Ebow ‘Metropolis’ Graham: Trailblazing UK rapper and master of polemical verse

A member of hip-hop and dubstep group Foreign Beggars, he also branched out as an inventive producer

He helped his group to carve out a formidable reputation (Rex)

Ebow Graham, better known by his stage name Metropolis, was a versatile vocalist with the UK hip-hop and dubstep band Foreign Beggars whose signature baritone bars delivered potent and political messages with clarity and gravitas.

Graham, who has died in an accident at his home aged 40, joined Foreign Beggars in 2002, helping them to carve out a reputation as one of the UK’s most prolific acts, creating a unique subgenre sound grounded in hip-hop that traversed dubstep, glitch, grime and bass.

Ebow Enyan Graham was born in London of Ghanaian descent in 1979. He lived in Ghana from the age of seven to 11, but was mostly raised in northwest London. He took the MC name Metropolis as an expression of his love for everything about the British city.

According to his brother, academic and writer Kobby Ankomah-Graham, he decided he wanted to be a musician at the age of seven. He played a variety of instruments during his youth, including drums, trombone, keyboard and guitar.

Graham wrote his first rap at the age of about eight when he was in Ghana, but began rapping properly aged 11, inspired by the east coast movement that had originated in New York in the 1970s, especially Company Flow’s 1997 album Funcrusher Plus.

However, in a 2017 interview, Graham claimed his main inspirations were his mother and a poet he’d known as a teenager, Jacob Sam-La Rose: “He schooled me in all the right hip-hop principles from an early age. Kinda shaped my core values in rap from young.”

Graham’s mother, though supportive of his musical interest, urged him to get a degree, and he went to study politics at Queen Mary University of London.

Before Foreign Beggars, Graham had rapped in a group called Slippaz Krew for a few years. Then at university he met producer James Miller (DJ Nonames) and they joined a south London hip-hop and funk band called Focused Few. Miller later introduced Graham to fellow vocalist Pavan Mukhi (Orifice Vulgatron). Mukhi had grown up in Dubai with Dag Torgersbraten (Dag Nabbit), where they’d hosted raves and formed a hip-hop group, before moving to the UK in 1999 and 2000 respectively. In 2002 Miller and Graham became the other two members of a new hip-hop act which was called Foreign Beggars.

Foreign Beggars perform at the Secret Solstice Festival in Reykjavik, June 2019 (Getty/Icelandic Glacial)

MCs Graham and Mukhi each had distinctive voices that complemented one another. Their commitment to collaboration – Foreign Beggars would become prolific collaborators – shone through in their MCing styles, each knowing when to hold back and when to take control. Mukhi had decks, so Graham admitted he would bunk off university classes to go and smoke cannabis and freestyle with him. Soon Graham dropped out of university and they began touring.

Foreign Beggars released their debut album Asylum Speakers in 2003, featuring upbeat double-time verses and slow tracks with social and political themes.

Their next two albums, Stray Point Agenda and Bukkake Ski Trip (both 2006), were similar in style and hugely successful. All were released via the band’s own label, Dented Records, which also supported a host of UK underground artists.

The group released several standout and club hits such as “Breakout”, “Still Getting It” and “Contact”, the last of these a collaboration with Dutch drum’n’bass outfit NOISIA. Graham and Mukhi worked on a joint project with NOISA called I Am Legion in 2013.

Graham also branched out as a producer under the name Elliott Yorke, joining forces with Alix Perez (under his ARP 101 alias) and collaborating with Italian-born Chesca on the electro-funk project Royalty, based around their shared love of analogue synths.

Foreign Beggars released their farewell album Matriarchy in 2019, after announcing they would split at the start of 2020.

According to his brother, Kobby Ankomah-Graham, “things weren’t always smooth. We didn’t come from money. Ebow couch-surfed, hustled and paid the price for his commitment to his craft. But one of the things I adored my brother for was his utter commitment to full-flight creativity.”

Graham is survived by his 10-year-old son Cassius and Cassius’s mother Cesca.

Ebow Graham, rapper, born 11 December 1979, died 18 April 2020