You’ve been active in music for several years—how would you describe your evolution from your 2019 debut to now?
I would say my evolution is rather nuance than what meets the eye. When I started as an artist, I knew what sound I was going for with my production and live sound. I also put myself in a box and I was quite selective when it came to collaborating with others. I tried to go for Soul and Alt RnB collaborators as I feel that my vibe would go with theirs. Now, I believe I am more open to collaboration in different sounds than those I am familiar with.
That being said, I think it goes to show in my overall sound as well; I do know what my sound is, but now I am not afraid to branch away and be inspired by different genres and styles of music to define my sound.
What was it like growing up in Leeds and later creating within Liverpool’s music scene?
Leeds is a great city. A lot of history with regards to its music scene and venues, but also for the football. I was around a lot of Reggae, Soca & Calypso from an early age. Not to mention the Leeds West Indian Carnival, which is a big centrepiece of my Summer-time memories. My mother and sister are both great illustrators and are well versed in art and design, my dad and uncle are well renowned DJs in the local area of Leeds/Bradford/Huddersfield so following in all their footsteps as a person in the arts was almost a destined calling. Away from the Caribbean influences, I remember the times my mother used to play Erykah Badu on repeat, my father was playing Hip-Hop groups like Pharcyde, but my sister got me into listening to MTV Base a lot back in the day. I had a big love for poetry in school.
Being a part of the Liverpool Music Scene is magical – I think being a part of the city in general is quite magical, to be honest. Another great city known for its music and football, I feel like I am home here. Both cities’ true locals are all about community and inclusion, there is a passion there. Creating in the Liverpool scene, you’re always inspired due to the plethora of talent here, with so many backgrounds and doing so many genres. I think, on a National stage, Liverpool’s plaudits are always there due to the legacy of The Beatles, but in this modern age of music in the United Kingdom, I feel like London’s scene truly thrives and The North doesn’t get a true representation on the national stage. But I feel something different happening. Liverpool truly is a hotspot for emerging talent in the UK, whether you are doing Hip-Hop, Rock, Metal, Dance or RnB, and I am glad to be a part of it.
Can you talk about your experience collaborating with NYLAN and 1G3 on “Falling”?
Yeah! Both of them are cool guys and great musicians. 1G3 and I were collaborating prior on some stuff, he also is a great drummer and once stepped in for a gig I had with my band. After some time I believe him and NYLAN were collaborating and they got in touch with me to a verse on the track. I was honoured. Usually what I ask from a collaborator is, if I’m a featured artist, to give me a small summary of their song so I can work on lyrics that fit the track. I wrote my verse and then I think I sent them a voice recording over the demo track they sent me. They were feeling it! So we got a time to go studio to record.
I vividly remember the day we recorded it, as I was called into work to supervise the shift in the bar. We spoke over the phone and they realised that they only had an hour left of their studio time when I reached the destination. I reassured them that is plenty time to get a good take. So I finished up, rushed to the studio, they had the mic setup for me, we quickly went through levels and did a rough take. When I’m recording, I like to record my verses in full to get the right performance and energy between words and lines sound fluid. This made it easier to get down a good 6 takes. After about 25 minutes, the verse was done and I just did my verse ad-libs. They asked me if I could ad-lib the chorus. I quickly free-styled something, which they were feeling, I quickly wrote the freestyles down that stuck and gelled with the chorus. To their shock, we were done with everything in 35 minutes. I was quite amazed also under the pressure of the time constraint, but I was confident in knowing my lyrics and communicating the most efficient way to record myself to the guys. I don’t think I would have changed how we did that as we were all pleased with the outcome. I wouldn’t double-book myself though, haha!
How has working with various producers and artists shaped your sound over the years?
I think working with other producers and artists has helped my sound elevate to something I don’t think I could have reached without this experience. Before rapping, I was just a producer honing my craft making UK Garage and Bassline, when I started to rap, other producers at the time around were into the newly emerging trap sound of the time. I wasn’t involved in that too heavily so I started producing myself. My time at The Leeds Conservatoire (I knew it as Leeds College of Music) made me realise how much I love Jazz and Soul, at the time I was experimenting with fusing those sounds with Hip-Hop. Then my time at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), it elevated my writing to work on poetic narratives over many different art forms and disciplines, which had me also rapping and performing spoken word live over Rock and Drum & Bass on retellings of Moulin Rouge & Westside Story. It also made me realise my love for harmony in vocals, and call and response between voices. I have learnt so much from others about my craft into production, how I go about songwriting and also I learnt about myself.
What role did your debut single “Terror” in 2022 play in your growth as an artist?
The song Terror was written for a dance show I was involved in collaborating as the Narrator and this song contributed to the music that the dancers performed over. This release was the start of my solo releases as an artist. I think it played a big part in finishing products; I’m such the perfectionist when it comes to my music, the story and how I want it to be portrayed. Over the years I have been the worst for not releasing my music, whether it be my uncertainty in the musical direction of a track or if I am not pleased with the outcome, I have been rather precious with my releases. Also, due to Covid-19 pandemic, I had a lot of time to reflect on if music was what I wanted to pursue at the time and I had the opportunity to move abroad to teach English. The second lockdown on the UK hit during the start of 2021, which forced my hand to stay in the UK. Once the restrictions lifted, a long time collaborator reached out to work on this dance show.
