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The visual for the brand new single Vliegveld from Nnelg, Yung Felix, and Rits is out now.  

Interview by Passion DEEZSixteen years after their last full-length release, Roll Deep return not as a nostalgia act, but as a living institution. Through generations of artists, changing line-ups and shifting eras of grime, the crew never really disappeared. Now, with Best in the Game arriving via FABRICLIVE., they're reminding everyone why their influence remains woven into the DNA of British music.For many artists, a comeback implies a period of absence. For Roll Deep, the story is different. The founding grime crew may not have released a full project together in sixteen years, but the collective never stopped moving. Members continued building careers across music, fashion, business and broadcasting, while the wider Roll Deep legacy continued to echo through every generation of grime that followed. "We never really left," says Breeze. "It wasn't like we ever sat down and said, 'We're not doing this anymore.' We've always been in contact. We've always been around each other. Making music together again just felt natural."That sense of continuity runs throughout Best in the Game. Rather than attempting to recreate a past moment or chase contemporary trends, the project feels like a reaffirmation of what Roll Deep has always represented: raw energy, brotherhood and the collective spirit that helped define grime from its earliest days. For Manga St Hilare, the return is less about nostalgia and more about perspective. "We've been here for so long," he explains. "The sound has gone through different generations, different stages, different artists. People said grime was alive, then dead, then alive again. So to still be here making music and enjoying it after all that is a blessing."That perspective comes naturally when your alumni network includes some of the most influential names in British music. Wiley, Skepta, JME, Flowdan, Tinchey Stryder, Trim and countless others all passed through Roll Deep's ranks at different points, making the crew less of a group and more of an ecosystem. Yet none of the members speak about that legacy with surprise. "This is all we know," says Breeze. "We've always been great. Everyone's always had their own thing going on individually, and then when we come together, it just works." Karnage agrees, comparing Roll Deep to a giant machine whose individual parts never stopped moving. "Everyone's got their own path," he says. "Flowdan's doing his thing. J2K's got his trainer brand. Everybody's always been active. Then, when we come together, like Voltron, it becomes something bigger."Ask any member what truly defines Roll Deep and none of them mention chart positions or records sold. Instead, they talk about brotherhood. "It's not a boy band," Breeze laughs. "Nobody put us together. We grew up together. This is family." That family dynamic remains central to how Roll Deep operate creatively. There are no complicated formulas when it comes to writing music. No calculations around who should appear on a particular track. No strategic discussions about streaming numbers. Instead, songs emerge organically. "We'll hear a rhythm and whoever wants to jump on it jumps on it," Breeze explains. "Some people might suit one track more than others. Some people might not want to be on it at all. We just want whatever's best for the team."Manga describes the process even more simply. "It's not a business decision," he says. "It's just vibes. If everyone wants to be on a track, cool. If only two people want to do it, that's cool too. We're brothers first." That spirit has allowed Roll Deep to survive where many other collectives disappeared. Individual success was never viewed as a threat to the group. Instead, it strengthened it. Roachee believes that being part of Roll Deep creates a standard of quality that members carry throughout their lives. "When you're around people constantly achieving things, it pushes you," he says. "Everybody who came through Roll Deep has gone on to do something. Music, business, fashion, whatever it is. Being around that energy keeps you accountable."Despite grime's journey into arenas, fashion campaigns and global culture, the crew remain adamant that everything starts with pirate radio. For Karnage, the pirate era remains the single most important part of Roll Deep's identity. "It was the foundation," he says. "Before social media, before streaming, before any of that. Pirate radio was where people heard us. It was where we developed."As Roll Deep describe it, pirate radio functioned as both training ground and proving ground. It taught timing, chemistry, crowd control and the instinctive understanding that still defines