Rob Maddra, a self made DJ and rapper living in Salford, is hosting his own rap and indie night next month in Manchester. 

Rob, who goes by the stage name ‘MADDRA’ is hosting his ‘25 to life tour’ with his 25th birthday being five days prior to the event.

Originally from Bradford, he moved to Greater Manchester for University in order to study music. Rob states his career began “because (he) always loved music.”

Rob added: “I love all kinds of music, and it’s a way to express myself. I like telling a story, a real and emotional one, through my songs.

“The tour is named ‘25 to life’ because it puts into context that I’ve been alive for 25 years on this earth… it’s a life sentence. My life could have gone a complete different way”.

He started his rapping career in 2018, but it “took a backseat as I was busy living my life.”

Rob added: “I picked it back up properly in the summer of 2023 when I released my debut album, ‘Scared of Dying’, which was a huge passion project.”

Despite being classed as an ‘up and coming’ artist, Rob had 9.8k streams from Spotify alone last year, with listeners from 51 different countries.

Rob has also been DJing for three years, gaining experience from dance music events. However, this is prior multi drummer events that he believes he has gained the best expertise from.

His upcoming gig at Off The Square, is on Friday 8 March.

The support acts include ‘Oscar and The Bluebirds’, an indie band on the rise, and James Grime, who will be doing his own acoustic set.

Oscar, from ‘Oscar Bryant and The Bluebirds’, states: “I started as a solo act, I met the band members separately and then we formed as a band. We have since released singles, and played at venues such as Academy 3, and Night and Day Cafe.”

Oscar Bryant and The Bluebirds have a new single, ‘The Breakdown’, due to be released on March 1.

Rob explains: “I tend to perform with indie bands as well because I feel my music meets the market, it’s half indie half rap, it’s not got your typical hip hop vibe, I take inspiration from all genres”.

He has also recently celebrated the opening of, ‘MADDRA’s HOUSE’, a multi genre promotion business, which “is paying for this event”, but this is not his first time working with Off The Square.

Rob has been “running events for time, but this will be the first with ‘MADDRA’s HOUSE’, my own business, that 100% belongs to me”.

They have recently announced their upcoming first dance event, to commence on Thursday 28 March. This is a collaboration between ‘MADDRA’s HOUSE’ and ‘Rising Underground’.

But Rob’s recent accomplishments don’t end there. “I’ve started up a guestlist series where DJ’s send me mixes to upload on my Soundcloud, and a creator known as ‘thtgrl’ has recently sent me the first one”.

The three hour long gig, starting at 7pm, will be taking place Friday, March 8 at 67 Lever Street. Tickets start at just £5 for students, and can be purchased here.

Featured image credit: IzzyLee

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