George Mpanga aka George The Poet, a British-Ugandan rapper and artist with a popular BBC podcast, was never going to write a conventionally self-promotional memoir. Certainly, Track Record covers his life: growing up on St Raphael’s Estate in Neasden, car journeys with his father listening to artists from the Bad Boy stable, hearting Wiley’s Eskimo at a youth club and becoming immersed in the nascent grime scene, studying Rakim’s lyrical approach – and, in due course, taking up MCing himself and getting a deal with Island Records.

On a musical note, Track Record is an informative primer on both grime and hip-hop, and George seems an ideal candidate to write a deep tome on the past, present and future of the British scene. The memoir also covers George’s time studying at Cambridge, the creation of his podcast, and why he turned down an MBE – but, throughout all this, an urgent and serious social and historical context is apparent.

For George, there is no holding back on discussing capitalism, racism, inequality or poverty; what he writes on these subjects should galvanise. As a result, Track Record is a mighty powerful and arresting read.