their music today. "Everything comes from radio," Manga explains. "The way we write songs. The way we perform. Even knowing when it's someone else's turn to come in. All of that comes from radio."Breeze agrees. "You always go back to what you know," he says. "That's the roots."That rawness remains central to Roll Deep's philosophy today. While many artists spend years polishing records for streaming platforms, the crew still think about music through the lens of performance. For Manga, grime loses something when it becomes too clean. "The songs are one thing," he says. "But when you see grime live, it's completely different. That's where the energy is." He believes this is why grime can sometimes be misunderstood by audiences unfamiliar with its live culture. "When people watch a clip online, they think they're watching rappers perform. But we're not just rappers. The energy is different. You have to be there." Breeze is even more direct. "It's called grime for a reason," he says. "It's not supposed to be polished."The crew's return arrives through FABRICLIVE., a partnership that feels almost inevitable given the shared history between grime and London's most iconic club space. Interestingly, the collaboration only happened after the music was already finished. "We had the project done," Manga explains. "The music, artwork, everything. We just needed the right home for it." That home turned out to be fabric. "They understand what we're trying to do," he says. "Some places don't always understand where grime belongs or how to position it. fabric gets it." Beyond the label itself, the venue carries symbolic weight."fabric is grime's club," Manga says. "When people around the world talk about clubs in London, they talk about fabric. Roll Deep is a London institution and fabric is a London institution. It just makes sense."Leading the campaign is B.U.N, a track built around one of the most iconic lyrics in grime history. For the crew, choosing it as the first single was an easy decision. "We wanted people to hear something instantly recognisable," says Manga. "When you hear that lyric, you know exactly what it is." The track also serves as a showcase for Scratchy, whose contributions as a producer are often overlooked. "A lot of people don't realise how good Scratchy is as a producer," Manga says. "So it felt right to come back with one of his beats and one of his most famous lyrics." The result acts as both a reminder and a statement: Roll Deep's foundations remain intact, but their creative energy remains firmly rooted in the present.Perhaps the most striking aspect of Roll Deep's return is their relationship with younger artists. Rather than viewing new generations through the lens of competition, the crew speak about them with admiration and curiosity. Manga points to emerging artists carrying the torch in their own way. "The new generation have their own energy," he says. "They respect the history but they're not trying to recreate 2003. They're trying to make their own history."Roachee has experienced the generational shift firsthand. "I get voice notes from young artists all the time," he says. "One kid told me he felt blessed just to be born and know Roll Deep. That's crazy to hear." For him, those interactions provide motivation. "The young generation give me energy," he says. "Being around them makes me want to keep writing and keep going." The influence now stretches across multiple generations. Some of the artists inspired by Roll Deep weren't even born when the crew first emerged. "It's surreal," Breeze admits. "Seeing kids who weren't alive when we started looking up to us—that's surreal."The title of Roll Deep's forthcoming mixtape carries a certain weight. Yet after speaking with the crew, it doesn't feel like arrogance. Instead, it feels like confidence built over decades of consistency. The members know exactly what they are, where they came from and what made them important in the first place. They are not interested in reinventing themselves for algorithms or chasing whatever sound happens to be trending. Instead, Best in the Game serves as a reminder that some foundations never disappear.Sixteen years after their last full-length release, Roll Deep are still operating according to the same principles that built grime in the first place: community, competition, creativity and collective energy. The format may evolve. The generations may change. But the essence remains the same. As Breeze puts it: "We wanted to keep it raw. We wanted to keep it Roll Deep."Roll Deep's influence is written into the DNA of British music. With Best in the Game on the horizon, now is the perfect time to reconnect with the crew that helped shape grime as we know it. Check out B.U.N and follow the journey via FABRICLIVE.

