Complex UK's Best Albums of 2022

“‘Do the wrong thing’ is my thing,” TJ “Lil Silva” Carter tells Apple Music. “Because everyone thinks, ‘Oh, we\'ve got to use this bassline, or do that sound.’ But actually, we should all strive to be in the now. What feels good, *right now*?” More than a decade on from his teen emergence in the UK’s Funky House scene, Lil Silva’s genre-bending odyssey lands here: a debut LP hosting a vigorous bout between ego and self-doubt. “It\'s all self work,” he says. \"But that’s important, because how much time do you want to invest in yourself? What do you want to unlock in your brain that you haven’t? How much are you worth?\" These questions arose for the producer, singer, songwriter and DJ throughout the course of deep meditation and Theta healing (an energy healing technique and spiritual philosophy), and lay central to his ongoing exploration of the self. *Yesterday Is Heavy* crafts a moving elegy that explores feelings of alienation (“Backwards”), raw emotion (“Another Sketch”) and disjointedness (“Still”) experienced throughout lockdown, and remedied in rich, experimental textures that draw on the sincerity of Silva’s bluesy vocals and arrangement style, plus some eclectic collaborations (including standout moments with Sampha and Little Dragon). “I’ve always been skeptical about being genre specific,” he says. \"I’ve always known that Lil Silva is going to be a sound. Yes, I’ve been influenced by Timberland, Pharrell, and even the early grime era of Davince, Plastician, Jon E Cash, Wiley. All have defining sounds. But I wasn’t listening to music for about two years when making this album. I was only going back in my archive, and bringing out what hadn’t seen the light of day.” Here, Lil Silva talks us through the 12 expansive tracks of his debut album, track by track. **“Another Sketch”** “I’m constantly inspired by the changing state of water. The idea that something can be, in real time, one thing, in the past something else, and in the future have a different existence, state or body. This song is about heritage, and moments in time, whether that’s in the past, present or future. So it’s about family, also.” **“Be Cool” (with Little Dragon)** “I started writing this song with \[producer and multi-instrumentalist\] Mansur Brown. He’s dangerous to be in a studio with because in between trying to finish a song, he\'ll play something crazy, I think we made five songs that day. His \[guitar\] playing is insane, and the way he\'s got his pedal game is a joke. He was playing this groove, and I done this whole beat around it. And after I wrote this song, I sent it over and \[Little Dragon’s\] Yukimi \[Nagano\] loved it. It really related to her, and she also added in a few things. I’d done some remix work with Little Dragon before, but we’d been itching to get a song of our own together.” **“Vera (Judah Speaks)”** “This track picks up from the tempo of the intro. I started with the drums off the top, working with \[producer\] Duncan Laurence, we did “Deja Vu” \[on 2016 EP *Jimi*\] together, and working with peope that I consider family on this album just felt right. We created this orchestral feel and had strings played by \[composer and arranger\] Sally Herbert. I’ve always known I’d have some strings on my album—and that goes back to my early tracks like \[2008 single\] “Seasons”, with the brass influence, I’m just pulling from that.” **“Leave It” (with Charlotte Day Wilson)** “This is a message about celebrating what’s right in front of you. There’s no need to worry, or at least don’t worry for *too* long. The clouds of doubts that hover over, in life, and sometimes in love feel like you’ll never move out of. But, however grey and however challenging, there’s a way to get through it. It’s too easy to get caught up in everything around you. **“September”** “There was a lot raw emotion in this. I was definitely feeling a lot of grit in that day, and it all came out in ‘September’. I was with James Vincent McMorrow and Benji B, and we’d clipped through this sample, and Benji played it for me at the perfect time. I was like: ‘Wow, I\'ve never really put samples on my song before like this.’ So, it was paying homage to it I guess. James is dope, really dynamic, and always comes up with these crazy interesting melody trips. And Benji has done *a lot*. He’s the perfect guy to have in the room, for his energy, and knowledge of music, to radio, and fashion. It wouldn\'t have felt right if I didn\'t have the \[club brand\] Deviation family in-and-out of this, to bounce the energy off, because my music\'s gone from the club to here, and he\'s been a massive part of that.” **“To The Floor” (with BADBADNOTGOOD)** “It\'s in the title, man. Just get to it, basically. With BADBADNOTGOOD, we had this unconventional arrangement and it was about just pocketing those grooves, and the funk. This was one of the five, myself and Mansur had done, but I was like, man, this could definitely have an extra bit of funk—there\'s a groove that could be interesting here. So I played the idea to BADBADNOTGOOD, and they came through with: drums, guitar, and even some flutes!” **“Backwards” (with Sampha)** “This song touches on the feeling of alienation and constantly venting in the matrix you find yourself in, whatever that may be. Restricted and feeling guilty to move forward, constantly going backwards mentally; I guess the song is about being in a never ending cycle and the heaviness that can bring.” **“What If? (with Skiifall)”** “I really channeled inspiration from our roots on this record. You can hear the reggae, bashment and grime influence weave in and out. This track is about the course we find ourselves on, without even thinking. It’s about the huge role that love and family plays in our lives, but staying grounded and never forgetting what got us here.” **“Colours”** “I was coming into the studio shoot for about four or five days, I kept singing, ‘There\'s colours, colorus, colours’… it\'s like, why is this bugging me? It\'s every day, saying the same thing. It just kept trickling through my brain. And I made that into this beautiful soul thing, and eventually I switched it up. This bassline you could say comes from grime—but grime is in me. I used to be in \[Bedford grime collective\] Macabre Unit back in the day.” **“About Us” (with Elmiene)** “It was good for me to get back into my archive, it was like a massive soundboard for myself with sounds and work I could take. Across this process when I would have a block, I would just dig in my archive, as you would, it\'s almost like I\'m going to remix one of my tracks that no one knows about this. It\'s all there.” **“Still” (with Sampha & Ghetts)** “We were all in the room jamming for around 30 minutes. And as I’ve dissected this beat—everyone behind me, they all loved this bassline. But I didn\'t like it. Just how familiar, or how close to familiar it was, so I flipped it and found the right bass. Then Sampha dropped the first line, and I knew he had to repeat it. It\'s so honest, man, it\'s just like, ‘Fuck, I *still* got all this shit to do’. And he just kept on flowing. And that was the thing: If it feels good to me now, we\'re going to do it *now*. This shit was lighting me up. Because if it\'s not lighting you up, why are you doing it?” **“Ends Now” (with serpentwithfeet)** “So we’re back to Mansur’s crazy licks. I breathed a vocal on this, and asked Serpent’ to try some vocals on it, and he fell in love. He just got it. Then he\'s taking my lyrics and putting them in places to sustain his vocal in moments, and pocket it differently. He’s also not trying to do the conventional thing, it’s all about what feels good.”

