Euphoria: Sex, Drugs & Gen Z As someone born in 1998, I just about made it out of the group of generation Z kids that completely grew up with social media. I didn’t get a phone until I was almost 12 years old and even then it was a little brick without any Internet, with its most redeeming quality being the radio. I mean MSN was a thing back in primary school and I watched Facebook begin to dig its claws into my peers throughout secondary/high school (my Nigerian mother said no way Iseduwa), but that’s about as exciting as it got for me until I started using Twitter when I was around 16. I learnt how to communicate, create relationships and more importantly function without the use of social media. It wasn’t until four episodes into ‘Euphoria’ that I realised just how much of a blessing this was. This show is literally about a group of teenagers in high school, which on the surface doesn’t seem like anything new hence my initial apprehension. With Zendaya starring, who prior to this project hadn’t given me a reason to believe she had the acting ability to carry an entire television show, I approached this with very low expectations. It took precisely 5 minutes to shut me all the way up, as we’re instantly slapped in the face with unexpectedly heavy and quite frankly dark tone. Zendaya’s character, Rue, dives straight into an extremely depressing story about her journey from an anxiety ridden child to drug addicted teenager who literally heads straight to her dealers house as soon she is out of rehab, after almost overdosing. The flashbacks, told with the smoothest transitions, have enough humour to illicit a chuckle without removing from the gravity of the topic, and some of the best casting I’ve seen on television in a long time, are my favourite things about this show. Flashbacks are usually plonked in the middle of random episodes when the character at hand is relaying their own tragic tales to whomever and quite frankly I’ve always found them cringey with that white vignette all over the screen. But this show does it so well, mainly because of my second favourite thing about it: the fucking cinematography (shoutout to Marcell Rév and the rest of this team). I am not joking when I say that as a film nerd and photographer, I have had to pause this show multiple times per episode just to scream out of pure ecstasy at a transition, camera angle/motion or the fuckingggggg colourssssss. Each time the sound fades out and you can feel just how anxious Rue is getting, or when the scenes start fast cutting and you can feel her slipping into a manic episode or even one when the scenes start gently falling into each other and you suddenly feel as heavy has the depression on her shoulders. This show uses every medium available from sound, costume, hair, makeup all the way to colour grading to effectively set the tone so brilliantly, I could cry. The third and arguably the most obviously notable thing about this show is the acting. As far as I’m concerned, every single member of this cast is showing out. From Angus Cloud ’s slow but endearing take on the resident drug dealer Fez, Sydney Sweeny’s seemingly ditzy but extremely deliberate performance as Cassie to Jacob Elordi’s minimalistic but incredibly angered embodiment of Nate (I could talk for ages about his character but wasn’t that scene with his dad in the finale incredible?). The biggest surprise to me was Zendaya if I’m being honest. Like most people, although I have absolutely adored this girl ever since she was popping and locking on Shake it Up with Bella Thorne, I had never seen any acting from her that suggested she had the range for this role. But in she comes with the terrible posture, dry sense of humour, laid back but oddly cohesive wardrobe, all mumbles, anxiety-ridden and overall struggling with eye-contact level awkwardness, that again proves me so wrong. For the first half of the season, you watch Rue’s battle with addiction, which is heartbreaking because you’re already rooting for her. It then transitions into her battle with what appears to be severe bipolar disorder. The door to overacting is always right there when it comes to mental health issues, especially one as erratic as bipolar, but she doesn’t even glance at it. She lets the depression in and just sits with it, exactly the way one has to just sit with their depression, and then she skillfully embodies the mania in a humorous but extremely straight to the point way that kind of has you nodding along, trying your best to follow her thought process. Euphoria tells the story of how the high school experience, albeit not a pleasant one in any decade, has morphed into something that none of us senior citizens can even begin to comprehend. We all remember how tales of last night’s party can spin out of control in true Chinese whispers fashion but back in our day this would at least take a day, maybe two, giving the victim enough time to do damage control. But during the first episode, we watch Kat (played exceptionally by Barbie Ferreira) have her first sexual experience at a party only to get to school the next day and have everybody laughing at her because everyone has seen the video. And then somehow Kat manages to flip the narrative entirely & turn this experience into an online sex work persona. We see Maddy be completely aware of the fact that she’s being abused by Nate & we see him be completely aware that he’s abusing her and not know why. We see Nate get away with it, because he is on the right side of privilege in all of his identities. We watch Cassie’s mother snap out of her drunken state to hold her daughter’s hand through the abortion. We see the main character be openly queer and nobody bats an eye when she starts a very confusing romantic relationship with the enigma that is Jules, a trans girl. Everything we’re seeing is the same, but it feels so new. Sam Levingston chooses to open each episode barring the finale with a fast paced, monotonously narrated flashback of each of the main character’s childhoods, that somehow seem to make every stupid thing that has ever come out of their mouth make so much sense , because of course you’re fucked up after that. These characters are so well layered and I know the journey to discovering them has only just begun. I’ve seen a lot of people criticize his writing for being slightly heavy handed and I would agree if he weren’t telling the fucking truth. Each of these characters feels like an exaggeration of some sort because surely this can’t actually be happening. But it is. All the talk around the show’s apparent controversy shouldn’t distract you from the fact that they’ve genuinely managed to create the first accurate depiction on the modern high school experience because unlike us, escapism is the only way they’ve been taught to cope. Previous Item Next Item As someone born in 1998, I just about made it out of the group of generation Z kids that completely grew up with social media. I didn’t...