After years of touring the world, Benny Sings took a step back to focus on family and songwriting, resulting in what he calls his most personal album yet.His latest single, "Parachute," reflects on growing up with a mother living with severe depression. A personal story told with Benny's signature style. Originally written in Dutch, the song balances vulnerability with uplifting melodies, proving that dancing and crying can coexist. Watch the self-directed music video for "Parachute" now 

To honour this year's Keti Koti, we partnered with Surinamese punk band Mutha Flac to create a music video that celebrates the spirit of self-expression, resistance and cultural pride. Punk has always been a vehicle for challenging norms and reclaiming space and Mutha Flac embodies that energy through a distinctly Surinamese lens.This is a tribute to the generations who fought for freedom and to those who continue to define what independence means today. Because independence is not only about looking back at where we came from, it is about amplifying the voices that are shaping where we are going.

OFFSHORE SESSIONS is a music platform curated by Azzi On The Beat that brings together DJs, producers, and sound artists from different musical backgrounds to explore new sonic conversations in unique locations. Set outside traditional venues, each session creates a space where diverse genres, cultures, and creative approaches meet through live performance and collaboration. For this edition, Azzi On The Beat goes back-to-back with WearAreAllChemicals on the Lagos waterfront, blending electronic experimentation, percussion-driven rhythms, underground club sounds, and influences from African street culture. Recorded on a small boat overlooking the city, the session captures a moment of connection between artists, environment, and sound. OFFSHORE SESSIONS is a performance series and an ongoing exploration of music without borders.

PLOEGENDIENST released a new music video for their song ASFALT! What you see is what you want. AND WHAT YOU WANT, ALWAYS NEEDS TO BE BETTER! 

Murkage Dave and Ryan from Yard Act have gone and done a version of ‘Gabriel’ by Roy Davis Jr. & Peven Everett. Together with the cover, they released an official video of their live performance. 

No Friday the 13th is complete without a drop from Kleine Crack and Slagter. The 6-track EP was dropped earlier this year, and we're still listening.  

Dutch-Surinamese Imani Imani released a surprise album today named 'Papercut'.Her 11-track debut album was released under the music label pgLang, where she joins the roster of co-founder Kendrick Lamar, Baby Keem, and Tanna Leone. Her first music video for the soft and introspective track "Mindgames" is out now. Imani Imani is wearing the Patta Track Jacket in the video. Find new Patta tracksuit releases here.  

Oscar #worldpeace returns with visuals for “Chessboard Freestyle” a sharp, cinematic cut from one of the UK’s most distinctive creative voices. A long-time collaborator of Mike Skinner, Ragz Originale and benji flow, Oscar brings the same raw intimacy and off-centre storytelling that’s made his visual language instantly recognisable across the underground and beyond.“Chessboard Freestyle” moves like a late-night thought spiral: calculated, restless and unpredictable. Every frame feels intentional; balancing tension, stillness and instinct with the precision of a player always thinking three moves ahead.  

The expansion of rap music during the 1990s into the mid 2000s is widely regarded as a defining period in the development of rap music, often described as its “golden era” due to the scale of innovation and originality achieved during this time. The rise of regional styles from Brooklyn, New York to Long Beach, California gave different cities their own sound and point of view, moving rap beyond a single center and creating a genre that was relatable to people from urban environments all over the world. From groups like the Wu-Tang Clan, M.O.P, The Lox and Dipset to artists like Nas, Shyne, DMX and DJ Kay Slay; Clay Patrick McBride’s unique time spent with the artists during a developmental phase in their careers has been collected in “Triumph: Icons of Rap”. Showcasing nearly two decades of photographs of the most iconic rappers earlier in their lives.Living Proof has worked with Clay Patrick McBride to release a book on photographs documenting the golden era of rap’s defining artists during the creation of their most pivotal works, drawn from sessions Clay spent with the artists in their early years and magazine campaigns from the era’s best. The book includes test polaroids, original contact sheets and never before seen collages from the artists personal scrap book; as well hand written thank you letters from the talent. Living Proof - Triumph available now at Patta London.

A new frequency, RADIO Z. Ray Fuego and Dio are taking over with a pirate broadcast in the form of an album. Produced by Kabul $lim. RADIO Z is already planned to change Lowlands forever, but before that, they will have their one and only performance in Amsterdam.   25th of June, Skatecafe - don't miss out and get you tickets here.

