A rap music group from Co Tyrone have spoken of their pride as two years on from releasing their first song they performed for mega star Ed Sheeran in Belfast.
Initially starting as a duo, Philip Hughes and Garrett Donaghy from Homegrown recorded and released a video for their tune ‘Well’, filmed in the Dungannon housing estate of Dunavon.
An unconventional genesis for a rap group perhaps, but two years later the band has grown to six members and plays regularly at gigs throughout the north in its emerging underground scene.
The group’s journey culminated in an invitation to perform in front of Ed Sheeran and Gary Lightbody at the Hot Box Entertainment Studio in east Belfast on Friday.
The English pop superstar was in the city to announce new funding from his foundation to support local grassroots music organisations.
Homegrown perform as Ed Sheeran watches on
“It was a fantastic experience and just great to be able to perform in front of Ed,” Garrett told The Irish News.
“We actually got invited to come down and play at Hot Box but we had no idea who was going to be there until the very last minute.
“Both Ed and Gary were very complimentary about our performance and Gary has kindly given us some contacts to help us out with promotions in the future.
“To see stars like that giving back to local musicians is great to see and it really was a great opportunity for us.
“Ed’s foundation is helping a lot of independent studios, we are just grateful to have been part of that.”
With the rap music scene yet to fully ignite in Tyrone, Garrett says the band travels to Belfast regularly to perform and has a number of festivals lined up in 2025.
“We started to play in a live jam session in Lavery’s every month and that really helped us get some new loyal fans who would come and see us regularly then.
“There still isn’t much of a scene to talk about in Tyrone so we would be in Belfast regularly.
“We have definitely seen a big difference in the last six months - social media is a big thing and we have started to use that to get the word out a bit more.
“We have plans in place now to get an album out in 2025 and get a few more videos released of some of our songs, so there’s an exciting year ahead.”
