — rowspan="2" "Purple" — "Baby" 2021 98
Guest appearances +List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album nameTitleYearOther artist(s)Album "Home Alone" 2019 D-Block Europe, Swarmz Home Alone "Chase Cash" Lil Berete 1 Way Out "J LO" 2020 Nafe Smallz, Chip Goat World "Ying & Yang" GRM Daily, Chip GRM 10 "Gang Gang" 2021 KSI, Jay1 All Over the Place
Filmography Television Year Title Role Network Notes 2017-2018 In the Long Run Singing Boy Sky One 6 episodes
Web Year Title Role Notes 2018 Shiro's Story Bailey Part 3 (Short YouTube Series) 2020 The Re-Up Brandon Main Role, both parts
References