Words: David Kane, originally published in Patta Magazine Volume 6Isimeme “Easy” Otabor selects Nas’ timeless classic as his ‘cover story’, a long-running collaborative column between Wax Poetics and Patta. Illmatic is a fitting first in the series to feature in Patta Magazine.At this point, there’s little we can say about Nas’ Illmatic that hasn’t already been said. Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones aka Nasty Nas, aka Escobar, was aged just 20 when he released his musical masterpiece to an unsuspecting world with a little help from his producer friends — DJ Premier, L.E.S., Pete Rock, Q-Tip, and Large Professor (who must be kicking himself for turning down the opportunity to executive produce the record) — which has gone on to transform hip-hop, modern music and the wider pop culture canon.  Yet despite more than 30 years of lore-building, there are still some lesser-known aspects of the album and the greater cultural fabric it is woven into — and the millions of people's stories it continues to soundtrack.Otabor is a Chicago-born curator and gallerist whose work bridges contemporary art, fashion, and community-forward programming. “Born and raised in Hazel Crest in the south suburbs. My parents are both from Nigeria — first generation — they came here in their early twenties and tried their best to make a way for us. I started in sneakers, working at all the sneaker stores as soon as I could get a work permit. “I went to school for fashion, worked at RSVP Gallery with Don C and Virgil (Abloh), and learned by doing whatever needed to be done. That led to (the clothing brand) Infinite Archives and then Anthony Gallery, named after my dad,” he explains over a call from Florida. He’s often on the move, listing off Amsterdam (where he recently launched the second Anthony Gallery), Berlin, London, and Tokyo as recent destinations. Something of a Japanophile, Easy’s initial touchpoints into art came through anime like Akira, Fist of the North Star, and then Takashi Murakami, thanks to his work on the cover art for fellow Chicagoan Kanye West’s Graduation album. Easy credits his brother Ade for his omnivorous approach to culture. “He introduced me to Illmatic — really, all the music I know came through him. I was lucky to have a brother who knew what was happening, who was open to different sounds and always tuned into what was next.” The Illmatic cover operates as a kind of cultural Rorschach — the same image, endlessly reinterpreted. For some, it’s a portrait of lost innocence; for others, a map of inevitability, where place and identity are already fused. What you see says as much about you as it does about Nas.“Honestly, whenever I think of Illmatic, I think of that cover first. There’s a quote I can’t fully remember, but it’s about true genius being found in simplicity. You see where Nas grew up, merged with a childhood photo, those piercing eyes — but also this sense of knowing what he was about to do. Even the background, driving through his neighborhood, all comes together. It’s a perfect blend. You feel like you see yourself in it. No matter where you’re from, you can relate to that feeling of reflecting on your past while being ready for the future, and the present.”The 30th anniversary of Illmatic in 2024 coincided with a global tour, a 7” boxset release, and the publication of a cluster of new and archived content celebrating the record, including a musty interview recording with Nas’ father. In one video, Olu Dara, a successful jazz musician in his own right, recalled the moment the photo was taken. It was when he returned to the States after a long tour in Europe, found Nas and his brother in Queensbridge, who both excitedly ran towards him.  Olu said he saw it in Nas’s eye — “his mind was saying, wow, what a world.” In addition to Olu — who in the same recording mentions a “man with a camera” rather than explicitly claiming to have taken the photo himself, as is popular belief — the artwork was part of a cross-generational collaboration that included photographer Danny Clinch, with art direction by Jo DiDonato, and design by Aimée Macauley — the latter two, employees of Columbia Records. Clinch photographed Nas and his crew in Queensbridge, the largest housing project in the US. Six images appeared across the original vinyl and CD releases.According to Large Professor, speaking to DJ Vlad, the portrait of Nas, in which his hand obscures his face — complete with a small rip — was always meant to be the cover. The tear was accidental. “He had it under a piece of glass, and I guess when he went to grab it, the glass must’ve stuck right there, so that’s the rip right there.” It stayed because it felt right.Illmatic is widely considered to be the first of many hip-hop album covers to feature a child — from Biggie through to Lil Wayne, and Kendrick Lamar. Ghostface would later infamously call out rappers (supposedly Big) for biting the cover art during a skit on Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Link. Though Nas later dismissed the critique — but it’s not the first outside the genre.When I send Easy a Discogs link to A Child Is Born (1972) by The Howard Hanger Trio, he chuckles at the artwork. “If I had to guess,” he says, “it’s probably a record his dad had in his collection.” The resemblance to Illmatic is uncanny: a child’s face, roughly the same age, gazing directly at the viewer, superimposed over a crumbling city street. Musically, it’s a deep, almost spiritual modal jazz record, featuring eerie interpretations of Simon and Garfunkel’s Scarborough Fair, and Eleanor Rigby, by The Beatles.When it surfaces, A Child Is Born now sells for three figures, likely inflated by its accidental proximity to one of hip-hop’s most revered LPs. The trio released just three albums between 1970 and 1977 before quietly disappearing. Howard Hanger himself came from a lineage of principled Methodist ministers; a family history marked by civil rights activism, anti–Vietnam War protest, and the defence of same-sex unions. No official link has ever been acknowledged between the two covers. Which only reinforces the point: the difference isn’t what you take — it’s whether you make it yours.The red thread here might just be family. As Easy explains, “My older brother changed my life. I probably wouldn’t be where I am without him. Even recently, with a Jordan release, I made sure it landed on his birthday.” Easy’s referring to the 2025 release of the Infinite Archives x Air Jordan 17 Low, inspired by the OG model by Wilson Smith, the first Black sneaker designer for the Jordan brand.Long before culture was flattened into clicks and stories, Easy Otabor was dedicating himself to moments — overlooked and era-defining — that once felt abundant and now feel increasingly rare. As for Illmatic today?“I go back to it all the time. There are just so many records on there — ‘Life’s a Bitch’, ‘The World Is Yours’, ‘Halftime’, ‘It Ain’t Hard to Tell’. The whole album stays in rotation. So when the question came up about album covers and what they mean, it was a no-brainer.“It’s as timeless as the record itself. It taught me not to overdo it — that less really can be more, and sometimes more powerful than anything complicated. Every time I look at it, everything stands still for a moment.” 

