Mr Eazi | Viper Magazine: Autumn Winter 2017

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C O N T E N T S

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THE GOODS

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LISA LEONE

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DIVINE COUNCIL 81

WIFISFUNERAL

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MILO’S WORLD

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20 SHOTS

REP YOUR HOOD

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QUAVO’S Ratatouille CHAIN

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KHALID

ALLAN KINGDOM

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ONAR

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DAILY PAPER 99

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THE QUESTIONS: DANIEL OG

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LONDON GIRLS

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OSCAR #WORLDPEACE

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KNUCKS

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SKRAPZ

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ASIAN RAP

KENNILWORTH HORSE FAIR 105

MR EAZI 143

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BOOTLEG

ELLA MAI

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MOOK PANCAKES

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WESTSIDE PARLE

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RAVYN LENAE

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CHOCOLATE MILK

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MEET THE PRODUCERS: JAE5

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ANNU KILPELÄINEN

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MEET THE PRODUCERS: SIR SPYRO

H A S S A N

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TANK GIRL

STOCKISTS

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SUBSCRIBE

H A J J A J

C O N T E N T S

20 SHOTS

ONE CULT FILM 20 ICONIC SCENES

WARRIORS, 1979 WALTER HILL

QUAVO’S

Ratatouille

CHAIN

Illustration by LUCAS Santos WORDS BY CHRIS MENDEZ

Like the greatest architects, painters and dinosaur species throughout history, hip hop jewellery is periodic.

Run DMC’s rope chain period and Picasso’s blue period?

Same thing. Planet Earth’s Jurassic period (made famous

by Jeff Goldblum) and Pharrell’s rainbow-diamond era?

No difference. But what era are we in now?

Is there an artist or movement that embodies and exemplifies said era? Does it look like Takeoff was left off ‘Bad and Boujee’? For these answers we look to a guiding light. A knight of North Atlanta who has yielded his sword again and again for his city, craft and, of course, his Migos.

We look to none other than Quavious Keyate Marshall; and the era? This is the reflection era; this is jewellery imitating art, imitating life.

The opening statement of the hit song that elevated The Migos from trap music contributors to the primary trendsetters of the genre says it all: “You know something, we ain’t never really had no old money. We got a whole lotta new money though.”

What a way to make up for the lack of generational wealth; to start it from scratch. To headline festivals, to cover every publication, to drive foreign race cars and, like other figures of wealth, to purchase precious jewels.

While hip hop style continues to become more sophisticated and minimalist, so does the jewellery.

It seems like the gaudy custom chains went out with overproduced songs and movie-budget music videos. Like, who even wears intricate custom pieces anymore? Who can afford it? Who else but the biggest rap trio since Run DMC? (Yeah I said it. Fight me.)

As Quavo and his Migos set records, trends and new standards, they also seem to defy the odds when it comes to making money. It’s 2017, remember?

Rappers are supposed to be “broke.” CDs don’t exist and they get a measly penny per stream. But Migos aren’t your typical rap group. Their hooks are infectious and Quavo is on more features than

anyone in the game. So what do you do when you’re making money like it’s 2001? You buy custom jewellery like it’s 2001.

Today’s rap star keeps his or her eyes glued to the newest Rolex dropping, but The Migos draw inspiration from their own art. In 2016, after the success of ‘Bad And Boujee’, Quavo commissioned Eliot Avianne to make him a chain that would later be written about in magazines all over the world; or at least just this one. He would take the lyrics, “Still be playing with pots and pans, call me Quavo Ratatouille,” and enshrine them into a pendant; A 50 Carat diamond encrusted work of art depicting Quavo as a chef holding up his trap sous-chef mouse. This extremely meta, mind blowing piece would be followed by Offset’s raindrop piece; another ‘Bad and Bougee’ lyric-inspired pendant.

Quavo wouldn’t stop there as he would later get lyrics from ‘Culture’’s second single, ‘T Shirt’, turned into his famous Yoda piece.

Rap is still growing up, and the top talent are approaching their jewellery purchases in a more artistic way. They no longer need to plaster the name of their record label on a metal name plate using misspelled comic sans in capital letters. In an era of instant information and obsessive music fans, this creates a fun opportunity for artists to let their fans learn about them. They can hide Easter eggs in their content and just let some nerd figure it out on Genius.com. They can read a tastefully written article about their jewellery instead of having to hear them scream it into a microphone.

I know what you’re thinking, “we get it, we get it.”

So in the words of Quavo, I’ma wrap it up den.

THE QUESTIONS

MEYHEM LAUREN

What do you smell like right now?

Greatness mixed with a lil B.O, looool.

How would your last partner sum you up in 3 words?

Gentle but senile.

What’s the most troublesome thing you did as a child?

Can’t even remember. I wasn’t too much of a bad breed in school. Probably stole some sweets or got into some pointless fights.

Who’s the weirdest celebrity you ever had a crush on?

Looooooool that’s too personal. But I do have a thing for any buff girl on Come Dine With Me, I don’t know why. I’m weird.

Ever punched a stranger?

Nah but I’ve slapped their KFC out their hand lol. Not a proud moment.

What’s your most embarrassing fear?

Falling off and not reaching my full potential.

What sound do you hate?

The sound of a fake American accent in a song. Cringe.

Which character trait of yours do you hope your child doesn’t inherit?

I can be stubborn at times, actually all the time.

What’s your favourite sea creature?

The Lobster thingy that talks and sings in Little Mermaid lol.

The worst thing about drugs is…

They run out. @danieltripleog soundcloud.com/danieltripleog

THE QUESTIONS: DANIEL OG

“I’ve slapped K.F.C. out OF A STRANGER’S hand” PhotoS by HYPEMARI

In a U.K. music scene that’s thriving with young, hungry talent ready to claim thrones, the seemingly revolving door can keep attentions away from some real gems. Ones that may not make as much noise as their peers, but whose very calculated movements lead to a wave of success. In spite of this, Oscar #Worldpeace is ready to blow the door completely off its hinges.

PHOTOS BY THURSDAY. WORDS BY YEMI ABIADE Arriving from the storied North London area of Tottenham, the rapper and producer is as refreshing as he is daring. From his cool demeanour and style to his outgoing personality, his skills should not be taken for granted, because he can go up against most rappers and steal the show. The product of a multi-cultural African and Caribbean background, music had been the motive from day dot and this first phase of his career has seen him mould his influences to produce an enticing perspective of life.

Once he decided to don the moniker #Worldpeace, Oscar made a conscious decision: to be himself. Unequivocally. The name translates to his work, in which he attempts to make sense of his environment – that of millennial struggles, depression, loneliness, knife crime and others, laced with hints of political commentary – with sonics (by both himself and frequent collaborator Ragz Originale) that take you on a journey through the ends. On tracks like ‘Run’ and ‘Wary’ you can certainly hear the pensiveness in Oscar’s voice, which comes from a period of his life of being disillusioned and unhappy.

Previously an employee at British supermarket chain, Tesco, Oscar risked it all, quitting his job to chase his dream to make music. Dropping debut track ‘Mook’ in 2014 and getting co-signs from the likes of Beats1’s Zane Lowe and Viper favourite CASisDEAD, his talents caught the attention of U.K. legend Mike Skinner, who later took Oscar under his wing and gave him the blueprint for success. He hasn’t looked back since, dropping one of the most cohesive projects to come out of the U.K. this year, ‘Recluse’. Less is definitely more in Oscar’s case and, in 22 minutes and nine tracks, the young spitter laid out his world as he sees it - scattered, sparse, but ultimately hopeful for positive change.

Oscar is a multifaceted individual who perfectly translates that into introspective songs and bangers alike. With a new project out soon, titled ‘IC3’, the second phase of his career is set for take-off. Viper caught up with him in the heart of Shoreditch to discuss his come up, his hometown and creative freedom.

What made you want to call yourself #Worldpeace?

I actually have no idea how it came about. I think, after university, I had a realisation that I just wanted to do music. I was called something else before but I just wanted to use my real name and use something I want to live by. I don’t remember the exact day [I changed my name] but I just remember having a midlife crisis after uni at the age of 21!

I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I just knew I didn’t want to do anything with my degree and I knew I wanted to do music but I didn’t know how good I was at the time. I studied media communication and did a bit of journalism but it wasn’t for me.

So, what made you want to make music?

I wanted to tell my story. I’ve always been around good music. My parents are both young so I wasn’t too far away from garage, jungle, ragga, hiplife, bashment. I’m half Jamaican, half Ghanaian so having those two musical cultures in me, I’ve just always enjoyed music. I had older cousins who did grime in the early 2000s, and I just wanted to be like them and the popular guys on the ends.

Being from Tottenham, do you ever feel pressure to live up to the likes of Skepta, JME and Wretch 32, who all come from there?

Everyone in Tottenham is so diverse, because the place is so multicultural and I’m just another leaf off the tree of all the artists from Tottenham. I’ve got a different story to tell than the other guys, whether that’s my age group or my culture or what I’ve seen in my life.

They may have a completely different story and background to me.

OSCAR

#WORLDPEACE

Tottenham is just where I live, my real story comes from my parents and their parents; but I’m just another guy from Tottenham.

On your last project, ‘Recluse’, what did you set out to get across about yourself?

Predominantly that I’m the best. But also, the idea that you can be vulnerable and still be just as talented as anyone. I’m talking about depression, me working in Tesco, having no money and that’s the main story of that chapter in my life. I needed that inspiration and when [‘Recluse’] dropped, it gave me a new desire. I didn’t believe in myself before but it dropped and people have been really receptive to it, to the point that some of them came up to me at my headline show and said, “yo I’m going through the same things” and it’s so good to hear.

Music right now is so materialistic – people are talking about having this and having that instead of saying, “what upsets you? When you go to sleep at night what do you see? How do you feel?” So, ‘Recluse’ was about laying all my cards on the table and a way of saying, “this is me, take me as I am.”

That’s what I love so much about ‘Recluse’ – that it’s so relatable. What kind of life experiences or musical influences were you taking in while making the project?

It was mainly my parents. Listening to old school garage and The Streets and Mike Skinner is kind of being my mentor now. I wanted [‘Recluse’] to really sound like the U.K., when you hear it, I want you to see the cracked pavements and grey clouds and the washed-out bricks in your area. That’s how I felt listening to [The Streets’] ‘Original Pirate Material’ or [Dizzee Rascal’s] ‘Boy In Da Corner’ or ‘Blacklisted’. I wanted to be that voice for whoever was listening.

Speaking of Mike Skinner, how important has he been to you in terms of your progression as an artist?

He said this one thing to me that was really important – it’s not who you say yes to, it’s who you say no to. You could say yes to a million things and when you look back, your career is done, but when you say no and hold things back, you learn that it’s about longevity, rather than jumping at all the opportunities at one time. He told me that the day I met him and it’s never left me. He’s one of our most decorated artists, any genre and there no better person to learn from.

What can we expect from your next project, ‘IC3’?

It’s very controversial, but very important. ‘IC3’ is the UK police code for black people and that’s all I’ll say about it.

I saw you tweet recently that the ‘Recluse’ chapter of your life is done and it’s time for ‘IC3’. Do you see your career as different stages in your life?

That’s just life. Everything I had to say on ‘Recluse’, I said it. Now I’m moving onto different things, meeting different people, going [to] different places. I’m understanding different things now, so that chapter is done. That chapter was when I was working at Tesco and having depressive thoughts, but I feel like now, I’m growing into a different person and there’s other things I want to talk about. That’s why I say ‘IC3’ is going to be more important than ‘Recluse’. I’m really excited – I’ve got some tunes that a lot of people are going to be surprised about, but it needs to be said.

What was your last day at Tesco like?

It wasn’t even like a last day thing. I think I was in another country with Mike and I didn’t go in and my manager texted me saying, “are you ever coming back?” and I just said, “No.” She got me to think ‘OK

I’m not going to go back’ – if she didn’t text me I might have gone back – but it was all cordial. I left Tesco last October and I dropped ‘Recluse’ in March of this year so it was still a bit of a struggle to get to that point. But at the same time, I don’t think I would have made ‘Recluse’ if I didn’t leave Tesco, but I need people to know and feel what I’m saying.

You’re not going to get my full character by me just dropping singles, but a project from front to back with songs in chronological order will make you get me more.

Let’s talk about you and Ragz Originale, because I feel you guys have such a kinetic relationship. How did it come about and what do you think he brings out of you?

Ragz is going to be the guy with or without me but, luckily, I’ve known him since we were like 14 and we would go radio and make tunes together on this platform called All Stars.

When I left uni, he was the only one making music – everyone else had go on to get careers – and we were the only ones who wanted to make music and that’s how the stars aligned.

He’s even pushed me to start producing myself - I produced ‘Tate Modern’ and ‘That’s Alright’ on ‘Recluse’. He’s a fucking super producer

and our thing is so organic. Whenever we go studio, something always comes out of it. He’s produced a couple songs for ‘IC3’.

Have you felt a pressure to make music that was, I suppose, more commercial sounding?

Never, but it gets to me when I hear people say I should. I don’t feel like I need to, I’m in this for the long run and I believe in myself and what I’m doing is great. When people look back they’re going to see that I did this on purpose, and it will make sense in the long run. I don’t think for today, I think for tomorrow; it’s not about instant gratification.

Have you strayed away from that vision and done things that maybe weren’t for you?

No. Because when I decided to become Oscar #Worldpeace I knew what I wanted. I would look at people and take a little bit from each of them and make myself. It’s been tunnel vision since.

Any final shout outs?

‘Recluse’ out now, ‘IC3’ coming out in November! @oscarworldpeace oscarworldpeace.co.uk

Individuality in music is something a lot of artists struggle with. In a current climate where the Internet is the main influencer, artists can pick and choose whatever persona they want for the sake of recognition. Not UK rapper Knucks, who is blazing a trail his way.

