A Dundee rapper who uses music as therapy has been attracting worldwide attention.
Despite keeping his real identity hidden and working under the name ‘Sherps’, the Fintry man has emerged on to the Scottish drill rap scene in recent months.
His distinctive Dundee dialect was evident in his first track ‘This Life’, released last month.
The explicit lyrics require an adult content warning but have been performing strongly on YouTube.
As well as packing a punch on the microphone, the rapper has been catching eyes as he waxes lyrical behind a skull mask.
The 31-year-old said he will never reveal his identity whilst performing, ahead of his second track ‘Active’ being released last week.
“Both tracks have been doing quite well online, some people have really liked it, and some people don’t like the genre as a whole, that’s life,” he said.
“I only started doing this in February of this year, after setting up a studio in my house but I’ve got five songs down and recorded.”
Despite showing off designer labels in his music videos, Sherps emergence on to the scene comes after experiencing homelessness in recent years and brushes with the law.
As he reflected back on that and the loss of friends through drugs and suicide he admitted the music had been his “therapy”.
He added: “Writing music has helped me. I felt like I was at the bottom in life, I was nowhere to be seen.
“I don’t speak to many people about my problems and I wouldn’t go and do what I do without the mask on.
“I’ve lost friends, I’ve been homeless, my past has been chequered but I have moved on, I’ve grown up.”
Just off the back of releasing his first track, Sherps was inundated with messages from young people in the city which he described as “mad”.
He added: “I was getting messages saying they’ve all started writing their own stuff and they wanted to come and use the studio.
“If I could inspire someone from the next generation I’ll be delighted.”
Sherps has been working with Twelve 50 TV, Scotland’s biggest urban platform, and is already planning his next release.
He added: “There is a gap in the market for me to go into and we’ve really hit the ground running.
“Around the world there has been feedback and love for the Dundonian accent.”