Alina Baraz Album Review: It Was Divine Artwork shot by Dana Trippe Alina Baraz found her gently undulating lane right away and she’s pretty much stayed in it ever since. On her 2013 breakthrough track, aptly named ‘ Drift ,’ she lifted adowntempo instrumental from Dutch producer Galamatiasand added languid lyrics to turn it into a Sade-esque ballad: "You're like a wave washing over me/Pulling me underneath," she sighs, sliding her honeyed tones up and down the words. Galamatias was understandably seduced when he heard it, and the two officially collaborated on a 2015 EP called Urban Flora (Ultra), which perfected the formula. Baraz has just released her first full-length project, It Was Divine on (Mom + Pop), and for both better and worse, she continues to do what she does, with track after track of dreamy tempos, sex-soaked smoky vocals, and romantic lyrics. "I can see my whole life when I'm with you ," she laments on opening track ‘ My Whole Life’ a song that almost begs to be used as part of a new-school television’s score. Baraz's consistency and focus is an advantage when choosing guest stars; teaming up with 6LACK for single ‘ Morocco ’ is inspired in its obviousness with the Atlanta rapper’s fuzzily laid-back style sliding perfectly into her groove whilst their slight tonal contrast gives the song an edge, resulting in smooth perfection. Following a 2017 collaboration with R&B singer Khalid on the stunning song ‘Electric’, they get together again for Baraz's ‘ Off the Grid ’, a hooky summer jam which bops gently from flirtatious to more than flirtatious when Baraz lowers her voice to a Julie London whisper. Nas' verse on ‘Until I Met You’ fits nicely as well. When he says he wants someone "to chill and listen to oldies with", Baraz multi-tracks herself providing a chorus of "oooos", a nice tribute to her retro-90s influence and vibes. Smino proves himself again to be a big asset where featuring is concerned, taking “Gimme The Wheel” from a rather uninteresting song to something a little more memorable. Artwork by Dana Trippe If you begin listening to this project yearning for the sound we’re used to hearing from Alina, you won't be disappointed by It Was Divine , which serves those vibes up beautifully on songs like ‘ Endlessly’, ‘Night and Morning’ and ‘More Than Enough’. One track blurs into another, for 53 minutes of warm and extremely romantic chill and to put it simply, it’s gorgeous. Sometimes a slightly larger bass can be found on songs like ‘ Be Good’, and other times, as on the (excellent) piano jazz riff ‘Memo Blue’ , or the lovely acoustic guitar driven ‘Say You Know’ it's dialed down. But she never seems to wander into a change in tempo or move the topic of conversation from the sheets to the club. At 53 minutes, that singular approach can almost get monotonous. None of the songs are bad at all, in fact a few are excellent, but on the other hand if you lost two or threeof some of the more mediocre melodies, you wouldn't exactly notice. By the end casual listeners are likely to wish Alina had used her first album to move just a step out of her comfort zone and experiment on at least one track with more raucous beats, tempos, or emotions. However it’s pretty obvious, with the level of cohesion this album bringsthat the tonal and subdued approach to R&B is where her heart lies. And to be fair, she's very good at it. Previous Item Next Item Artwork shot by Dana Trippe Alina Baraz found her gently undulating lane right away and she’s pretty much stayed in it ever since. On...

Ari Lennox Album Review: Shea Butter Baby I’m only writing this article as an excuse to listen to this album on a loop. As if I wasn’t going to do that anyway. I first encountered Ari Lennox while she was opening for J. Cole on his 4 Your Eyez Only tour in November 2017. I don’t remember paying a whole lot of attention as she introduced herself (aside from noticing how blatantly attractive she was) until she started singing. I was completely transfixed for the entirety of her set even though I didn’t know a single song and I truly haven’t been able to look away since. Everything about this project sits right in the heart of all that is beautiful about jazz and blues. From the first trumpet note on its opening track Chicago Boy to Masego’s silky saxophone solos on Up Late , this album serves as an authentic homage to the genre. However, with how instrumental jazz can often get, the project ran the risk of not being relatable to the music scene at the moment. And yet, with Facetime blaring through the walls of my room as I type this, I’m certain that I haven’t felt this related to in a very long time. Ari spends all 44 minutes of the LP saying everything she felt, when she felt like saying it, how she felt like saying it and all I could do was grin the entire time. Around 5 out of the 12 songs on the album either start or finish with a short but very ‘Ari-like’ rant on seemingly unrelated topics that range from needing to check if her garbanzo beans are cooked to realising how much she needs human interaction over materialistic things. These random frustration-filled outbursts are something her social media followers have come to know and love her for and as someone who has sat through one too many, they honestly made me feel like I was in the studio with her passing the blunt. At the end of Chicago Boy , a beautiful vocal entry to the project where she explains wanting a quickie before she’s got to hoe go catch a flight, she essentially dedicates the album to (black) women by telling all the niggas to get out because “it’s about to get disgusting.” The playful intimacy that runs throughout the 12 tracks serve as a way of making you feel like you’re chilling at a close friend’s new crib having one of those conversations that make absolutely no sense and all the sense in the world at the same time. Before listening to this project, if someone had told me that almost every song would be as good as the album’s second single and title Shea Butter Baby or even its third single Up Late, I would have chuckled. As far as I’m concerned, both those songs are so good they don’t even feel real sometimes . But somehow every track manages to create its own individual experience. Although no song can technically be described as completely upbeat, BMO and New Apartment and are so carefree and breezy in tone- making you feel so light that you’ve got no choice but to get up and dance. Songs like Broke with JID, who demolished his verse effortlessly, have you bouncing your head rather forcefully for a track made up of some drums and a banjo(?) because the beat is just so fucking hard. And somehow, these hip-hop influenced tracks seamlessly blend into the soulful guitar or blues ballads dotted throughout the project. This album is completely littered with stunning vocal performances like Pop or Facetime or Speak to Me or any of the other 9 songs if we’re being frank. Every single track belongs to the previous as much as the next and I truly haven’t felt this strongly about a musical body of work since SZA blessed us with CTRL back in 2017; an album that has spent over 100 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts might I add. And if you know me, you know how much of a big statement that is for me to make. But I mean it. Shea Butter Baby is so beautifully enchanting from lyricism and vocal performances right the way to curation without sounding pretentious or overdone in the slightest. Not only is this the album of the month, but it’s also the best album to drop in 2019 so far. And if I’m being honest, I don’t think it’s going to be topped. Previous Item Next Item I’m only writing this article as an excuse to listen to this album on a loop. As if I wasn’t going to do that anyway. I first encountered...

