Written by: Charlotte Bredael
Upcoming London based MC Premz recently made waves with his single ‘Mogul Mind’. The smooth, catchy tune platformed an important message of unity through lyrics encouraging solidarity, power and pride, particularly within the South East Asian community. Having racked up an impressive 2 million streams on his previous tracks, he’s back and better than ever with his new hit ‘Bollywood X Hollywood X Nollywood’ alongside industry friends Wavy Boy Smith and Ayo Beatz.
Continuing with the theme of unity, ‘Bollywood X Hollywood X Nollywood’ blends the unique styles of Premz, Wavy Boy Smith and Ayo Beatz into the addictive rap track you need on your playlist this summer. After hearing about his message, we wanted to know more, so we spoke with Premz and discussed his creative process, experience as a breakthrough rap artist and thoughts on diversity within the music indutry in today’s climate.
We’d love to know more about your journey, when did you first
discover a love for music and what inspired you to turn that dream into a reality?
Premz: I was always fond of writing and reading poetry when I was younger, and at the age of 10 I was introduced to the world of hip hop- and fell in love. From then I was writing my own raps until I felt confident enough to show my friends and record real music- since then I haven’t looked back.
How would you describe your creative process and what is your
favourite aspect of making music?
My creative process is simple, I either have an idea already due to an emotion I am feeling or an event that has happened in my life, or I just listen to a beat and let the words flow- writing is my favourite part of making music for sure.
On your new track ‘Bollywood X, Hollywood X, Nollywood’ you
collaborated with fellow rappers Wavy Boy Smith and Ayo Beatz. We love the unique style each of you bring to the track, what is the best part of working on collaborative projects and what are your favourite memories of working together over the years?
Collaboration is great, especially with like-minded people and friends, Wavy Boy Smith & Ayo Beatz are not just my partners musically but both very good friends, and that translates into the music we produce. To be honest every studio session is a great memory, but my favourite has to be the night we created “Jalsa”- a single I released in 2018. That night created a new wave for us.
If you could collaborate with any artist, who would you choose and
why?
Right now? Would have to be someone from Griselda, probably Benny The Butcher, one of my favourite rappers at the moment.
Your previous track ‘Mogul Mind’ shared an important and powerful message of power, pride and unity. We’d love to know more about your intended impact behind this track, what inspired you to write such statement lyrics and how it has been received since it’s release.
What inspired me was the beauty of my culture and my people, and I just wanted to speak about the power of community, solidarity and love between us. Impact can never be predicted, I just wanted to make a song which reflected my feelings about certain things within the South Asian community- and I feel that was done in the right way, hopefully the listeners loved it.
Many major record labels took part in ‘The Show Must Be Paused’ to show their support and commitment to making active changes to become more inclusive. What measures would you like to see industry leaders put in place in order to hold themselves accountable beyond the initial social media campaign, allowing us to collectively work towards a united industry with equal opportunities for all?
It’s a good question- I think it starts at the top, corporations have to look at the diversity of their boards, then it goes all the way through the company, are they really trying to be more inclusive or are they just trying to sell what is hot and make money. Many companies also have initiatives where they invest in certain communities, I definitely would like to see more of that, we all know what types of music control the charts at the moment, so why not invest in the communities where these artists are from? This would be a good start.
Finally, who are your favourite artists of the moment that you think
everyone should be listening to?
Without a doubt, Griselda.
Make sure to check out Premz on Spotify if you haven’t already and don’t forget to give him follow on social media to be the first to know about upcoming projects and releases, we can guarantee this isn’t the last you’ll be hearing from him.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/premzonline/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/premzonline
Instagram: https://instagram.com/Premzonline