Top conservatoire enrols first-ever rapper

29 October 2014, 10:59 | Updated: 30 October 2014, 16:07

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama has enrolled a rapper onto one of its courses for the first time ever.

Jack Derbyshire, otherwise known as Jakaboski, has been accepted into the prestigious conservatory, previously the training ground of classical stalwarts like Bryn Terfel and Classic FM's own Myleene Klass.

The 25-year-old has been accepted to take the college's Leadership programme, which takes a more practical approach to music. 

Watch: inspirational Mozart rap goes viral

Derbyshire told Classic FM that he feels at home on the course: "I feel right at home, although my course does sometimes feel a bit like the little eccentric freak-unit doing mad things in the corner. It makes us proud."

Classic FM also asked him if he was a long-time fan of classical music in general: "Musically speaking I am really interested in textures, dissonance, found sounds and abstract sounds. You don't tend to find that kind of thing so often in the classical realm but when you do it's magical."

"Sometimes I'll jot down names of pieces I like... I heard 'Hands Free' by Anna Meredith performed by the London Youth Orchestra the other day. It blew my mind, I had to stop everything I was doing to soak it all in."

Derbyshire, who hails from the London borough of Haringey, began rapping when he was just 14. His personal Soundcloud profile describes him as a "Poet, Emcee and purveyor of the intergalactic Lonely Hearts section."