On *Respect the Come Up*, Manchester’s Meekz resurfaces with the fascinating duality that has marked his high-flying breakthrough—combining sharp-witted observation with a master class in blocking out the world around you. “I don’t think people understand or even notice that a lot of this stuff is for me,” he tells Apple Music. “It’s selfish, but a lot of this is for me to reflect on, and yeah, other people do seem to like it. But *Respect the Come Up* is to remind myself, ‘Get the fuck up.’ Along with the people that I might have inspired, I want to make sure I stay aware of how I’ve been blessed. And to remind myself that it’s never over, so you should never cheat the grind.” The 2020 mixtape *Can’t Stop Won’t Stop* occupied a much darker world—arriving on the back of jail time and subsequent self-work—and also broke down the enigma of the masked Gorton rapper. Here, he embraces the moments of progression that have followed with forensic self-examination: “Hope you didn’t think I’d panic/I’ve seen the ship sinking, it’s been Titanic/But I just think gigantic,’ he raps on “Instagram Caption.” “The whole tape reminisces and reflects on the past, present, and future. That’s why I’m looking \[on the mixtape cover\] in all directions with eyes to all of that,” he says. “There’s songs for the past \[‘Hustler\'s Ambition’\] and songs with a message for the future, thinking about kids \[‘Patience’\] and others that fall into all of the categories. I understand how that’s hard to understand, but that’s just me.” Below, he takes us through the story of *Respect the Come Up*, track by track. **“Say Less”** “I don’t need to be online. I don’t even really need to do interviews. I just say less. This is that freestyle-slash-‘Respect the Come Up’ vibe here, that core Meekz \[sound\].” **“Respect the Come Up”** “This song means so much to me. I’m taking you through the motions here. I’m talking to the inner me, like, ‘Meekz, you’ve come a long way, and you should pat yourself on the back.’ That’s why I repeat it so many times: ‘respect the come up’ for real. And I know, musically, it’s not *that* amazing, but I bet it hits you right in the chest. This is the alarm clock for the Meekz Manny army.” **“Fresh Out the Bank” \[Meekz & Dave\]** “The angels had me lit that night \[in the studio\]. I hit a pocket that I’m not sure I could hit again, even if I tried. My voice did some crazy shit that night. I’d been rapping for seven days straight, going crazy, and I thought, ‘You know what? Let’s not even rap on these n\*\*\*\*s right now. Let me give some melodies.’ \[Dave\] and I were in the studio for almost a week, turning up. Some of the guys came through and, eventually, ended up a full party in there: 10, 20 of us, all dancing to this track as it’s being made.” **“Don’t Like Drill”** “Actually, I say, ‘I don’t like drill much’ because I do like it—just not *that* much. Would you like drill \[music\] if you could rap like me, you know what I mean? Furthermore, I don’t like the fact that it’s killing my people. Let’s just go with that one.” **“More Money”** “This is the ‘get money’ anthem of the mixtape. I’m just trying new things out with my vocals, finding new flows, and also switching up \[my style of\] beat.” **“Hustler’s Ambition”** “Of all the elements I tap into \[on this mixtape\], this song falls into each of them. I’m reminiscing on the past but still thinking on the present and future, all at once.” **“Patience”** “As I get older, I realize the benefit of allowing things to season and marinate. Things take time sometimes and need a bit more love and soul poured into it—that’s the general idea here. And over the years, that same patience is just something that I’ve learned to develop.” **“Take Losses”** “I think everyone’s taken a loss and had to bounce back, and it just feels better when you win eventually. When you come from the bottom, everything tastes better when you get it out of the mud. And lastly, those losses are where you learn from the most. These are all well-known facts—I’m just reflecting on them here.” **“Killin’ Off”** “The mandem named this one. I just laid down the track. We didn’t have a name for it at first, actually. And I should probably also explain, in Manchester terms, ‘killing off’ means, yeah, ‘I made a killing off’...whatever. Not killing something off. It’s just our terminology, but the world’s going to have to get to know sooner or later.” **“Instagram Caption”** “I was out in Essex, in the mansion we rented. Indoor pool, outdoor pool, basketball court, and I had the family over, feeling like Frank Lucas up in there. And I recorded this at 5 o’clock in the morning. The producer was falling asleep, ready for bed. Told him to stay up and hit them buttons. Some people that were asleep in the room woke up at some point, and I still carried on with the freestyle—one take, from top to bottom.”

*“I want you to feel like it’s a rollercoaster ride.” Read on as Burna Boy himself breaks down his sixth album—as told to Apple Music.* After turning 30, birthdays seem to make you reflect on your life choices, or a lack thereof—your goals, dreams, hopes, achievements, and fears. Even though it put me in a vulnerable place, it also challenged me to do and feel more. I started working on a Punjab mixtape with the late great Sidhu Moose Wala, halfway through recording this project, because I needed to open my mind more. I’m eternally grateful to him for that, and so, on this album, I thought about a few things: **“Start as you intend to finish.”** Shout-out to the iconic group from South Africa, the legendary Ladysmith Black Mambazo, for bringing their energy to tracks 1 and 19 (the beginning and end). **“Love is fragile.”** Relations and relationships are fragile; compartmentalizing the different shades of gray around this concept in “For My Hand,” “Science,” and “Last Last.” Hopefully this translates to you all. **“Expect nothing.”** Just don’t forget that life can feel like a cloak-and-dagger mission. **“Dream wildly and live intentionally.”** People may never get it, but do it anyway! I want you to listen to this and feel like it’s a rollercoaster ride. Catch a vibe, buss a whine, party like it’s your birthday, or even grab a tissue. I’ve got you, always. Love, Damini

When Ahmed Ololade put out his *Ololade Asake* EP in February 2022, few people knew what to expect from an eclectic artist whose Olamide-assisted “Omo Ope” remix had announced his belated arrival to mainstream audiences. In the seven months between *Ololade Asake* and the release of this, his debut album, the Lagos-based artist scored further hits and seized control of the Afropop zeitgeist with his dizzying mix of street-inspired lyricism, signature chanted vocals, and a fascinating fusion of amapiano, hip-hop, and Fuji instrumentals. *Mr. Money With The Vibe* sees Asake lean into the larger-than-life persona that songs like “Sungba” and “PALAZZO” established. He details his new realities with swagger—contemplating romance, life, and his position in the game over beats delicately crafted by close creative ally Magicsticks. His flair for experimenting within the amapiano framework continues here as he loops the call-and-response pattern of classic Afrobeat over the log drums, sax, and piano on “Organise.” Elsewhere, he brings back a revamped version of blog-era favorite “Joha” and offers a soulful ode to the grind on “Nzaza.” Russ joins for a cautionary tale on “Reason,” and a blistering remix of “Sungba” sees Burna Boy make an appearance here—but the narrative of *Mr. Money With The Vibe* belongs to Asake alone as he continues to blaze a new path for street-pop.

*NO THANK YOU*—the follow-up to 2021’s Mercury Prize-winning *Sometimes I Might Be Introvert*—emphatically deepens Little Simz’s connection with producer Inflo, and provides further confirmation of the Islington rapper’s generational abilities. The initials of the title of her soul-searching fourth LP spelled out her first name, and the name of its surprise follow-up also hints at a purposeful double meaning. Perhaps a kindly expression of gratitude for the flowers given since *SIMBI*’s success? More likely an act of defiance. Either way, within this trademark ambiguity Simz gets her shine on across 10 sumptuous tracks. BRIT Awards Producer Of The Year 2022 Dean Josiah Cover—aka Inflo—taps into the rich, bluesy elements of his enigmatic Sault music for urgent dispatches from Simbi Ajikawo. It’s a rich sonic seam: A returning undercurrent of gospel-rooted R&B reinforces lines with spiritual resonance. From tone-setting opener “Angel” (dedicated to the model Harry Uzoka, who died in January 2018), soft choral flourishes and dreamy Cleo Sol vocals help Simz pick up where she left off in 2021. “Revoke access, I’m running it back, yes/Missing opportunities, I wish I was that pressed.” Building on a deep-rooted synergy, Simz and Inflo go the whole length on the gut feeling that has made their partnership so prolific. For Simz, an artist who’s always operated to her own set of standards, an equally clear-sighted collaborator (Inflo is also across the keys, chords, and strings) finds her at her most compassionate and precise, tackling family trauma and the emotional isolation of success. Within the streams of sharp, self-analyzing rhymes, scattered samples, and prolonged orchestral sections—“Sideways” and “Control”—lies the sound of a winning combo firmly in the groove. As Simz continues to soar, she’s evidently still clearing house. By facing down the dark reaches of the mind and the tests of her daily environment, emotional and soulful highs and lows are wonderfully bared across her tightest lyrical offering to date.