Lovecraft Country Review: S1E5 'Strange Case' “I enjoyed my entire day using the only currency I needed, whiteness” If I had to assign an overarching theme to this episode, it would be 'privilege personified'. There is an overt storyline that is riddled with favour and opportunity as seen in Ruby's or should I say Ms. Hilary Davenport’s escapades. Ruby's literal metamorphosis that temporarily changes her into a white woman lets her character and viewers alike explore the disparity between the black and white experience- from the explicit to the nuanced. Although her journey may be the secondary plot within the episode, the wackiness and intrigue of the concept took centre stage. Yes, a black woman breaking out of white skin covered in blood would catch the attention of many watching, but the parallels between Montrose's and Ruby's arcs also need to be drawn. Tic's father also experiences both privilege and transformation, just not as literally or as physically as Ruby. Instead of masking race behind a facade, Montrose shields his sexuality away. In a completely unrelated event that leads to Tic beating his father senseless in a fit of rage, Montrose's appearance is forcibly altered with bruises, bumps and a black eye- removing the smug and stern exterior we are used to and replacing it with something far more vulnerable. In that state of defencelessness, we are introduced to his 'love interest' and an arguably different side of the character we are familiar with, Frank Ocean's Bad Religion complements a scene plagued with Montrose's self-condemnation and rejection. As those that sit on the fringes of 1950s white America, not only as black people but with the intersection of gender and sexuality, “I don’t know what is more difficult. Being black or being a woman”. Even though Ruby has discovered how to be black without the discrimination that goes with it, she is still within the male gaze constantly, and witnesses sexual assault. Ironically her benefactor (William/Christina) does the opposite, with Christina only posing as William to escape the limitations of being a woman that threaten her progression in the Sons of Adam, her race is not a barrier. Ruby and Montrose both see their situations as curses before coming to terms with their identities, which is why the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly on the TV was the perfect voiceover for Ruby's first 'shedding'. Ruby’s assumed whiteness is juxtaposed at first to show that she’s not comfortable with the privilege. Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf plays over her white body walking down the street, tying into the idea of identity but also in a peculiar way which shows that her joy as a black woman is unregulated in that of a white body due to the problems racism posed in that era. The role of both Montrose’s lover and Ruby's benefactor play a huge role in their overall change. They were both reassured and affirmed by interested parties. What differs is the reason that they were interested, which ultimately forks their paths towards acceptance. For example, Ruby uses privilege to inflict her twisted sense of justice, whereas Montrose finds a form of relief and freedom in who he truly is. Although Ruby's ending can be seen as oddly satisfying given her background in trying to get a job in a department store despite being overqualified, her story is also a commentary on the corruption of power through privilege. Instead of uplifting the black sales woman that works under her, Hilary/Ruby ends up belittling her due to the sales woman's own type of privilege: pretty. When Ruby realises that the other woman didn't have to take courses or work as hard as her to secure the job she dreamt about, her tune changes for the remainder of the episode. Maybe as Ruby, she would not have projected how she felt, but within her white body the limitations on her conscience were little to none. Montrose is arguably the most complicated character in the show. He is layered with emotion, trauma and guilt that stop his true persona from rising to the surface. On top of that it isn't hard to see that he feels deeply misunderstood on both a micro and macro level through individuals like his son, Tic and his 'boyfriend' Sammy; but also, when it comes to his queerness in wider society. Though I described him in the same bracket as Ruby by embodying privilege, in his case as a straight man, the latter scenes of him dancing in the club without a care suggest that the privilege was more of a cocoon that he needed to break free from in order to complete his transformation. The symbolism that ran throughout this episode is crucial for black viewers that have ever had that "what if?" moment, in relation to Ruby’s transformation but Montrose's tale is also one that cannot be overlooked. Apart from adding dimension to a personality first thought to be stubborn and dogmatic, it also gave those watching a window into how hypermasculinity and queerness still cause friction on an individual community level, especially for black people. Previous Item Next Item “I enjoyed my entire day using the only currency I needed, whiteness” If I had to assign an overarching theme to this episode, it would...

Drake, The Accent Connoisseur Over the years, Drake has been criticized for ‘borrowing’ accents, slang and even full blown languages, infusing them into his music, and by extension his persona. As a result, we have witnessed Caribbean Drake, Spanish Drake, French Drake and most recently, Arabic Drake- a feat only surpassed by the GOT’s many faced God. To help you keep track of it all, here is a comprehensive list of languages (and their corresponding songs) that Drake has used thus far: Patois: Drake feat. Rihanna- Too Good From growing up in Toronto (a city heavily influenced by Caribbean culture) to hanging outside Rihanna’s family home in Barbados, Drake’s affinity for Patois is something he didn’t inherit. Instead, he cultivated and learned from those around him to become the Transcaribbean he is today, skillfully weaving it into numerous tracks and features until it became second nature. With his authentic accent in the bag, alongside his ‘Unruly’ friends, what else does a Degrassi actor-turned-rapper need to know about island life? Only one song could make the cut and we went for the bars that would make his new people proud. “ Cock up yuh bumpa, siddung pon it! A special shoutout to “ And I’m never on a waste ting, shawty” and “ smiling back when they pree” from Controlla. A true cultural reset. Spanish: Bad Bunny feat. Drake - Mia Remix The internet went into a bit of a frenzy when Bad Bunny dropped the Mia remix featuring Drake singing in spanish. "Porque todos te quieren probar / Lo que lo sabe es que oy / Lo te voy a buscar," he sang in an accent resembling that of a Boricua earning him the tongue in cheek title “Drizzy or Doricua” from NPR’s Sidney Madden. Honourable mention to the OG feature that broke the internet on Romeo Santos’ Odios. Yoruba: Drake feat. WizKid- One Dance Although Drake’s Afrobeat stint was shorter than NEPA light, he did provide a summer banger in 2016, earning his green Nigerian passport in the process. OluwaDrake dropped a quick bar in Yoruba, showing us that he, in fact, was the one who taught Wizkid (the unknown feature artist) the language. “ Oti, oti/There's never much love when we go OT ”. The dialect wizard made a play on the word “ oti”, which could mean “ no”, or with a little intonation, ọtí can mean liquor. The oga at the top strikes again. French: DJ Khaled feat. Drake- Greece When geniuses get bored, they learn. Next on his agenda was conquering France like the 1848 revolution, and with a DJ Khaled on production it was nothing short of magnifique. Ironically titled, Greece featured the words " Come with me, fly you out to Greece/Full speed, survoler Paris, yeah ” in the chorus. “ Surlover Paris”, translating to fly over Paris, is a hidden message telling his fans and followers that mastering his French accent was too easy and Greece may well be his next destination. Arabic: Drake and Headie One- Only You Freestyle The internet told one joke too many likening Drake to an Arab man, and he absolutely ran with it on his verse in the recently dropped collaboration with drill rapper Headie One. Or maybe DJ Khaled’s been getting extra coin from tutoring lessons. Or maybe this is Drake’s latest attempt at getting Rihanna’s attention (keep up Drizzy, they broke up already). Only You Freestyle raised a few eyebrows when he rapped “Arabic ting tells me I look like Youssef, look like Hamza/ Habibti please, ana akeed, inti wa ana ahla,” which translates to “My love, please, I’m sure, you and I look better together" . And we haven’t even gotten started on how he “rides the wave” when it comes to genres. Clearly, Champagnepapi has transcended his national status as a Canadian and become a citizen of the world. The conversations on how artists incorporate certain music elements and cultures into their work and the implications is important. Not only for the host culture, but also the artists’ whose work is usually bit off from are crucial. Whether you veer on the side that Drake’s recent career moves should be considered appropriation or appreciation, here are five points of reference to help you build your argument on the matter. Here's the a playlist of our first round picks and the other accent examples: Previous Item Next Item Over the years, Drake has been criticized for ‘borrowing’ accents, slang and even full blown languages, infusing them into his music, and...

