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It’s a rap for the Ghoodfellaz

18/ 7/2008

LIFE'S going to be a bit of a whirlwind for the next few months for rising rapper Kyle Battick.

The 21-year-old - one half of Hip-Hop R&B outfit Ghoodfellaz - is in demand after wining a national music contest for unsigned bands.

More than 10,000 acts entered the Live and Unsigned competition dreaming of glory, a tour and a recording contract.

Also vying for victory were fellow rappers The Hustled, including Justyn Hughes from Clayton.

But it was Ghoodfellaz who won the day in front of an audience of hundreds, including celebrities and industry professionals.

Kyle's mum Rhona said: "A load of us went down to give him support. We had T-shirts with his name on, it was tense."

Kyle, from Biscay Close, Beswick, said: "Third and second got called out and everyone was backstage wondering who was going to win.

"When they announced the winner was us, I just screamed and ran out on stage."

Kyle, whose stage name is B-tek, and fellow Ghoodfella John Phiri (aka Jtp), from Longsight, are now in the thick of success, with a country-wide Live and Unsigned tour starting next week.

"They kind of dropped it on us. I thought it would be at least a couple of months," said Kyle.

He and John met when they were both studying music technology at college and formed Ghoodfellaz five years ago.

A single will be produced and released by Future Music as part of the prize.

Kyle is now having to resign from his job at the Halifax bank because of his new-found music commitments. But he isn't complaining.

"It was a choice I had to take. I have been working on this for half my life. It was a no-brainer when this came up."