Rapper AJ Tracey has launched a fund to help black students thrive at Oxford university.

The West London rapper has launched The AJ Tracey Fund which aims to change the "historic underrepresentation" of black students at oxford.Tracey, 28, is working with St Peter's College to provide scholarships and additional funding for black students who wish to attend or are already attending the university.The fund offers general financial assistance and mentorship and will be made available to those from underrepresented and underprivileged backgrounds. The AJ Tracey fund strives to help young people reach their potential, with its main goal being to help ethnic minority students throughout their Oxford journey.

The rapper explained, "obviously being a minority in England is one thing, but then being a minority at your place of education is quite difficult. "Student support is to be awarded on a case-by-case basis and is set to cover expenses like train tickets and so forth. Tracey will be donating £40,000 for the first three years, before reviewing it.Tracey's decision to start this fund resembles a similar action by Stormzy back in 2018. Stormzy launched 'The Stormzy Scholarship' as a part of his charity, the Merky Foundation.

Stormzy's Merky Foundation has pledged £10m across 10 years to charities and organisations that fight for "racial equality, justice reform, and black empowerment within the UK".In partnership with Cambridge university, The Stormzy Scholarship awards £20,000 scholarships to black students.Stormzy received some backlash for his scholarship, with some calling it racist and "anti-white".Upon the discussion of potential backlash, Tracey said "at the end of the day, a large portion of the population is always going to have a very uneducated and misguided view on these kinds of happenings."

Tracey then went on to say "I think in general, for anyone who doesn't understand why black people who have managed to become successful want to help black kids it should be self-explanatory.

The whole country is catered towards white people, and we're just trying to level the playing field by helping black kids." Tracey described his choosing of St Peter's College as a "natural choice" as they "specifically try to get people of a mixed background, and they're always working on that task."

Judith Buchanan, the head of St Peter's College, has expressed that she is "delighted to have AJ Tracey in our world" and went on to say "with his generous support, we look forward to seeing current and future talented black students flourish in their time here."AJ Tracey has also expressed his hopes to positively impact the culture at Oxford University. He went on to mention changes to the curriculum, as well as calls to remove a statue of the British imperialist Cecil Rhodes. He explained, "for me, it's about gauging how the black students feel about that".

Regarding the impact his scholarship could have, AJ Tracey has said "success can be even as small as students saying that their time at Oxford was a lot easier" whilst also implying that the scholarship could pave the way for a future prime minister.