A BOLTON rapper has been named in the final five artists who will feature on a new track produced by Red Bull Studios.

Superlative, aka Corey Brown, beat off stiff competition to feature on the recording as part of the Red Bull Raise the Bar challenge.

The challenge saw more than 60 aspiring musicians battle it out, through a shortlisting and a public vote, in a bid to collaborate with some of the hottest talents in the UK music scene.

The artists had to record a 16 bar verse over the track Lover produced by Afrobeat stars Team Salut, submitting entries via Instagram and Twitter or attending the Red Bull Studios.

Superlative, along with the four other finalists, will now work to produce the final version of Lover with Team Salut in the coming weeks.

Mr Brown said he was "massively" pleased to be given "such a big opportunity", adding : "It is also inspiring for people from Bolton, because a lot of people look to Manchester and not many people look to Bolton for music."

Originally from Wolverhampton, Mr Brown moved to Bolton aged 13, attending Harper Green High School in Farnworth, where he played in the Jazz Band, performing all across the town.

A passionate music lover Mr Brown progressed into other genres and production, building up a solid fan base.

He said: "I started off as a beat boxer. I got a few shows in Bolton when I moved here, and from there I started producing music.

"I have always been interested in producing music, but what I found was that people didn't really want to listen to my music without any vocals on, so then I started rapping over it and that brought me attention.

"I was working and struggling to find a balance between work and music. Then I had a lot of illness and ended up taking time off work, and during that time I started working on Written Free Sundays, writing a song a week with my sister Karis Jade."

Mr Brown's music is inspired by his idols on the Top Dawg Entertainment label, including Kendrick Lamar and ScHool Boy Q, as well as hip hop titans like Kanye West and Drake and homegrown heroes like grime outfit Boy Better Know.

He said: "My big genre is soul and I have got a lot of influence in music from my family. My mum loves Jamaican music and reggae, and my father and brother are both MCs."

His style is also driven by a DIY ethic, and Mr Brown and his sister make all their music videos themselves using their mobile phones, and all the art work for his EPs on his computer.

He is currently putting a nine track EP together, Can I Be Excused, which he hopes to release in April.

The positivity driven tracks are inspired by Mr Brown's youth and escaping from the gang violence and poverty he grew up with — moving, or excusing, himself into a new way of living.

Mr Brown said that it is his ambition to one day relocate and he is hoping to pursue a full time music career.

He said: "I have always wanted to be in Canada. That's where a lot of good music is. So I aim to be branching out.

"At the moment because of my illness I have to wait for an assessment.

"But until then I'm keeping at my music so I don't have to go back to my job at the end."