KNUCKS

PHOTOS BY THURSDAY. WORDS BY YEMI ABIADE A real student of the game, not many UK artists would be so bold and brazen to craft their debut project off an all-time classic – but that’s exactly what he did with 2014’s ‘Killmatic’, moulded in the vein of Nas’ immortal ‘Illmatic’. Exquisitely executed, it traded the hard streets of Nas’s Queensbridge for the equally diverse roads of Knucks’ South Kilburn, showing the similarities of many of the world’s hoods and bringing him a different kind of buzz altogether.

Knucks’ story is one of ultimate triumph following a tough start; a self-confessed troublemaker at school, he was sent to Nigeria by his parents where he would find spiritual wisdom and understanding, before returning to the U.K. to tackle his new calling – music. Continuing to juggle his passion with a university degree, he took matters into his own hands, dropping arguably his most important hit so far, ’21 Candles’, on SoundCloud the day before his 21st birthday, in the midst of final exams.

The result was a smash that put his name on the map. He followed that with another banger, ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’, leading to further critical acclaim. All of this made the hustle worth it, as he came to the realisation that music was an avenue he could really thrive in.

Sonically, Knucks weaves together golden age hip hop with old school soul sensibilities via more contemporary UK sounds, for a laid back, worldly brand of rap. His lyrics are as topical as they are hard hitting. He shies away from the type of topics that trickle throughout the material of many of the new generation - namely violence - and is not about posing on record. What you see, and hear, is what you get from the young musician. After all, being himself has already brought Knucks to the brink of blowing up and he has no intention of changing that formula.

Now free from education, Knucks’ focus can now really be on the music and building on the foundation he has built for himself. Viper chopped it up with him in his north London studio, where he laid out his journey, ambitions and opinions on rap beef.

Where does your name come from?

There’s a game we use to play in secondary school called knuckles, when you kind of bang each other’s knuckles together and I was really good at it. So, my original tag was knuckles and around the time I wanted to put out ‘Killmatic’, I realised my name was a bit dated so I shortened it.

What was your upbringing like?

I grew up in South Kilburn, north west London with a brother, sister, Nigerian parents. Lived there till I was about 12, went to Nigeria for a year for boarding school, came back and lived in Watford.

What did you get sent to Nigeria for?

Just bad behaviour, man. I was in secondary school for only one year before I went to Nigeria so that year must have been really bad. I don’t remember half the shit I was doing. Imagine, I had a show the other day and one of my friends from my old secondary school was there. He came over and was like, “Yo I remember all the mad shit you used to do, I remember when you dashed a table at the teacher.” I was like, “What?!”

My parents gave me a pre-warning; they asked me if I wanted to go and I started crying. Like, I was not on it at all and I thought that was the end of that. Then it’s summertime and me, my dad and my brother go to Nigeria, I thought it was a holiday for all of us. We were there for about three weeks and then my dad and my brother decided to leave and leave me there. So I stayed there for the rest of the summer then started boarding school.

How did you find Nigeria when you got there? Do you go through any kind of culture shock?

Nigeria is slower than England. Here, everything is fast paced and when I got to Nigeria, the fact that it was slow gave me more time to think. I liked that aspect of it, but I was also kind of lucky because I had been there for the summer so I had time to adapt. I had my aunty and cousins

there so I had time to get used to the way of life before boarding school.

When I got there, it wasn’t that much of a shock, because I learned how to wash clothes by hand and that beforehand.

When you came back to England, how easy was the transition back to a place where you once lived?

It was mad, very difficult. I went from living in London to living in Watford, just outside of London. I had to go to a new school that I didn’t like at first, with bare white people. It felt like coming back from a prison sentence – coming back after a year and seeing bare shit happening around me. I had to relearn a lot of things, but I did it.

How important was your time in Nigeria to you as a person?

The biggest thing is religion. Nigeria is a very religious country and it instilled a lot of morals into me that I didn’t have before and what made me go there. Being able to have the time to think what I wanted to do in life at such a young age really helped me. Because the U.K. is such a fast place, people don’t really have time to stop and think about what they’re doing. Back then, I wasn’t going to school to learn; I was going to see my bredrins. But Nigeria helped me get my head together so that when I came back I was enlightened.

When did music became an option for you?

I knew I wanted to rap but never thought I would be serious about it.

Before I went to Nigeria, I did grime here and there and even in Nigeria I would just hum the grime beats that I liked. So, when I came back, I started learning how to use FL Studio to make some of the beats I’d made in my head. It was little things like that that let me know that I love music, not just as a hobby. I didn’t think I would be doing it for a job but it has been a big part of my life. When I came back Giggs was popping and at the time I was making more lyrical grime like Dot Rotten, who is one of my favourite rappers, before transitioning to rap and sticking with it.

So, who won the beef between him and P Money?

The thing with that was it become less about the clash and more about who was telling the truth and it got too personal. But to this day I think Dot Rotten is better, before after all the things he said were found to be not true, people are going to say that P Money won the clash.

What kind of musical influences inspire you to make your music?

I used to listen to a lot of old school hip hop, soul etc. Nas, MF DOOM, Sade, Anita Baker and then finding a way to modernise it. I would sample that stuff and use modern trap drums so that they don’t sound like the original. Urban but old at the same time. Then I used to listen to people like Curren$y and Youngs Teflon. Back in the day, every U.K. rapper was road but Youngs Teflon had more style and he was sophisticated with it and that inspires me a lot even to this day.

I definitely get that old school vibe on ‘Killmatic’. What was the creative process behind making that project?

I started making it when I was 15 so it was just me regurgitating the music I was listening to at the time but trying to make it urban to give it my take on what people like Nas and MF DOOM were doing back then.

I called the project ‘Killmatic’ as a London version, to give my experience of growing up. There weren’t that many stories in music at that point so I just wanted to tell people how I was living, basically.

Do you embrace the label of storyteller in a scene where there aren’t many?

Recently I haven’t done it as much but I’m slowly getting back into it because it’s an important art. It’s good to be able to listen to music and feel like you’re there. These days, you don’t really know about rappers because they don’t give much depth into their lives. They just say what’s going on at the current time.

Why do you think that is? What’s changed?

Because it doesn’t have to be. People are OK if rappers don’t do that, but when people start to appreciate the storytelling more and demand more of it from rappers then they will try harder. But if all you need to rap is fucking bitches, driving whips and what not, then why would you try harder? People aren’t trying to challenge themselves, they just want to make money.

beefing with Kim Jong-Un and it makes no sense, and I feel like, because we’re America’s allies, we’ll be the first to go, you know. The whole country could blow up because of someone else. Charlottesville is mad, but I know if I can’t do anything to help, I just don’t like to think of it because it will really get to me.

At what point did you realise you were getting a lot of attention around your name?

When I released ‘21 Candles’ on my birthday. I think I was in my second year of university when I released it and we had all said that I was going to take this serious when I finished. But spontaneously I wrote ‘21 Candles’ two days before my birthday, recorded it the next day, then dropped it the next.

After a couple months, it was getting played on radio and it threw me into the idea that I was really making music, rather than waiting till I finished uni and starting then.

But, as a musician, do you ever feel a need to talk about these issues in your music?

Every now and then I do, because my music is a representation of how I’m feeling, so if it’s on my mind, it will be in the music. I feel like I would need to be a bigger entity to be able to help, and when that happens, I’ll do a lot more. But right now, what’s the point of me talking on something when it won’t make a difference?

If you compare yourself to when you made Killmatic with yourself now, what are some of the biggest developments you see in yourself?

The quality of music has improved, I’m a better writer, production has gotten better, my team is bigger. It’s like a machine now; instead of me being on my laptop making beats and recording to it, there are more people involved.

I’ve realised I’m becoming more respectful of what I’m doing. Before I was just like, “come and listen to my stuff” and now I just put it out and whoever needs to hear it hears it.

So what issues mean the most to you right now?

The Grenfell situation is mad. That wasteman in the White House; I don’t know what he’s still doing there, he needs to be impeached ASAP. He’s

Speaking about it may make a difference in the future…

You could look at it that way but realistically, if I talk about Grenfell, I would just be tweeting bare hate towards the government, and what difference would it have made today?

How do you see yourself developing as an artist/person?

As an artist, I see myself becoming a better writer. I’m not the best but by practising and studying my craft, I can become a better writer and producer; by working with other people and experiencing new things and learning. As a person, just living life and going through shit. @Knucks_music soundcloud.com/knucks

RAVYN LENAE PHOTOS BY BRYAN ALLEN LAMB WORDS BY

Somewhat like the rose that grew from concrete, a sinewy young voice has emerged to soar high above the troubled cityscape of Chicago.

At 18, Ravyn Lenae’s music effortlessly speaks volumes while painting a vivid picture of the contemporary experience of a young woman choosing thoughtfulness and art - all while coming of age in an increasingly confusing world. Lenae’s wonderland, as she has illustrated in projects like 2015’s ‘Moon Shoes’ and 2016’s ‘Midnight Moonlight’, is illuminated in fluorescents while being simultaneously grounded by a humbling understanding of the subtle intricacies, sewn together by a sense of style embodying today while pulling from the past. Lenae possesses the ability to evoke an array of thoughts, feelings, and generational attitude both through her distinct choices in music and fashion.

It’s been less then a year since she graduated from Chicago High School for the Arts located in Humboldt Park. The Southside native put her college plans on hold and this fall will be her first not preparing for class. She may not be spending 2017 in a dorm room, but Ravyn has certainly spent her time productively while studying within the budding Chicago Renaissance. In fact, she split time this spring wrapping up her senior year doing homework on the road while serving as direct support for fellow hometown artist Noname’s national sold-out tour. Her summer was spent in the studio with frequent collaborators Monte Booker and Smino who - along with several other artists - makeup the formidable collective, Zer0 Fatigue; This fall she’ll join Smino on SZA’s Ctrl tour.

While her former classmates settle into freshman year, Lenae will be slipping on her moon shoes and preparing to take off. Where she goes from here remains to be seen, but it’ll most certainly be on her terms. @ravynlenae soundcloud.com/ravynlenaesounds

MEET THE PRODUCERS JAE5

PHOTO BY THE NATURALIST

“GOOD MUSIC INFLUENCES ME AS A PRODUCER. ANYTIME I HEAR SOMETHING GOOD OR SOMETHING AMAZING, IT INSPIRES ME TO CREATE”

Firstly, briefly introduce yourself.

My name is JAE5 and I’m a 24 year old producer from East London.

I started producing 10 years ago when I was sent back to Ghana, using my computer and the software FruityLoops to learn.

What would you say are the most popular beats you’ve created?

The most popular beat I’ve created is J Hus’ ‘Did You See’.

What is your favourite song you’ve worked on and why?

‘Common Sense’ the single, because I got to play with live instruments. It was the first time I’ve really worked closely with a band. Having to merge the two worlds between computer and live was a challenge, but it was the most interesting song, which I enjoyed. I was interested in seeing how it all came together.

Do you think that production software becoming more accessible to just anyone is a good or bad thing for music?

It’s a blessing that production software has become easily accessible to people. Because for someone like me, who acquired it first for free on a demo and used bootleg ones for the longest time, I learnt how to work on being able to acquire them easily. If I didn’t have them then I probably wouldn’t be producing because I didn’t go out and buy it straight out.. I bought it recently but when I first started and was learning, I was learning on demos.

What influences you as a producer?

Good music influences me as a producer; anytime I hear something good or something amazing, it inspires me to create. I want to know how the person did it, I want to be able to do it and do it in my own way.

How did you begin making music? Was it a particular influence or circumstance?

I began making music from both influence and circumstance.

Boredom definitely kicked in, especially when I was in Ghana as there wasn’t much to do. I began DJ-ing.. after a while, I wanted to create what I was playing so I got the software, trying to re-make what I would play as a DJ. So it was both influence and circumstance.

What draws you to creating instrumentals?

People’s reactions to music, beats, instruments is what draws me to keep creating. When you go into a club and your beat plays and the bass kicks in and people’s faces screw up, their emotions and the way their mood changes is amazing, it’s the best feeling in the world. It’s like you have control over them.

Were you ever involved in any other musical projects besides what you are doing right now?

I originally started on radio, so I was doing radio broadcasting for a company called 8media, went into music production with 8media, teaching music production. I then went into another production

company called JOAT [Jack of All Trades] where I started making music and eventually branched out and did my own thing.

What, for you, is the perfect beat?

The perfect beat for me is a beat that’s musical, complicated to create but very simple to listen to. Not everyone can do it but it doesn’t sound like it’s hard to produce.

Can you tell us about any projects coming up in 2017?

I have my own personal projects coming soon.. I’ve got songs with people but I can’t confirm anything until they’re out. I’m not a person that likes to speak on what I’m working on until it’s actually out. You can have songs that can sit on the computer for 5 years.. So in terms of future projects, sorry, it’s out when it’s out lol. @JAE5_

MEET THE PRODUCERS

SIR SPYRO PHOTOS BY THE NATURALIST

Firstly, briefly introduce yourself.

I’m Spryo, I’m from East London and I’ve been DJ-ing for the best part of 20 years. I started producing records around the year 2000 inspired by jungle, garage and the early grime sound.

What would you say are the most popular beats you’ve created?

‘Topper Top’, ‘Big For Your Boots’, ‘Ten Out Of Ten’, ‘Scary’, ‘Side By Side’.

What is your favourite song you’ve worked on and why?

‘Scary’. We made that track in RedBull Studios. I didn’t even know that it was possible to start a vibe on one day, and for the video to be shot and record to get released the next… Not literally, but it all happened so quickly! I work pretty fast but Stormzy showed me that there was someone out there who was working faster and moving quicker than me!

Do you think that production software becoming more accessible to just anyone is a good or bad thing for music?

Couldn’t really answer this, but I suppose people will get their hands on what they need to and do with it what they can!

What influences you as a producer?

