Pa Salieu Gaye (born 1 July, 1997), also known as Pa Salieu and King Salieu, is a British-Gambian rapper out of Hillfields, Coventry in the West Midlands.

Born in Slough, before his first birthday, his parents sent him to The Gambia, where he would live with his grandmother and older relatives until he was 10 years old. He credits his character with those first years and accounts that his auntie, who made folk music, influenced him greatly.

Following the deaths of his grandparents and 2017 murder of his close friend A.P., he became increasingly depressed, but found refuge in poetry and music. A friend brought him to a studio run by a man named Jam, who provided him with free sessions, where he would subsequently meet his manager.

He began making music as early as 2018, with noteworthy releases, such as his collaboration in the Afrobeats/Pop song “Like Tu Danz,” by Juls, also featuring Ms Banks and Kida Kudz, as well as his single “Dem A Lie,” featured in Season 5 Episode 6 of the American comedy-drama series, Ballers.

Salieu is named after his father’s eldest brother, Pa Salieu, a police officer in The Gambia who died at 21 years old. In October 2019, at the age of 22, he was involved in an incident which led to him getting shot directly in the head, yet he miraculously survived.

A month after the shooting, in a heartfelt, now-deleted Instagram post, he expressed gratitude for his life and those that cared for him:

I got shot in the head last month [and] I’m thankful for everyone that checked up on man…I never got to thank everyone but on my life the appreciation and gratitude [is] deep. Let’s carry on hitting greatness throughout 2020. It ain’t just [for] me…this is for all my fallen broskiis & niggas flying birds who I know really had to do what they had to do to survive on God…I was that trapfit kid doing grave yard shifts from morning [until] night [and from nights until] morning…My mom deserves goodness in this life. 22 years of sacrifice and consistent stress can’t be for no reason. Ain’t no way God’s gonna let me go early without my impact to my [oyster]. King Salieu will forever get it in. Best believe. Of course I survived this decade. You can’t defeat a man with pure energies.

He was introduced into the mainstream in January 2020 with his single, “Frontline,” which immensely grew in popularity after displaying similarities in sound with popular British artist, J Hus.
Throughout 2020, he continued to accumulate numerous chart successes. He teamed up with rapper SL to put out “Hit the Block”, joined Ambush Buzzworl in BackRoad Gee’s “Party Popper Remix,” and had a massive collaboration with Millionz and Teeway in Meekz’s “Year of the Real”–each release amassing to an average of over 8 million streams and views across all online platforms.

With major projects, such as “Betty”, “Bang Out”, “My Family”, featuring his electric other half, BackRoad Gee, and “B***K”, Salieu has solidified his individuality among other UK talents, as he paves the way for a niche genre through the exhibition of his unique accent and flow alongside the eeriest blend of drill and psychedelic beats.

Pa released his debut mixtape Send Them To Coventry on the 13th of November, 2020. The mixtape released to critical acclaim and debuted at #36 on the UK Album Charts.

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