Festival Review: The Ends The Ends Festival displayed 3 days of a delightful spread of music. It presented an intriguing blend of artists that play with so many different sounds inspired by countless genres. Hosted for the first time in, the Croydon-bound Ends Festival managed to put on a safe and great event that offered a lovely insight to the range of music appreciated by the festival goers. Legendary acts like Nas, Wizkid and Damian Marley ended the days in honour of the first Ends Festival. They were accompanied by a variety of homegrown talent and artists that fit the festival's bill. International acts like Damian, Masego, Burna Boy, De La Soul, and a heart-warming homage to the late legend Nipsey Hussle, displayed an awesome range of musical talent. It was fascinating to see the crowd, sometimes stopping to ask who they saw or wanted to see, and the range of artists they admired that were present. Friday attracted a rap engrossed crowd for De La Soul, Nas, Ghetts and more. Saturday had a large wave of people obstructing the Main stage for Afrobeats with Wizkid headlining and Wande Coal and Teni featuring over the day. Sunday had a massive turnout for Burna Boy, with Dave making a special appearance for Location , Damian Marley and J Balvin. Though between grand and established acts, many upcoming artists had the opportunity to showcase their talent to the ends. The name Ends Festival was fitting. Many of the artists being from Croydon or surrounding areas found themselves performing locally for the first time. It was tremendous to witness artists we have seen grow into full-fledged performers take their place on a festival stage. Some of my favourite moments were having discussions on performances, seeing people bewildered by artists they have never heard. At festivals you get to witness the whole approach to performance, which adds to an artists' musicality. The three stages; the Main, Footasylum and Future stage, each presented a set of artists over the course of days. Despite the main attractions it was exciting to see the support for local artists. The likes of Jords who performed his latest single Glide , Nadia Rose and her young fans sprinting across the park to catch her set, the vibe and waves of A2 and the fans that entertained the singalong, as well as the enchanting voice of Jaz Karis. It flowed well as attendees, like myself, managed to plan and attend sets between each other to champion the artists we wanted to see. Though one performance I definitely could not miss was Badside’s, a local collective from Thorton Heath and South Norwood, that performed last on the Future stage right before Nas. Badside are a multifaceted collective of artists, including Ellz (@ellzBS), Proton (@ProtonBS) and Gray (@GrayBS_). They all have the ability to write songs and produce intertwining rap, singing and occasionally trap within the lyrics. The group enjoy playing with an alluring variety of musical styles. Each individually presenting a different approach to music and very much their own artists. Though coming together to serve a chemistry they call Badside. The collective have been working in or around music for almost a decade. A lot of groups can overshadow each other or make music that sounds scarily like today's thriving sounds. Though a collective that invests within each other musically is rare, and over the last couple years Badside have done just that. Each of the artists have been consistent with their own styles, preferring to stick to what they know rather than accustom taste to times. They are unique insofar as they champion their own sounds; each having their own performances at a range of venues. I have seen them individually perform on several occasions but jumped at the chance to see Badside in whole for a full set. Ellz is an effortless rapper and exemplified this recently with his tape last year, Bad Business . The success of the tape saw him join Hardy Caprio on his sold out tour in Dublin, Nottingham and Glasgow, where he has performed a spread of songs from his tape including Big Slime , his most infectious song on the tape, that certainly shuts down everywhere he goes as it did at Ends. His video Never Scared , also from the Bad Business tape, epitomizes his ease with rapping – a rabid flow and light delivery showing his skill. Like most of EllzBS' music he displays lyrical prowess that keeps you fixed and building a picture of the puzzle he is painting. Ellz is a mark of the ends, his content speaks of the fearlessness with the identity he has built and secured himself while depicting the characters and relationships he sees in the people around it. Today Ellz tours and performs, treating crowds to unreleased gems like Lifestyle , a tune in which he and Gray really capture the livelihood of where they are from and the situations of a young musical man. He released his latest tape, Bad Attitude , on 16th June. On the flipside, Gray is a world away sound-wise, which adds to the spread of Badside’s versatility. Blending singing, rap and bars riddled with the lifestyle of a trap, Gray evokes a different kind of emotion. He is smooth and soulful. He has performed at a spread of venues on nights tailored to the variety of sounds the UK has to offer. Such as the Old Blue Last, Rye Wax, Notting Hill Arts Festival, and recently The Set London where he performed Deposition for the first time, a song that has racked over 130,000 listens on Spotify. He performs next on the 18th June at Boiler Room and is always on a line-up full of intriguing artists. His music is very thoughtful and captivating as it sends you through his own stream of consciousness and reflections of the lifestyle he lives. The approach to song writing Gray has invites you to reminisce, as if he is telling your own story, while grounding you into newer imagery of how he interprets it. With songs performed on the day such as Life Unfolds , which has a well-worked video capturing his image, Lifestyle with Ellz and No Boo with Proton. Though Gray is not as sweet as he sounds, his tape Persevere released earlier this year hints at sounds he admires and implements into his music. You can see the unique blend of RNB, soul and jazz influences in his work. The mastery of Badside’s sound, which feels much fuller and more professional is thanks to Proton's production and expertise as a sound engineer. Though his music catalogue and history are vast, (with his Grime days in his past) his years of a rap and singing discography compliment his musical interest and scope of ideas. Proton released his tape Unloading last year, which showcased the ease within his music. Songs like Woah , for instance show that Proton is really good at creating pockets to flow into. The tape is full of grand production, and a much clearer listen than some of the most famous artists' projects. His music is uplifting and feels like a composition. A lot goes into the production that does not overshadow his words, and like Gray, though with a more upbeat singing voice, he can catch a note. Like Ellz he is an incredible rapper. The whole package of Proton’s work is great to listen to, it sounds cared for and hardly rushed, an encouraging way to feel about someone’s music. It leaves you wanting more. Proton has worked with a fantastic spread of artists as an artist himself and obviously through the production side of things, with collaboration with Mura Masa, featuring on Kamakaze’s song Coldiene , which has over 700,000 listens on Spotify. Proton has also broken into TV show soundtracks, working with TheUnder on Out Control for a show, Escape at the Dannemora – a very good HBO production. Proton is the mark of a multidimensional artist and he has utilised his skill set as a career and has a stunning musical resume. The three from Badside's collective greatness was shown at the Ends Festival. With the passion in their sound evident at every show, with unreleased gems laying in wait, Badside certainly made an impression on the day. There is much more to come that will really bring to fruition Badside’s talent. Like many of the artists the festival had the privilege of showcasing, it is important to highlight and recognise the brilliance that stems from the ends. Previous Item Next Item The Ends Festival displayed 3 days of a delightful spread of music. It presented an intriguing blend of artists that play with so many...