Skepta. Before he was even spitting, his production was mad; it’s always been mad. When I started hearing his tunes for the first time as a DJ, his sound was grime but it was different!

What draws you to creating instrumentals?

The challenge of trying to bring a vibe without an MC, but still capturing that energy if you know what I mean.

Were you ever involved in any other musical projects besides what you are doing right now?

Yeah I worked with a lot of different MCs over the years and obviously had the Grime Show on Rinse FM for the last decade which has been sick.

What, for you, is the perfect beat?

‘Mad Night’ by Joker.

Can you tell us about any projects coming up in 2017?

I’m working on my own project entitled ‘Sounds Of The Sir’ - coming end of 2017 or the top of 2018.

@SIRSPYRO soundcloud.com/djsirspyro

“I WORK PRETTY FAST BUT STORMZY WAS WORKING EVEN FASTER THAN ME”

Photos by Nick Greseth Words by Darius Pleasant A Nomad by definition is someone who is never home, or thought not to have any roots to a particular place. Often, they are discredited with claims that say their lives lack true motivation and may even be said to have no direction. In America, the arts are seldom held in such high regard, i.e.

Donald Trump’s defunding of the National Endowments for the Arts. This ultimately results in the relegating of the nation’s many creatives to a lesser category. As per the case with most general statements though, there are some who still fall below the standard; and then there’s Allan Kingdom.

First becoming a force in the St. Paul music scene back in 2011, Allan began to build a buzz. After working with thestand4rd, and other emerging artists in Minneapolis, his distinct voice was noticed by the likes of Kanye West. Since then he’s been no stranger to the hip hop world, dropping his fourth full-length project, which doubles as his debut studio album. His album, titled ‘Lines’, is about coming-of-age; structuring your career and personal life around what truly matters to you most and being persistent despite all of life’s challenges. Allan proudly states, “I would say, if you asked me, this is the best music I’ve put out so far,” putting an emphasis on his progress. For some, it’s rare to hear such words of humility escape from a 23-yearold’s mouth, but for Allan that modesty is authentic, fostered by a wisdom that comes with experience.

“I’m always doing better than I was before,” he reveals, “I feel like that’s the best gauge you can have: it’s not even how high you climb, as long as you were doing a little better than before.”

You can hear that satisfaction within the the album’s very first track; his verses full of confident yet scattered vocals.

Specifically on ‘Lines’, he’s aiming for “perfection” but he’s also trying to recognise his current successes. To Allan, having a solid foundation is what breeds that success. It’s also essential in order to keep up, he says, “I work best when I’m 360°, all the way around good.”

It’s that type of mentality that determines all other facets of his life, let alone his music career. Whether that’s the crew he surrounds himself with, the way he views distinct situations, or even just the way he feels, you have to consider the full picture.

“I’m not just looking at one thing,” he says.

Some artists fail to do this and encounter personal issues, never making it past their first mixtape. As Allan states, talent never fades, but circumstances can most definitely change. He explains, “People who “fall off” or never reach their potential, it’s never because they lost their talent, it’s the other shit in life that holds them back.”

Some artists fail to do this and encounter personal issues, never making it past their first mixtape. As Allan states, talent never fades, but circumstances can most definitely change. He explains, “People who “fall off” or never reach their potential, it’s never because they lost their talent, it’s the other shit in life that holds them back.”

“IF YOU ASKED ME, THIS IS THE BEST MUSIC I’VE PUT OUT SO FAR.”

“AS YOU’RE HAPPY AND HAVING FUN WHILE YOU’RE DOING IT - THAT’S THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS.” Within the past decade, we’ve seen that same prophecy come true, whether it be with Lil Wayne, who continues to face issues with his physical health, or earlier instances with Brooklyn’s own Charles Hamilton, who publicly dealt with battles regarding his mental health.

Artists “falling off” is not new in hip hop, and frankly, it can be upsetting.

The recent rise in self-care and monitoring one’s own health is a positive change, especially for artists who are seldom home and on the road all the time. That’s why it’s important to remind yourself of where you came from and why you started on the path in the first place. Allan remarks assuredly, “You gotta be passionate about it.”

It may be tough to try and keep all of life’s problems in order as neatly as possible, but when making music, it’s important to remember to let go sometimes. “I feel like as long as you’re happy and having fun while you’re doing it that’s the only thing that matters.” Right now, it seems as if that’s exactly what Allan is trying to do.

For now, he is leaving Minneapolis for Los Angeles with some of his closest friends, and label mates, Novyon and Drelli. He’s deleted his Twitter and for him, it’s about enjoying the moment. In regards to new music, he has this to say, “I’m happy with that album [‘Lines’]. It felt like I was reaching a place where I was more comfortable with my voice, more comfortable with myself and just coming into my own skin.”

He adds, “Let me enjoy it for a bit and relish it.”

Right now Allan’s just doing what’s best for him, not getting too complacent and trying to enjoy his moment. “I feel like on a personal level, I’m at my personal best; I would say that.”

Out on road, you never know what might happen next, and when you can, you have to remind yourself about how far you’ve come; Keeping a gauge on your progress helps keeps you aware, keeping aware helps keep you honest and being cognisant of all those facets of your life, helps keeps you sane. @ ALLANKNGDM soundcloud.com/AllanKingdom

PHOTOS BY VINCENT CHAPTERS WORDS BY ANASTASIA BRUEN

With his lyrical savagery and flow, Skrapz could soundtrack a cage fight; the Harlesden rapper possesses the musical energy of combat and success. With an impressive batch of mixtapes under his belt, including ’80’s Baby’ and the original, ‘Skrapz Is Back’, October sees the release of his new album, the follow up to 2015’s ‘The End of the Beginning’. Combine the endless amount of material he’s created as a member of SLK and Church Road’s Ice City Boys movement and you begin to understand the force of Skrapz.

than talk loud. I can express myself through music easier, I find it easy to express myself through writing. A lot of rappers will go into the studio and be able to express themselves through freestyling their verses, whereas I have to write before. All of my music stems from ideas and emotions that I’ve experienced and written down, not from freestyling.” Skrapz says aside from emotions and ideas, his music is formed from personal experiences, “Things I’m going through, the places I’m trying to get to... For example me wanting to be successful in general in the whole music thing.

Walking into the Church Road estate we’re I wouldn’t say it day to day in a conversation but meeting in for the photo shoot, you get the sense in my music, I can express it.” that if we weren’t guests of Skrapz, we wouldn’t be welcome long. Any hostility from locals Writing to channel essence and truth has been evaporates once I’m in the company of Skrapz consist throughout Skrapz’s career. He has an and his entourage. Neither loud, nor quiet, his extensive collection of work, yet this is his first energy is one of constant observance. Wandering interview. It has as much to do with staying honest further in the estate, we leave behind the squad to the music as it does with the fact that Skrapz that’s gravitated around us and Skrapz and I sit has one true form of expression, his bars. “I’m down to speak; his lap loaded up with smoking inspired by a lot of things day to day, I wouldn’t paraphernalia. say governmental things, but people around me, my surroundings, people in similar positions to me, He’s fully aware of his intense presence, stating, what they’ve achieved, similar artists who have “You see, me as a person, I’m not very outspoken. managed to turn their life around. Those things I keep myself to myself, I observe and listen rather inspire me. Even in different countries, it’s

worldwide, it’s not just music, they could be a footballer, a drummer, they could be anything but to see people make the transition from one way of life to another; that’s inspiring.” He continues to think about his music and how he works, calmly explaining, “You see me, when it comes to rules and regulations set by the government, like you must do X, Y, Z, I’m very against all that; I just move by self belief. If you believe you can do something, no one can tell you, ‘you can’t’. You don’t have to go down the path that they said, to achieve your goals, you’ve just got to do what feels right in yourself, to get where you’re going, by any means possible. When I see people that have been through similar situations and they’ve come up, that they’ve become what they intended to be, those things inspire me.”

At this point in the interview, the wind has picked up and Skrapz is having difficulty rolling. My gold glitter notebook becomes multi-purpose, transformed into a wind barricade. Sheer determination and shiny stationary are the only things preventing the decimation of the joint Skrapz has been preparing since we sat down. But - with a shout out to hard spine notebooks worldwide - it’s rolled and ready. With an inhale, Skrapz delves further into what constructs his vision, acknowledging, “I’m setting myself out to be very successful in regards to everything, not just through the music. Music to me is like a stepping stone into other paths. It’s the first step I had to take to make the transition from my other lifestyle. It’s a stepping stone that I intend to use to help other people in similar situations to me, in anyway I can. When I’m in a position where I can help them.”

With his deep voice, he explains how his music has come to represent a strain of masculine independence.

Skrapz recognises this saying, “Day to day, when people approach me, I get a lot of people saying my music motivates them.” He sounds surprised by this, not due to doubting his talent, but because of his extreme humility. He goes on to explain, “When I’m writing, it’s not intentionally to motivate, just recognition of a personal experience or things happening around me. But my story itself seems to motivate people and I think it’s what I was talking about before, to see someone from a similar background and lifestyle turn their life around; it’s inspiring. I think anyone going through hard times or even good times, they can take things from my music. I don’t know if it’s necessarily going to be motivation, but there’s going to be something for everyone to take and apply to their own [life].”

I ask Skrapz about the identity he puts into his music, the elements of self that form an ideal of him to everyone else.

He pauses and responds, “Do you know what? That’s a funny question because when people meet me and have a conversation with me, they’re like, ‘Yo, I would have thought you would have been a lot more aggressive’.

But my thing is, If I’m cool with someone or if I’ve just met you, you have no need to see an aggressive side to me. Some people, they’ve got an image they’re trying to portray. If they’re rapping about a certain thing, they feel like they’ve got to live up to what it is they’re talking about. But me, everything I do is genuine. I’m saying, if me and you don’t have any issues, you won’t see a [bad] side of me. But if we’re not cool, then it’s a totally different sight, I think I portray that in my music. A lot of people say I’m very humble, I’m not gassed, I’m not loud, I’m just chilled. In my music, I think you can tell I’m just trying to do my thing, I’m not glamourising a certain life even though I’ve been through certain things.”

“A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY I’M VERY HUMBLE, I’M NOT GASSED, I’M NOT LOUD, I’M JUST CHILLED”

When thinking about his future identity, Skrapz states that he believes those ideals will look like the complete article. He clarifies, “If you’ve followed my story or music, then in the future, everything I’ve said I’m trying to achieve, by then I should have achieved it. I don’t know how you would perceive me after that. Anyone who says they’re going to do something and they actually go and do it, you’ve got to respect that. Like Jay Z, it’s only when you see where he is now and you look back at his whole story that you can appreciate what he’s been through and what he was saying. He’s probably exceeded where he thought he was going to get to, but it was all in the plan. It’s not like it just happened and he was just saying things, years ago. He’s actually in that position now.” I ask Skrapz if he thinks there will be a greater appreciation for him as an artist and individual, when he’s reached where he aims to be, to which he responds, “Yeah, there definitely should be, as I’ll be living proof to anyone coming up that it can work.”

On collaborating with online platforms, Skrapz is aware that it’s the currency of communication in music right now. He acknowledges, “I feel like [the Internet] is very beneficial, I don’t think you need the record labels and everything right now, you can get it on your own. You can reach millions of people by picking up your phone pressing a few buttons and then something is shared into the world. If you’re prepared to do the groundwork - and there’s a lot of groundwork to it. I don’t know how it is for artists coming into it with these appliances already, it must be a lot easier. When I started doing music, that was grime and it was years ago, the rap side of things [was] 2008, 2009.

We were printing CD’s, we were travelling handing out the CD’s, just for people to hear it. Social media is definitely beneficial to any

“I’LL BE LIVING PROOF TO ANYONE COMING UP THAT IT CAN WORK”

line of work, not just musicians. You can advertise and get work viewed by people in the space of minutes and seconds.”

It’s with his final exhale on the joint that very nearly blew away, that I ask him about the feeling of Anthony Joshua entering the ring to his song. For his April 2017 fight with Wladimir Klitschko, Joshua came out to ‘They Ain’t Ready’. Coyly he answers. “That was crazy, that was a mad feeling, I was at the fight. When I was looking around, some of the crowd were into it, people I know would never have heard that song on a day to day basis. People wanted to know who and why and started checking me out and it boosted up my fanbase.”

He recognises that, “A lot of people thought that’s why I started my new campaign, but it just kinda fell into place. I’ve always been writing, even though I was quiet on the music front for a little bit, I was still making material and in the studio; I just wasn’t releasing anything. So when I decided, I’m gonna put out my album towards the end of the year, I didn’t know about the Antony Joshua thing. I just decided I was gonna shoot my first video, I did the video for ‘Enemies’, we went to Barcelona to shoot the video, all of that was in place before the AJ fight, so when he came out to my music, it was just a bonus to the whole campaign, it wrapped it up nicely.”

It’s this idea of ‘wrapping up nicely’ that Skrapz continues to move with through all phases of his career. With every chapter of his career, he ties these narratives together to form a fluid and raw account of his life.

His next release will certifiably be nothing short of fiercely perceptive commentary and intrinsic truths. Bars and humanity alike.

Skrapz is the embodiment of a warrior. @csbscrapz

A PERSONAL DIARY DETAILING THE UNDERGROUND HIP HOP SCENE IN SOUTH KOREA, TOKYO AND HONG KONG. PHOTOS + WORDS BY YASSMINE BENALLA

Dragon Town Trap House event at XXX Gallery

My knowledge of hip hop in Asia, before travelling to Hong Kong, South Korea and Tokyo, went as far as Keith Ape’s viral hit ‘It G Ma’, and so I landed expecting to see packs of hypebeasts wearing clinical masks. However ‘on trend’ I felt I was in London, after travelling to Asia I soon realised I didn’t know sh*t (or at least didn’t have the courage to experiment with clothing in the way I do now). I arrived in Hong Kong wearing my Reebok Fury Pumps only to realise this trend had already circulated Asia for the past two years.