“My fans told me the records I put out were too short,” Rimzee tells Apple Music. “So I came through with 18 tracks for them on *Cold Feet*. Don’t get it twisted, though—I still like to keep things simple. I want my music and visuals to be relatable, so people can look at me and understand where I’m coming from.” Rimzee’s debut 2010 release—*The Upper Clapton Dream*—was an instant street classic. The mixtape saw the East End wordsmith (then Rimz) deliver a coming-of-age tale underpinned by adept storytelling and the plight of inner-city conflict. “People always forget about one thing when it comes to rap: It’s all about the same stuff—the streets, money and girls,” he says. “And this comes from lived experience, but you’ve got to step outside of your comfort zone to stand out.” After putting rap aside for seven years while serving a prison sentence, he returned older and wiser, exploring the pitfalls of success and his struggles with morality on 2020’s *Upper Clapton Dream 2*. Rimzee’s third project, *Cold Feet*, serves up a more sprawling, mature take on his past exploits. There’s the R&B-tinged Emeli Sandé collaboration “Tables Turn”, the rumbling, drill-flavoured LB and K-Trap-assisted “Back 2 Back” as well as the business savvy, RD Beats-handled cut “Entrepreneur”. It makes for a cohesive, colourful listen. “When I rap about my story, I just do me,” he says. “I don’t try and copy what everyone else is doing. This tape shows my growth. I’m always trying to connect with a wider audience.” Read on as Rimzee breaks down his mixtape in this track-by-track guide. **“Intro”** “The beat is from \[British producer\] NECHO, he handled a bulk of the production on here. And before we settled on this version, the song was actually completely different. The problem with the original was sample clearance. It’s funny how this intro now sounds like an outro, the original intro sounded way more like an opener!” **“Back 2 Back” (with Dirtbike LB and K-Trap)** “This song had my boy \[Active Gxng’s\] 2smokeyy on it. He’s from Somalia, so some of the words I’m rapping are in Arabic, but when he converted to Islam, it meant he quit rap to focus on his religion—and I had to take him off the song. I sent it over to K-Trap for a verse. I also sent it to LB ages ago—so long ago I actually forgot. Anyway, eventually he hit me back, and I think it’s the hardest verse on the song.” **“Expensive Pain” (with Born Trappy)** “The lyrics for this song were meant to be for my ‘Lemon Pepper Freestyle’, so that’s why I rap, ‘I ain’t going there with the lemons and the peppers,’ but the \[instrumental\] became so rinsed, I had to scrap it. I didn’t want to waste my bars on it.” **“Thinking Out Loud” (with Young Adz)** “This song wasn’t even going to be on my tape. I had the first verse down, but I didn’t get a strong response from the people that heard it, so it was pretty much discarded. I was in the studio with Chip, and he loved it. So when Adz messaged about working, I had to send him this track, and he came through with the hook.” **“Juggin” (with Tiggs Da Author and Giggs)** “I call Tiggs ‘Captain Hook’, he bodies it every time, man! And after he came through with a chorus, I thought Giggs would work well on the song. I sent it to The Landlord, and he also blessed the track.” **“Unruly”** “This one is quite simple. My guy NECHO on the beat again, and he made it proper greazy. I’m just rapping here, showing off my skills.” **“Entrepreneur”** “This one is focused on where I’m at *now*. My fans know me for rapping about the streets, so I had to keep that street angle in there—but this is entrepreneurial street rap. I recorded this back in 2021. And because it was such a banger, I held off on dropping it. Sometimes, I get random producers to send me beats over email, and my manager helps me go through them by putting them on a playlist for me. When I secured the beat for this track, I knew it was special immediately. Usually, within five seconds, I’ll know if I like a beat or not.” **“Morals & Principles”** “This was one of the later additions to the project. I was in the studio and NECHO came through with that kind of beat that just inspires you. One of my brethren was saying something like, ‘One, da-da-da, two, da-da-da, three…’, and that inspired me to structure the song around counting. I thought about counting up to my age, but that would’ve been too much.” **“For Richer For Poorer” (with Skinz)** “Funny story about this one: This was Skinz’s song first. He sent it to me to drop a verse on it, but it was so hard, I asked him if I could keep it. He’s a real G, and he gave me the song. And my verse was already done, so it was a simple process.” **“With My Dawgs” (with Afro B)** “This track started life completely differently. Before Afro B hopped on this song, the bars were on another beat altogether. The original track was good, but Afro B just elevated it.” **“Tables Turn” (with Emeli Sandé)** “Emeli Sandé is probably the least expected feature on this project. We did two tracks, but I liked this one the most. I feel like rap is very harsh at times. So, you need a hook with good melodies to balance things out. As sick as Emeli is, if I could sing, I’d do it myself! Seriously, though, I’m really proud of how this one turned out.” **“Cold Feet Freestyle”** “As much as I love the tracks here, this is probably the one I go back to least. I feel the storytelling on the tape is top-tier, and this is just your typical freestyle. Normally, when I work on music, I’m a perfectionist—I like to tweak things over time—but this was just raw.” **“Dear Southwold Road” (with Maverick Sabre)** “ I feel like this is a tune that a lot of people from ends can relate to. This one is me talking to my area, Southwold Road, as if it were a woman. I rap about losing my bro because of this ‘person’. And Maverick \[Sabre\] sent me two different hooks, which I eventually asked him to chop down into the one you hear.” **“Soul To Da Streets”** “I’m chatting to the streets on this. When I listen to my music, I want it to *sound* a certain way. I don\'t want people to get bored—that’s why I switch up the topics, features and my approach. I don\'t want listeners to feel like I just rap about pain and money or that the beats are the same. ” **“Headline” (with Nemzzz)** “So, \[British producers\] 5ive Beatz, Junbeats and Gernot produced this tune. I was in the studio and \[Manchester rapper\] Nemzzz was in the booth next to me. He came into the room, we started chatting and he jumped on the song. just like that. After his verse, he went back to his session. Simple.” **“Irreplaceable” (with Zion Foster and Amun)** “Sometimes I get criticism for not making songs for the ladies. I loved Meek Mill, PnB Rock and Jeremih’s \[2018 single\]‘Dangerous’ and I wanted to make a track in a similar vein. A lot of their music appeals to a female audience, so I feel like I was able to harness some of that energy for this track.” **“Life On The Endz” (with Snap Capone)** “This is one of the hardest tracks on the tape, it was recorded back in 2020. I actually met Snap in jail, he’s my brother for real. He’s currently incarcerated, but before he got locked up, we agreed on recording a collab tape. I loved this track and wanted it for this project—Snap is in his element on this one.” **“5am In Clapton” (with Frogzy and Raph Racks)** “This track takes things full circle to my first tape. Frogzy and Raph are from \[Hackney\], so I also wanted them to shed light on the ends. I want people to listen to this, and know there’s more people from Clapton that can do what I do too. I let the mandem come through and spin me on this one—but this is the first and only time I’ll let it happen.”

