Hailing from Heath Town in Wolverhampton, Reepa has made history as the label’s first signee, capping a thrilling debut year for Wolves Records, a ground-breaking venture which combines music and football.
Wolves Records aim to allow artists, particularly from the local area, to benefit from the reach of a Premier League football club’s global audience, while gaining access to the marketing and distribution expertise of Warner Music UK’s Alternative Distribution Alliance.
Since Wolves Records’ launch in September 2021, the label have run three hugely successful Louder events, which have offered a platform for local unsigned artists to perform in front of a live audience, which Reepa has benefitted from.
The hip-hop grime artist was in the audience for event number one last November, before stepping on the stage in March, which brought him to a wider attention and led to his recent signing, which was celebrated at the third event last Friday.
Wolves’ general manager of marketing and commercial growth, Russell Jones, said: “It’s fantastic news. He’s an exciting talent, a local guy, from down the road in Heath Town. One of the objectives of Wolves Records at the start was to give local talent a platform and opportunity, and Reepa is the best possible example we can have of that.
“He loves getting involved in the club and is a Wolves fan. During his brief career, he worked at Molineux, and he’s followed in the footsteps of another local artist in S-X, who worked in our retail department. Watching young guys come through, and giving them an opportunity, and now signing them and helping progress their careers is really exciting. It fulfils the purpose of the project.
“Reepa’s a fantastic example. He’s a really great guy, who we’re hoping is going to be a role model, which is what it’s all about – inspiring local people. The crowd was packed for Louder, full of local artists, and when you see the open mic at the end of the events, it’s amazing to see how desperate people are to get on stage and show what they can do. It’s all about inspiring all the music talent which exists within the area.”
Ricky Hill, Wolves Records head of label, said: “We set out the label to create a platform for Wolverhampton, the midlands and further afield, but the primary target was always talent. You can’t force anything, you need incredible talent to work with, because ultimately it all comes down to the music.
“We liked what Reepa was doing and his music, and people in the area were talking about him, but he blew us away. His performance, his aggression, his energy, his love for what he was doing was ridiculous. He’s just a hardworking lad from Wolves, he’s been doing this for ten years, and he’ll be the first to tell you there was only so much he was able to do on his own, and we’ve given him that platform to start this journey with him.
“It’s fascinating to see his friends, family and fans seeing what is happening for him. They’ve galvanised energy around him, and the fact it’s a Wolverhampton lad for our first release comes back to our mission statement. We’re ticking all the boxes.”
To celebrate putting pen to paper, Reepa headlined the third Louder event last week, on an evening which also featured appearances by Split the Dealer, Ben Kidson and Sola, as well as internationally renowned producer and Wolverhampton-born S-X at Molineux’s North Bank Bar.
The event was the latest Reepa collaboration, after he provided the soundtrack to the club’s 2022/23 home kit unveiling with his song The Pack, as well as Wolves’ season launch video on social media and Molineux’s big screens.
It’s these projects which have helped highlight the incredible talent of Reepa, who is now focussed on continuing his success story, alongside Wolves Records.
Reepa said: “I’m buzzing. I’m keeping myself level-headed, but it’s exciting. You’ve seen the noise and the commotion, but this is just the beginning. I’ve always said I want to make the transition from being a rapper to an artist, and getting on board with Wolves Records, the team have helped it happen, they saw the vision and believed in me, and I’m glad for that.
“Being a boy from Wolverhampton, getting involved with the football team and the label, it means a lot. It’s not just for me, but for the people of Wolverhampton, the younger kids in the area to see we can do something good, and you can make a music career out of it. It’s a good buzz to up the level.
“I would say this story could be an inspiration for the people of Wolverhampton. We don’t get much of it round here, we sort of get shunned, being a small city, coming out of the town mentality. Wolves is on the rise, and that’s what this city is all about, out of darkness cometh light – it’s the city’s moto and I live by it.”
Like Reepa, S-X hails from Wolverhampton, and after performing alongside Wolves Records’ latest signee on Friday evening, he couldn’t hide his delight to see further talents follow in his footsteps.
S-X said: “I’m super proud of Reepa. I’ve watched him since I was starting out at 13 or 14, he was younger in the area, but to see him come forward and sign his first record deal, the first one for Wolves Records, it’s next level.
“There’s so much talent in the city, but it gets overlooked by the mass amounts of music out there. It’s not easy, but that’s why we say keep submitting your songs to Wolves Records because we’re listening.
“It’s onwards and upwards for Reepa, I’m very excited for him, and the whole of Wolves Records – we’re doing something nobody’s done and let’s keep doing that. There aren’t many big things happening in the city, so let’s be the people who start doing that, and it’s all of us together in the city, this is real.”