After spotting an elderly man practice tai chi in air max 95s, I knew Asia’s shoe game was different.

Within a month I felt like a local. I’d found my top rice noodle spots around Kowloon. If I wasn’t at work, I was on the bus riding through the city at night listening to Frank’s new album and taking in the skyline views. I’d often stop at the basketball court outside my apartment block and ask the local boys if I could play. The evenings were warm, everyone was chilled and I’d stopped surveying time in a sense. I was nothing but free during my year in Hong Kong.

My first interaction with the underground music ‘scene’ was at YetiOut’s MACHINEDRUM event.

DJs on the night included CYBER69 of Russia and Arthur Yeti playing back 2 back with Leo to end the night. After being stood at the bar and then hearing them mix a couple of BBK tracks together, I was sold. Couldn’t stop following them to different events ever since.

XXX Gallery was my new Visions (London). The grungy club/gallery was located in an industrial district on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. The film screenings held at the gallery were well attended.

Films ranged from George Orwell’s 1984 to Space Jam, entry was free and you could bring your own food and drink so it was a good casual set up to precede any late-night events.

I was lucky to be around in Hong Kong during the end of 2016/early 2017 as two soon-to-be dominant collectives had formed and began hosting regular hip hop events at XXX Gallery.

Mean Girls Club:Photo by Kylie Lee

Dragon Town Trap House event at XXX Gallery

The ‘Dragon Town Trap House’ consisted of the WILD$TYLE rap crew and Tedman Lee, a resident DJ. Their policy was ‘trap music only’ and so all of a sudden these young kids were exposed to a new genre of American trap, which was foreign to so many of them. We were then introduced to the ‘Mean Gurls Club’ in January 2017. The all-female collective came with a similar vibe to London’s ‘Pussy Palace’ and ‘BOSSY LDN’ – we saw lots of pink, female DJs remixing trap beats and clapping back at the usual male-dominant panel of DJs.

WILD$TYLE Records performing at XXX Gallery

The formation of productive collectives like the Mean Gurls Club of Hong Kong and Bae Tokyo as well as the more dominant collectives across Asia like YetiOut has worked as an enabler, bridging the gap between overseas artists by both enhancing additional exposure to UK talent as well as introducing more niche genres of music still in development, such as Tokyo Grime and Korean Trap back over to the UK. Both London and these hot spots across Asia (Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul) support and benefit each other in their individual relations with hip hop and it’s culture.

I asked James of XXX Gallery if he had any idea as to why people across Hong Kong gravitate so much to hip hop, to which he responded:

‘I believe that hip hop culture is part of popular culture which is fundamentally black culture. It is felt and heard all around the world. It manifests itself in many forms, in many industries both directly and indirectly. I feel that hip hop culture has always had a rebellious quality, not unlike punk culture of 1970s U.K. and its something that the youth in Hong Kong embrace as its become a vehicle for them to channel their emotions and generally express themselves. Not to mention the “cool factor” that comes with hip hop.’

Once I’d managed to find hip hop culture in Hong Kong, I felt like I’d never left home.

Bae Tokyo: Photos by Takaakai Sano

Harajuku, Tokyo

Double Calpperz set at The Henz Club in Seoul, South Korea: Photo by 백윤범

Mean Gurls Club event at XXX Gallery

YetiOut at their Machinedrum event

Mean Gurls Club event at XXX Gallery: Photo by Kylie Lee

YetiOut

PHOTOS BY THURSDAY. WORDS BY DONNA-CLAIRE CHESMAN

ELLA MAI HAS TURNED HER TRANSATLANTIC EXPERIENCE INTO THREE LUSH, CONFESSIONAL, EMPOWERING DJ MUSTARD PRODUCED RNB EPS. INSPIRED BY THE RAWNESS AND HONESTY OF LAURYN HILL, ELLA MAKES SURE THAT EVERY TRACK SHE WRITES LEAVES NO QUESTIONS UNASKED. NOW, PEOPLE FAR BEYOND THE WEST COAST ARE LISTENING. Ella grew up in South London and began her foray into the arts as a seven year-old ballet dancer. Her earliest music memories take place in her mum’s car, where both the CD and cassette versions of ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ soundtracked their car rides. Couple that with the endless stream of music Ella encountered at her grandma’s house and you to see the roots of the 22 year-old RnB-star-in-themaking’s passion begin to form.

How does a London girl begin to break in the American music industry, and link up with DJ Mustard? By having a penchant for hard work and a pack of Instagram covers often more sonically interesting than the originals. Ella explains that she and Mustard met in New York, in 2015. “He saw one of my Instagram covers, and at that time I had no situation, I was just singing on Instagram. He saw the cover and told me that he wanted to work with me. He drove down from Philadelphia to do a session. We made three songs that night and he was super excited.”

Though Ella couldn’t imagine signing to his label, from the very first night their creative chemistry was immediately palpable. Compared to a few uncomfortable studio sessions she’s had, “with Mustard, it was so organic and he was asking me what I see for myself in one year and in five years.

He was genuinely interested in me and the songs we made, and wanted me to come to LA.” Mustard’s interest turned into flying Ella back and forth to LA for countless studio sessions. She finds it funny, spending so much time in LA at the end of 2015 and into 2016, but barely seeing any of the city. She happily tells me, “I came here and spent all my time in the studio - being in the studio is my

favourite place to be.” Her tireless work ethic was paying off quickly, with her signing announced in January of 2016. She released the first of her threepart EP series, ‘TIME’, that February.

Relocating to LA in August of 2016, Ella admits that “it’s been such a quick process, I sometimes forget how quick it actually has been.”

Recalling her first studio session Ella remembers her jitters, “that very first session, I wouldn’t say that I was nervous, but I was apprehensive because I didn’t know what to expect. He didn’t make me feel like I needed to perform, I was super comfortable.

That helped me remain calm and make the songs.”

Making it clear she can always come to him if she feels stuck during a session, Mustard also gives Ella near-total creative control over her music.

We’re now coming up on her first anniversary of her living in LA. Though Ella’s mentioned that she feels a sense of home working with other UK artists, she’s found herself in Los Angeles as well. Working out of Mustard’s studio has allowed her to meet nearly everyone. Her time on tour with Kehlani had the same effect, with the added bonus that Ella was able to see first hand how well her music connects with her fans.

“Tour was unbelievable! It was my first tour, so I didn’t know what to expect and it was a long tour. As an opener, you don’t really know what you’re going to get from the crowds every night. There wasn’t one show where I didn’t at least captivate some people.

Some people knew who I was before the show as well, which I thought was incredible. I know at every single show there were people who didn’t know me before, that were looking up my name while I was on stage.”

“After the show I’d go to the merch table to meet them and take pictures. The stories I got from people, about how I got them through this breakup or that they’re going to search up all my music, were amazing.” In a way, the transition to LA life mirrored her earlier transition from London to Jamaica, Queens. Moving to New York at age twelve, and staying in the states until her high school graduation, Ella learned how to keep her head down and adapt.

“New York was such an eye opener for me. When you asked about my early years in London, I grew up with all the same people. We all went to the same school and lived in the same area. I don’t want to say it was a box, but it was very the same every day. Moving to New York was like being thrown into this pond that was completely different culture-wise. I was unfamiliar with how stuff worked, how to get around, everything.

Being in New York helped me realize that there’s more to life than what you do every day and what you’re used to. You have to make the conscious decision to think “I haven’t done this before, but it could help me.”

Though she spent her formidable, soul-searching teen years in New York, she didn’t pursue music while living in Queens: “I shied away from any other reason to make myself stand out. Everyone was obsessed with my accent and the way I talked, so they would ask me to speak all the time. I didn’t want any more attention on myself, because I was in this completely new place.”

Ella did make a quick singing debut on graduation day, though, stunning everyone just a month before she moved back home to England. Her five years in New York “were crucial to being able to put together the British culture with the American culture,” allowing Ella to fuse them together adding another layer of personality to her music and blistering storytelling.

There is a gripping certainty in her music, because Ella leaves everything on the track. With the knock-out titles of ‘TIME’, ‘CHANGE’, and ‘READY’, she allows her listeners to “interpret them however they want. From listening to the music, you can tell what my meaning of it was, but I wanted people to listen to the music and get their meaning also.” But don’t mistake Ella’s thoughtful approach to her music as a sign that she is too calculated. She is an artist driven by the organic nature of making art, by capturing a moment in time with as much honesty as possible.

Though her three-part introduction to the world was recorded nearly all at once, “in the space of the end of 2015 and start of 2016, when [she] was going back and forth to LA,” Ella was more focused on making themusic first. Parsing out the finer details once the songs were fully formed ballads came afterwards.

Breaking down the making of the EPs, Ella explains: “Mustard gave me a whole folder of beats and told me to pick whatever I wanted, and we just went with it. Right before I signed, we put together this little breakdown of EPs, because I had over forty songs.”

Determining which tracks made it onto which project followed a similar course, “We’d sit down in the studio and go through all the songs. I’d pick out my favourite, Mustard would pick out his favourite, and whoever else was in the room would pick out their favourites, and every single time we had the same ones. We just knew.

We didn’t want to think too much into it, because when

“I’M STILL FROM LONDON, EVEN IF I DON’T SOUND LIKE IT WHEN I SING”

you overanalyse things get tricky.” Their instincts were spot on.

If not for the fact that Ella and Mustard are supremely talented, they also “had lived with the songs for a while.” Seeming to have a knack for getting it right the first time, Ella tells me: ’10,000 Hours’ was on ‘CHANGE’, but that was one of the first songs I’d recorded with Mustard when he flew me to LA.” As far as her transatlantic experience, it had always been a part of the plan. According to Ella, breaking as an RnB star in Britain comes at the price of immediately being flipping into a pop star, but pop is not where her heart is. Though there’s more competition in America, Ella welcomed the added challenge in light of not having to change her sound to fit England’s music scene. Breaking America first also has the added benefit of returning to London as something of a hometown heroine.

“With England, if you break America first, England will automatically latch on. Especially when they find out the person is British, because it’s like we’re representing home. Some people still don’t know I’m actually English, because when I sing you can’t really tell. And I’m working in America, and I’m signed to an American label, so I can see why it’s easily misinterpreted. I think I’m getting there now, where people are realising that I’m from England and doing my thing in America.”

Even if fans have a hard time figuring out Ella Mai is a British singer, they’re quickly met with her spoken word interludes, where her accent is front and centre. Ella explains that the interludes serve a dual purpose, “One: I just like to tell a story anyway, even though the music tells a story.

The same way the titles help listeners see things my way and their way, that’s what the interludes are also doing. I know those spoken interludes are very relatable, but they’re also there to tell people that I am British. I’m still from London, even if when I sing I don’t sound like it. I want people to know I am from London and I’m proud of it. I’ve had people even ask me who I got to do the interludes and they’re surprised when they find out that it’s just me.”

When it comes to where Ella sees herself going from ‘READY’, a full-length project is on her mind. While “these three EPs have been a strong introduction to who I am, and I don’t think there will be any more EPs,” Ella Mai is looking at putting together a full body of work and going out on the road on her own tour. @ellamai soundcloud.com/itsellamai

“I CAME HERE AND SPENT ALL MY TIME IN THE STUDIO - BEING IN THE STUDIO IS MY FAVOURITE PLACE TO BE.”

UK FUSION The Hybrid Genre Making More Than Sound Waves

PHOTOS BY THE NATURALIST WORDS BY ANASTASIA BRUEN UK Grime and Afrobeats. Two strictly opposing genres. One, saturated by the gritty tales and brutal bass lines of inner city life; the other, a movement of percussive celebration. Despite the contention of the originating environments, Britain is witnessing a compelling merge of Afrobeats and Grime, into the ‘UK Fusion’ sound. A vibe of dance-inducing beats, half sung, half spat verses all condensed into the reigning fusion of the UK’s current sound-scape. Music that has facilitated the BBQ-ing, balancing out and ‘backing up’ of our most recent summers. A sound that’s incited more than just a good-times-allround, Wray & Nephew-sipping-soundtrack.

The original term ‘Afrobeat’, is far removed from what we’ve come to understand of the Afrobeats sound today. Ambassador of the seventies ideal of Afrobeat music, West African artist Fela Kuti, maintained a sound embodied by political outcries.

His saxophone and the belief that in music, lay revolution.

His music illustrated the power in human connectivity and union. With contemporary Afrobeats intensely linked to West African pop, a separation builds between the original and the developed energy of the music.

To some extent connecting factors between the revolutionary and celebratory sounds have been put into play. In 2014 Fela Kuti’s son, Femi Kuti, lit the young generational torch with an old flame, featuring on Nigerian artist, Wizkid’s track, ‘Jaiye Jaiye’. In doing so, he invested in the next generation’s creative expressions of African identity and the sonic African diaspora.

Meanwhile in the UK, artists were developing the abrasive sound of grime. With focus on social commentary and urban inner city life, grime as a music form reflected the environment it lyrically challenged. One of the forefathers of grime, Skepta, played a fundamental role in the merging of Afrobeats and grime with his verse on Wizkid’s 2015 track ‘Ojuelegba’.

Skepta’s rhymed...

‘WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL, BEING AFRICAN WAS A DISS SOUNDS LIKE YOU NEED HELP SAYING MY SURNAME, MISS TRIED TO COMMUNICATE BUT EVERYDAY IS LIKE ANOTHER EPISODE OF EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS...

I HAD TO TELL MY STORY CAUSE THEY’D RATHER SHOW YOU BL ACK KIDS WITH FLIES ON THEIR FACES ON THE TELEVISION’ In those few bars, Skepta did something monumental. His words highlighted an unspoken misrepresentation, bringing to the forefront of our attention a dismissal of heritage and human identity. Skepta’s bars, along with the uplifting drum line of the song, revealed a tone of determination, challenging stereotypes with his commitment to celebrate heritage.