JayaHadADream can not be boxed into a genre and keeps writing music. The Alchemist released a new track featuring JayaHadADream. The song is called ‘Living Forever’ on The Alchemist & Budgie’s latest tape ‘The Good Book III’, only available on vinyl or digital download right now. 

Manga Saint Hilare released his new music video for "In The Dance", a release to heat up spring, preparing us for the festival summer. Check it out now!

Interview by Passion Dzenga & Liesje Verhave | Photography by Dorian Day With BLUEBOY, Finn Askew sounds like an artist stepping into sharper focus. The Somerset-born songwriter has always known how to bottle emotion, but this latest mixtape feels broader in scope and more deliberate in its storytelling, pulling as much from cinema, made-up worlds and other people’s lives as it does from his own. Still rooted in intimacy, but no longer confined by autobiography, the project marks a clear shift in both confidence and craft.Ahead of his Patta London in-store performance, we caught up with Finn to talk about building BLUEBOY alongside Ezra Skys, learning to trust his own instincts again, finding clarity after a period of self-doubt, and why he’s more interested in telling universal stories than simply retelling his own. From Somerset to Soho, and from bedroom writing sessions to major co-signs and growing international attention, Finn Askew is moving with the kind of quiet certainty that suggests this is only the beginning.What keeps you busy when you’re not making music?Music is basically all I do, even when I’m not trying to. I’m always humming something or thinking about melodies. But outside of that, I’m with my friends a lot, I game a fair bit, and right now cinema is probably my biggest influence. If I’m not in the studio, I’m either in the cinema or in my bedroom making music.So there’s a lot outside of music feeding the music?Definitely. Especially with this mixtape, cinema was probably the biggest influence. I feel really inspired by other people’s stories. A lot of artists talk about writing from the heart, and I get that, but I don’t think that should be the only way to make music. If you only ever write from your own life, you limit yourself. I can’t relate to every single person in the world just through my own stories, and I want the music to reach everyone. So sometimes it’s about making up new stories, or stepping into somebody else’s world.That’s what cinema gives me. You watch a film and suddenly you’re inside a whole different emotional universe. I could write a song about Darth Vader and betrayal if I wanted to. That’s the fun of it.That’s interesting, because in the past your music felt a lot more autobiographical. This tape feels like it opens outwards. Were there any films in particular that fed into BLUEBOY?Yeah, weirdly enough, The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I watched it recently and Peter Parker and Gwen’s relationship, that whole romantic tragedy, really stayed with me. That idea of love and loss definitely influenced some of the songs. There’s a rom-com element to parts of the tape, that sort of dramatic romance.Let’s talk about the mixtape itself. You worked closely with Ezra Skys on this one. How did that relationship come together?I met Ezra about a year ago, and it all happened pretty naturally. We didn’t even release our first track together, which was “Vows”, until maybe six months ago, so in that sense it formed quite quickly. But it just clicked straight away. On our second session together we made “Vows”, and that ended up becoming the first track on the tape.I’d never really made a full project with one person before. That was always something I wanted. I’ve always said I’d love to find one producer I can really build a world with, because coherence and continuity were always things I struggled with in the past. When you’re bouncing between loads of people, it can get messy. But when you’ve got one person you trust, and you’re going back and forth together across every track, it becomes a much more unified thing. That’s what this tape gave me.What does that workflow look like in practice? Are you walking into sessions with finished ideas, or are you building everything from scratch?It changes every time, which is why it stayed fun. Sometimes I come in with an idea already. “Green Light” was something I started at home before bringing it in. Other times Ezra will just build something and I’ll trust it immediately because I know he makes sick beats.That trust is the main thing, really. There’s never any pressure in the room. It’s never like, “We have