a fearless new voice from UK rap’s underground scene

“I‘m in the most effective headspace I’ve ever been in my life,” says Songer, sipping a cappuccino and reflecting on the method of making his upcoming third album ‘Skala’, his most upbeat, confident undertaking but. Named after his pet canine and opened by a lyrical passage about what he’s discovered from her carefree, present-minded outlook, it’s a document formed by a higher appreciation for the straightforward issues in life. This attitude comes by way of strongly through the hour NME spends with Songer, nestled within the nook of a Shoreditch lodge. The 22-year-old rapper is recent off a practice from Wokingham, Studying, the place he was born and raised. And for an artist who stands unapologetically outdoors the London bubble, the attain he’s achieved to date is spectacular.

To this point, he’s racked up over 6 million views on some of the explosive Bl@ckbox Freestyles thus far, collaborated with artists like Bradford MC trio Unhealthy Boy Chiller Crew and drum ‘n’ bass producer Vibe Chemistry, and dropped a number of tasks together with 2019 debut ‘Dream Workz’ and pensive, confessional 2021 follow-up ‘The Dawn Mission’. Guided by a deep expertise for wordplay that goes far past low cost puns and rehashed double entendres, Songer is an artist who considers every phrase painstakingly.

An enigmatic character dedicated to repping for his city and rapping eloquently about points starting from his experiences of tension and melancholy, his relationship struggles, and the significance of advocating for anti-racism, Songer is a real storyteller and a novel voice inside UK rap music. A current collab with grime legend D Double E on ‘04.59’ highlighted the credit score he’s garnered within the sport. Heavyweight options like that solely strengthen the anticipation for ‘Skala’, an album that breezes fluently between carefree social gathering anthems and poignant, hopeful bars about grief and melancholy, completely capturing the wide-ranging scope of UK rap in 2023.

NME: What are the most effective and worst issues about being a rapper from Studying?

“There was no strain to be a rapper, no competitors when it comes to ‘Am I higher than this particular person?’, and that enabled me to develop and develop. You in a short time develop a fanbase that wishes you to do effectively; they only love the truth that I’m doing it, and that I’m from Wokingham. It’s additionally a setback in that it’s very comfy – in London, I really feel like I push myself extra. And clearly, your viewers is smaller, as a result of in London, you’ve bought the soul of the UK rap scene, so it’s form of a blessing and a curse.”

Who have been your main influences rising up?

“Rising up, my music tastes have been so various. I liked James Morrison. I liked the Black Eyed Peas, I liked Oasis, Stereophonics. I liked Tinie Tempah, and after I went to see him, J Cole was supporting in Bournemouth – that’s psychological to consider! I used to be so excited to see Tinie Tempah that I did a load of analysis on who was supporting, so by the point I’d seen the present J Cole had launched ‘Who Dat’, ‘Work Out’, and I used to be already hooked.”

These eclectic tastes come by way of on the various vary of beats you employ, spanning hip-hop, storage, and drum ‘n’ bass. Has that range when it comes to sound ever held you again?

“It might need held me again from the skin trying in. If I take a look at ‘Endlessly’, which is on 10 million streams, if I made three ‘Endlessly’s, that might’ve taken me to a spot that may seem from the skin as additional alongside the road. However on a psychological degree, a long-term degree, and a religious degree, and to the fanbase that help me and grew up with me, I don’t suppose it’s held me again in any respect, I really feel like that’s my USP.”

Let’s discuss D Double E. He takes ‘04.59’ to a different degree – how did the collab come about? 

“Each time I hear that track, when D Double’s ad-libs come on, I get goosebumps. As a result of whenever you first begin moving into UK rap, that’s the man. Initially D Double wasn’t on that monitor. I stated to my supervisor, ‘It might be so sick if we might get D Double on the remix for this’. So we bought in touch with Double, and we despatched him the monitor, and actually inside two days, he despatched it again with a verse on the tip. And I used to be like, ‘Bro, why would we do a remix?’

“Once I met him for the video, he was all the pieces you’d need him to be. We’d employed this place for the video, everybody was drunk, and we had decks and a mic; everybody was simply correct having a very good time – he jumped in, and he was having it off. I really like that video as a result of what you see is what you get.”

