2022: what a time to be a UK rap fan. Whether it’s a molten drill tune, a frosted lyrical thesis or a left-field sound collage – there’s something for everyone in the Tesco Pick & Mix we call the UK hip-hop scene. Meet Len. Despite only taking music seriously since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Stockwell-based rhymer has already anchored himself as a key player on the UK rap chessboard. With steadfast confidence and an off-kilter approach to song structure, Len has found success with a series of spacey, trap-tinged earworms such as ‘Where’s My Bradda!?’ and ‘Sleep’.
Len carries himself with the punk-laden bluster of Ramones, coupled with the blasé charm reminiscent of Slick Rick in his prime. Len weaponised his standpoint by dropping a wealth of music – taking listeners on a rap-focused journey through choppy alté regions (‘Devotion’) and nightly, lo-fi escapades (‘These Times’).
Besides his diverse sound palette, Len has been praised for his one-of-a-kind live shows. Often selling out instantaneously, Len darts around the stage like Bullet Bill from ‘Mario’. The 22-year-old rapper also caught the attention of fellow London emcee Sam Wise and Chicago rapper LUCKI, opening for them at their recent gigs.
Earlier this year, Len dropped his third project, ‘DEAD END’: a sharp, dystopian snapshot of his frontal cortex that covers everything from his fast lifestyle to anime. Late last month, Len dropped the rave-inspired cut, ‘SOLACE’. The single steamrolled its way across social media and garnered acclaim from numerous publications, further cementing Len’s position in the UK rap pantheon.
Clash got a chance to pick Len’s brain and dive deep into his artistry. We discussed his long lineage of influences, creative process and the makings of ‘SOLACE’…
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Talk to me about the early days of your music journey…
I started rapping around 2016 in school just messing around with the mandem. I’d say I started recording and getting serious with it around 2017. Around this time, I was in college learning music technology. That’s where I learned the basics of producing. I found a lot of what I was taught quite linear and formulaic. When I finished education, I re-learned everything from scratch and tried to make my production a better reflection of myself.
South London is synonymous with UK legends such as Rodney P, Smiley Culture, Giggs, Novelist, and So Solid Crew – what kind of music did you find yourself listening to growing up?
I was raised on many classic R&B artists. My mom’s a huge R&B fan. She had a huge CD folder with so many discs inside. She played a lot of Luther Vandross, Chaka Khan and Michael Jackson. Usher was also deffo someone I was listening to, alongside the massive pop scene at the time with the ‘NOW’ albums. I didn’t get into rap until 2008-ish. My dad introduced me to 50 Cent, Max B, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne – I went through a big Lil Wayne phase and gangsta rap in general. Kanye’s ‘808s & Heartbreak’ really opened my eyes. It came out in an era full of “real rap”, but it was so different. To have someone singing in auto-tune that couldn’t really sing was crazy.
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How did your musical partnership with Sam Wise come to fruition?
I met Sam Wise for the first time around two years ago. We had the same management team, but our partnership didn’t feel forced. It came about quite naturally. Sam Wise and the whole House Of Pharaohs collective embraced me with open arms. They’re real pioneers of the UK alternative scene.
You opened for LUCKI at one of his recent UK shows – how did that come about?
Similar story to Sam, to be honest. LUCKI and I became acquainted a while back. I built a solid relationship with IAMNEXT, which opened a few doors. Working with LUCKI was cool because my boy kwes e – a fellow artist – and I got a chance to go backstage and get his vinyl signed. The LUCKI collab taught me you couldn’t just give someone an opportunity based on friendship alone. I think there’s gotta be some creative exchange and the idea that you can trust someone with a particular task.
In your own words, how would you describe your artistic progression – from the very trap-centric ‘Miles Away From Mars’, the spacey ‘Days Before Interstellar’ and now ‘DEAD END’ / SOLACE?
I feel like my musical diversity is based on what I’m consuming at the time. I don’t limit myself to just one sound. When I look back on ‘Days Before Interstellar’, there were some Playboi Carti-inspired beats because back then, I wasn’t experimenting like how I do now. I was messing around with different sounds, but I feel I still played it safe.
How have your listening habits developed over time?
I’m always trying to listen to more and more music. I only started listening to Aphex Twin around last year, and I only started to pull from alté and Afrobeat around 2020 with artists like Cruel Santino. Santino is one of my favourites right now, and we actually have a song on the way. I don’t just go away and listen to two songs. I try and study. My sound and its changes between projects are based on my surroundings.
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Let’s unpack your latest track, ‘SOLACE’, and the inspiration behind it…
With that track, like Aphex Twin is someone I’ve deffo taken in. Still, I’ve got to give credit to PinkPantheress for the most part. When she came out, it made me deep I had learning to do in terms of my output. With ‘SOLACE’, that’s a track I recorded last year, but I waited on it because there were certain things I had to work on first.
Did you expect it to blow up the way it did?
Yeah, of course. I know ‘SOLACE’ and my previous single ‘BRAND NEW BIH’ would go off as they did. I feel my music has evolved and reached a new level sonically, so those tracks represent that. Before ‘SOLACE’ even drooped, its snippet went crazy on socials.
With rave culture and dance music baked into ‘SOLACE’, was it always the plan to drop it in the summer?
That song was originally supposed to be the outro for ‘DEAD END’. That original plan didn’t work out in the end, but we move. Plan B of ‘SOLACE’ coming out the summer worked out perfectly, though.
Are snippets important to you?
I feel like snippets are essential to the culture, you know? Technically, we don’t need them, but it’s cool to let people know what I’m working on now, even if they can’t have it right at this very moment. I don’t do snippets as a temperature check – my drops reflect what I want to put out.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
It’s a tough question because I’m very focused on the here and now. My mission right now is to keep focused. In five years? Hopefully, I’ll be selling out arenas.
If you could sum yourself up in one word, what would it be?
Superstar.
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Words: Niall Smith