Stormzy’s third studio album finds the Merky rapper in a whole new headspace. “I started in LA, trying to record the album there, but the pandemic hit, and a few other things,” he tells Apple Music. “Suddenly, I wasn’t feeling the energy of the music I was making—so I came back home with a new plan: to get all of the producers in one place, and record this album there.” Sanctuary was eventually found on Osea Island—an enchanting and secluded haven in Essex—gifting the Londoner fertile ground to plot his third record with handpicked musicians and writers. The result is his most mature—and consciously soulful—offering to date. “This album is also testament to producer Stormz, the kind of Stormzy that people don’t really know,” he says. “One of my skills is being able to produce from an executive view, guiding other musicians towards my vision. I’ve always had the ethos where the best idea wins. So I might want to \[record\] something, but if there’s someone better for it, I’ll always allow them to do it.” In many ways, the gentle, soul-searching sound of this LP should come as no surprise—after all, Stormzy records often attempt to integrate R&B and gospel. But *This Is What I Mean* has a far more explicit through line: a desire to interrogate the experience of losing love. Speaking from the heart—aided by a string of songwriters (Jacob Collier, Tems) and top production talent (P2J, PRGRSHN)—Stormzy finds the words for heartfelt ballads (“Firebabe”) and poignant duets (“Holy Spirit”), while he employs Sampha as an emotional conduit on a spirited intermission (“Sampha’s Plea”). By the time we reach the stunning closer (“Give It to the Water”), it becomes clear the opportunity to reshape and remold himself in the face of such pain was simply too important to pass up. “I think back to what \[co-president of 0207 Def Jam\] Twin B told me before \[headlining\] Glastonbury \[in 2019\]: ‘As much as it’s Glasto, it’s another show in a park, and you’ve done hundreds of them,’” he says. “And it’s true: Once you kill the size, or the magnitude, of the task, that’s when you allow people to be at their most real and honest.” Below, he takes us through the story of *This Is What I Mean*, track by track. **“Fire + Water”** “This track came from my first session with PRGRSHN on my return to London. And it was quite spiritual. The first half is what he made that day—and everything you hear me sing, even the structure of my verse, was put down right at that moment. From here, this song went on a two-year journey. Tendai came along and helped on the transition part, and then we got to Osea Island—where Debbie made ‘Pour Me Water.’ Later I was on tour, listening to the song for ages, and eventually had a lightbulb moment: I realized I needed a transition to get from the beginning of the song to ‘Pour Me Water.’ Even that took six months to figure out the drums and the tempo, but, we got there in the end.” **“This is What I Mean”** “I made this with Knox Brown and P2J, and it started extremely different to how it ended up. The only thing that’s the same, I guess, is the sparse intro—leading to the drop. P2J had this wicked idea to sample Jacob Collier, and make an insane rhythm out of \[layering\] his vocals. I’ve always thought that Ms Banks is one of the coldest rappers, I’ve said this to her, I just love her tone. So she killed her bit, and Amaarae sang the melody on it. There\'s also something in her voice, her style and attitude that’s so sick. Lastly, I wanted a second verse from another rapper, but we went around in circles and it never really moved along. Until Twin went to Ghana and I think he had an idea for Black Sherif to ad-lib me, but Black Sherif heard the riddim, went into the booth, and laid this fucking insane outro.” **“Firebabe”** This is the second song I made with Debbie—and it started out with George Moore playing some chords. They’re currently making a track that’s one of my favorite songs of all time, I heard it and knew I needed to get with them both. After fiddling with the chords, Debbie and I got down to writing and we came up with this.” **“Please”** “During this process, I became fascinated with the word ‘please,’ its many meanings and the sincerity of it. It’s a word we use all the time, but I’d never heard it isolated and repeated before. Please is painful, please is desperate…so many things, and it just made me think of what *my* please would be.” **“Need You”** “This is probably the only song we had the intention to make before the album. Between myself, Twin, \[#Merky A&R\] Jermaine Agyako, and Kassa \[PRGRSHN\], there was this excitement to be making a song that encapsulates the three words we had up on the whiteboard: ‘Afro,’ ‘expensive,’ and ‘royal.’” **“Hide & Seek”** “Yes, that’s \[Nigerian singer\] Teni \[The Entertainer\] on the intro, but it was actually PRGRSHN that came up with that harmony. One of his God-given gifts, as well as being an incredible producer, is he’s an amazing songwriter and melody man.” **“My Presidents Are Black”** “I had the instrumental for maybe a year and a half. And for ages, I only had the first eight bars down. Everyone would ask when I was writing to it, and it just wasn’t the right time. Because of those bars, it started very intentionally, and I knew, ‘This ain’t the time to chat rubbish.’ Not even being purposely profound or deep, but what that piece of music was telling my spirit: ‘Rap your arse off, but say *something*.’” **“Sampha’s Plea”** “In terms of a voice with truth, emotion, and pain—you\'ll be hard-pressed to find one with more *feeling* than Sampha’s. I made ‘Please,’ and every time I heard it, I’d think, ‘How amazing would it be to hear Sampha sing this?’ I feel like it would be interesting to see what the word means to other artists, and Sampha is the first artist that I thought of. ‘Please’ feels like a confession booth, or an altar, that you’re just going to with your version. And Sampha came in and did that. It was just beautiful and breathtaking.” **“Holy Spirit”** “I was in the studio at the time with Dion Wardle \[aka ‘Chord Lord’\], and I was feeling really, really close to God. All my career, I’ve known Dion, he’s been on all of my albums, and has been the foundation on which I’ve built my songwriting and my melodies—I would sit in a room with him and a mic, he would play chords, and I would just sing to them. I’ve got loads of demos with Dion, beautiful, unfinished songs. So ‘Holy Spirit’ was probably a defining moment in my time working with him. The whole track is just one take of his chords and my melodies, and then I came back in and added lyrics.” **“Bad Blood”** “This is the only track we created outside of the bubble we created on Osea Island. It’s probably the song I was the most drawn to in a spiritual way. I saw the vision for this and felt it in my spirit, even if a lot of people on my team felt like it was the one \[track\] that didn’t need to exist on the album.” **“I Got My Smile Back”** “This is the last track I made for this album. So, at the camp, I asked Jacob \[Collier\] for two samples, a beautiful R&B one and a dark rap one, and he came back with this a cappella—so beautifully arranged. I didn’t even know what to do at first. I tried to sing, I tried to rap, but it was such a stunning piece of music that I wanted to tread lightly. For this one, I asked the amazing India.Arie to come and sing it. I’ve never worked with such a respected and phenomenal artist, but she approached it with class, grace, and so much service to the music. It was such a pleasure to work with her.” **“Give It to the Water”** “The only way to end this is by giving it to the water. I’ve bared my whole soul on this album—in terms of doing the work, accountability, forgiving myself and just allowing God to do the rest. I had just returned from Jamaica, which was a very extremely spiritual trip for me. And before we left, we went to the side of the ocean and we gave things away, our fears, our stresses, saying: ‘We’re not taking things back home, we leave those things here.’ In my first session back with Debbie, we got to the hook, trying to figure it out, and I was like, ‘Just give it to the water.’ Debbie asked me what it meant, so I explained that it’s just a beautiful way of saying, ‘Give it to God.’”