For centuries, London has been a melting pot of culture, with UK artists developing upon residual sounds of the city. West African Afrobeats being no different, British based artists such as Fuse ODG, Mista Silva, NSG and Vibe Squad have been crucial in energising the UK with the sounds of Afrobeats, along with radio DJ’s like Capital Xtra’s DJ Abrantee or Radar Radio’s Afro B. International singer and song writer Seyi Shay, identified with this collection of influences, artists and DJ’s, explaining to Viper, “Being born and raised in Tottenham, London, I got to see first hand how Afrobeats infiltrated the UK grime scene. A lot of rising artists were African or Caribbean and we all used to bump into each other in the studio just recording demos and experimenting with African or Caribbean melodies, rhythm and lyrics.”

Shay continued to acknowledge that it was through working with producer Harmony and the strong influence from his Nigerian church that helped with the fusion of this sound. She noted that the producer, “also made the record ‘Say Yes’ for Michelle Williams. This was an old Nigerian church song originally but it went global with Afrobeats in the reproduction. So you see we’ve been on it for time! Ever since then, I’ve watched how everyone has jumped on the vibe and really just embraced the culture and sound. It’s amazing to see.”

However, this recent development of the sound, courtesy of work such as J Hus’ hugely celebrated, ‘Common Sense’ album and releases from Belly Squad, Abra Cadabra and Kojo Funds, has activated the movement of something incredibly uniting. In navigating and utilising Afro-Caribbean sonic heritage with London narrative, the hybridity of ‘UK Fusion’ music has not only combatted negative images of African culture, it’s necessitated a state of absolute celebration. Whether it’s a hip movement, or a hook you can’t get out of your head, UK Fusion has saturated London with the sound, energy and vision of inescapable positive communication and identification.

Belly Squad’s, Ty Jombla spoke to Viper, acknowledging, “Grime is a part of London and the culture of the UK today, it represents us, we’ve grown up with it. As well as African and Caribbean influences playing a part from where ourselves and our families originate from, it feels normal for the two to be mixed,” Fellow Belly Squad member Max continued, “Artists have referenced their heritage in lyrics for time in both grime and UK hip hop.

It’s a mix of our cultures, what we hear in our households or gatherings, we’re able to enjoy both and mix the two.”

In her 2000 essay, ‘Western Music and Its Others: Difference, Representation and Appropriation In Music’, music theorist Georgina Born discusses how Philip V. Bohlman stated, “There is a need to acknowledge that music can variably both construct new identities and reflect existing ones. Sociocultural identities are not simply constructed in music; there are

“EVOLUTION OF MUSIC ALLOWS YOU TO HEAR THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE, THE VOICE OF THE WORLD TO BE EXACT. THE WORLD IS ASKING TO BE MORE UNITED AND MOST TIMES MUSIC IS THE CATALYST THAT THE PEOPLE ARE ASKING FOR”

prior identities that come to be embodied dynamically in musical cultures which then also form the reproduction of those identities - no passive process of reflection.”

This very notion of creating an active process of reflection, illustrates the beauty of what is growing intensely on our London sound-waves.

It’s the union of identities, crises and histories to the umbilical cord of cultural connection.

Stemming from the mergence of grime critique narrative and the joy-inducing rhythms of Afrobeats, there’s a resilient form of celebration commencing. DJ Ecool, artist and tour DJ for Afrobeats star, Davido, defined these ideals, acknowledging,“Music is like everything else, at some point it must evolve. Evolution of music allows you to hear the voice of the people, the voice of the world to be exact. The world is asking to be more united and most times music is the catalyst that the people are asking for.

Take the 1980’s and 1990’s for example, when African Americans felt oppressed in the American system; it was expressed with music by way of rap. It’s no different today, we are all more motivated to be global citizens and music, once again, has become our way to communicate that.”

All sound interpretations aside, disregarding differentiating artist area codes - or continental ones for that matter - if this development of music shows us anything, it’s that this hybrid genre is neither concluded or completely expanded. It is in fact, a strain of music emitting a very intrinsic essence of our human selves. In his 2012 book, ‘Hip Hop Africa: New African Music and a Globalising World’, writer, Lloyd Bradley, recognises that “entertainment of any kind can be used to promote humanistic objectives such as inter cultural understanding, co-operation, social integration and inter racial as well as inter- ethnic respect and tolerance.”

With drums acting as its respiratory system.

Yoruba, Pidgin English and lyrical mastery, its heartbeat. It’s within the celebration of musicality and sound, a foundational notion of progression and universality, that UK Fusion is encompassing the basis of conscious ideals and human agenda; not too far from those of the revolutionary Mr Fela Kuti.

Chappelle skits on their hooks to abstract cartoon references. The most epic of which, ‘P. Sherman’, has a chorus made up entirely of the Sydney address that Nemo is eventually discovered at in Finding Nemo. Mind literally blown. For weeks I told anyone that would listen, marvelling at the genius, only to be asked how I could remember the address… like I’m the weird one?

PHOTOS BY SB.TN WORDS BY LILY MERCER WITH TWO MIXTAPES UNDER THEIR BELT, ‘DIVINE COUNCIL’ AND ‘DB$B’, THE GROUP ARE ON TRACK FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE. WITH HIS QUICK-WIT HUMOUR AND DOUBLE-TIME FLOW, $ILKMONEY WAS NOMINATED BY XXL FOR THEIR FRESHMEN 10TH SPOT AND IT WON’T BE LONG BEFORE THE WHOLE COUNCIL IS UP… There hasn’t been a group like Divine Council in a long time. Wait… scrap that, there has never been a group like Divine Council. The Virginia based foursome burst on the scene via a string of music videos, each as wildly unique as the last one. Part D4L, part Goodie Mob, they have just enough Internet-pop culture appeal for the Illroots crowd and just enough raucous wordplay to attract the “old heads.”

The quartet are the latest rap crew to change the landscape of rap, courtesy of the sub genre they’ve created, naming it “Audio Pastel.” Their inspirations are wide reaching, their co-signs are dipped in gold and their lyrics are just funny enough for you to forget that you’re offended. Don’t know what I’m talking about?

You might after you listen to $ilkmoney rap an entire song about mistreating your bitch, while referencing

The Lion King - it’s called ‘Decemba’ by the way.

Like many early fans of the group, I first came across Cyrax!, (call him the smooth one with the upbeat flow) when London producer, JD. Reid, showed me his ‘I Like’ video back in 2015. At the time, the track, and Cyrax himself, seemed like another strong contender in the rising Trap scene. But the more I explored the group, I realised that these guys had more to offer.

Listening to the way they blend the vocals and beats on songs like ‘Candid’, was reminiscent of the Cloud Rap era. The beats are usually produced by ICYTWAT, the only non-Virginia resident of the group. Based in Chicago, he’s the man responsible with crafting Divine Council’s solid sonic aura.

Their references are wide-ranging, from sampling Dave

But yeah, onto those gold-dipped co-signs… back in 2015, Erykah Badu tweeted, “I’m into #divinecouncil.” That moment was emotional enough, but then came the dream endorsement, a collaboration with Andre3000, when he remixed ‘Decemba’. He also directed the video for the remix, a cinematic love story ending with a shoot out. And before the group signed with L.A. Reid, Andre called in to express his support. $ilkmoney’s romantic side, contrasts beautifully with his humour. The video for his solo effort, ‘Dick In The Dope’ is two minutes of visual perfection as he falls asleep while smoking a blunt, only to wake up and discover that his weed is gone. Seconds later he discovers a feminine bag of weed cooking him breakfast.

They continue to act out a brief love affair, which ends with him passing the marijuana love of his life to the crew.

Their energy is insane. At the group’s London show in September 2017, two people shed blood before 9.30pm - I know because I was one of them. A bottle of water was thrown across the crowd during their first three minutes on stage. Our conversation kicks off on a surprising note as the group begin speaking highly of British food, which is often-trashed by touring musicians. Not this time… $ilk Money: [London] had some of the best food of the whole tour, I had a lot of bad food all over Europe. London I found an excellent

spot with the chicken burger, wings and the fries. That was lit as hell.

Viper: I’m glad you’re speaking good about London food because everyone says how bad it is! $: Nah I fuck with that shit! It remind me of the shit over [in the US]. You go to the corner store or see shit and they cook you a sandwich or some wings right quick. That shit dead remind me of some shit back home.

V: What’s the worst food you had in Europe? $: What was that place, they put the marina sauce on my burger. Copenhagen?

Copenhagen. Copenhagen wild the fuck out.

I got a burger and they put marinara sauce on the burger and it ruined the whole burger. It was disgusting, I almost threw up. I called the restaurant, they didn’t even answer. I left on the answer machine, “Yo suck my dick. Don’t be putting marinara sauce on the burgers.”

That burger was expensive as shit. It was disgusting.

V: What’s it like being able to tour so many countries in Europe so soon? $: I never thought we’d do some shit like that.

People don’t see that shit at all in their life and to be able to do it at such a fast pace and see it all at once, it’s exciting as hell. I forgot which place had the worst weed, Aarhus?

Them motherfuckers had some rat poison weed. They gave us a bag of weed and that shit looked like some green tea. They thought we was about to smoke it but there were so many seeds in it, I was like, “Hell nah!” The fucking promoter said the city’s known for rat poison weed.

V: Casually, like, “By the way, there’s some rat poison weed?” $: Yeah! Very casually, “home of the rat poison.”

‘I TOLD MY SHORTY NOT TO COME TO ONE OF OUR SHOWS. IF I’M A RANDOM PERSON THAT WASN’T USED TO STUFF LIKE THAT, NAH’

I was like, “What the fuck is this?” When we first got there, Taylor the DJ looked up, ‘How do you get weed in Aarhus’? It said, ‘Ask a Somalian guy’. I was like, I’m not gonna do that shit. That was crazy, they had the worst weed situation ever.

V: What’s the wildest shit that’s happened to you on tour so far? $: Paris? This is a long story but, me, Cyrax! and Taylor, T-Gut the DJ… I had this $1000 Supreme gift card that Andre[3000] had given me earlier this year and I was like, I’m gonna go to the Supreme store in Paris.” They’re having a Supreme drop that day - we didn’t even wait the line, we just cut in line, walked up there. I go to use [the card] and the guy’s like, ‘you can’t use it, because it’s in American money and you need euros. So I didn’t get anything from Supreme because apparently the gift card is in American. So I’m across the street, I’m not even on Supreme’s property anymore, we’re across the street shopping at another store. I don’t want nothing so I’m waiting outside with Cyrax!

As I’m waiting outside, some old white lady comes up to us and says, “Do you now anywhere I can get a good beer?” We’re like, “Nah” and this old lady says to us, “well maybe your parents know where to get a good beer from [laughs].” I was like, ‘what the fuck was that?’ I’m confused. I was like, “Bitch, I’m 21 years old.” She’s like, “Hey, it didn’t have to get like that, you didn’t have to call me that.” I was like, “Can you just leave me alone?” She’s like, “No I’m talking to you.” I was like, “Stop talking to me. Can you please just leave us alone?” She was like, “Noooooo, we’re human! We’re supposed to talk to people!” I was like, “Bitch leave me the fuck alone! Why the fuck are you bothering me? Take your raggedy ass down the block, find you a dick to suck or a beer to drink.” She’s still standing there so I said it one more time and she finally leaves. Then all of a sudden - this is where it gets wild the Supreme security guards that were guarding the line came over to us and said, “You guys have to get out of here.” The guy’s speaking straight French and I’m like, “I don’t speak that shit my nigga. Get out of my face, stop speaking that shit in my face.” He’s getting mad, he’s pointing at me, touching me, poking my chest, all this shit. They talking about, “Get off the block,” we called an Uber so we’re about to get the fuck up out of there. He’s talking about “Get off the block,” my nigga if I get off the block, my Uber’s not gonna know where I’m at! I’m not even on your property so I’m not going anywhere. Then I said, “You niggas is pussy!” They like, “Ooooohhh,” they mad now. They knew what that shit meant so now they’re mad. I turn and look to my right and see the security guards and I figure, as soon as I turn around to get in this Uber, y’all gone whoop my ass, that’s what’s gon’ happen. I didn’t say that out loud but that’s what I perceived in my mind. So as soon as the Uber showed up, I rocked the fuck out of the short nigga. I punched him in his nose four times. The other security guard, like a fucking bitch, grabs my hair. and starts pulling my hair. I just shook off that nigga and rocked him in the face and I stepped back. This nigga Cyrax! boxing these niggas up. I got my nigga T [Gut] boxing these niggas up. So it’s a brawl now. It’s three on three. We’re fucking these niggas up, and then four big ass white niggas came out of Supreme in security jackets, so we’re like, “we need to get the fuck out of here.” I’m fighting and as soon as I come to that realisation, I get punched in my nose. So we start walking down the block and they’re sort chasing us, shouting at us in French and all that. They was just fucking wild. We get all the way down the block, I just knocked on the window of the taxi and I’m like, “You ready to go?”

We just hopped in that motherfucker and went to the hotel.

V: Was that all before a show? $: Hell no, that was on our day off. We just went and saw the Eiffel Tower!

V: So a lot of blood was shed on tour, you got a body count? $: A good six niggas got laid out, a lot of niggas got out alive on that tour. It was crazy.

V: You have a lot of romantic songs, but do you think it’s safe for a guy to bring his girl to your shows? $: I mean, I would. I think I would and then I wouldn’t. I told my shorty not to come to one of our shows. If I’m a random person that wasn’t used to stuff like that, nah [you should] get out [of] the crowd. We throw

water, these niggas be jumping on motherfuckers and shit. I would hate for those niggas to jump on my bitch. I would fucking hate you niggas. Dousing my bitch with water, hell nah! I would hate us, now I know why a lot of people do. I wouldn’t bring my shorty to a Divine Council show. But I would say, bring your shorty to a Divine Council show.

