FEATURED ARTISTS
SEVEN
“I was always musically involved one way or another, but it got more serious when things got harder in family life. A lot of close people to me passed away and for some reason rap was the main thing that helped me to get through it.
I wrote about my thoughts and feelings and shared it with people who felt the same, this encouraged me to keep on going and see where rap could take me. I’m still trying to find my sound and release music that I really resonate with. I struggle with motivation, mental health and keeping up with a life that just never stops, but I try to channel everything into the music because I feel I write the best when I’m the most authentic version of me. I really couldn’t do any of this though, without the supportive people I have around me and Jesus Christ Himself, so I give thanks to them.”
KAMPARII
“I’m going to start by saying Kamparii is a girl from North West London that started writing poems when she was about 9-10. I didn’t know how to express my feelings so poetry helped me do that. Growing up I had a lot of dreams and hopes and I had a very creative imagination where I would write about it in my poems. I never really imagined myself being a rapper until I tried it out for the first time, I was at home and just decided to put in a beat and write to it, that’s when I discovered my talent for music. I mean I could always write, but rapping and finding a flow I taught myself and I found my flow very quickly.
I do music to heal my heart, I think music is very therapeutic and it has gotten me out of things like depression. Making music just makes me extremely happy and I love doing it and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
The type of music I will be making is gonna be a mix of genres. I want to tap into different types of styles, but the types of music I make now are hip hop music, R&B and a bit of pop. I eventually in the future want to try other genres.
I do have doubts about my music career sometimes, I think a lot of artists do, the struggles that I had that I now overcame were losing friends, only because a lot of people that were around me didn’t really want me as a person to strive any further than them. I had to cut off a lot of friends because they were just hating on me for no reason, but I’m glad I did because I have come a long way.”
OMMZ
“My name’s Ommz, a mixed kid who’s been doing music since the age of 14, almost 10 years ago now. At first I saw it as a joke ting, not really taking serious time into my bars and most of it was cap. Then once people started seeing it, I knew I couldn’t be that guy. I learnt from the best of my time, from the grime and drill legends to the real rap legends like Potter and Teflon. Being the person I am, I was scared of what guys would think of me. That I wouldn’t fit the persona of a rapper. But at the end of the day, if I kept working on it there’s no way I can’t be talented. So I kept going. All the flows I use now are a collection of the best soul samples just like the 90s on the music I grew up with. Now it’s all about making them genuine connections in this scene.”
BALUCHI
“The person behind Baluchi is a boy who’s been obsessed with music for as long as I can remember. I’ve always loved music since young, always singing anywhere and everywhere, even played a couple instruments and it was only around 3 years ago I started to take music serious by producing my own tracks and adding vocals to my beats.
I do music because it’s my passion that i indulge in everyday and I make rap music as it’s my favourite genre. I also sing as well which I’m trying to experiment, within RnB singing and M huncho/ trap wave inspired music.
Mentally I’ve been through a lot in these past couple years and I’m sure I’ll speak about it one day through my music cus that’s my main form of expression. It’s a lot of hurt I’ve had to overcome and it’s definitely set me back at times and had me rethinking a lot of stuff about myself, but it’s easier to give up then keep on grinding and I won’t let myself give up when I’ve already come so far and it’s only the start of my journey.”
WIGGZ
“The person behind Wiggz is just a regular black yute from a small town in the sticks, tryna follow his younger selves dream of being a rapper/singer, and to be honest one of the reasons to being an artist for me is because it runs through my genes, my father was also a rapper back in the day, so with my dads genes combined with heavy Trini influence I try n do my own thing, try be different, also do this for my mother n siblings, all though the area I’m from ain’t the worst we definitely ain’t living the best, despite my mum doing her best, the type of music I make can’t be put into one type of box, that’s why I consider myself an artist more so than a rapper, I can do hip hop, dancehall R&B, Afro swing, and many more, whatever I gravitate to and catches my eye I just do it.
For me the main struggles or obstacles I have had to come over is being a minority in where I’m from so it’s hard to gain love from the people I live near to, lots of hate tryna do something different, also tryna find my lane fr, Tryna figure out what kinda music fits me n the man Wiggz is.”
ZANOTTI
“There isn’t a person behind Zanotti, Zanotti is my last name & is purely me. My music is 100% true to myself because it’s easy for me to be me so that’s what I do.
Music helps me to keep sane, it’s a place for me to write down my thoughts or channel my good and bad energy into. Music gives me life and makes me feel strong, confident & focused.
I’ve stopped classing myself as a rapper and am now more of an artist, I treat music like a blank canvas and work with any sub rap genre style I’m feeling in that moment. If I get inspired by a Detroit beat then I’ll try and make a Detroit song, if I get inspired to make a Grime song then I’ll make one of those too. I don’t like staying in one style because it’s “good business”, I like to take my creativity to the highest level possible and just explore new avenues. For example I have a Hip Hop boom bap style song called ‘Smoke with Osk’ (drops 29th March) then I have another song dropping after which is a cool slick garage song. Anything goes really, it’s whatever style I’m feeling in that moment.
I’ve been writing and recording music for 10 years now, I’ve had times where I’ve doubted whether I could make this into my career but there is only a plan A & this is it! How can I fail if I stick to something so much and pay it every minute of the day attention? I treat my career as an uphill Mountain battle. Everyday it’s hard, it’s not going to get easy so I need to just crack on and keep it moving. I don’t take nothing personal (even though music is so personal) and keep pushing at it. In my mind I know that something one day will give and I’ll be able to reap what I sowed.”
2JAYZ
“Behind 2jayz is JJ. I find true identity through my faith in Christ. To me nothing is permanent, this life is very temporary, so I try to live everyday like it’s my last, that way if it was my last I would have to deal with every decision I have made.
I write music because it’s my therapy, but pursue it because I couldn’t live without at least trying. I believe everything happens for a reason according to Gods will, every person has a story to tell one way or another and that God doesn’t give the hardest battles to his toughest soldiers, but he creates the toughest soldier’s through the hardest battles. Music is my form of expression. From the age of 13 I have been expressing my hardship and struggles offering hope to every listener, I want to provide a lifestyle that my family and friends couldn’t live because of life challenges. So 2jayz is for the people living to serve the people and if today was my last I would want to be remembered that way.”
ACE
“I would say the person behind Ace is someone who’s really experienced and seen the hardships and struggles of life growing up, leading to me taking on music as a form of self-expression and distraction. I would say i’ve always had an inclination towards understanding music and rapping but only really discovered my own music when I was in early secondary school, doing freestyles with my friends and making beats /recording songs in my schools studio.
From there it sort of spiralled into a couple olders in the area and my school telling me to take it seriously, which is what I would start to try in year 11.
These times one of my closest friends at the time was starting to seriously gain attention in the industry and he helped put me on by sorting a proper studio session where I made my first song with him and since then I haven’t looked back.
I would say my music is most influenced by my background having been raised around many young adults and teenagers going through similar problems, so I would consider my songs to be like telling a story of my experiences and what i’ve seen / heard of around me during my youth. I would say my wordplay and lyricism are my strongest features about my music.
During my career I’ve had many periods of uncertainty especially considering what type of path I want to go down in general and what type of energy I want to put out to the world. I would say this led to a large shift in the undertones I use and depictions of certain events in an effort to change the types of people and places I involve myself with.”