Watch Pa Salieu Perform His Hit ‘Frontline’ on ‘Fallon’
Pa Salieu made his US TV debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing his song Frontline.
It kicks off a big 2021 for the Coventry rapper, who won the BBC’s Sound Of 2021 poll, as well as being NME’s no 1 star on their “Top 100” of emerging artists set to breakthrough in 2021.
The 23-year-old follows in the footsteps of previous BBC poll winners Adele, Celeste, Michael Kiwanuka and HAIM. Speaking about the award, Salieu said: “I was just really happy to even be included on the list alongside some amazing artists, a few of who I know personally. They’re all crazy talented, so to be the winner of something like this so early in my journey just feels mad.”
The poll was voted in by industry figures including BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac, plus artists including Billie Eilish, Stormzy, Jorja Smith, Wolf Alice, AJ Tracey, Yungblud, Foals and Charli XCX.
In an interview with the BBC, Pa Salieu was asked if there was a message he wanted to send with his music. He said, “Build. Unity. That’s what we lack. Where I come from, we lack compassion. It’s going to have to come from me. I’m not a punchline artist. Everything I say is exactly how I feel and exactly what I see and exactly where I’m coming from. My message is just build, build, build. Break down or make it out. Protect your energy. Protect everything.”
Pa Salieu performed his song, Frontline in a cinematic setting featuring a mocked up market stall and pit bulls on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which can be watched below.
Pa Salieu also took to Twitter to share some behind the scenes footage of his performance, which can also be watched below.
Still loading ??? Watch the behind the scenes from my ‘Frontline’ performance on @FallonTonight ‼️ Up now on my YouTube channel ??BLESSINGS ? https://t.co/g8WvO6ANyS pic.twitter.com/bdstEUxtzm
— PA SALIEU (@KING_SALIEU) January 22, 2021
Frontline is taken from his debut mixtape, Send Them To Coventry, which Pa Salieu released in November 2020 to critical acclaim.
He is set to tour the UK in 2021, kicking of in Bristol on 11th May and finishing in Coventry on 21st May.