“We’re on our fifth lap, running this wave thing,” Young Adz tells Apple Music. “We’ve been in the game for a while, and we’ve even dropped more than five projects, but in this fifth year of DBE, we’re still keeping things the same, even though a lot has changed.” On *Lap 5*, DBE is showing minimal signs of fatigue. In fact, the prolific collective is seemingly hitting its stride, delivering another abundance of melodic trap anthems, keeping the surprises coming—for each other as much as their growing global fanbase. “We still don’t write,” adds Dirtbike LB. “We just go in and work off the vibe of the day.” Young Adz returns to the haunting trap tales that helped to build his early persona (“Bando Baby Diaries”) and the brave, melodic experiments that have separated the DBE sound over the half-decade run (“Fantasy”). For Dirtbike LB, a turn behind the boards adds new chapters to his story (“Proud Of Me”) across an album recorded in Amsterdam, Paris, and London in summer 2022. “Our minds are completely different now,” Dirtbike LB says. “Our lives are different, the house is different, watch is different, car different, and so the love feels different now.” Here, Young Adz and Dirtbike LB talk us through their new mixtape, track by track. **“If I Ruled The World”** Dirtbike LB: “I felt like this track sets a nice picture to begin. Something you ain’t heard from us before. Out of all the other tracks, this was the one for the intro.” **“Conor McGregor”** Young Adz: “We don’t structure the music. We just go in, and we work off of the feeling. Feel bad or feel good, feel happy or feel sad.” **“She’s Not Anyone” (feat. Burna Boy)** YA: “This is our first time working with JAE5, which is something, as we’ve been waiting to work with him for a while. He’s a GOAT, and he gave us the bird call: saying he’s got joints, and he’s ready. This was the first beat he sent to us, and it’s going to be a hit. That’s special.” **“4 The Win”** YA: “Shout-out Nathaniel London, who produced this one. We’ve got many bangers with him \[‘Darling,’ ‘Nookie’\]—too many to mention. He’s a very, very cold producer.” **“Buy It Plain / Flowers” (feat. Dirtbike LB)** LB: “To explain the line ‘I think this money’s cursed,’ there’s money you’re owed, and then there’s money you’re not owed. You feel me? The money you’re not owed is going to be cursed, for sure.” **“Really Miss You”** YA: “This is just another real-life situation. I’m talking about missing my daughter on this song. I think we’re very good at communicating our emotions through music. That’s why they love our sad songs. You might be able to vent to your brother, like, I’m not going to call LB and sing a key to him—I’ve got to do that in the booth.” LB: “We’re actually in a good place now. So, if you hear something about us doing bad, it’s probably more about the past.” **“Bankroll Got Bigger”** LB: “This here is a continuation of ‘Bank Roll’ on \[2019 album *Home Alone*\].” YA: “So, if you play that song, at the start you’ll hear the same chords.” **“Pass The Parcel”** LB: “We recorded this one in Europe. We have a dope studio in Amsterdam. We recorded a lot of this project there, and a lot of the verses we done all over the place in different countries.” **“Proud Of Me” (feat. Dirtbike LB)** LB: “This is the first beat that I actually produced myself, so it’s extra special to me. It’s just this year that I’ve started producing, so what better way to showcase my talents, you feel me? It’s the only beat I’ve ever made and recorded straight away. I’ve got to be in animalistic mode to work that way. That’s what I call it. When I’m in beast mode, I start getting on the beats and playing the keys.” **“Bando Baby Diaries” (feat. Young Adz)** YA: “Most of the time, tracks like this I really don’t like doing—I go to a place I don’t want to keep revisiting, but it’s more like therapy. This is not a *story*. It’s a diary, and they’re completely different things.” **“Half Time”** LB: “The intro line, ‘This ain’t a love song/It’s a thug song,’ I dropped on \[2019 single\] ‘She Wants Love,’ and soon after, when I said it on \[2019 single\] ‘Home Pussy,’ it just stuck after that.” **“Fantasy”** YA: “When you travel, you start to realize there’s people in every part of the world that want a different type of song of yours. That’s what makes you an artist. We want to show that we’re those type of artists—so, we’re just going to paint every type of picture on every type of tempo. And maybe in 5, 10 years’ time, they’ll say, ‘Oh, hold on a minute. These guys have done everything!’ We stand for the wave, and we put on for the wave, but *everything* falls under the wave.” **“Elegant & Gang”** LB: “We’re saying to a special someone, ‘We rock with you, just like you’re gang.’ Honestly, everyone has got their own perception of what ‘Elegant & Gang’ means to them.” **“Lonely Lovers” (feat. Ed Sheeran)** YA: “We made this song with Ed in mind, and Jamal sent it to Ed—he was supposed to jump on ‘Pay Attention!!!’ on \[2021 mixtape\] *Home Alone 2*, but we held off, as we wanted to make something bigger. Off the back of the pandemic, everyone knows someone that’s died or felt the effects of someone dying. And it’s even more making a song about that. Then Jamal passed before the song came out. Rest in peace, Jamal Edwards.” **“Man In The Mirror” (feat. Young Adz)** YA: “I’m talking to whoever’s listening on this track. It’s one of those ones you get in there, get on the beat, and you just take it there, man. At this stage in our career, we deliver what we want.” LB: “Artists, they do it for different reasons. A lot of people get rich, but a lot of people also lose hunger, and people lose passion. You’ve got to remember what makes you yourself. Adz has been rapping since before GRM Daily existed. So, what are you still doing it for? It’s the people. It always goes back to the people.\" **“Black Beatles”** LB: “It’s simple, really. We just get in our bag, and we’re always in the charts. So, we’re considered the Black Beatles.”

“This is the evolution of badness.” In 2018, Digga D became one of the first British musicians to be handed a Criminal Behaviour Order controlling his output. Trapped in a cycle of prison time and staccato output, it seemed the Ladbroke Grove drill MC might not realise his considerable potential. Then 2021’s *Made In The Pyrex* mixtape arrived, with its explicit nods to Los Angeles gang culture and 2000s’ US rap trends. It underlined his prodigious ability, while also announcing his considerable ambitions “Before I blew up, all that I knew was London,” he tells Apple Music. “Now I know there’s much more to do out here in the world.” Is *Noughty By Nature*, then, a bid for US domination? It certainly pays its dues to Digga’s biggest American idol. “I was born in 2000, I’m a noughties baby and I grew up listening to 50 Cent,” he says. “I felt like I needed to show that.” He does so pretty emphatically: retooling three of the New Yorker’s memorable anthems. Liverpool talent Still Brickin hops on for “Pump 101”’s wild braggadocio (sampling G-Unit’s “Stunt 101”), Digga lines up queries over a striking sample of “21 Questions” on “Hold You Down”, while he taps Bronx spitter B-Lovee for scattergun drill flows (the “Best Friend”-sampling “What You Reckon). But it’s when Digga embraces home that he’s arguably most compelling. “Intro” charts his personal history—taking in early neglect, juvenile felonies and the pain of loss—and connects