Jenn Catterall AKA The Seven Sentinels

This interview with Jenn Catterall, also known as The Seven Sentinels, explores her path into hip-hop, her creative development as a lyricist and performer, and her role in Milton Keynes’ music community. Born in Oxford in 1984, she moved to Milton Keynes in 1991. Her early connection to hip-hop came through a love of rhythm, wordplay and the energy of tracks she heard growing up, from 1990s rap to garage and drum and bass. Rather than a single defining moment, she describes her introduction to the culture as gradual, shaped by family influences, radio shows like John Peel, and a lifelong fascination with language and sound.

Catterall began writing rhymes and performing from a young age, initially as spoken word and acapella poetry. Her work gradually evolved into hip-hop through involvement in the London slam poetry scene in her late teens, where others recognised her style as rap in all but name. Performance has always been a source of confidence and self-expression for her, particularly as someone with autism and ADHD, and she has continued to build her skills through education, experimentation and collaboration.

After spending years living elsewhere, including time in Liverpool, she reconnected with Milton Keynes’ creative community when she returned around 2020. Open mic events became an important way to rebuild connections and share new material. A major step in her career came through the Lead the Capital project in 2022, which brought together artists from the Home Counties. Her track I Am a City was included on a vinyl release, and she joined a tour performing across venues in Bedford, Liverpool, Manchester, London, Brighton and Milton Keynes. The experience helped expand her network and allowed her to collaborate with different musicians and DJs.

Alongside performing, she has also organised events, including hosting a Don’t Flop rap battle night in Milton Keynes. Motivated by a desire to create opportunities that didn’t already exist locally, she worked to bring the well-known battle rap brand to the city, helping to highlight the local appetite for hip-hop events and strengthen community connections.

Catterall reflects on being one of relatively few visible female hip-hop artists in the area, noting that while there are talented women in related scenes, barriers and assumptions can still discourage participation. She sees Milton Keynes as a creative but somewhat fragmented city, where pockets of artists exist but don’t always connect. Despite this, she values its openness, diversity of influences and welcoming community. For her, hip-hop creates connection through shared passion, performance and storytelling, bringing people together across backgrounds and experiences.