I’m a grandmother who’s releasing a hip-hop album – never give up your dreams’

A grandmother has set out to prove that anything can happen if you have enough determination as she’s about to release her first album.

Denetta Copeland has loved music and spoken word poetry throughout her life, performing in a jungle band for more than a decade and even influencing her three sons to get involved in music.

Throughout the years the 47-year-old has put creating an album on the back burner as she raised her three children and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) aged 21.

She was one of the youngest people in the UK to be diagnosed with MS at the time, and while the process has been ‘tumultuous’, Denetta is thrilled to have finally put a full album together – even though it’s ‘a bit of a crazy thing’ to be releasing it as a ‘nanna’.

The grandmother to Kyngdom, 5, told Metro: ‘I used to be a live performer but I got into recording in the last couple of years, post-pandemic.

‘With my health issues it’s taken a long time to get the album together but I’ve finally done it.

‘One track on the album is about 15 years old, so it’s been a long time in the making.

‘It’s all about expressing myself, to be able to speak about my issues, opinions, thoughts and feelings, and it’s the culmination of a lot of different things. I use writing as a therapeutic tool.

‘So many times I’ve thought “I’m not good enough, I don’t know what I’m doing” and wanted to throw it away, but something inside me wouldn’t let me.’

Denetta runs her own business where she runs workshops and events, and is also co-founder of a social enterprise in Leeds, where she lives.

Throughout the years she’s taken her sons to spoken word and poetry workshops as it was the only way she could juggle childcare and learning – and now her children are getting involved with music too.

‘As they were growing up there were times when I was a mentor and I had limited access to babysitters, so they would have to sit in the back of the class when I was teaching,’ Denetta explained.

‘So they’ve been dragged along. They have grown up while watching me try to strive for this, alongside general life and my disability.

‘It feels fantastic to have my sons be part of my journey. They’ve been there and watched me struggle.’

24-year-old Kiam is a freestyle rapper while Keldan makes music and Kaimen is into music production, and Denetta will be sharing the stage with them at her album’s launch party at Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds on Friday (May 14).

She uses her lyrics to protest against sexist expectations of how women, especially mothers and grandmothers, should act, as well as misogyny within the genre.

‘I’m big on 90s female hip hop artists who used music to tell a story and empower females and show women you can do it,’ Denetta explained.

‘Those messages were empowering women around the world. That’s what I listened to as a teenager so I’m a bit stuck in that time.’

Doing her bit to help up-and-coming female artists is also important to Denetta. When she released her single Check Me Out in 2023, she had an all-female support line-up.

‘Hip hop can be an intimidating space for a female artist so I’m always seeking out other females in the genre,’ she said.

‘My song Just Be is about gender inequality, being in hip hop I have found hurdles and barriers due to being a female in this genre.

‘The song is a throwback to that time, having issues and being in this industry and the fact I have a right to be here and I’m going to do it anyway.

‘I’ve had quite a lot of support that helps me continue and persevere, people kept asking “when are you bringing out the album” when I did open mic nights, so I thought I have to bring it out because people keep asking for it.’

Sometimes Denetta jokes that her dream job would be to work in Tesco, as it would be much more stable and easier on her disability.

‘I would just go “beep, beep, beep” and then come home which would be so much easier with my disability,’ she joked.

‘As a recording artist there’s so much to deal with. I didn’t really grasp the level of work that goes into creating and producing an album and what it takes to DIY it.

‘My MS causes me to have a bad memory and suffer with debilitating pain or fatigue. I’ve gone blind three times because of MS, touch wood I got my sight back but it’s not a given. 

‘The album is an insight into my life, the message comes through in my lyrics, but the message I would like to say is don’t give up on your dreams.

‘No matter what you have to go through and what it takes, no matter what age you are, keep persevering.’

Denetta’s album, Product Of Society, will be released on March 14 and available on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming sites

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