the dots between his troubled start to the scandals that have checked his professional progress. There are clear shots at rap rivals, but this tape makes it clear Digga knows who his worst enemy is—and how he’s battling against past mistakes. “This is the evolution of badness,” he tells Apple Music. \"I’m showing it from the start, playing with toys, then getting older, starting to smoke and getting into more. Right up to Digga with the mic \[today\], staying out of trouble. I’m showing everything in my nature, so you’ll get the full picture.” Below, Digga D talks us through his third mixtape. **“Intro”** “The disclaimer at the start of this track is to put you in a different mind space on this tape. I want you to feel me—what I’m saying and where I’m coming from.” **“Alter Ego”** “I wanna say, firstly, this is all fiction. It’s based on characters that you could say are different versions of me. Over the years I’ve had a few \[nicknames\], but these days my friends just call me Digga.” **“Load Up”** “I was 30 songs deep when I came up with this, still recording and stacking them up. In general, I prefer making these songs to others that have a more commercial sound. It’s way more fun and easier to get creative with the ad-libs.” **“Stuck In The Mud”** “I set this concept up around school play. It’s where the title comes from: the popular playground game. If you’ve seen my videos, then you’ll know I like to run with whole visual themes and get creative, if I was to shoot one for this track, obviously, we’re taking it back to the playground.” **“Pump 101” \[feat. Still Brickin\]** “I asked \[British producer\] AaronOrAge specifically to sample the \[“Stunt 101”\] beat—just to see what I could do on it. I’ve been listening to 50 Cent from a young age, about four or five years old, so this has been on my mind for some time. Still Brickin is a good friend, who just happens to rap, and I really like listening to him.” **“Hold It Down”** “I dropped a freestyle on \[50 Cent’s 2003 single\] “21 Questions”, in 2018. I put it out on Instagram, so you could say this idea has kinda been around for a while. And on this tape: I decided the time was right to fully turn it into a song.” **“What You Reckon” \[feat B-Lovee\]** “Firstly, I rate B-Lovee’s music. And after meeting him: I can say I rock with him as a person, too. There’s a YouTuber \[in New York\] called Crooklyn—this was all down to him. He records reactions to videos and freestyles on his page, so I sent him this track, when I was out in New York, like, ‘I *really* need B-Lovee on this. Could you make it happen?’ And he done his ting, rapid! He put us on a FaceTime \[call\] together, and we did the rest. So big up Crooklyn.” **“Main Road”** “I had fun with this one. The song usually starts in my head and builds from there. I start humming, or freestyling, just to find a flow, then I run with it. I really like the punchline scheme I threw in for the second verse here, I’m letting it be known that I’ve still got it.” **“Secret” \[feat. Internet Money, Rack5, Dodgy & Horrid1\]** “I wouldn’t say these are my worst secrets \[on the track\]. It’s only music, so it’s nothing for me to put this out. Trust me, there’s deeper stuff that definitely doesn’t need to be out there. I’m only telling the calm secrets on this track.” **“G Lock” \[feat Moneybagg Yo\]** “I didn’t actually get in the studio with Moneybagg, like I did with Hotboii \[for “Rambo”\], so this one was a different vibe, but still fun to do. I definitely want to visit the West \[Coast\], and also \[Washington\] D.C., on my next trip out there. It’s where the White House is, I guess. But Atlanta is where I picked up the best vibes—they’re hustlers there. They think of something to do, and stick to it. They *really* get money, so you can’t sit around and not get some out there.” **“Statement”** “I know a lot of people won’t like some of the things I say on here. But I don’t really care. I’ll say what I want. You get me? This is my statement. That’s it.” **“Addicted”** “I made this song in 2009. I was in jail, writing things down, and this is how it ended out. It’s addictive, right? In my head: I’m talking to just the one person. But, honestly, my mind usually goes wherever it wants.” **“Attention”** “I was just asking a few questions on this track, to be honest. I’m always curious. I wanna know why guys are upset with me, because I don’t really know. But I know that they’re seeking more attention.” “Rambo” \[feat. Hotboii\] “This is produced by my boy Itchy at \[creative consultancy and independent record label Groundworks. I mean, you’re always going to be one of the greatest if you’re under them, they’re right in everyone’s faces, and I feel like they’re the best team that’s out right now. And they’re also my friends. You have to have that \[relationship\] or you won’t get any realness.” **“Why” \[feat. AJ Tracey\]** “I made this with AJ on the same day that we also made \[2021 single\] “Bringing It Back”. We started off punching in bars, going four by four \[lines\], and you know AJ is a beast in the booth, so we cooked this one quickly.” **“Let It Go” \[feat. Maverick Sabre\]** “I like telling stories. My mind travels to different places and helps me write out songs like this one. But when we were recording, \[British producer and songwriter\] Jake Gosling was telling me: ‘Sing, man! Sing!’ And before you know it, I’m in the studio, singing away. I know I can’t sing, right? But I can still try!”

An air of confidence has always surrounded Central Cee. On 2021’s debut mixtape, *Wild West*, the Shepherd’s Bush MC rhymed about rejecting offers for his signature, before his rise to award-winning acclaim and viral moments that felt somehow inevitable. On *23*, the West Londoner’s second full-length tape, he walks with an even greater spring in his step. “When I came into rapping, my initial stance was to go for the money,” Central Cee tells Apple Music. “And get as much of it as I could—but it’s funny, because somehow everything’s changed now. It’s less and less about that, and more about making a true impact, getting a positive message out, and hopefully changing some lives in the process.” There’s a lot of positivity here. He reflects on the road from W10 to Beverly Hills on “Cold Shoulder,” heads for private planes on “Terminal 5,” trips the continent with international drill stars on “Eurovision,” and mingles with Puff in LA on “Bunda.” “I locked myself away in the studio for about two weeks,” he says. “I don’t really enjoy spending days in the studio much, but we set up a really good creative space, with all of my guys, a few that make music, too. So there we were: all being productive, and getting it.” Chief among his guys remains Midlands beatmaker Young Chencs—a producer clearly able to amp up Cench’s star wattage on tracks such as the “Wildflower”-sampling “Retail Therapy.” There’s plenty beyond the (admittedly irresistible) bravado, too. “Khabib,” for example, is an ode to boxer and fellow Muslim Khabib Nurmagomedov. It’s the sort of insidiously sleek track that has underscored Cench’s rise, but it\'s also a bold affirmation of his faith. “It’s everything to me,” he says. “I’ve had to overcome some hard times—and there’s been moments that only my belief in Allah, and the power of my own mind, could keep me going.” *23*—his Jordan year, of course—puts up plenty of evidence that real depth underscores these fast-living drill hybrid anthems.

