“This Record Is A True Representation Of Me” – An MM Exclusive With Bashy

Despite having been away from the game for so long, Bashy has been one of Grime and UK Rap’s biggest success stories and exports. After finding his feet on pirate radio, the Northwest London artist dropped the legendary single ‘Black Boys’ – a seminal work that has stood the test of time in terms of messaging and influence. Now, after a ten year hiatus from music that has seen him take over stage and screen in the United Kingdom, Hollywood, and beyond, Bashy has returned to the game with ‘Being Poor Is Expensive’. The album is certainly worth the wait, tackling heavy topics across multiple soundscapes that shed light on the artist’s upbringing and musical influences.

After a legendary performance at BBC Maida Vale studios, I caught up with Bashy to discuss the timing of his return, the influence of acting on his musical process, as well as diving deep into the topics of his latest work:

Your debut album came out in 2009. Why now in 2024 have you decided to return to music?

I feel as though now I have something to say. I didn’t strategically pick the time like this or create this sort of narrative of being away for that long. My creativity doesn’t work in that way. I think it organically came to this moment. I’m really specific and discerning, just in life in general and I wanted to create something but I didn’t know how long that would take, or if it would even be good or solid. Having that time away I was feeling under confident and insecure but it was Toddla T and Progression that really helped keep me together. 

I managed to craft the bulk of this album by just reflecting on my life, my journey, and the area where I come from – Northwest London. It’s a beautiful part of the city; very multicultural and you can learn a lot of good things there but there’s also a lot of bad things as well. It could be considered a deprived neighbourhood in certain parts and in other areas there’s really affluent parts as well.  I was sort of caught in the middle of both those parts. And it’s how I navigated my journey to where I am now.

I would say I was just an average kid. I had both parents at home and I was working class.  I just wanted to tell that story about myself and my peers and a lot of people from Northwest London. Some are like me, but we’re all walking on different paths. I had a moment of clarity that I wanted to get down on paper that started out as black poetry acapellas before I eventually crafted it into music. 

How would you say your creative process has changed if at all since you last made music?

Yeah, it’s changed.  I have more dexterity with my creativity now than I had previously, and some of that is just growing up and experiencing more. When I started I was just a kid. I was probably 15 years old when people started to become familiar with me in my local area then around 16 or 17 when I first started going on Pirate Radio. I was a young man just trying to figure out who I am as a person. Just like it took me a long time to figure out life, it’s taken me a long time to figure out my craft. 

I approach music differently but I think the soul and the core of the music is the same. If you look at my music around 18 or 19 when I’m spitting on Risky Roadz DVDs, the messaging is still there. I just have more tools in my toolbox to be able to put together my vision. This album is how I wanted it to sound. I’m utilising the music I grew up listening to, from Lovers Rock to Grime to Jungle, Reggae, and fusing them together in a way that hasn’t been done before. I was able to articulate that to Toddla T and Progression so that it could have this nostalgic feel but still feel contemporary and true to me. 

Obviously you’ve spent the last ten years or so acting. Do you think that has played into your music at all?

It’s definitely helped put me in a storytelling space, and with acting I’m able to convey certain emotions and feelings. I think it was always there, though. Back in 2009 I did a video for my track, ‘Ransom’, and it had a story and a kind of cinematic quality to it. I think there’s a thread in terms of who I amm and at the core of my soul is storytelling. Maybe through the process of osmosis acting has allowed me to enhance the level of articulation and I now have a better understanding of what translates in a story. Even editing music videos, or music films because they are more films than videos, I would say. I can understand the impact of what line or lyric needs to be where to make a moment land. 

I think it’s also helped to give me some level of freedom in terms of my creativity as well .It’s an independent project that has my own musical imprint which has been put together by me and my team. Acting has been good to me, but I think people can see and appreciate that I’m not making music for the sake of it and I would never do that. It’s always about pushing myself artistically. I feel like acting in a strange way allowed me to press play on my music and afforded me that freedom.

Getting into the album itself, what does the title, ‘Being Poor Is Expensive’, mean to you?

It’s an understanding of where I’m from and showing the cost of what it is and how we grew up. Where I’m from is multicultural, and I grew up around West Indian, African, Irish, English, people from North Africa – Moroccan, Egyptian. A lot of people that man grew up around were working class. A lot of us went through similar things growing up in that environment. You can look at that title at face value and it being monetary, but it’s more than that. It comes down to your mentality, seeing things you’re not meant to see at a certain age, having to grow up quicker than someone else who didn’t have to grow up like that. 