Festival Review: AFROPUNK Afropunk Music Festival was founded in 2005 and is one of the largest black music festivals in New York City. Its name perfectly encapsulates and embodies the role that the festival sought to fulfil – create a safe and expressive place for black punks and alternatives. Over recent years, the individuals who Afropunk was created for, no longer feel at home and that their once safe space, has been encroached, commodified and gentrified. This can largely be attributed to the Festival starting to charge as it once was a free event. In order for one to get a ticket, you had to volunteer within the area. The festival selling out months before August was met with much outrage on various social media platforms as individuals could often get tickets on the day. On top of this, Afropunk attendees, Ericka Hart, Ebony Donnley, Lorelei Black were reportedly removed the festival for protesting the festival by wearing shirts which said “afropunk sold out for white consumption”. Admist all of this, Afropunk is beautiful and has maintained the ambience it initially sought to create. Upon entering, one can only marvel at the sea of black beauty which is thrusted at your eyes. At my first Afropunk in 2017 I was overwhelmed and enamoured by everything I was seeing and this year was no different. What was within the gates of Afropunk 2018 was a sensational spectrum of black skin cloaked in the most elaborate and expressive outfits, a beautiful picture of afrocentric and punk celebration from men and women in varying ages and sizes. This year’s Saturday line up was simply stellar as were their performances. It included a slew of punk DJ’s and more notable alternative R&B artists such as H.E.R , The Internet , Smino & Daniel Caesar . H.E.R jumped from every musical instrument on stage with the greatest ease showcasing her skill and proficiency and The Internet performed a perfect medley of Ego Death and Hive Mind tracks. Daniel Caesar entranced us with his sublime vocals. And of course he later joined H.E.R during her set to perform Best Part. A nd Miguel never dropped a note despite summersaulting and sprinting to and from each end of the stage. Kaytranada’s set was the most fitting way to end the festival. Performing a flawless set comprising of his older and newer tracks, he had the crowd eating directly out of his palm. Afropunk wouldn’t have been as sensational without the attendees. It’s almost impossible to escape the “Yass Queen” or “F*ck it up” which were being hurled in every direction. People are fab, kind and just there to have a brilliant time. Irrespective of the issues which afropunk may be experiencing, it didn’t fail to disappoint. Thanks AP, till next year! Previous Item Next Item Afropunk Music Festival was founded in 2005 and is one of the largest black music festivals in New York City. Its name perfectly...

8 Most Anticipated Book Releases in February New month, new reading list! Literary fiction takes centre stage in February with 4 out of the 8 recommendations belonging to the genre. But if you fancy something different, there are great options under poetry, memoir, romance and historical fiction to pick from. Maame by Jessica George Genre: Literary fiction Themes: coming of age, family, race, culture, belonging Description: It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is unrewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. When her mum returns, Maddie leaps at the chance to get out of the family home and finally start living. A self-acknowledged late bloomer, she’s ready to experience some important “firsts.” But it's not long before tragedy strikes, forcing Maddie to face the true nature of her unconventional family, and the perils–and rewards–of putting her heart on the line. 2. I'm Always So Serious by Karisma Price Genre: Poetry Themes: Blackness, family, loss, grief, cultural commentary Description: Karisma Price’s stunning debut collection is an extended meditation on Blackness, on family, on loss. Anchored in New Orleans and New York City, these poems braid personal and public histories into a cultural reckoning of past and present. In these pages there is grief, there is absence, there is violence—but there is also immense love and truth. 3. The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest Genre: Romance Theme: second chances, career, self love, race Description: Shy, bookish, and awkward, Lily Greene has always felt inadequate compared to the rest of her accomplished family. Lily finds escapism in her correspondences with her favourite fantasy author, and what begins as two lonely people connecting over e-mail turns into a tentative friendship and possibly something else -until he ghosts her. Months later, Lily seeks a date to her sister's wedding. And the perfect person to help her is Nick Brown, her new neighbour, whom she feels drawn to for unexplainable reasons. Nick soon realizes that the woman from down the hall is the same Lily he fell in love with over e-mail months ago. Unwilling to complicate things between them, he agrees to set her up with someone else, though this simple favor between two neighbors is anything but-not when he can't get her off his mind. 4. Windward Family: An Atlas of Love, Loss and Belonging by Alexis Keir Genre: Memoir Themes: love, loss, belonging, British- Caribbean history Description: Twenty years after living there as a child, Alexis Keir returns to the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent. He is keen to uncover lost memories and rediscover old connections. But he also carries with him the childhood scars of being separated from his parents and put into uncaring hands. From the Caribbean to England, North America and New Zealand, from windswept islands to the wet streets of London, and spanning generations of travellers from the 19th century to the present, Windward Family takes you inside the beating heart of a Black British family, separated by thousands of miles but united by love, loss and belonging. 5. What Napoleon Could Not Do by DK Nnuro Genre: Literary Fiction Themes: Blackness, Africaness, family, ambition Description: When siblings Jacob and Belinda Nti were growing up in Ghana, their goal was simple: to move to America. Jacob, an awkward computer programmer who still lives with his father, wants a visa so he can move to Virginia to live with his wife—a request that the U.S. government has repeatedly denied. He envies his sister, Belinda, who achieved, as their father put it, “what Napoleon could not do”: she went to college and law school in the United States and even managed to marry Wilder, a wealthy Black businessman from Texas. For these three, their desires and ambitions highlight the promise and the disappointment that life in a new country offers. 6. The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley Genre: Literary Fiction Themes: relationships, tragedy, dark humour Description: In the wake of her parents’ death, Aretha, a habitually single Black lawyer, has had only one obsession in life—success—until she falls for Aaron, a coffee entrepreneur. Moving into his Brooklyn brownstone to live along with his Hurricane Sandy-traumatized, illegal-gun-stockpiling, optimized-soy-protein-eating, bunker-building roommates, Aretha finds that her dreams of making partner are slipping away, replaced by an underground world, one of selling guns and training for a doomsday that’s maybe just around the corner. 7. Rose and the Burma Sky by Rosanna Amaka Genre: Historical Fiction Themes: love, unrequited love, war, imperialism Description: 1939: In a village in south-east Nigeria, young Obi watches from a mango tree as a colonial army jeep whooshes by, filled with soldiers laughing and shouting. To Obi, their promise of a smart uniform and regular wages are hard to resist, especially as he has his sweetheart Rose to impress and a family to support. Years later, when Rose falls pregnant to another man, his heart is shattered. As the Burma Campaign mounts, and Obi is shipped out to fight, he is haunted by the mystery of Rose's lover. When his identity comes to light, Obi's devastation leads to a tragic - and wholly unforeseeable - chain of events. 8. A House For Alice by Diana Evans Genre: Fiction Themes: loss, tragedy, family, grief, spirituality Description: In the wake of their father's death, the imagined stability of the family begins to buckle. Meanwhile youngest daughter Melissa is forging a new life but has never let go of a love she lost. Michael too remains haunted by the failed perfection of their past, even within the sturdy walls of his marriage to the sparkling Nicole. As Alice's final decision draws closer, all that is hidden between Melissa and her sisters, Michael and Nicole, rises to the surface. Set against the shadows of Grenfell and a country in turmoil, Diana Evans's ordinary people confront fundamental questions. How should we raise our children? How to do right by our parents? And how, in the midst of everything, can we satisfy ourselves? Previous Item Next Item New month, new reading list! Literary fiction takes centre stage in February with 4 out of the 8 recommendations belonging to the genre....