to finish this today” or “This needs to become a song now.” I can just tell him, “I’m not feeling this anymore, I’m going to take it home and write later.” That happened with “Vows”. We made the beat together, then I took it away and finished it at home because sometimes being on your own lets you try things you wouldn’t do in the studio. Not because you’re uncomfortable, but because the energy is different. You can sit with it more.Most of the melodies are freestyled, though. That’s usually where everything starts. But because the process kept shifting from song to song, it never felt stale.You’ve always sat in an interesting space sonically. There’s singer-songwriter DNA in your music, but you’ve also found a lot of support in more urban spaces, from London to Toronto and beyond. How do you think about your place in music now?I still don’t feel like I’ve fully broken out, to be honest. I feel like I’m breaking into spaces, but I’m not where I want to be yet. Coming from Somerset, there wasn’t really anyone for me to look at and think, “They did it, so I can too.” I didn’t have that local blueprint. A lot of people in bigger cities grow up with examples around them. I didn’t really have that.So for me, it’s been a bit surreal seeing the music travel and connect in different places. That’s always been the dream, though. To make something that goes beyond where I’m from.You’re still based in Somerset now, right?Yeah. I lived in London for about two years, but I moved back around a year ago. London just got a bit lonely for me. Where I’m from, not many people leave, so when I moved there I didn’t really have a built-in crew. Everyone else had their little circles and I was like, where’s mine? Then I realised my people were back home.Until life gets so busy that every day becomes madness, I’m happy being close to my friends and family and just travelling when I need to. London’s only about an hour and a half away anyway, so it’s not some crazy distance.There’s something healthy in knowing where your centre of gravity is. Has the increase in visibility changed your day-to-day much?Not massively, if I’m honest. When I first moved to London, that felt like the biggest lifestyle change. Now, even though the music’s doing really well, my day-to-day still feels pretty grounded. And sometimes that can mess with your head a bit, because you think, “If things are going up, when does life actually feel different?”But I’m also enjoying that not much has changed yet. It makes me stay hungry. I do want the lifestyle to change eventually. I want to tour more, fly more, do bigger shows, live a bigger life through the music. But right now I’m happy where I am in the journey.On “Save My Time”, you talk a lot about slowing down and realigning yourself. What inspired that song?That one came from a very real place. Growing up, and even later on, I spent loads of time in my room writing music, smoking weed, playing games, just kicking back. There was a point a few years ago where I kind of thought I’d already made it. Things were moving, people were paying attention, and I got too comfortable. That was the worst thing I could’ve done.I lost my drive a bit. I was wasting time, really. That’s where “Save My Time” came from. It was me looking at myself and realising nobody else is going to do this for me. I had to snap out of it and fix what wasn’t working. That song really was about seizing time and taking responsibility for my own momentum again.And then you’ve got a song like “London”, which sounds deeply personal, but you’ve said a lot of this project wasn’t necessarily written from your own life. How do you approach that line between personal and universal?That’s what I love about it. “London” sounds personal, and that’s great, but it’s not really my story. It’s more like fiction, or someone else’s perspective. I don’t even know whose story it is exactly, but I know people hear it and think, “That’s me.” That’s what I wanted.I like the idea that something can feel deeply intimate to the listener without literally being my autobiography. That’s the power of storytelling. It doesn’t have to come from me for someone else to feel it in a real way.Which song on the mixtape feels most vulnerable to you, then?Probably “Save My Time”. That’s the one where I really feel the emotion. It’s the one that cuts closest to something I actually had to work through. “Vows” is a real one too, because I wrote that about my girl, so there’s love in that one and that’s definitely personal. But “Save My Time” was me confronting something in myself, and I don’t usually write