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Straight outta… Golders Green

The grandson of a Liberal Democrat lord is hoping to climb the music charts after releasing a rap song recorded in his Golders Green bedroom.

David Palmer, 25, whose rap name is Dave In Charge, has independently released rap song Habitat, the first single from his forthcoming debut album on internet music store iTunes and music-streaming service Spotify.

The internet marketing consultant, whose grandparents are Lord and Lady Palmer of Childs Hill, both councillors for the Barnet ward, performed and recorded the song in his “home studio” – his bedroom in his parents’ home in The Vale, Golders Green.

A video for the new song, featuring Mr Palmer rapping in the Sandy Heath area of Hampstead Heath, has received more than 12,000 views on video-sharing website YouTube.

He said: “I discovered rap from a young age. I think it was probably during my Year 6 disco at school that I first heard The Real Slim Shady [a song by rapper Eminem] – that made me want to check out rap music a bit more.

“As I was brought up with politics all around me, I seemed to understand what was going on.

“While a lot of people may be alienated by the political situations, I felt that I was able to understand the American ghetto situations because I had the political background.”

Mr Palmer identifies himself as a “conscious rapper” whose lyrics are both political and “socially aware”.

The former Leeds Metropolitan University student, who attended Jewish Free School (JFS) in Kenton, Brent, claims to have received praise online for his music from well-known British rappers Wiley and Mike Skinner, best known as a member of former rap group The Streets.

Mr Palmer’s new single is a commentary on the force of Mother Nature and features the hook line: “The sun glows, the wind blows, the stream flows, earth is a canvas, say habitat.”

He added: “It’s about our vulnerablility to nature and how nature will always win, or will it?”

To find out more about Dave In Charge, visit www.daveincharge.com