Maternal Mortality in Anime Anime characters almost always have at least one missing parent. If the tragic murder, untimely sickness or completely unexplained absence of said parent isn’t driving a plot it’s probably haunting the main and supporting characters throughout. The maternal mortality rate specifically is probably the foundation for our attachments to a lot of our characters; if the writer can make us witness enough tragedy in a characters life we are likely to root for them faster and harder. Who could possibly be better to eliminate than the most important person in their life? Perhaps this is engaging to some people but it has definitely had its disturbing moments. So here is a breakdown of three popular anime that have eradicated the primary caregiver and why it simply is not cute. Most of the mother’s deaths, or the beginning of the illness, begins before the anime has started and we’re thrown into the aftermath of the protagonists’ trauma. The Attack on Titan writer’s were very generous though; they start their story slightly before the life-changing event, so that we get to see just how perfect Eren Yaeger’s life was. The first episode’s entire aesthetic is clear skies, chirping birds and wind blowing through grass. Of course, we see how Eren is dissatisfied with his life and this directly linked to his mother’s style of mothering. He want’s to run off and lead a life of danger while his mother resolutely against it. Indeed, this make’s the blow a little more tragic when we watch a titan flop her already crushed body around like a cheese string and chomp her down like Sunday dinner. I, personally, was eating when I first watched this and I almost brought my food back up. It does rile Eren up and make him the main character that we see in the series. However, his deep-set issues, like his hero complex, are rooted in her death. We constantly see Eren dive headfirst into dangerous situations, something his mother was buffering while she was alive, and everyone including Mikasa and Armin having to improve themselves to cover his flaws. The delusion is that Eren is a hero and that his mother’s violent death triggered this inside him but he’s really just an unflattering, toxic response to his childhood feelings of incompetency. There are few of these maternal situations that I considered to be heart-wrenching but Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood siblings, Ed and Al, almost had me for a second. After their mother’s illness kicks in full force the pair attempt to use Human Transmutation and Equivalent Exchange to bring their mother back from the dead. Initially, this is heart breaking because the two brothers are only five and four years old, respectively, when she passes and the hold on to the desire to bring her back until they have perfected the Equivalent Exchange theory (or so they think). The scene in the anime when they attempt to bring their mother back really hits home as it forces viewers to consider what the essence of a mother is: it cannot simply be the core elements of the human body and, whatever it is that is missing, cannot be reclaimed. The obsession manifests slightly different to Eren Yager’s and becomes destructive to the boys, instead of everyone around them. Al loses two limbs and Ed loses his entire body. Alchemy being the only thing that makes their mother smile since their father’s abandonment they ultimately begin to associate their mothers happiness with alchemy – and this is why they pursue it with so much vigour. Supposedly, for these two their healing and growth, in regards to their mothers death, begins at this point because they are forced to confront their grief and move on, having lost so much already. The last is our example for the unexplained absent mother in Hunter x Hunter (2011) . Ging, Gon’s father, returns to Whale Island from a lengthy absence with Gon, his son. When questioned about the boy’s mother he simply says that they had separated. Gon differs from Eren, Ed and Al because he has Mito there, who assumes the maternal role, she even goes to the extent of getting full custody of him when Ging proves himself unfit. Perhaps Gon is the abandoned child character that other manga writers should aspire to include in their stories. It would have been completely plausible for Gon to have just as many issues as previously discussed characters. In fact, through the tapes his father left, Gon is given the opportunity to learn about his mother, but passes; fully accepting that Mito is his mum. This situation is unique because it doesn’t rely on Gon’s unease or lack of fulfilment to spark interest in who his biological mother is for viewers. Instead, we want to know because the question of her identity is posed during a time that many things are coming to light for Gon. Our interest is systematically peaked because Gon begins listening to the tapes and stops (frustratingly) just before we get to find out. The pursuit then becomes focused around Ging and rightfully so, seeing as he dropped his child off and left to live his best baby boy life. However, the mystery of Gon’s mother will continue to hang over the story, especially since the lack of fathering has been addressed. We’ll wait in anticipation. Previous Item Next Item Anime characters almost always have at least one missing parent. If the tragic murder, untimely sickness or completely unexplained...

Issue 005 Throwback: Odeal Interview taken from THE FLOOR ISSUE 005 First thing I want to talk about is how your music career began. I think it started when I was about 13. I would just post videos on YouTube and found that people were feeling them. I stopped after a while but then I went to Nigeria and obviously got influenced by lots of different artists. And my dad was like, you might as well start making music properly. So I started making actual tracks over there, came back to the UK and continued. So you spoke a bit about inspiration that you picked up in Nigeria, which artists and what kind of sounds? Pretty much all of them to be honest, everyone comes with something different. And when you listen to them, especially like the instruments, the melodies, I was like nah, this is crazy so I picked it up. If you had to pick out three actual artists from Nigeria whose sound you picked up, which are you picking? At the time when I was there, Patoranking was doing a lot so him. Burna Boy and Wizkid definitely. Let’s talk about projects then, you’ve had a very busy year. Do you want to tell me a bit about them? Do you know what it is, how I make music is that I go off vibes and feeling so if I feel I’ve made this amount of songs this month then I’ll put them together into an EP and drop them or just release a single. This year was literally me, my producer- we just dropped whenever we felt like. There was no plan and I feel like that is what I’m going to do next year and just go by how people are receiving the music. Let’s talk about your single Vicious Cycle in particular. What inspired it? And how do you feel about the great reception it’s gotten? So when I start making music I think about situations that people don’t really talk about so I thought this is something I’d love to talk about. And the song is about a woman driven to do something crazy by a guy that she is with. she’s put in a sticky situation and she’s had to do a madness. And I feel like it happens everyday, like women everywhere love their partners so much they do almost anything and sometimes it’s .bad do you know what I mean. So that was basically the vibe. It’s still really early in your career but everyone has goals and achievements they want to hit, so what do you hope to have achieved with your music in the last 5 years? To be honest I just want to create a different wave for other artists to be able to express themselves through their music. I feel like in the UK there is a certain sound that everyone tries to go for because it’s a way to enter the scene and I feel like it doesn’t always have to be like that. Everyone is coming with something new and I just want everyone to be able to express that. By 2025 I hope that the UK scene has different sounds that everyone can appreciate. Check out Odeal's latest project: OVMBR: ROSES Previous Item Next Item Interview taken from THE FLOOR ISSUE 005 First thing I want to talk about is how your music career began. I think it started when I was...