“When life drowns you out, it helps to remember that everything is in your own hands,” M Huncho tells Apple Music. “I’ve been guilty of thinking that happiness lies somewhere else, or with someone else—so from start to finish, this album is about that journey: finding myself.” The animated cover of the masked rapper’s debut album captures the Londoner floating in a stream, discarding his old disguises, ready for the inevitable flow of change. When the road to his long-awaited debut was met with the reveal of a stunning mask—designed by UK pro skateboarder and artist Lucien Clarke—the stunt appeared to elevate Huncho’s supervillain persona. Instead, *Chasing Euphoria* soundtracks M Huncho’s deeply personal and ever-evolving views on life, emotion, and circumstance—prompted by the pause of lockdown. “I’m unappreciated, even when I do provide,” he declares on album opener “Unappreciated,” launching a 22-track course of introspection. An ethereal blend of big-time boasts and gritty street talk, delivered in spirited, half-sung verse, M Huncho’s trap wave sound pours over interracial relations (“S/O to My X”), the horrors of addiction (“CC”), and a heartfelt address to his unborn children (“Sincerely, Dad”) for his most all-sided offering yet. “I’m chasing euphoria throughout,” he says of the album. “There\'s a whole bunch of feelings within these songs that could possibly be my euphoria, *the* ultimate euphoria, but they\'re not. I had to figure out what life is about myself.” Here, Huncho takes us through his debut, one track at a time. **“Unappreciated”** “Sometimes the story starts and ends in the same place, or not too far away. This song represents moments that I\'ve been in a bad place: in my early days and other times more recently. These are emotions I’ve felt—that come as harsh truths for anyone that loves me, and the people that I love.” **“S/O to My X”** “This track comes from a genuine place. And I feel these issues happen in many relationships because of cultural differences or stupid shit like that. And that was the case for me, a long time ago. There’s two sections to this track. The first part goes out to my ex: She couldn\'t take me home. She didn\'t have the guts to tell her family I was the one. And the second part, I shout out my wife. She really helped me grow.” **“Stainless”** “This was a fun song to make. \[London producer\] Chucks came to my house, played the beat, and that was literally it. Fifteen minutes later we had this song.” **“Who We Are” (feat. Yung Bleu)** “This song was co-produced by Benjamin Lasnier, and Pilfinger. And I enjoyed working with those guys—they came over from Europe and bodied this session.” **“Warzone” (feat. Headie One)** “I don\'t really jump on the drill genre because I feel like it\'s not the music that I’ll be making in the long run. But me and Quincy, we don\'t slack. I can\'t even describe it to you, but the chemistry is like \[former Spain international footballers\] Xavi and Iniesta, whenever we get together.” **“Let It Burn”** “You can have all the money in the world, but when you ain\'t got someone that loves you back, then money won’t really do much for you. That’s where I’m coming from on this song. My emotions and music are very much connected—this is where you’ll find me expressing myself. This is for all the men, and women, that have been in this position.” **“Doomsday”** “No one can tell me that this not some real shit. Whether they like me or not, if you’re from where I\'ve come from, then you can relate to this. This track’s also dedicated to MF DOOM. For me, it\'s about taking a leaf out of his book. He’s a legend in the game, a true original, and I’ve got his albums on vinyl.” **“Pray 2 the East” (feat. BNXN fka Buju)** “Firstly, I’d like to big up Buju, he\'s a stand-up guy. When I linked him he told me, ‘I used to listen to your \[2017 freestyle\] \'Mad About Bars\' before I even started making music.’ And it was so genuine. I can also be a fan of someone that I rate, openly, and not feel a type of way about it, but I guess others in this industry aren’t like that.” **“CBA (Interlude)”** “This section of the album is music that means a lot to me. I wrote this track during the lockdown, when my brothers would ask, ‘Bro, why are you not coming out your house?’ It sums up exactly how I was feeling. Also, it’s a turning point in the album: a new sound for me, and a new sound coming out of the UK. That\'s my personal opinion—correct me if I\'m wrong, but you won’t find anyone making music like this here, not on this green island.” **“Gone”** “I sat with this song for two weeks before finishing it. When I don\'t finish a song, I\'ll leave it halfway, with some mumbled melodies—or a space for verses and features. But this is such a complex song, I purposely took my time with it, to make sure that it\'s perfect.” **“New Era”** “This song is an ‘F you’ to all those people that don\'t remember when the ship was sinking. I was the one with a little paddleboat on the side, waiting for everyone to get in, knowing that we still might sink, but I kept us afloat. ‘Rappers to cappers/I guess we\'re all in a New Era’.” **“Adam From Willesden Green”** “We paint the picture in our heads that money is *always* a positive, helpful thing. But that picture is rough—and when a picture\'s rough, you don\'t know what the end product is going to be. That’s the sentiment here. Don\'t get me wrong: I flex, I\'ve got dough, I like buying nice things and living my life. But at the same time, I’m investing my money, as everyone should.” **“Slight More Rain”** “This was my first time working with \[US producer\] Harry Fraud, who I’m a big fan of. He\'s a studio guy, always working, and is sick with sample-flipping. I still listen to his old *Coke Boys* mixtapes with French Montana—he’s just a legendary dude, and he had the right beat for me here. He played it for me \[on FaceTime\]—and I called him back, a few hours later, with this song completed.” **“CC” (feat. Maria Drea)** “Wanna know a secret? Maria Drea, the vocal on this track, is actually my assistant manager. She\'s part of a choir, and has the most beautiful voice. Which comes back to my concept of keeping everything in house, and helping the people around you to become more successful, whilst you’re doing it. I’ll let you in on another secret: Maria is also sampled on ‘Unappreciated,’ in the first half.” **“Me & My Conscience” (feat. Potter Payper)** “This song is one of my favorites. Conceptually it’s sick, and captures perspective so well. When I link Potter, we sit down and speak because he\'s the type that will pick your brain, and you\'ve got to do likewise, because there\'s a lot of wisdom in him. This time, I told him, \'Here’s my idea: I want you to be my mask, in essence. Let\'s talk about things with you as my conscience, I’ll be me, and let’s have a conversation.\'” **“VIBE (Interlude)”** “Right now, I’m vibing—through my career, doing things that I enjoy. I\'ve achieved a lot, and I really had to get my head right after 10 summers on the roads. This track reflects on that journey, but acknowledges that I still need to go harder.” **“38” (feat. D-Block Europe)** “I call DBE the rapid response unit. I sent this to \[Dirtbike\] LB, and it came right back. And Adz dumped on it soon after. I fuck with D-Block \[Europe\], and they fuck with me, that\'s the mandem.” **“Lean” (feat. Giggs)** “I really wanted to get something done with Giggs before he hangs up his boots. I first heard him on \[Danny Weed’s 2007 single\] \'Up in the Shoobz,\' and one of my cousins loved his music, so I’ve been tapped in from early—he\'s an OG in this thing, and I’ve got a lot of love and respect for him. He came out and performed at my Brixton show, and he\'s never performed in Brixton himself. I massively respect that. And I\'ve told him this already: In a game full of clowns, he’s a man that is very, very much himself.” **“Vivid” (feat. Wretch 32 & Ghetts)** “I’ve got Wretch 32 and Ghetts on the same song. When did you last hear that? And I won’t lie, I don’t know who went harder. I can see this song, and ‘CC,\' synced on something like \[FX drama series\] *Snowfall* or \[Starz drama series\] *BMF*. I love this, and I love everything they’ve done with it.” **“The Worst”** “This track is literally a confession. I\'m not a Christian or a Catholic, so sorry, I don’t actually know how it all works. But that\'s just what this *feels* like: going to confession.” **“Stars in the Wraith”** “This is my love song for the ladies. Behind this mask, I\'m a lover man. I appreciate all my fans, but this one is dedicated to my female fanbase. I didn’t really understand when it started to switch up, but it has, and it’s one of those things you understand as you grow too.” **“Sincerely, Dad”** “This is a letter to my unborn children. I’m giving them the insight on how life is, and what their dad has done—both wrong and right. But they won’t know that I\'m Huncho for a *very* long time. That\'s a fact.”