V: $ilkmoney you were originally a fan of Divine Council and joined the group after wilding out at a show. $: I joined as a fan.

Cyrax!: That was the first show we ever had, this nigga was wilding out on stage with us. That shit was lit as fuck.

V: Would you recommend that to anyone else keen to get into rapping? $: How I did it, we all pulled up [to the show] together.

C: He wasn’t in Divine Council but we would chill and smoke together, we was in the same circle of friends. $: I didn’t even know any lyrics at the time, I didn’t know any songs. I was just on stage and felt the music and was like, this is lit as hell. I feel this shit. It was just some real dirty shit. I don’t know if I would recommend it, ‘cause I don’t think that would work with anyone else. It was a special occasion. I don’t think that could ever happen again, in any situation, ‘cause it was one of those things that fell into place. It just happened cus it was supposed to happen.

V: Which historical rap crew do you have most in common with? $: I wanna say Odd Future. OutKast [too] cus them niggas was just sonically different and physically different. The start of OutKast before they got so shiny and pimped out, they started rugged and dirty. [That’s] how we started out, in the corner store rapping and shit like that. A little bit of WuTang, the way Ghostface is so honest in his music.

How Ghostface can sit there and say shit like how he fucked his bitch on her period and it sound hard as fuck; I can say my dick ain’t that big in my songs and it sounds hard as a motherfucker cus it’s that real honesty.

V: Ghostface is the best, my favourite rapper. $: Ghostface is definitely one of my influences ‘cause there’s an honesty about that nigga and that’s what I try and do with my music. Just being as honest as possible, ‘cause I feel like a lot of niggas aren’t doing that.

V: Ghostface has always been funny as fuck, but that never compromises how good his music is. $: Same with you, your lyrics are funny as fuck, but the music is solid. How do you find the balance when bringing humour into your music?

We’re just naturally funny ass niggas, this is who we are. Behind the scenes, studio sessions, it’s funny as hell just how we working. I was thinking that, the last session we were out in LA. We were just all in there wilding and then as soon as the beat comes on, we snap into fire mode, going off and making hard ass shit. I guess that’s what makes us more incorporated. Sometimes we’re like, “fuck it, what if I said this?” And then I go in there and try it and see how it sounds. If that shit sounds hard as hell, we gon’ work that.

V: You’re the only group I know that have two big club tracks - one referencing Finding Nemo, the other Lion King. $: That’s lit as fuck. Disney need to cut me the motherfucking check. I feel like I’m the nigga that made them do Finding Dory. Nah I’m fucking with you. They should have put ‘P.Sherman’ in Finding Dory though, that would have been really crazy.

[To Cyrax!] You can hit the bong and still do this [interview] too! [ To Viper] I’m sorry, I wanna hit the bong and [Cyrax!’s] like, we’re doing this.

V: What are you bringing to rap that no one else is currently? $: Audio Pastel is our genre that we’ve created.

When you listen to our music, you hear our sounds and the words we say, it gives you a colour. It gives you a coloured visual and it doesn’t necessarily have to be the colour I see, it can be the colour you see. Our music is your mood ring. I feel like we’re bringing honesty, that’s what I’m trying to do, I’m not shy to say what the fuck I feel. I’m even trying to get more deep into that shit, explore the depths of music. One thing we’re bringing back to music is genuine love for it, fuck the money. This all I got. Music for the love for music. I love this shit, it’s all I have, it’s all I want.

V: You released your ‘DB$B’ project earlier this year, do you plan to drop an album soon? $: I’m not gon’ speak too much, we wanna keep it as a surprise. But we working on album shit, we working on a lot of shit. Each of us are working on individual shit while working on a council album. Just collecting a bunch of music and doing a bunch of things. I’ve got videos that I’ve done and haven’t released, I know people think I’m not doing shit, I’m doing everything! Just ‘cause I’m not putting it out right now, I’m waiting. Instead of dropping a song every time I record one, let a nigga make 10 or 15 right quick. I’m producing videos, getting a catalogue, an arsenal of shit. A lot of new shit is coming, we got some cool shit coming. We was just in LA and shit, with Tyler and shit.

V: I’d like to hear a track with you and G Herbo. $: Oh shit, that would be lit. I definitely fuck with G Herbo, that’s a real nigga. I definitely fuck with the era that he came out of, that whole Drill scene.

He’s definitely OG of that shit. There’s a lot of people I wanna work with. Still Badu, it hasn’t happened yet but I feel like getting a verse, we gotta work a little harder. I can’t wait to work with Curren$y. That’s gon’ be crazy, I just hope we smoking mad weed, getting it in. I wanna get into acting too, that’d be cool.

V: I can see you acting. $: I wanna work my way into doing Black cinema.

Like I love Black TV shows, I love Blackish, Power and all that shit, it’s so cool to me. I wanna be on that bitch doing some cool black shit. Someone that’s not me but is similar to me.

V: Are you still making cat nip merch $ilk? $ Yeah, I still wanna do it. Where I was growing it, I moved and I had to leave my plants. I couldn’t just keep carrying them with me, I miss those cat nip plants. The motherfuckers was growing, it was so potent. I was using like indoor hydro, shit that motherfuckers grow weed with, for fucking catnip

and it was thriving. It was so beautiful, it was gonna be like indoor catnip. These cats was gon’ be high as fuck! It was like bud, I was growing that shit like some weed. My shit gon’ be really good so I’m gon’ start that up again, we gon’ get a place. I’m gonna have hella cat nip growing, that shit gon’ be lit.

V: Anything you wanna add? $: I love you. Put that in there.

V: I love you more. I miss you. $: I miss you more.

V: Come back to London and chill. $: Yeah, London and Amsterdam. In order it was London, Amsterdam, Berlin; top three. But yeah, add that in there, that we love you.

And Viper love them right back. @Divine_Council divinecouncil.feltzine.us

WIFISFUNERAL PHOTOS BY DALE ALGO STYLING BY JAHZEEL DELGADO WORDS BY JARRED HOWARD South Florida has become a hotbed for rap in recent years. With the rise of youthful emcees like Xxxtentacion, Kodak Black, Smokepurpp and Lil Pump, it’s tough to ignore the region’s budding talent.

Another artist rising fast and moulding a name for himself in the scene is Wifisfuneral.

Hailing originally from the colder climates of the Bronx, Wifi had an adjustment to make, but he quickly made Broward County his home.

That cultural change, along with his Puerto Rican decent may explain the variety in the young upstart’s rap styles. You want hype tracks, indepth content, or just straight bars - Wifi’s got you covered all around.

During our phone call, I got to dive in and witness his growth and the creative process behind his most recent project, ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’. It was assuring to hear him in a much happier place than he was when he dropped his previous project, ‘Black Heart Revenge’.

Wifi and I also touched on various topics ranging from his tour with Xxxtentacion, his viral stage diving incident, signing with Interscope’s Alamo Records imprint, anime and wrestling...

You’re originally from the Bronx and your dad was an MC too, so did that drive you to rap? Did you play any instrument in school? And what kind of music was playing in the house when you were growing up?

Honestly, I didn’t play any instrument growing up. I didn’t play sports or anything. All I really did was write rhymes when I was seven.

Growing up all I would listen to is boom bap music, salsa, merengue and bachata.

You’ve been on tour with Xxxtentaction and performing at festivals like Rolling Loud. What are the biggest things that you’ve taken from being on the road?

Even before touring with X, I’ve been on 5 tours, but touring with X was the biggest tour so far. Being on the road in general, the experience of being able to wake up in a different city, in a different part of the county and doing what you do as a hobby and a career,

that’s probably the most exciting thing. I’m pretty much doing everything thing that I was doing at 14-15 years old as an occupation.

With the recent rise of the south Florida rap scene, how do you feel about the come up of the landscape and other artists? And, who are some of your favourite artists?

I don’t have a group of favourite artists. Every artist from south Florida is my favourite, honestly. I love the whole movement or scene, or whatever people want to call it. I’m proud of it, since Florida really came from nothing. As far as myself, I feel as if I am the “Waldo” of it.

I look at it from a third person perspective and enjoy it. I won’t deny Florida in any way; Florida made me the man I am today.

Why did you name your project ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’?

It’s a mixtape. It’s a simple fact of how in my whole career I did not take anything seriously. From ‘Black Hearts Revenge’, my first mixtape ’til now, I feel like I didn’t take a lot of things seriously. I felt like in a sense ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’, a lot of people expected me to do “this” or “that,” but I feel like you should live up to your own expectations in a general sense. I feel like this is the first project I have taken seriously; it was me solidifying that statement.

Do you feel like the content has changed from album to album? From ‘When Hell Falls’, ‘Black Hearts Revenge’ and ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’?

You’re going through and overcoming a lot of things in your life and now you seem to be in a clearer head space.

Yeah and for the most part I feel like I’m really focused. I really know what the fuck I want to do. I wake up every day with a fucking goal and I feel like if I don’t reach that goal every day, ain’t shit complete.

A lot of things are different; my mind set is different. As a human, I’m different; I don’t partake in a lot of dumb shit anymore. A lot has changed down to me establishing a relationship with a lot of people that I needed in my life to just things I had to go through personally.

I feel like every project had to go through a different life experience.

If I did go through that life experience, I did not know how to express it into words at the time.

“I wake up everyday with a fucking goal and I feel like if I don’t reach that goal every day, ain’t shit complete.”

“Growing “Growing up up all all II would would listen listen to to is is boom boom bap bap music, music, salsa, salsa, merengue merengue and and bachata.” bachata.”

That really comes out in your projects.

Yeah. I’ve kind of realised that I am more of a project artist than a single artist, so I really appreciate the fact when the people love the projects more than my singe because I feel like a project can speak more than an actual single.

You’ve recently signed with Alamo Records, which in under the Interscope umbrella. Why did you decide to sign with them instead of staying independent?

With me and Todd, he understood everything. I’ve never really talked to any of these labels that really understood what I was trying to do. I trusted them with my vision and the vision for Wifisfuneral.

Are you still stage diving? I don’t know, after your incident, if you are still manoeuvring the same way.

I don’t mind doing it. Whatever event or situation that happen to me for doing it, that doesn’t affect me from doing what the fuck I need to do to give people a good show. I want to give people an experience; I want them to remember the exact things they went through to get to that show. So, I don’t mind doing it, but am I going to do it as much?

Nah. I want people to respect me more on the stage and to respect my artistry. You don’t see Kanye or Kendrick stage diving. There is a time and a place for it. Am I about to do it every other song? Nah. How do you feel about the wave of underground artists pushing the sound towards the mainstream, such as you, Suicide Boyz, Bones, X and others?

I feel like it’s amazing because it’s a new outlet and a new wave of music. It’s just out with the old and in with the new at this point.

Depending on the types of things that they want to do as an artist, that depends on them individually. I can only hope that they lead these kids and future artist in the right direction. In doing it the right way, when it comes to making music and doing what you need to do for your brand. I love it, I appreciate it. It’s great! I just wish people would not try to group us together in one big knot because we are all sonically different and individual artist.

You walked into my next question, you have a lot of different rap styles: you have hype, lyrical and deep content. Where are you pulling all these different rap styles from?

“I’ve been watching wrestling since I was four years old. My grandfather on my stepdad’s side was a tag team champion in Puerto Rico.”

For me it’s whatever flows out of me naturally. If it’s not organic to me in any type of way, I would rather not do it.

The minute I start forcing myself to rap, I’ll just leave the studio. As far as when I hear a beat, if it tickles my ear the right way, I’ll figure out a flow. If it’s hot then I’ll record it, if not then I’ll just skip it.

You have a homunculi and Majin tattoo and have tweeted about how much you love anime. What kind are you interested in?

I’m really into anime, but it’s only certain anime. I really don’t sit here and watch every single anime. I’m into Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, One Piece, Gurren Lagann, Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto.

You’ve tweeted about Ric Flair and retweeted Kevin Owens.

Are you a big wrestling fan?

I’m a huge wrestling fan. I’ve been watching wrestling since I was four years old. My grandfather on my stepdad’s side was a tag team champion in Puerto Rico. Some of my favourite wrestlers growing up were Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Brett Hart.

Being where you’re at now, what advice would you give to Izzy Kills, Mozart Laflare and Winter Jacket? tweeted about Ric Flair and retweeted Kevin Owens. Are you a big wrestling fan?

Stop changing your fucking name and don’t listen to anybody. Every gut feeling that you’ve had about yourself is the best thing that you’ve ever felt and never go against it. If I would’ve told myself this earlier in my career, I would have been in a way better position, but I’m thankful for where I’m at now. @wifisfuneral soundcloud.com/wifisfuneral

EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE: WHERE HAS REGIONALITY GONE? ILLUSTRATIONS BY LUCAS SANTOS WORDS BY DONNA-CLAIRE CHESMAN

Regional authenticity has always been fundamental to hip hop, but with the rise of the Internet and the constant bending and blending of genres and sub genres, we have to wonder if that specific brand of authenticity is starting to fade. The short answer is yes - and no. Taking this conversation to a grand scale leads us into complex waters, forced to address topics such as why New York has trouble supporting itself while the South generally throws a ton of weight at their artists, not to mention which region is currently carrying the torch (the West and the South). What we define as “carrying the torch” also fundamentally changes the conversation.

For that reason, we’ll be focusing on a handful of examples and keeping things mostly to the coasts, to keep the conversation concise.

While once significant, regional authenticity in hip hop has - on some level - morphed into the general authenticity fans crave from their artists. Nowadays, there’s less demand for artists to sound like where they’re from and more demand for them to turn their personality into their proverbial region. Beat selection and flow is becoming less of a signifier of where an artist is from, and more suggestive of their personal tastes. By proxy, these tastes are everexpanding with the supreme ease of access to music. Where an aspiring artist from New York was once insulated with rappers like Big L to draw inspiration from, they’re now able to see themselves in artists from LA to Atlanta, Toronto to Ireland. That being said, for some artists, where they are from is still a major facet of their personality. In some cases, the most important part.

