Scarborough teen wins worldwide rap competition from his bedroom studio

Cole Van Heerden took up rapping three months ago during lockdown and has become something of an internet sensation on Instagram.

The 13-year-old was contacted out of the blue to appear in a rap competition and won the opportunity to be featured on Link Up TV, an Instagram account with more than one million followers.

His raps and freestyles have since been seen more than 65,000 times.

“Just before December I started thinking about rapping and songwriting and why don’t I just give it a try, so I started writing a few things and kind of developed a song out of it which I released,” said Cole.

“I got a message asking me if I’d like a time slot for this competition, and I thought I’ve got time for a freestyle so I gave it a go.”

Link Up TV is a platform to showcase unsigned and emerging talent and has worked with some of the world’s biggest rap stars including Stormzy and Drake.

The Scarborough teen had to face off against “30 or 40 grown men” from all over the world.

Cole’s mum Kelly said: “During lockdown he’s been writing a few bits and bobs and calling us in saying ‘what do you think of this, what do you think of that’ and then we decided to make a small studio in his bedroom because we thought he was on to something.

“We knew he had a good shot at winning, but against adults we were like ‘nah, there’s no chance’. These guys are from America and they’ve been doing it for years but he got through. It felt like the whole of Scarborough was voting for him which was nice!”

Over the course of an evening Cole had to be voted to win several preliminary rounds before winning the final.

“I didn’t expect it at all but I won the final, I was very shocked!

“I was nearly in tears when I won, I can’t even lie,” he said.

Cole’s rapping exploits even earnt him the chance to freestyle with Charlie Sloth, the former BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ.

“I’m writing more songs at the minute,” Cole said. “Going forward I’m not too sure I’m just writing as much music as I can.

“Quite a few producers have got in touch since asking to send me beats and stuff.”

All too aware that rappers can cover some rather vulgar topics, mum Kelly said: “It’s a little bit overwhelming for him at the moment but he’s enjoying it.

“He’s keeping it clean, almost showing people you don’t have to be vulgar to rap! He raps about football, a broken heart and lockdown and what life has been like for him over the last year.”

For now the Scarborough teenager will be focusing on his GCSEs with his rapping helping him decide to pursue music.