Photo by @sirius.film
Behind The Bally is an interview-based column where we speak to UK drill artists, producers and creatives about their lives, upbringing and influences.
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Yeah, gentrified drill (laughs).What was your first studio session like?
My first studio session… erm… cool: I remember meeting up with my managers. Man must’ve gone to… I think it was J Ruckz. I recorded half a tune that I prepared one time. Remember, this was man’s first time obviously going to a studio and I had to impress you get me, so the energy was high at the time. It was an opportunity that I never had before. Yeah, I remember just doing half of it abruptly and then boom everyone was telling me: “Yo, T, this is the one, you need to keep going”, but it wasn’t the one, you get me? It was just my first trial on the mic.Hmm.
From there I started trying a bit more and more, got into “Homerton B”, then boom (clicks fingers), found the one. From there, I just kept going with it.To have "Homerton B" as one of your first tracks is crazy. It was the first UK drill song to be certified silver. How do you think the track changed the landscape of UK drill? Honestly, I feel like “Homerton B” was the first drill tune to commercialise the genre of drill itself. Because when you think about when I released “Homerton B”, at that time a lot of people were drifting away from the whole drill concept. Everyone was bored of it until I dropped “Homerton B” with the whole creative, commercial, jumpy side to the video. I incorporated the girls, the style, d’you get me? Little things like the billboards, the interviews, the magazines – it all brought a lighter side to drill. So, for me, it’s definitely enlightening cos look where we are today. That change is something that people don’t talk about but it definitely has been incorporated in history. Man has made history making the whole drill thing commercial. But yeah, for me it’s just a blessing to see how much change man has made.
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Prison definitely changed my writing process, 100 percent. One hundred percent.Digga D shouted you out on his latest single “Woi” and you recently teased that there may be a joint tape in the near future. Could you talk me through your relationship with Digga?
I met Digga when I went to Belmarsh prison. I got transferred to a different prison and he was there, so things happen for a reason. I didn’t even know what side of the prison he was or where he was exactly, but I basically was moved to a place where he was next door to me and we built a vibe naturally. It all started from me rapping from my window to his window. Everyone in the cells could all hear and engage, gassing it up and that – proper organic vibes. From there, we started rapping back to back at lunchtime, doing little sessions with the prisoners on Christmas day and that. Obviously, I moved into his cell, then we started growing a closer relationship, on a brother ting. We started making music. We made a lot of tunes still, but obviously that’s all due to come.
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To me? Homerton is my hometown and it’s the definition of me. That’s my birthplace and where I was basically grown, before all the music. For me “Homerton B”, Homerton, it’s deeper than music, it’s my lifestyle, it’s my culture.You talked about playing "knockdown ginger” and playing the “nutty violins” instrumental on your Sony Ericsson on your song “Throwback”. What’s your favourite childhood memory?
My favourite childhood memory would have to be secondary school. After school, you know them ones? After school chill with your guys and go chicken shop, girls outside and that, the little things, good times.I hear you man. Four wings and chips after school.
Yeah, yeah. Barbecue wings and chips bro.So what type of kid were you at school? I was the cool yute still.Yeah?
Like I wasn’t that guy that would try and impress other people and that just acting obnoxious. Man was just me innit – the humble, cool guy, class clown, just a lovable person innit.Hmm. At the same time, I was observant and humble.AJ Tracey tweeted that you have at least five unreleased songs together. Can we expect a collaborative project from you two anytime soon?
Yeah, you should still. In due course.What artists are you listening to right now? UK artists I’ve been listening to M1llionz. I’ve been listening to Darkoo. I’ve been listening to Dutch, M Huncho, I’ve been keeping up with people in the industry that are making noise, but at the same time I’ve been listening to a couple US artists. 42 Dugg, Lil Baby, been listening to Toosii, couple of the new projects just to get an understanding.
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Imagine in like year seven to ten, I was short and my voice was still high, but that summer I grew my hair, my voice dropped and I just had a growth spurt. So, man came back to year 11 a changed man still. Tall with a deep voice.We’re slowly easing out of lockdown now and shops, pubs and barbers are starting to open. How have you found these last few months of quarantine? It’s different. Obviously me coming out [of prison], I came out at an awkward time cos lockdown was like two, three weeks after I came home. But for me it made me realise the little things I like away from music. It helped me understand me, not Unknown T.Recently artists including Dutchavelli and Digga D were threatened to be recalled for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. Do you think people find it difficult to look past the violence associated with drill?
One hundred percent. There has always been an unfairness towards us. Artists like myself, Dutchavelli, Digga D, we’re trapped in this environment so this is what we rap about. They can’t expect us not to support the Black Lives Matter movement and all these different things – it's just contradictory. We have to play a part, we have to voice it as well, they can’t expect us not to, that’s just my opinion.I agree with you. There was another bar in your Daily Duppy freestyle where you say: “Trident act like rap is the cause of violence”. I feel like drill has become a distraction in order to neglect issues such as austerity, school exclusions and lack of opportunity.
People like the government, the authorities, they always push the blame towards the artists and forget about all the other factors around that they are the ones in control of. There wouldn’t be this situation and people rapping like this about all the grittiness if you lot basically pattern up the little things in our neighbourhood. That’s the bigger picture, but people don’t see the bigger picture.
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Honestly, this is something that’s just adapted from the beginning. I didn’t think about it at first. In my “Mad About Bars” if you pree I’ve been doing all this bopping. It’s my people that showed man “Rah, just keep doing what you’re doing – it's wavy.” People started clocking onto it so I thought you know what… yeah, let me make it something.The outro to your mixtape is called “Ambition”. What’s your ultimate life ambition? My ultimate life ambition is to make sure my family is comfortable first and foremost. I want to set the foundations for the history of generations. Yeah fam… like legacy.Tracks like “SS interlude” from the Rise Above Hate tape brought out a different side to you that we haven’t seen. What do you want your fans to take away from your debut project?
For me, I feel like there’s one topic that not many artists have touched upon… In my song “SS Interlude” there’s a subliminal message where I was in a relationship, went prison, and the Mrs was holding me down. And that little phone conversation [on the track] was reflecting on mental health issues that Black men go through. It’s like where we’re closed off, in a jail cell, a lot goes on in our heads which I was what I was trying to reflect in “SS Interlude”. You know just the feelings and emotional processes within us. It’s not always just drill, drill, drill… there’s also a softer side and that was the whole idea to show in “SS Interlude”. And the reason it was the interlude is because you see the shortness of it. I was trying to make it reflect how Black males hold that emotion within them, but then snap back into this drill persona or this hardcore persona… do you know what I’m trying to say? My tape is full of subliminal messages. It's deeper than music.
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