BLUP50 member Becca is a successful DJ, presenter and personality. Becca’s career began in 2012 when she was signed up by MTV to front their daily news programme interviewing the world’s biggest music artists, celebrities and beyond including Pharell Williams and Stormzy. Becca now fronts multiple shows for MTV including her own music show, MTV Live Stage, while also covering worldwide music events and festivals for MTV International – including Red Carpet events.

Becca is also a radio DJ for Apple Music’s international station Beats 1. DJing at major venues and festivals across the world, and supporting some of the world’s biggest reggae and dancehall acts.

In 2016, Becca launched her own music platform DEADLY. Born from her life-long love of reggae, dancehall and bashment, DEADLY is Becca’s hub to produce original documentaries, music videos, interviews and live sessions, showcasing artists from the UK, Caribbean and more.

// YOUR WORD FOR 2021

Things are looking up aren’t they! I spent 2020 feeling a lot of doom and gloom, but I’ve been getting into positive phycology and doing a lot of introspection over the last year, so that combined with the fact that summers coming means I’m feeling super hopeful for this year. I think we’ve all realised just how resilient we are and how powerful that can be moving forward, so I’m feeling optimistic.

// WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN ONLINE/INSTAGRAM /TIKTOK / TWITTER THAT HAS STOPPED YOU SCROLLING?

The Social Dilemma was a real reminder of what we already knew! Since then I’ve been really watching my screen time and trying to read more. I don’t bother with Tik Tok or Twitter, even just Instagram is too much for me.

// GIVE US A WHISTLE STOP TOUR OF YOUR CAREER TO DATE

I started presenting in 2012, my first job in this industry was with MTV and I’m still with them to this day. I am also a radio DJ on Apple Music 1, where I host the Apple Music 1 List from London – I’ve been with Apple since the start of their radio journey 6 years ago and it’s been sick to be a part of the growth. I’ve hosted my own live music shows, traveled the world covering all sorts of festivals and events, worked with brands such as Red Bull, The X Factor, ASOS and The Mercury Awards.

I also DJ reggae and dancehall, playing at Festivals such as Glastonbury, and touring with artists such as Protoje and Morgan Heritage. Alongside this I run my own music platform called DEADLY which celebrates Jamaican music through original live sessions, interviews and documentaries. Every year we film with all the hottest talent in Jamaica, so far we’ve filmed with almost 50 artists across the last few years! We have a playlist thats updated weekly with all the sickest new tunes in reggae, dancehall and fusion Jamaican sounds. And we’ve just started doing interviews remotely with our favourite acts on the playlist over on our Youtube Channel.

//WHAT DOES 24 HOURS IN YOUR LIFE LOOK LIKE?

Every day is very different… and every day since 2020 has been even more different.

Pre covid there was no routine whatsoever, I’d be in back to back jobs and then in the summer it was working in a different country every week. In between that time I would spend it working on DEADLY.

Now it’s different – because of lockdown I’ve got into more of a routine each day which has definitely helped my sleep and my mental health. I have my regular radio and TV jobs keeping me going and I’ve had a whole load of spare time on my hands to do things for myself like play drums, read, meditate and just chill. Right now 24 hours is a lot of time spent on DEADLY!

// WHAT DO YOU DO TO SWITCH OFF OR CHILL?

I get my slow jams on, light some candles and jump in the bath for about an hour. Absolute heaven.

// WHAT HAS BEEN ONE OF YOUR BEST CAREER HIGHLIGHTS?

Hosting the MTV European Music Awards Live red carpet show with Sway Calloway (total legend!!!) is probably one of my favourite jobs to date. We broadcast internationally to 120+ countries from cities such as Amsterdam, Milan and Bilbao, and the EMA energy is always next level. So much fun!

We were delighted to receive an invitation from OFFF asking us to be one of their guest speakers at their 2015 design conference. The OFFF Fest conference is a 3 day event featuring 40 speakers from around the world, including AKQA (one of the worlds leading design agencies), Stefan Sagmeister (Rolling Stones, HBO, Lou Reed) and Territory (Guardians of the Galaxy CGI). The conference specialises in motion design, digital agencies and illustration and takes place is in the heart of Barcelona at the The Design Museum, which looked fantastic reflecting the sun and clear blue sky on the panels around the building. The 2015 event was sell out as it is every year, with over 5000 people attending.

For our talk we decided that we wanted to talk from a slightly different angle than usual and tell the story of BLUP’s few years from the start to where we are now. Within the journey we wanted to say what worked, what didnt work and experiences we have had that have defined us as a studio.

Collaboration has always been a fundamental part to how we function as a studio, involving some very gifted artists to create some mind blowing design for our clients and to express us as a company. We wanted to involve the collaboration aspect into the talk so invited AKQA designer and experienced BLUP collaborator, Samuel Mensah to share the stage for a quarter of the time we were on. This allowed us both to show how two talents can combine and produce awe inspiring not only for clients but each other to push our limits of design.

The whole three days was an amazing experience for us meeting some fabulous people and seeing some inspirational design everywhere we went.

Studio BLUP have collaborated with Youth Worldwide on an exhibition dedicated to showcasing emerging talent on a global stage. The Launch took place at the Espacio Gallery situated in the heart of Shoreditch. Thank you to everyone who managed to come down and show love at YOUTH WORLDWIDE first official exhibition.