“I know one song won’t change everything, but all I have is my voice,” Koffee tells Apple Music. “So, that’s what I’ll use to speak out. I might not be affected by certain injustices directly, but living in a place like Jamaica, you can’t avoid the truth of it. There’s youths here that have grown up with violence right on their doorstep, and I’m not just representing myself now—I also must speak out for them.” In 2019, the world bowed as Koffee—real name Mikayla Simpson—unveiled her innovative blend of reggae, dancehall, and sculpted rap flows on the Grammy-winning EP *Rapture*. That was a historic victory, too, seeing Koffee become the youngest and first female winner of the Best Reggae Album award. The pandemic could’ve threatened to slow her rise, but she instead leaned into the rich musical heritage of Jamaica (the spirit of Bob Marley is present on “x10,” while “Lonely” is a stunning ode to ’80s lovers rock) and the expertise of her live band to help craft a gorgeous, rich debut album. “It was about recreating those uplifting vibes that I had in my mind,” she says. “And I’m so happy we were able to, especially during a time that people need us to spread this message. I feel honored when I listen back to these songs, perfectly arranged and beautifully done, feeling like, ‘Yeah, I am gifted.’” Read on for her track-by-track guide to *Gifted*. **“x10”** “I came up with this song after a show in Antwerp. I was listening to my Bob Marley playlist, with \[1980 single\] ‘Redemption Song’ on repeat, alone in my room. In Jamaica, he is pretty much a permanent part of the culture. And we all experience his music from a young age, one way or another. I laid these lyrics down that night as a voice note, and the message is still so true. ‘It’s a pleasure to be outside’ was about coming from Jamaica and having my music take me far away overseas to Belgium. I put that down in 2019; now it’s even more relevant, coming off the pandemic. It’s a *real* pleasure to be back outside now.” **“Defend”** “In my heart, I didn’t want this project to be too heavy. On *Rapture*, the songs are more political, but this one is short and simple—and represents for the fans that love that vibe. I also worked \[in the studio\] with Kendrick Lamar on this track, which was a really dope experience.” **“Shine”** “The first part of this song tells a story, a real ghetto story. ‘Sun’s rising, gun violence, police sirens’—that’s a regular day for the youths. This song speaks to them, especially with the Jamaican and Caribbean scene right now pushing this vibe of senseless crime. These artists probably think it doesn’t affect anyone, and some don’t even care if it does. So, consider this song here a counter to that: if someone’s coming with that vibe, cool, I’ll come with this vibe and show you what’s good.” **“Gifted”** “This one’s a little bit more lyrical, but still very fun. It’s a very Jamaican vibe and a self-affirmation, a simple reminder that whatever happens, you’re ‘guided and gifted.’” **“Lonely”** “I’ve been trying not to ruminate too hard on lyrics lately, just keep the vibe and let it flow. And I was inspired by John McLean’s music, its real lovers rock vibes, and one of my favorites of his: \[1988 single\] ‘If I Gave My Heart to You.’ I really love his music, and I would listen to this particular song, thinking, ‘Man, I’d love to pull this off in my own style,’ and together with my band, we came up with our version.” **“Run Away”** “The vibe that runs through this song—escaping to paradise, running away—is probably as we were away at writing camp. Sat by the seaside, literally. I was thinking, ‘What if we could just get on a boat, go out into the ocean, and just live there with everything we need?’” **“Where I’m From”** “This is a more hardcore, dancehall track dedicated to Jamaica. When I’m away, I miss the warmth—especially in Europe, where it’s freezing. But I also miss the people. There’s a quote from Martin Luther King. He says, ‘In Jamaica, I feel like a human being.’ And it’s because of the way the people relate to everyone and make you *feel*. There’s a certain warmth to it that I love.” **“West Indies”** “During the pandemic, I got the chance to link up with \[Jamaican producer and DJ\] Iotosh, who I’ve been a fan of for a while, and this beat is so sick. This song represents me in the way that, of course, I’m not immune to sadness or frustration, but I also love to laugh and make the best of any situation. This is about having fun, whatever mood you’re in.” **“Pull Up”** “Trust me, even if it’s not my reality at the time, or there’s no party, I consider myself a happy enough person to find the vibe within me. Making this was a fun experience. I had a session with JAE5; we had just recorded ‘Shine,’ and we both weren’t done. He’s playing me more and more beats, trying to get another one in—and I knew I would find the right lyrics once we found it, the right one, with this beat. This was a really fun experience in London for me.” **“Lockdown”** “This was a song I wrote during the pandemic, obviously, but it came really spontaneously. Just as my shows were being canceled, it was also a good time to hit the road and connect with people. I received a call from Popcaan, to come by his studio, hold a vibe, and there I met \[Jamaican producer and artist\] Dane Ray, who’s responsible for some of \[Popcaan’s\] biggest hits. I already knew exactly what I was gonna do with this one, and it helps that he’s a great engineer too.”tes go here.

“I *need* to be uncomfortable. That’s when the growth happens,” ShaSimone tells Apple Music. “There’s things that I’ve done this year that I never, ever, ever thought I would, like performing on huge stages in my own city and taking my music overseas. If you had told me last year, I would have said, ‘Impossible—there’s no way. Not me.’” The Londoner’s debut EP serves up a grand statement of self-determination. With its fun and fast-paced course of rap anthems, *SIMMA DOWN* details the early miseducation of Shauna-Simone Yeboah (indeed, it connects the inspiring rap and soul fusion of Lauryn Hill on “Fugees”). The lockdown, personal struggles, and moments of self-doubt Sha experienced during 2021 threatened to derail the promising start she had made just months prior. This is the story of how she managed to claw it all back. Backed by a supporting cast that includes Nigerian star BOJ and London rhymer Avelino, Sha picks apart the power of forgiveness (on “Top 5”), captures the freeing air of maturity (on “Future”), and builds a powerful first block towards her end goal in enviable style. Here, she runs us through the EP, track by track. **“Top 5”** “I wrote this song on New Year’s Day \[2022\]. I remember it because I made up with one of my best friends. We broke up during lockdown and hadn’t spoken in nearly two years, which was weighing very heavy on my heart, and I needed to clear things with her. And the reason we fell out was because of pride. It was so stupid. So, on New Year’s Eve, I reach out and stay on the phone for five hours, thinking, ‘Why did we wait so long?’ I went off and wrote this as soon as I got off the phone, to highlight that issue of pride in relationships. And it’s a good summary of how I was feeling to close the year \[in 2021\].” **“Future” (feat. Avelino)** “I heard Avelino on this beat as soon as we played it. I was with my guy, PB \[Producer Boy\], cooking it up, and I FaceTimed Ave’ to invite him to the studio. One thing about Avelino is he doesn’t write. He says it’s literally all in his brain. He goes in and just...I’ve never seen anyone work like that. He’ll rhyme a whole 16 \[bars\], recite it, and then go in, without his phone, nothing. He is elite. So elite.” **“Thug Affection”** “When I can’t sleep, that’s usually when I write. I’ll listen to a beat, and in five seconds, I know if I like it or not. I was going through beats at 6 am when I made this. I came across the beat, by a producer called Likkle Dotz, and instantly, I start spilling it all out. This is all about a guy I was seeing, and \[the relationship\] just wasn’t enough—it was the bare minimum. I think I just wanted to be with someone, a companion, because it was boring. Everyone was lonely during lockdown. Well, some of us.” **“Ten Toes” (feat. BOJ)** “I had an idea for BOJ to flex on this beat by \[British Nigerian production duo\] Sons of Sonix, and I reached out. We had the song with an empty hook \[space\] for quite some time, and eventually he sent back two versions. But I fell in love with this one, as it suited the vibe best. It was bouncy and made sense. Even myself, when I’m sending a verse, I’ll do two versions just to see what they think. That’s what real artists do—we give you some options!” **“Fugees”** “I recorded this on the same day I made \[2021 single\] ‘LOCK OFF,’ and I just went in and had fun. There are so many factors to making the right song, but on this occasion, I was freestyling and kept the vibe going, nothing too crazy.” **“Mood”** “I was definitely not in the mood when I started this song. I had to travel all the way from Hackney to the session—all the way in fucking Acton, West London. And nobody wanted to come with me, so I went by myself—in a bad mood that day. Life has thrown me into situations that I didn’t feel prepared for, but one thing I’ve realized is you have to be uncomfortable. It’s something I’ve really come to terms with on this journey. I can’t be comfortable.” **“LOCK OFF”** “The sound bite at the end of this track is from \[UK DJ and podcast host\] Chuckie \[Lothian\], from one of my favorite shows, *Halfcast Podcast*. I love him. He’s so honest, and I’ve watched his YouTube videos religiously. I can’t remember the exact episode, but to hear him say my name was insane. I had to throw that on here. I guess I’m doing something right.”