On the West Coast, there’s YG — a perfect album artist who sadly lacks the transnational appeal to be regarded as such. His latest album, ‘Still Brazy’, was a living memorial to G-funk. YG did not flirt with the spirit of the sound, he enveloped himself in it. YG is as LA as they come and his music is a celebration of the region that moulded him. While fans outside of the West Coast enjoyed the project, more often than not - he was levied the criticism that his music was derivative or “samey.”

To properly understand the musical feat YG achieved with ‘Still Brazy’, regional context was key. If you didn’t have it, you either had

to seek that context out or let the record pass you by. Therein lies the biggest drawback of regionalism: accessibility. Accessibility is a veiling conversation around responsibility, or, who is supposed to do the work to make the music make sense? Whomever is willing, of course, but far from everyone falls into that category. In practice, if we had to draw an infographic, I would say the further East you go, the more common the “samey” criticism becomes, because less fans feel compelled to look into regional history.

Unlike YG, who is more a hero to his hometown than he’s not, New York’s Joey Bada$$ seems to be caught in a different bind. When looking at the criticism of his latest album, ‘AllAmerikkkan Badass’, and the singles leading up to its release, we start to see a heap of backlash against his music coming from within his region.

The first half of the album takes a notably more pop direction, with glitzier production and Joey bringing a few catchy melodies to the hooks.

Responses were mixed. Certain fans - and Joey included - made it clear that they appreciated this shift from the classic sound. Joey himself went on the record to say he wants listeners to know he is capable of making music outside of the tone of his previously acclaimed projects like, ‘1999’.

On the other hand, there were the naysayers claiming that Joey Bada$$ had sold out entirely. Longtime fans are prone to developing attachments to specific stages in their favourite artists’ careers, but the negative feedback Joey received on a track like ‘Devastated’ belied a deeper anxiety. It was as if fans felt a sense of abandonment as Joey took a pivot in his sound, as if by taking a step away from the classic sound of New York, he had somehow abandoned the city, his own identity and by proxy, the fans. Their uproar made it seem as if the New York sound had suddenly died by Joey’s hand, but nothing in music is this cut and dry.

The case of the classic New York sound is complicated further when we look at the A$AP Mob. First look at A$AP Rocky who, despite being based in Harlem, employs the chopped and screwed sensibilities of a Houston artist.

Harlem is also home to Desiigner, whose music is entirely indebted to the waves coming out of Atlanta.

recent island infusions he’s been blending into his production, Drake’s absence of regional ties comes with its own set of benefits.

The parallels are so overt, first-time listeners continuously mistake him for Future. Upon first glance, a connection can be made that New York artists are simply embodying other styles because the quintessential New York sound is falling out of favour, but that is also far from the truth.

The drawback, however, is that the Toronto sound becomes monolithic in our minds. This is partially because Drake lays out a clear blueprint for how it can be successful, and partially because if we are satisfied with one element of the city, why look for others when we have no connection to it ourselves? As the globalisation of hip hop continues, we have more cases like South Korea’s Jay Park who just signed to Roc Nation. The hip hop scene in South Korea has its own history, is immense and flourishing and Jay Park’s signing is great in that it points new fans in the country’s direction.

Rappers like Your Old Droog, Wiki, Siya, and Dave East are keeping that thundering New York grit alive. On a grander scale, we have the rest of Pro Era collective, who live and breathe Brooklyn aesthetics in their music. Lesser known masters of street music, like Marlon Craft and innovators like Kemba, signal their boroughs without too many sidesteps. For these artists on the come-up, the backlash of “samey” that YG is struck with seem to be less important as their early cult followings live for those sounds. As they gain notoriety, as with most artists, there will be a divided voice screaming “stay the same” in tandem with “try something new!” But as I mentioned with Joey, when “something new” means stepping outside of regional appeal, the dissent is more emotionally driven.

Then we have Cardi B. Every year, a new song is meant to “bring New York back.” Last year we had Young M.A and this year we are too lucky to have Cardi B and ‘Bodak Yellow’. We could have an additional discussion as to why ‘Bodak Yellow’ is a good song, but to boil it down: Cardi B is so organically herself, so devoted to and of the Bronx, that her music overflows with how endearing it is. ‘Bodak Yellow’ is catchy for a number of reasons, with the primary one being the pure love Cardi has for herself and her city permeating the track.

What’s interesting is that the track is inspired by a Southern record, Kodak Black’s breakout hit, ‘No Flockin’’. While not a remix, she takes the vibe of his song and turns it into a full demonstration of her identity. If she is capable of putting out a track where her personality is preserved without that East coast sound, then more power to her.

Let’s not forget the globalisation of hip hop, which is another sprawling conversation that we’ll narrow down to a few artists: Drake, Jay Park and Rejjie Snow. If we are going by the numbers, Drake is one of the biggest artists in the genre, but with him being from Toronto, his music doesn’t have a proper home in any of the major American region. Is that a modicum of his success? Likely so, because a die hard Drake fan will tell you - perhaps in not as many words - that they listen to Drake for the novelty. Be it his effeminate approach to relationships or the

Even still, there’s an anxiety tied to his gaining recognition in the states. An endless stream of questions bubble up. Why Jay Park? Does he capture enough of the sound, of the movement, of the culture? Are fans asking these questions, or are they taking Park’s signing as emblematic of South Korea et al? We have to wonder around - and ultimately actively work against - Jay Park’s music becoming the singular representation of Korean hip hop in America. Thus we return to the conversation around responsibility and still there is no clear answer.

Then we have Rejjie Snow’s crossover success story. We can trace the Ireland native’s come up to his 2012 days on YouTube and his 2013 EP, ‘Rejovich’. Rejjie has been quoted as saying Ireland needs its own sound akin to how the UK has grime and his presence in the U.S. is based more on the lack of a scene in Ireland. His lack of regional ties inform his transcontinental success, but more than that, they demand it. If there’s no hip hop scene in Dublin, then of course he has to go where the sound is expanding. In that same breath, Rejjie Snow also makes it clear that he often encounters people who are ignorant of his Irish heritage. Rejjie finds himself in a kind of musical purgatory, wanting to showcase his roots without the defining sound to do so.

If these conversations seem to be getting more and more open ended, it’s because they are. If you’re wondering, “what is the verdict on regionality in hip hop?” - there is none, because fans can’t seem to decide where to throw their weight. That’s the thing with regionalism. As much as fans claim to want variety and growth, there’s a strong - albeit damaging - reaction when we don’t hear the tried and true sounds of where we are from. When there are no regional ties to worry over, a new slew of woes present themselves. If there’s one takeaway, then it should be that regionalism may not be on life support, but the way we react to and discuss it certainly has to evolve.

‘For these artists on the come-up, the backlash of “samey” that YG is struck with seem to be less important as their early cult followings live for those sounds.’

PHOTOS BY COURTNEY FRANCIS WORDS BYANASTASIA BRUEN

CLIMBING THE STAIRS OF THE LONDON HOTEL WHERE WE’RE SET TO MEET ONE OF RNB’S BRIGHTEST NEW STARS, I SEE A RADIANT HALO SHINING IN THE LOBBY, UNDERNEATH IT STANDS KHALID. ALL THE WAY FROM TEXAS, EL PASO, THERE’S AN AIR OF EXCITEMENT EMANATING FROM THE GROUP AROUND HIM; IN HOURS HE’LL PERFORM FOR THE FIRST TIME IN LONDON. KHALID’S STEP INTO MUSIC HAS BEEN RAPID, WITH A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL DEBUT ALBUM, DREAM COLLABORATIONS AND TAKING THE VMA ‘BEST NEW ARTIST 2017’ AWARD. WE SIT DOWN TOGETHER, EXCHANGING THOUGHTS ABOUT THE SHOW TAKING PLACE AFTER OUR INTERVIEW.

Khalid is enthusiastic, in a cool bluesy type of way. With enough creative stamina to break into the music industry and substantial raw emotivity to keep him there, he recognises the acceleration of his career. He points out, “What’s so insane is the fact that a year ago, I was in high school. I was a senior, I’m nineteen. You can’t even drink in the states.

It was my last year in school and I was like, what am I gonna do with my life? Where is my life gonna take me?”

[When I first] put it out, it hit the most popular kid in my school. He turns around and says the song sucked, he talked so bad about the song. He didn’t even know me because I was new, so he didn’t know who I was.

He downplayed the song but instead of giving up, instead of quitting, it kind of gave me the courage to push myself.

Like, a year from now this is what I’m gonna be doing, these are the achievement’s I am going to have made.”

Beginning the conversation with such a deep existential question, it quickly becomes clear that Khalid is ready to bare his soul. He adds, “I was like, I don’t know where my life is gonna take me, I hope it takes me somewhere that I love. I had plans to go to school, I was actually going to be a music teacher, I was gonna teach music to kids. But one experience led to another.” A move from New York to El Paso impacted his creativity as he admits, “I was just so lonely at the time that it knocked me into a creative realm. I started writing music and I finally got the confidence to upload the music. When I uploaded it, I was so nervous, I didn’t know how people [would] react to this because it was so personal to me.”

From that point he went on to make the song ‘Saved’.

Featured on his album ‘American Teen’, it’s a track of internal awakenings and edenic symphonies; it was the first song he finished. Khalid continued to put out music, leading to the release of ‘Location’. He explains the process of its creation, saying, “I made ‘Location’ when I went to Atlanta. I recorded the chorus and took it back to El Paso, finished the song [there] and uploaded it. I was like, ‘I don’t know where this song is gonna’ take me, but I just know it’s gonna’ take me somewhere’. I had that feeling where I knew this is gonna be something and it exploded! My graduation day came, Kylie Jenner played it on her Snapchat. That was big for me, she played it three days in a row. It was just so crazy, I always think back [and] I told myself that this was gonna’ happen.

I told myself, I’m gonna’ perform overseas.

I observe a parallel between his music and poetry, which he acknowledges, “I’m giving my journal to the world.

I told myself music is gonna bring me back home, I’m from Germany, I lived [there] for six years and yesterday I went back to my hometown.”

As if having realised a part of himself in telling that story, he proceeds, “You tell yourself all this stuff.

Even though there are so many people that doubted me and who didn’t believe in me, I focused on the people that did believe in me. I focused on believing in myself, I was like, it doesn’t matter what everybody else thinks I’m going to do it. I have to make myself do something, work, work super hard, hit all these goals and now I got an album out. It’s insane.”

‘I focused on the people that did believe in me.

I focused on believing in myself, I was like, it doesn’t matter what everybody else thinks I’m going to do it.’

With that potent combination of character and musical ability, I ask about the aforementioned popular kid at school that slated his work, “Was that scar tissue for you or fuel?” He responds, “It was fuel. He said it on a snapchat. For me to hear that there’s a snapchat about me, it’s not a feeling of anxiousness, but when you hear someone talking about you, you feel it in your heart. I go a little spiritual on him and ask, “Do you feel the vibration towards you?” Unflinchingly he responds, “Yeah, I felt it in my heart. You know it kinda hurts a little bit. He didn’t know me, I’m new, I barely have any friends and people are already talking bad about me. It put me in a really bad state of mind, I had to tell myself, you have to knock yourself out of this moment. You have to put yourself in a different moment, you have to not let him get you down. He tried to hurt me but he wasn’t gonna’ hurt me. So I was like, I’m gonna’ put out another song, and another song, just to piss him off because he hated the first song! By doing that, I was just so creative, I came into the school not knowing what I wanted to do, right after that happened, then I was like, I know what I want to do.”

There’s something about Khalid’s ideas and nature that hones in on a sense of rhythm and blues. A type of self-awareness that can only be soundtracked by deep tones and soulful sonics. His sound is a direct stem of his inner emotional core. He acknowledges, “Sometimes my emotions and everything are so rapid, I don’t know how to portray it. I do kinda get locked, but once I put myself in the shoes of another person I work it out, that’s why a lot of the songs I write are in the perspective of another person.”

“YOU RUN INTO THE SAME TYPE OF PEOPLE, TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES AND THREE DIFFERENT STATES. I’VE RUN INTO THE SAME PERSONALITY TRAITS, THE STORIES, ARCHETYPES, SAME FORMS OF HEARTBREAK, STUFF LIKE THAT”

He quotes one of his lyrics, “The hard part always seems to last forever, sometimes I forget we aren’t together.”

Khalid adds, “I’m shy when it comes to expressing my feelings, sometimes I have a hard time doing so. So when I imagine myself as someone else, speaking as this different side of me, it’s so beneficial. It really helps and allows me to relate to people so much more when I try to tell the story from their point of view.”

Khalid correlates storytelling to his artistry saying, “Music writing for me is storytelling, so when I create a song, I look back on myself in this position, what has that done for that person?

You know like someone having this long drive, trying to get out of their emotions, then they get this phone call.. “It’s over”…

Different stuff like that, like how would I feel in that moment?”

The way Khalid speaks is testament to how his music and mindset work as a duo. Focusing on growth and the consistent role of music in his military child upbringing, he recalls, “I feel that the music is kinda my take on the loneliness in living in so many different places; so many different friendships and relationships. You run into the same type of people, two different countries and three different states. I’ve run into the same personality traits, the stories, archetypes, same forms of heartbreak, stuff like that. So writing the music, it means having all the stories, I feel like I can relate so well because I’ve met so many different people who’ve shared the same experiences of the songs. I feel like when people listen to the music, they’ve said to me, “How did you know what I was feeling?” It’s because I’ve met people who’ve experienced things just like you’re feeling. Everyone in the audience is going through something, for the music, it’s not necessarily because they like my voice, it’s because I’m singing a message or story. Look at everyone else who’s going through what you’re

going through. Khalid notes, “It talks about not loneliness, but individualism. You know what, you’re an individual. You go through all these things, you go through all these problems but you know what? I’m going through it too and singing it to you.”