Your 2021 Dawn Session on Bl@ckBox contained some highly effective lyrics about tackling racism as a white rapper. Do you’ve a duty to be much more vocal about inequality and discrimination?

“I feel everybody has a duty to name out discrimination and inequality wherever they see it, full cease. You may by no means lose monitor of the truth that this can be a Black style that I’m in love with, so I’ve to respect that, and I all the time will, publicly. It’s essential to discuss these matters as a result of in case you wanna communicate in regards to the world, you may’t ignore one of many largest components of the world, and that’s societal injustices. If you wish to be a author and a voice, you wish to be on the appropriate aspect of historical past.”

“If you wish to be a author and a voice, you wish to be on the appropriate aspect of historical past.”

You misplaced a detailed pal, Luke, aged 19, and have typically rapped about that have and the grief that adopted. Are you able to share what occurred and the way it affected you?

“All of my associates went on vacation, and I didn’t go, thank god. The evening earlier than they have been flying residence, he fell off a balcony and died. We have been 19. From that precise second, life didn’t appear actual for almost two years. We had an enormous friendship group, so nobody misplaced the one particular person they may communicate to, which was a magnificence in all of it; it introduced us nearer collectively.

“There have been nonetheless good days and dangerous days, however nothing appeared to fairly make sense. The explanation I nonetheless write about [the death] and doubtless will all the time nonetheless write about it’s that I can’t not. I really like that boy, I all the time will, and it’ll all the time be one of many largest issues that occurred in my life. Within the track referred to as ‘From Us To You’, which I wrote for his funeral, I say, ‘You died younger in order that your spirit might by no means develop previous / You’re younger at coronary heart perpetually’, and I feel there’s consolation in that. He was such a very good particular person, such a humorous particular person, and his soul was so thrilling. He will get to remain like that perpetually.”

There’s a whole lot of stigma connected to males talking out about melancholy and grief. Was opening up about your emotions troublesome to start with?

“100%. My mind is a humorous place with huge highs and massive lows. I’ll undergo durations the place I’m completely positive, then one factor will flip, and I’ll spiral. Once I was writing ‘I’d Slightly You Cheat’ and a whole lot of ‘The Dawn Mission’, that spiral grew to become a pool. I wasn’t similar to ‘Ah, I’m being an fool’ and carrying on with the remainder of my week; I used to be in a correct rut, and I couldn’t climb out of it. That’s why ‘The Dawn Mission’ sounded the way it did; it was nearly from a spot of ‘If I don’t say it, it’s gonna eat me up’. I’m by no means nervous about being weak in music.”

Regardless of that, ‘Skala’ remains to be filled with constructive power, and one key issue behind that’s your relationship along with your girlfriend. How essential is it so that you can share that aspect of your life?

“It’s undoubtedly a extra uplifting album. I’m in the most effective headspace I’ve ever been in in my life. During the last 12 months or so, my girlfriend has been most likely the most important factor in my life. Letting her know ‘I actually do love you, and I’ll love you publicly’ helps the connection. As a result of it’s not straightforward, when somebody is developing, particularly within the style of rap, with its stereotypes and stigmas, for a girlfriend to only unapologetically be herself in any room she’s in, help what I do unapologetically, put up with a playful bar. The album is a nod to her, an acknowledgement of ‘I see you, and I hear you, and I really like you’. I’m by no means ashamed of who I’m, whether or not it’s a couple of relationship, whether or not it’s about grief, whether or not it’s about ache.”

Are you able to describe the sensation of being onstage through the sold-out ‘Story So Far’ tour?

“The transition of utmost nerves to excessive magnificence, like ‘That is all the pieces I’ve ever dreamed of’, that transition was a sense that now I’ll crave perpetually. It’s been a journey going by way of it with a fanbase that’s so loyal and so supportive. They knew each phrase. It had been 4 years since they’d first bought concerned, so for them to lastly watch it dwell, and for me to lastly see the those that like it, that feeling was indescribable.”

Songer’s new album ‘Skala’ might be launched on April 21