Terror was a huge step of growth for me as an artist. I had to quit my habit of sitting on ideas if I couldn’t progress with its production or direction. I also I had deadlines to finish the track for the show to commence rehearsals, so it was about overcoming those habits and being more decisive with the little things in production. It also was a massive step in releasing music independently; there is a lot of things to take on board with a release like artwork and a release plan and promotion. Looking back, I think I just wanted to get it done right. But that fear changed with that song.
You’ve built quite the résumé of collaborations—are there any that felt especially pivotal to your growth?
I love to collaborate, I am quite intrigued to see how others work. It helps me push myself to see what I am capable of doing and not even just in my discipline. I believe all collaborations I have been in have been great, but the one that stands clear from the rest has definitely been my band, The Soul Collective. They reshaped how I look at my music in a live setting and also as a product, we have done long days and nights practicing in not only this band but other projects we were a part of too. Those memories I hold dear and even now we still collaborate, gig together and just chill despite our ever-changing lives.
“Pieces” is described as a heartfelt track exploring mental health and personal growth. What inspired the song?
Pieces came about from listening to J.Cole’s album 2014 Forest Hills Drive, I love to deconstruct songs from my favourite artists for chord sequences that I resonate with and play them in different ways and inversions – maybe a few tweaks – just to see what flows. Not knowing where to start, ironically free-styled “Let me start here, reminiscing of living in fear.” To that I knew I wanted to recall apart of me growing up; a young Black British boy growing up eager to learn, do well and aspire for the stars. But I didn’t know that I was brewing self-hatred all along, and how it built over years into my teens. By that time, I believe I was listening to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, which from both albums gave me courage to finish Pieces how I did. It was a dark place to try relive and put into words, but I think the transparency of it was quite relieving.
How long has this song been in the works, and what made now the right time to release it?
So I wrote that around 10 years ago, which I still can’t believe how fast time can go by. Over the years I have always done small open mics and acoustic sets of my tracks whilst juggling between work and I happened to do one with my good friends, Reiss Greenwell and Marli, doing a quite last- minute, 3-song set. We got off-stage and had a lot of reception for Pieces and how it resonated with a lot of the audience. Despite it being so long that I wrote it, it still resonated with people everytime I performed it. That performance of the song was in February 2024, so I devised a plan to get it done by the end of 2024. Delays happen so it was never a question of if, it was always when the release was happening. I think that any time would have been a good time to release the song; I’d say it’s not really one of those tracks you think of as a “breakout single,” but I think the main thing was that it resonated with the people around me and has done for so long, and it’s more than just a song to sing along to and get by, but a message to interpret and feel.
Can you walk us through the creative process of writing and producing “Pieces”?
The first thing I had were the chords through a soft airy synth, I’d put them down to a tempo. The first lyrics I had probably made me steer towards having just a kick and toms in my percussion in my early demos. But that was the vibe I brought for the base production. I think what helps me produce now are solid production references, for this I was referencing All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar & SZA, this really what I wanted to for my drumming elements.
I laid down a small arrangement for the track and got in the studio with Marli and Reiss. I think there were extensive takes for the guitar, but this was for the texture and world building in the production that I had in mind, and Reiss is a juggernaut for sound, tone and his abilities are second to none. Max, the record engineer for the track, took down a sample recording of my vocals so we could get Marli in to sing the chorus and add harmonies – she is a beast and did it in no time! We then went in and recorded my vocals, we got through that quickly and then I went away to form a mix that I’d send to the rest of the collaborators.
I had a few voice memos from my mother that I always listen to now and again, so I edited those and put it on the end of the song as I thought it would be nice end instead of doing the traditional “double chorus.” The other collaborators got back to me relatively quickly, and I started adding their parts to it. I had so many vocal stems from Kristrún and Jamal so to piece it up was a task, also they gave elements of them doing some ad-libs and vocal runs which I thought would add a different dynamic to the scope of the record, so amazing to work with. I then incorporated keys from Joiada, a master at work, he can understand the vibe I want to give. 5 months after all this, the final piece of the puzzle was the bass from Chris Gaffney, we setup a FaceTime, had a catchup, and we recorded bass that day. We also had a meetup later on as he is also a great photographer. He took the shot for the artwork which I edited.
After that, I remember that day like it was yesterday, I got the bass stems and was mixing all night at my girlfriend’s flat. A few revisions of the mix between Myself and Max, then we were happy to do the master.
What was it like reuniting with long-time collaborators for this track?
Ohh it’s amazing, just like old times! I feel so old saying it, but it felt like forever and a day since we were all together. The pandemic made us all have massive life changes, so for us to unify on this record is quite magical. I have so much love and time for them, as they did believing in me being in my band or other countless projects, so to speak. I don’t think Pieces would be anywhere to the sound that it is today without them and I can’t thank them enough for their friendship and support. This isn’t the last time we work altogether neither!
The single marks a “new chapter” for you—what does that chapter look like, both musically and personally?
I think this new chapter is all about me closing the old one. Pieces is a song written a while ago and while it does hold weight in how I used to think and feel, it surely doesn’t reflect me now. A sense of renewal and flair that nobody has seen me have before. This new chapter is about versatility as an artist and producer; whether that be fuelled by rage, pride, sorrow, happiness, love, sense of belonging or lack thereof… I think all of it. This chapter will show everything that I have learnt through my expression of it.
This release seems like it’s setting the tone for 2025—what else can fans expect this year?
Yes! 2025 is a going to be a great year! They can expect more music from me; currently in the works of a next single and couple features maybe on the cards, and also back to my production roots and working with some awesome artists in and around Liverpool. I’m ready to perform later on in the year also, get ready to see my face a little over the coming months!