August Digital Cover: Yomi Adegoke Yomi Adegoke’s career is one that continues to inspire many young Black-British aspiring journalists, including myself. With an impressive career in journalism coupled with prior publications such as Slay in Your Lane , Slay in Your Lane: The Journal, Loud Black Girls, The Offline Diaries and more, Yomi has established herself to be one of Black Britain’s most promising and prominent storytellers. As the landscape of journalism continues to evolve, the stories that are told as well as the storytellers change with it, and throughout this interview Yomi shares how her authentic voice is central to the stories she has told and continues to tell. You’ve had a very exciting and expansive career that has seen you from journalist to now published author, can you tell us about the making of your early career? My parents wanted me to be an architect, but I wanted to be a lawyer because of my love for debating. Truthfully, I wanted to be like Ally McBeal as well as have financial stability and law would have guaranteed that. However, I was terrible at Law and so I started a blog where I wrote about Pop Culture because it was fun. I had no real writing aspirations until a social media friend suggested that I pursue journalism. That’s when I started taking myself seriously as a writer and ended up starting a print magazine called Birthday that I would distribute in hair shops in London. The self-experience that I acquired through my blog and magazine helped me secure my first internship, my first job at ITN and then I went on to work at Channel 4 where I met Elizabeth Uviebinené, co-author of Slay in Your Lane . The start of my journalism and writing career was difficult as it came with a lot of rejection. I recall applying for hundreds of jobs and not receiving one reply, yet surprisingly, it didn’t knock my self-esteem. So many young Black-British professionals are self-starters who must invest both their internal and external resources in order to create experience, and that’s how and where I started. Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible is a book that shook up the publishing industry. With the title broaching topics such as racism, feminism, activism, with black women and our careers at the centre. How did Elizabeth and you come up with the concept for the book and what was your experience publishing a book of that nature at that time? We received our book deal in 2015 around the time Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo Lodge and Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch was announced and books such as The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla were published. The idea of the book came about whilst I was working at Channel 4 and Elizabeth was working at a huge bank in Canary Wharf. Elizabeth approached me with the idea as we were both struggling to find our feet in our respective industries, and she wanted to create something like Girl Boss by Sophia Amoruso but for Black women. Initially she wanted me to write the book, but I suggested that we do it together. We were both young and inexperienced, so we opted to collate a strong list of interviewees featuring Black women we admired. We emailed, slid into DMs and accosted people in the toilets to secure each interview. Whilst we were young, we were so ambitious and wanted to create something to commemorate Black women and our efforts. Whilst Slay in Your Lane was just before the spate of diverse books that you see now, especially post George Floyd, our publishing experience wasn’t terrible, in fact it was very positive and enjoyable. This is the main reason why I continued to work with Fourth Estate because they were so receptive to our vision as well as our editorial input; for example, I was able to commission a friend to design the book cover as we didn’t want Slay in Your Lane to follow the afrocentric silhouette or afro comb fashion. Elizabeth and I went to lengths to do the necessary research to ensure that Slay in Your Lane wasn’t a Trojan Horse and we wanted people to trust it, so our market research consisted of speaking to our desired audience and readership, Black women. Working with Elizabeth was beneficial in the sense that we complimented each other well. My work as a journalist coupled with Elizabeth’s work (at the time) as a marketing manager allowed us to exercise expertise. Can you recount your career trajectory post Slay in Your Lane ? How did you leverage the success of the book to ensure that you achieve your goals? Post Slay in Your Lane was crazy. We went on to publish a follow-up journal, Slay in Your Lane: The Journal , an anthology called Loud Black Girl and a children’s book series called The Offline Diaries . I found the latter project particularly hard because honestly speaking, I don’t know many children and I believe them to be the harshest critics. Slay in Your Lane set everything up for Elizabeth and myself. As well as subsequent book publications, I gained a Guardian and Vogue column and reached a point in my career where I had true financial stability. Even until this day we receive messages from women saying that they quit their job or made a certain decision because of Slay in Your Lane . It’s been five years since publication, and it has been incredible. The book raised my profile a lot and just before lockdown I was asked by the Guardian to be their women’s columnist, writing about women’s issues and so forth. However, unfortunately, the column died alongside covid, and I was asked to write an entertainment column offering commentary on reality TV. I love columns and I’ve always wanted to write one, so it aligned with my ambition. So, you secure a book deal for your debut novel “The List,” followed by an insane marketing campaign and then by a TV adaptation in the making. Can you give us a full run through of the ideation, writing and publishing process? The idea for “The List” came about in 2017 when something similar to the plot of the book happened in real life. Since then, I made a note that I wanted to write about an anonymous offenders list going viral. When I started doing my research, I realised that there are so many lists across several industries, and the one to start it all was called the “Shitty Media Men” list. This list shook up the states as a lot of prominent men were named; some lost their jobs, others didn’t. Despite having the idea, I didn’t do much with it until 2020 during lockdown. I had run out of painting canvas’ and so I decided to start the book. I tried writing a play at first, but that didn’t work, and then I chose to fictionalise it. I wrote 80K words and sent it over to my agent who assured me it was fantastic, but who advised me to delete 50K words and rewrite everything. I was quite concerned about being taken seriously when writing the first iteration of The List and it showed. The initial draft was navel-gazing and literary. Truthfully, that has never been me. Non-fiction pieces that I’ve written in the past have always had an air of levity and satire. I remember interviewing Kiley Reid, author of Such a Fun Age , and asking her about the process of writing a book that explores serious topics whilst maintaining a sense of buoyancy. Such a Fun Age was nominated for the Booker Prize despite not being literary and pretentious. This fact coupled with Kiley’s advice and a week-long writing retreat is what led me to write the book that I would read. That’s how I ended up with what The List is presently. I hadn’t finished the book before my agent decided to send it out for submission. Admittedly, I didn’t expect much since the book was incomplete. I’m not a coy person, so had I anticipated a great reception, I would have said. I was shocked when The List ended up in an eleven-way auction for print and then a seventeen-way auction for TV. I decided to go with Fourth Estate for the reasons discussed prior, but I couldn’t pick what production company I wanted to work with as I wanted to work with all interested in The List . I recall making a note on my phone app: BBC, HBO, A24 and pitching a collaboration to my agent. She said it was unlikely, but it worked out in the end. Without offering up any spoilers, can you tell us about the characters that you created in The List as well as the lives you portrayed. We have Ola and Michael, a highflying couple only a month away from tying the knot. But then an anonymous list naming abusers drops, and Michael is on it. When it comes to Ola and Michael, I wanted to touch on the conversation surrounding shame and embarrassment from a cultural point of view. This is a British Nigerian and Ghanaian dark-skinned couple and having the TV adaptation stay true to the biological characteristics described in the book is important to me. By virtue of who Ola and Michael are in the book, the stakes are higher, and people are invested in their relationship because of the conversations surrounding black love that I mirrored from real life. A lot of the characters in The List are inspired by people and personalities that I’ve interacted with; I’m from Croydon and I wanted to capture the people who I grew up with. I wanted to write characters who reflected a reality that I’ve been exposed to, whether indirectly or directly. On one hand, Black men in most countries, certainly in the West, are historically and statistically accused of crimes that they haven’t committed and are more likely to be considered guilty before trial. The List cites cases like Scottboro Boys and Central Park Five and looks at that argument. On the other hand, you have cases like Emmitt Till being referenced in the same conversation as Tory Lanez and the two aren’t comparable. I was trying to consider as many different perspectives as possible and how such a situation could impact the communities I’m used to. When I write, I lean into the world that I know and I didn’t want to write a story where the antagonist was racism. I didn’t want to make racism central to the plot. In The List , the protagonist is Black, the villains are Black. My work isn’t for the white gaze and so whiteness isn’t a factor. Ola and Michael are Black and this is a story about Black people and some of our issues. Who are you aside from your career, writing and credentials? For the past year work has been my whole personality, but I must admit that my first love isn’t fiction writing, it’s painting. I love to create and collect art. My interest in writing stemmed from my passion for debating as I’m very opinionated. Aside from that I’m a good time girl, I love to party and to experience the breadth and depth of my life. Whilst I’ve noticed that authors are expected to behave and present themselves a certain way, I’m committed to being myself and that includes living as I’ve always existed and allowing brands to align with the truest version of me. I like to categorise as a public figure who is multifaceted. I love to host, present and participate in panels and, as mentioned before, I paint amongst other things, but I don’t mind being described as a writer as it’s my main thing. Sunday Times bestselling debut novel, The List, is out now. Previous Item Next Item Yomi Adegoke’s career is one that continues to inspire many young Black-British aspiring journalists, including myself. With an...