like that.I’m not really a sad person. I’m pretty upbeat, pretty energetic, so to have one song on the tape where I was like, “Nah, this one is really me,” that felt important.When you look back at the earlier releases, what do you think has changed most in your approach?I think I’ve finally found myself. That’s the biggest thing. For a long time, that was the real issue. I had good people around me, opportunities around me, a lot of things lined up, but I just wasn’t ready. If you haven’t fully figured yourself out, it doesn’t matter how much support you’ve got, people won’t connect with it properly.This tape is the first time I really feel like I know what I want to sound like, what sort of records I want to make, and how I want it to feel. That inner shift is the biggest change. The music changed because I changed.So what have the last few months taught you about yourself as an artist?That I can actually do this. There was a bit of self-doubt before this tape, and I’d never really had that before. I’ve always been confident. Maybe even cocky at times. But there was definitely a period where I questioned things. Then these songs started landing, people started reacting, and I was like, why did I ever doubt myself? I’m good at this. These songs are sick.So yeah, what I’ve learned is: don’t doubt yourself again. There’s no point.And for people going through that same kind of doubt, what would you say?Just trust yourself. If you didn’t doubt yourself before, there’s probably a reason for that. Chase that earlier feeling. That’s usually the real one.We’ve got you in-store this week at Patta London, performing your new EP. What can people expect from seeing you live in that sort of intimate setting?I’m really excited for it. It’s sick to work with a brand I genuinely mess with so heavily. That’s something I’m loving at the moment, being able to work with brands and spaces that actually make sense for me.As for the set, it’s going to be all acoustic. Six songs from the mixtape, stripped back. It’s a small space, very intimate, so I’m just going to let the voice and the guitar do the talking. Good vibes, good energy, proper personal. I’m excited.You mentioned gaming earlier. What are you playing right now?At the moment I’m playing Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria with my brother. It’s kind of like Minecraft, but Lord of the Rings. It’s sick. I also love Cuphead. I need games to challenge me, otherwise I get bored and never finish them, and Cuphead definitely does that. Then there’s Balatro as well, which has had me hooked. Dangerous game, that.You’ve also picked up some major co-signs over the years, from people like SZA, Kehlani and Justin Bieber. What does that kind of validation do for you?It’s mad. Justin Bieber is the big one. That will probably always be the biggest one. He was my idol growing up. There isn’t really anyone else on earth I’d rather have had a co-sign from, so I kind of hit the jackpot there.That sort of thing is crazy because if you told my younger self I’d be speaking to Justin Bieber one day, I wouldn’t have believed you. And yeah, obviously you shouldn’t rely on external validation, but in moments where you are doubting yourself, it helps. It’s nice. It reminds you the music is cutting through.A lot of people know you through different doorways now. Some know the songs, some know the visuals, some know the cosigns, some just know the mood. What keeps you grounded in all of that?Probably home, family, friends and just staying locked into the work. I’m not trying to become some mad version of myself. I’m just trying to get better, make stronger music, do bigger shows and keep evolving. I think if you stay focused on that, everything else becomes a bonus.What can people expect from you over the rest of the year?I already want to start the next tape. I love this mixtape and I’m grateful for what it’s doing, but I’m already onto the next. I miss writing when I’m not writing. So hopefully there’s another project by the end of the year if I can make that happen.We’ve also got a big headline show at coming up, which is at the biggest headline I’ve done so far. That’s going to be crazy. I’m nervous, but excited. Then there are some festivals too, Paris, Copenhagen, stuff like that, and hopefully a few more things land in between. It’s really just about getting busier than I’ve ever been before.So the pace is only picking up from here.That’s the plan. Join us at Patta London on Thursday 23rd April 2026 between 18:00 – 20:00 for a special evening with Finn Askew as he celebrates the release of his new EP.