Blackpool rapper YoungBloodRap so proud to work with Ironik, Mic Righteous and Devlin

Jamie Hardman, 31, first came under the musical spotlight a decade ago when he appeared on regional TV as a talented up-and-coming rapper under the name Young Blood.

Sadly, his musical career stalled after a family death sent him spiraling into mental health problems.

But Jamie, who now works in mental health himself and often raises awareness of these issues, has returned to his music in recent years with a string of new songs.

And in the past year he has joined forces, in successive songs, with established rappers such as Ironik (formerly DJ Ironik), Mic Righteous and more recently Devlin, who has just finished working with Ed Sheeran.

Jamie, known as YoungBloodRap these days, got in touch with these music artists and they agreed to collaborate with him.

But it was all able to happen without him even sharing a studio with them.

Dad-of two Jamie said: "You don't need to go down and meet them in person, as good as that would be.

"I sent them my songs electronically, with the backing track and my rap on it, and they added their verses on each of the songs and sent it back to me.

"It works really well for me because I spend of lot of time working here in Blackpool and it' hard to find the time or the money to go down to London."

The first of the three songs, which features DJ Ironik, was put together in spring last year and is called Leaving.

It includes a video with actors portraying the storyteller's heartbreak over a relationship that goes wrong.

Jamie then worked with Mic Righteous on a song called Searching and then, just before Christmas, on a slower track called Wait For You.

Jamie said: "Having the opportunity to work with people like this has been absolutely brilliant.

"We didn't get the chance to hang out in the studio but for them to join me on these songs really is incredible - I work in a normal job and I'm not well known, so it was a real honour."

Neverthless Jamie - in his YoungBloodRap guise - is attracting a big following on TikTok and through that has his own fan base.

These songs can be found on YouTube, TikTok, Spotify and other online platforms.