I wonder about his own musical anchors, sounds that both humble and inspire. He thinks for a moment, then reflects, “The moment I heard ‘Channel Orange’ by Frank Ocean is when I fell in love with storytelling. Just because he’s such a crazy creative, he’s super dope, I was in eighth grade when that came out. He came out of nowhere, he hit us with this blessing; his magic. I was so in love with the music, I hoped I could tell a story. A couple of songs on the album [‘American Teen’] were inspired by artists. I’m inspired by those artists and what they make me feel. I’m taking all the energy I’m receiving from listening to these artists doing crazy things, stepping outside the box, thinking how can I put this energy in my music? How can I display this energy?” Khalid isn’t unfamiliar with potent artistic energy, having played a part in the making of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘The Heart Part Four’. “That was so crazy. I was working on my album and I started a song that had a really cool vibe to it. I never finished the song, so my producer took my vocals and recreated the beat. Fast forward and Kendrick ended up using it for his song. I didn’t even know until it came out and I heard it like, ‘No way’! Kendrick is such an amazing artist, I’m blessed to have been a part of that.”

Personally, I’ve never bought into the idea that absolutely everything can be articulated in words. We need sound, colours and imagery. By the end of the interview, I get the feeling Khalid is on the same wave. I ask if he had to describe the album as a colour or pigmentation, what would that look like and why?

He replies, “Honestly, it would be a light shade of purple.”

Radiant yeah, by light shade of purple, purple is kinda a mixture between brown, blue and red.

Red is the envy and anger and the hurt but also passion. The blue is hopelessness and loneliness and weariness but at the same time the freedom and the sunshine. All that type of stuff, the mixture of the two incorporates everything I’m going through, of all the experiences I’ve had. This is the anger of my experiences and anger of the people who are unheard. You know they’re upset, they’re sad, that’s where the blue comes in. I’m sad writing and thinking like them and me. But it’s nothing but blue skies, it’s nothing but vibes, it’s nothing but getting reintroduced to yourself. Mixing that altogether and having this shade of light purple, rich, creamy. It’s just a rich feeling.”

Returning to the body of work he dropped early this year, what kind of vibration is the album?

“I feel like the album as a whole is my take on individualism and self introduction; self acceptance.

By naming it ‘American Teen’ it was me accepting myself. I was 18 years old when I was writing this

album. I feel like by naming it ‘American Teen’, it’s the first step of my acceptance. It’s who I was when I was writing. All the songs on the project are just different expressions of moments I’ve been through. It’s almost like I’m giving my own personal pages, like here you go guys. Read it, just tell me if something relates to you. Just tell me if you feel what I feel when I wrote this. The end of the album finishes with this song called ‘Angels’.

It’s everything I travel with. I travel with the spirits, I travel with all these angels, with all the stories that they tell and I express them. I want you to read my journal and tell me if you fuck with it!”

Khalid’s commentary is becoming the soundtrack for a generation. With momentary expression the form, human stories the narrative, the vibe is as loud and reflective as the young people listening to it. @thegreatkhalid khalid.store

KENNILWORTH HORSE FAIR 2017

BY CONOR BEARY

MONIQUE WEARS COAT BY VINTAGE HELIYNA JEWELLERY BY PRINCESS P FISHNET BODYSUIT

BY HOT TOPIC CORSET BY VINTAGE NATORI SHORTS BY MUDD DIY BOOTS

LANI WEARS VINTAGE GENUINE LEATHER BIKER JACKET VINTAGE SILK ROYAL BLUE SLIP DRESS VINTAGE INNER MOST SILK ROBE COMBAT BOOTS

TANK GIRL

MONIQUE WEARS SHORTS BY GAP CARDIGAN BY CAVE GREEK DIY CHOKER

LANI WEARS VINTAGE GENUINE LEATHER BIKER JACKET VINTAGE SILK ROYAL BLUE SLIP DRESS VINTAGE INNER MOST SILK ROBE COMBAT BOOTS

LANI WEARS VINTAGE LEATHER BIKER JACKET VINTAGE ROYAL BLUE SILK SLIP DRESS VINTAGE INNER MOST SILK ROBE

MONIQUE WEARS SCARF BY CHANEL JACKET BY FOREVER 21 VINTAGE BLUE ASPHALT DENIM JUMPSUIT DIY KNEE HIGH BOOTS

PHOTOGRAPHER - KIRAN GIDDA STYLIST - MONIQUE AVILA MAKE UP - LANI TRUE MODELS - MONIQUE AVILA AND LANI TRUE

MONIQUE WEARS GLASSES BY L’AVEUGLE PAR AMOUR SCARF BY CHANEL CROP JACKET BY FOREVER 21 VINTAGE BLUE ASPHALT DENIM JUMPSUIT

M I L O ‘S

PHOTOS BY HYPEMARI

W O R L D

MODEL: MILO KUKI ALL CLOTHES, MODEL’S OWN

FOUNDED IN 2010 BY JEFFERSON OSEI, ABDERRAHMANE TRABSINI AND HUSSEIN SULEIMAN, DAILY PAPER IS THE AMSTERDAM BASED MENSWEAR LABEL MERGING AFRICAN HERITAGE WITH A PASSION FOR CONTEMPORARY FASHION. PRIMARILY A MENSWEAR LABEL, DAILY PAPER TAKES INSPIRATION FROM THEIR CREATORS AFRICAN CULTURES, INCORPORATING THEIR INFLUENCES INTO MODERN DESIGN WITH A UNIQUE RUGGED CHARACTER.

The brand’s focus lies in the creation of authentic apparel, with an emphasis on tailoring and an eclectic use of materials. The products are created to compliment the consumer’s passion for individuality and personal style. Devoted to quality garments, fine detailing and great silhouettes, for seven years Daily Paper has stayed true to their unique brand aesthetic.

Having already collaborated with well-respected brands including PUMA, Sandalboyz, Denham, Solebox, Filling Pieces and Colette, the latest collaboration, ‘The PUMA x Daily Paper AutumnWinter ’17 collection, pays homage to PUMA’s two decades of commitment to African football.

The Dutch brand merges contemporary streetwear stylings inspired by their African heritage onto PUMA’s football team kits, team gear and classic sneaker silhouettes from the sports archive.

Intricate graphics and colour-blocking patterns are reminiscent of the vibrant team kits of PUMA sponsored teams from the Confederation of African Football; Ghana, Cameroon and Ivory Coast.

Several pieces in the collection also prominently feature the number 20 written in Amharic; a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia.

PHOTOS BY PATRICK KENAWY WORDS BY GIOVANNA MAE

In their latest campaign, titled ‘Children of the City’, Daily Paper travelled to South Africa to capture its collection. Having released women’s collections previously, their pieces for AW17 demonstrate the progress, with the brand serving up a second women’s range. Daily Paper’s quest to explore the

concept of stealth and survival through the eyes of its youth, led them to document South Africa’s street style. Shot with street-casted models in the coastal city of Cape Town and further north in Johannesburg, the collection moves Daily Paper into a whole new market. And their new range of apparel demonstrates the brands evolution. For this collection the brand used technical inspired trims, 3M glow in the dark prints with earthy tones and subtle branding.

With so many clothing brands on the market today, it’s difficult to narrow it down to just one. But with a well-respected range of ready-to-wear garments online and in two Amsterdam based stores, not to mention an on-site Barber, Daily Paper is rapidly becoming the only streetwear brand to talk about…

How did you establish Daily Paper? Was it difficult to turn an idea into a brand?

Daily Paper started In 2008 as a blog and we wrote about things we liked; fashion, music, parties, whatever. Wherever we went, we wrote about it.

In order to promote the blog we made T-shirts and the sales went extremely well. That presented us with the opportunity to make a clothing line out of it. Between 2010-2012 we began to look for manufacturers and in 2012 our first collection came out of five T-shirts. Our objective was always to be inspired by our African roots and do it in a contemporary way.

Was there a cult following amongst Dutch teens from the start?

Not from the start, but it didn’t take long. We were getting support from local kids in Amsterdam because we are children of the city ourselves. The city related with the clothes we were making and this eventually spread out to the whole nation and beyond.

You built strong foundations in a short time, where do you aim to be in five years?

We want to serve customers in other cities in the same way we serve them in Amsterdam. Our ambitions include opening flagship stores in cities such as Paris, London, Berlin, New York and Tokyo. Expanding our retail and women’s line are some of our priorities.

Amsterdam’s underground fashion scene seems to be more active than any other European city currently. Why is this?

We are very proud on how the fashion scene is developing in the city. A few years ago Dutch kids only looked at American streetwear brands, but nowadays they feel proud wearing streetwear brands that are from their country. Luckily for brands like us, our youth supports local brands, that makes the rise of local brands possible. There’s a lot of talent here and with more eyes on Amsterdam streetwear than ever, I can see more local brands blowing up internationally.

Womenswear is important to you too. How do you change your approach when designing for women?

Most of our design team is made up of females with different identities that match the Daily Paper ethos. They also design our menswear range so when it came to building a fully-fledged women’s line, our designers knew exactly what was needed.

Your flagship store features a barbershop too. Is Daily Paper a

lifestyle rather than a fashion brand?

Daily Paper is a lifestyle. We seek to inspire, guide and motivate our community with the goal of our products contributing to the definition of our consumer’s daily life.

You have two stores in Amsterdam now - why did you branch out within the city as opposed to other countries?

Amsterdam is our city so before we branch out overseas, we have to own our home. The city is so diverse and full of so many different types of our target audience. We want to hit every single one of them.

What are the inspirations and highlights of your AW17 collection?

For our latest campaign we travelled to South Africa to capture the collection titled “Children of the City.” Having released women’s collections in the past, the 2017 Fall/Winter campaign demonstrates its advancement with a second full women’s range.

The first instalment of the collection is availability via Daily Paper’s web-store, our Amsterdam stores and global retailers.

We place major importance on details: from in-depth research on various aspects of African history as inspiration for our collections to interpreting this information into original designs and prints in our pieces. For the 2017 Fall/Winter campaign, all roads led to South Africa’s street style metropolises in our quest to explore the concept of stealth and adaptation through the eyes of its youth. The collection received a whole new light, being shot with street-casted models in the coastal city of Cape Town and further north in Johannesburg. The results were an extraordinarily atmospheric fashion photo series with a touch of documentary elements that uses the streets of South Africa as a stylish backdrop.

Combine a food obsession with a seriously gangster attitude and you get MOOK Pancakes. It’s THE Pancake spot in Amsterdam, serving up the sweet and savoury treats to the coolest beats.

Inspired by everything hip hop, the venue is filled with rap references.

So Viper caught up with the duo who run the joint, Sten and Sammy, to get the lowdown.

Why did you decide to start a pancake restaurant?

About five to six years ago the idea was born for MOOK. [Amsterdam] was missing a cool, laid back place, where you could eat American Pancakes with friends and family. Not a typical outdated Dutch pancake restaurant. Instead a fresh, minimalistic, urban interior venue with fluffy pancakes, fresh healthy juices, friendly service and a chilled vibe with old school Hip Hop playing all day long. It was all a dream.

What were you each doing before MOOK Pancakes?

Before MOOK; Sten used to work in the advertising industry and Sammy worked as the general manager at a successful fish restaurant. We both wanted to be entrepreneurs since we were young, but neither of us thought we would end up in the restaurant business at all.

You’re the creators of the ‘mancake’, how did you come up with the recipe?

We wanted to have a pancake version of the burger, since watching Pulp Fiction, who doesn’t like that ‘Royal with Cheese’ flavour, right?!

The salty taste of the bacon combined with the sweetness of our Maple Syrup, makes it one of the most popular ones.

Made of 100% organic spelt flour, your pancakes are healthy - provided you pick the fruit options over chocolate! Is it important for you to promote a positive lifestyle?

We are conscious guys when it comes to our health, so we mainly

choose healthy options when creating our menus. But of course at some moments during the week, you want to enjoy a little indulgence as well. We have a broad range of choices, it’s all in [the] balance.

You’re obviously huge rap fans and incorporate your love of music into MOOK Pancakes. Have you had rappers showing you love back?

Yeah, hip hop and rap is definitely a big thing for us. We grew up on 1990’s hip hop, so our love for that music era is a big part of our concept. Several rappers, artists, and famous soccer players stop by frequently, it’s a cool compliment! Too bad our biggest legends can’t stop by anymore, we’re huge fans of Tupac (Sammy) and Notorious B.I.G. (Sten). So we made some cool art tributes for both of them in our places.

Do you each have a favourite pancake on the menu?

Sten: “The G.O.O.D morning Deluxe” with delicious crispy granola, Greek yoghurt, cinnamon, strawberries, blackberries and honey is a big winner!

Sammy: “The Chocolate Sensation;” fresh fruits and chocolate. You can

still wake me up for this one!

You recently collaborated with fashion brand, Daily Paper, on a tee with the immortal Kanye line, “Somebody ordered pancakes, I just sip the sizzurp.” What’s your relationship like with the Dutch streetwear brand?

We met really soon after we both opened our shops in the same area of West Amsterdam. We came to each others places a lot, they had a lunch for the release of a PUMA collab at MOOK. We became friends and then the idea of our collab was born. Our friendship is cool and inspiring; we share a lot, help and learn from each other in business and chill sometimes. Good times.

You’ve been open since January 2016, what’s the next step for Mook Pancakes?

We’d love to go International and open more MOOK’s worldwide. Our first next big dream would be to open a new place in London for sure!

MOOK Pancakes City Center Jodenbreestraat 144 1011 NS Amsterdam MOOK Pancakes West De Clercqstraat 34 1052 NG Amsterdam PHOTOS BY MARC PRODANOVIC WORDS BY ANASTASIA BRUEN

@mookpancakes www.mookpancakes.nl