Skepta’s Mum: How I raised a rap legend

Skepta’s Mum: How I raised a rap legend

From Lives Less Ordinary by BBC World Service

April 6, 2026 · 22 min

About this episode

Ify Adenuga discusses her journey from a challenging childhood in Nigeria to raising her son Skepta, a prominent figure in British music culture.

Ify Adenuga grew up with strict parents. As a mum, she rewrote the rulebook and encouraged creativity in her children, with her son Skepta becoming an award-winning music artist. Ify Adenuga is parent to a musical powerhouse. Her son Skepta is a seminal figure in British culture, helping to propel grime into the mainstream. Ify has always been supportive of her son’s music career, nurturing a creative environment for all her children to thrive – a direct contrast to her own challenging childhood in Nigeria. Ify was a young girl when the Biafran War began in 1967, as government forces fought attempts by the Igbo people in the southeast of Nigeria to claim an independent Biafran state. As the conflict spread, Ify’s Igbo family had to flee their home in Lagos with nothing. They arrived in a remote village with no electricity or food. Ify remembers foraging for lizards, crickets and snakes to survive. Over a million people would die in the war, mostly from famine, including several of Ify’s own relatives. After the war, Ify managed to escape to the traditional life her strict parents had mapped out for her and moved to London. In the UK, she met the love of her life, Joe, and had…

People in this episode

Guest: Ify Adenuga

Topics covered

  • parenting
  • music
  • grime
  • creativity
  • cultural background
  • resilience

Keywords

  • Ify Adenuga
  • Skepta
  • Biafran War
  • grime music
  • parenting
  • creativity
  • Nigerian culture

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Nigeria, Lagos, London

More episodes of Lives Less Ordinary

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Lives Less Ordinary podcast page.