A TALENTED rapper from Thurrock, whose father has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, has released a song on iTunes describing his anguish.

Letting Go was made available for digital download on Saturday and features Nathan Oliver, from Grays – also known as Manek – performing with his cousin’s band Tritts and The Numbers Band.

Nathan wrote the song about not being able to let go the day after hearing his dad’s cancer was terminal.

The 20-year-old has been penning lyrics since primary school and in recent years has made his name on the UK drum and bass scene.

Letting Go, which features a soft but catchy acousting backing track, represents a move towards commercial music as opposed to Nathan’s drum and bass repertoire which is a little more “underground”.

He said: “In primary school I started writing lyrics.

“It was just rubbish at the time but Roll Deep came to my school when I was in Year 7 and I jumped on stage with them. It was all offbeat, but everyone said it was good.”

Nathan is friends with Connor Hammond, best known as Smallzdeep, another rapper from Thurrock with whom he has just featured on SBTV, the UK’s leading online youth broadcaster.

But his focus is on Letting Go, a project that’s close to his heart: “It’s about not being able to let go.

“Unfortunately my dad has got terminal cancer. The day after I found out it was terminal, I wrote the first half of it and the beginning of the hook. Then it continued.

“I rang my cousin Rob Oliver and said I want to do a song for my Dad. It came out perfectly. I sat with my cousin and his band Tritts and the Numbers Band and we put it together from scratch.

"I had the lyrics and we made the backing track around them. I’m really proud of it.

“People have been telling me it has made them cry, people who don’t usually listen to my music.”

He added: “I’ve got lots of songs on the way and am hoping to do a mix. I’m going to carry on working on my drum and bass and the underground stuff.”

You can see the video to Letting Go on YouTube by searching Manek. The single is available on iTunes now.