In Conversation With: Vague Detail The concept of an oxymoron is puzzling in itself. The fact that two opposites can work alongside each other harmoniously is something that can be quite hard to pull off, especially when it comes to art: where it is common for ideals and perspectives to clash. But when the notion is applied to a producer-singer duo with a bond outside of music that supersedes their differences, it can lead to a moment of brilliance. Enter Vague Detail: consisting of the sultry and deep-toned R&B singer Kaleem Taylor, and the enigmatic versatile composer and producer The Code. The Floor: I love a good oxymoron. What made you come together and title yourselves together, as well as the EP Vague Detail? The Code: I’d say that’s what it is, to an extent. Myself as ‘The Code,’ I’m not there as much to see - that’s my description from my perspective. Whereas Kaleem is the detailed side. His music is very detailed, the way he writes his music is very precise and I guess I’m the opposite to that visually as well. So it kind of just felt like the right name. I mean Kaleem just said it and it made sense. Kaleem Taylor: I guess you can say we met in the middle. Even when it comes to our timelines - we’ve been separately working for a while but we essentially started the journey together. We’ve had a chemistry between each other for years, even outside of music. So it wasn’t really a thing of ‘let’s try and find this space or make this work’. It was literally a space of ‘let’s be free’ and we did whatever we do. There’s no rules and no other standard to base what we’re doing on. So it wasn’t really about finding a balance. It needed to be something that felt new, felt honest and felt fun. Their unique blend of mystery, seductive vocals and enchanting lyrics gave birth to a 5-track EP that leaves listeners ultimately wanting more. The duo aptly navigate through the unknown with their talents as the guide and explore concepts like heartbreak, loss and love from multiple perspectives. The greatest feat in the depth of their EP is how much the artists leave to interpretation, and how much those theories can differ and vary. Given how much is packed into 5 tracks, do either of you have favourite tracks, or one in particular that really resonates with you? Kaleem: We haven’t picked a favourite between us, even when we’ve spoken about it. If anything at times, it’s like whatever we listen to we’re like - yeah this is crazy. It’s like we are attached to that song whilst we are making it like, this is that vibe. Especially when we are in that space. I feel like it’s a good thing not to have a favourite in a way. We’ve been able to see that in the response we’ve had because it’s been different. People have had different favourites. So I think that’s a sign that we did the right thing. When we were making it we were always trying to switch it up in a way. I guess depending on how you’re feeling at the time you might have a different favourite song. The Code: For me, it’s all no rules and no ceilings, no restrictions. You just do whatever comes natural and we’re lucky it turned out the way it did from that perspective. We just came to the studio and we started this song, started that song and it just turned out the way it did. We’re grateful for the fact it came together at the end of it, you know? Although Kaleem and The Code had trouble selecting favourites from an artist’s outlook, my struggle to pick came from an equal appreciation for every track. Broken swiftly set the tone in just under two minutes, in a way that I can only depict with another oxymoron: pleasantly eerie. Nobody Else layers itself on top of the vibe already created in the first track, whilst showing another side to their sound which comes across more uptempo but equally as emotive. Anuka’s presence on How Does It Feel is subtle but impactful, introducing a new element through the backing vocals before sonically stripping back their sound on Anchor - where the lyrics are raw and almost confessional. Rounding up the EP in the same way it was opened, Gone holds similar qualities to Broken as it acts as an accumulation of the feelings and melodies throughout the project and compresses them into a final rendition. In short, listeners are just as spoiled for choice as they are. It’s funny that you say that it just came together and everything just fell into place because but the body of work seems deliberately cohesive. Was there an element of making everything fit together or, like you said, it just came together? The Code: The theme kind of fell into place as well. Once we finished the third of the fourth song, we actually listened and looked back at the lyrics and it told a story. And we were like wow it actually just happened that way. All the stars kind of aligned if you know what I mean. So I say everything consistently fell into place with us just putting ourselves out there and into the music and being creative and not worrying about the process too much. Just going for it. There is an overall mellow nature to the project, accompanied by either an eclectic beat pattern or an absence of percussion altogether. Their performances throughout were complementary when it came to both production and vocals, allowing for an audio experience where critique is few and far between. The general expectation from fans- often the source of criticism- that usually comes from creating music as esteemed artists, was trumped by the surprise collaboration and drop. From the seamless addition of Anuka’s feature, to the strong ideas and motifs surrounding the EP, Vague Detail can almost be summarised by a mix of serendipity and knack for creating music. What they have created is clearly a taster for what’s to come but as half of the act is a ‘riddle wrapped in an enigma hidden in a mystery’, I can only guess that what the pairing will follow up with will match or exceed the strong foundations they have already established. Previous Item Next Item The concept of an oxymoron is puzzling in itself. The fact that two opposites can work alongside each other harmoniously is something...