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Defending Digga D

Following rapper Digga D as he is released from a 15-month stint in prison. He is intent on making a success of his music career, but that’s not straightforward.

Twenty-year-old Digga D is one of the biggest up-and-coming drill artists in the UK. He’s on the brink of stardom, with his singles getting millions of views online. But he has also been jailed for violent disorder. This film follows him as he is released from a 15-month stint in prison, at a pivotal moment in his life. He is intent on making a success of his music career, but that’s not straightforward.

Digga D is one of the first musicians in British history to be given a criminal behaviour order that controls his creative output. It means he is not allowed to release any music, or videos, without telling the police. If the music breaches the terms of his CBO – for example 'inciting or encouraging violence', they can take it down and arrest him.

The police say they target drill because it promotes and causes violence, but the genre’s supporters call this censorship and say that the art simply reflects real life. Digga’s situation, and his ongoing story, embodies this dilemma. His next moves could redefine his life, and his music, forever. A year after his social media accounts stopped, a year after his last music video, his last post and his last tweet, Digga is coming back. This film tells the story of how he manages that, and who is helping him. His lawyer Cecilia has been defending him for years. She is doing all she can to enable him to make music, despite his restrictions. But with his music so rigorously policed, can he do that and secure his future?

Digga has everything to fight for – and everything to lose.

6 months left to watch

57 minutes

Last on

Fri 14 Jul 2023 00:40
BBC Three

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:04

    Ulster Orchestra

    II. -

  • 00:06

    JAY-Z

    Hola' Hovito

  • 00:40

    Diddy

    It's All About The Benjamins(Feat. The Notorious B.I.G., Lil' Kim & The Lox) [Remix]

  • 00:43

    Aa,

    Police and Thieves (feat. ure Film, Murvin Junior, Perry Lee)

Credits

Director Marian Mohamed
Producer Marian Mohamed
Executive Producer Beejal Patel
Executive Producer Emma Wakefield
Production Company Lambent Productions

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