The cost ultimately, even if you do find your way out of that, is that there’s the power of the scars that are still left on you. It also comes with a lack of preparedness for certain situations. maybe not paying your taxes properly, maybe not understanding how mortgages work or interest rates work and just all these things that you end up playing catch up on. You’re not planning forward and instead doing everything on the spot and making mistakes, and that’s costing you. You can also look at it on a deeper level when you think about healthcare, maybe a lack of food. Everything becomes more expensive because you grew up poorer.

There’s a couple of key themes that run throughout the album. One is your relationship with the north west area of London. How do you think that has shaped you in terms of both your career and as a person?

I think growing up in north west and its close proximity to the West End, those two areas are sort of juxtaposed to one another.  You’ve got those huge, sprawling blocks of flats next to these multi million pound houses and stores. I would see both ends of the spectrum and I would say that I was on the lower end of that spectrum in terms of money, financial information and financial literacy. 

From my own place in the world, I saw what hard work looked like from both of my parents. I saw what black culture looked like in my area. That kind of bleeds into my music but also feeds into my acting. There’s a full spectrum of life and the blend of culture is amazing. You’re growing up with Nigerian guys and Ghanian guys, so you’re understanding food and music and Africa, which is ultimately the link back to the Motherland, especially being from the Caribbean and experiencing what my ancestors would have experienced. 

I’ve always put Northwest London in my music even from my pirate radio days when I wasn’t even making songs. I feel like it gave me the tools to survive the world. Even when I’m in America, or if I’m in Rio in a favela, I can have an understanding of how to conduct myself and how to move and see certain things. I wanted to make sure that DNA was on my album in the same way that Kendrick Lamar lets you know what Compton is like or like Nas and Jay Z with New York. I wanted to make sure I had that influence on the album.

Speaking of DNA, another key theme on the album is family. You touch on your relationship with your parents on ‘Sweet Boys Turned Sour’ as well as alluding to your grandmother across the album. What part have they played in your music?

I think it helps me come from a place of honesty. My story is that both parents were in my house, my grandparents were around and just the love that I felt growing up, how the area influenced me in good ways and other ways as well. I think it gives me a sense of truth. If I speak from a place of truth it’s unquestionable and undeniable. I’m speaking the truth about my experiences and hopefully that resonates with people. I shouldn’t be fabricating stories or speaking about a life that’s not mine. I’m making sure that it’s of the highest integrity and that it’s my absolute truth. It’s important that I keep my family on the record and I think that’s what makes the record so honest.

Your musical influences as well are so apparent throughout the tracklist, tapping into a lot of different genres. How would you describe the soundscape of the album?

I wanted to kind of fuse together and come up with a sound that was unique to me and wasn’t really tied to any genre. It was inspired by Hip-Hop in America. Artists like Kendrick, Jay Z, Nas, Dipset, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest – they were sampling records that they grew up listening to at home. Rhythm and Blues records, old Jazz records, sampling them to create their own version of Hip-Hop. I wanted to utilise that method and got me thinking about what my truth was.

That became Lovers Rock, Reggae, Dancehall, Garage. Garage had such a big influence over me and my friends growing up. I wanted to fuse those multiple worlds together and see what that sounded like. Fusing a Lovers Rock sample with a Garage snare, spitting with a voice that was honed on Pirate Radio and Grime with a love for Hip-Hop. That sounds like my life and I wanted to put all that together along with my lyrics to feel like this record is a true representation of me. 

I wanted it to feel like a movie or a journey, or a limited TV series where you have 11 tracks and each song feels like a new chapter. Even the bits that aren’t musical – the textures in between songs or after songs, I want it to feel like Northwest London. Getting on the train and taking you through Kensal Rise, Harlesden, Church Road, Stonebridge, Mozart. That’s what the musical and lyrical soundscape is. No line on this album is wasted. I want it to be something that makes you feel something. 

Also on the project you pay homage to two of the greats of your generation, Kano and Ghetts. What do you think it is about those in your generation that has let them continue to shine after so many years?

I think a lot of it is being born in a certain time. I’m grateful for that, because me, Kano, Ghetts, and Wretch are all 80’s babies. We came up at the tail end of Garage and the early stages of Grime, whilst all being interested in Hip-Hop. These are all the influences that sort of live in our DNA and I think that’s why it’s given us that kind of longevity.

The Ghetts sample I use on the album is such a huge moment in Grime history and folklore. To be able to get past that and then be friends and go on to achieve amazing things I think is testament to both of our characters, man. It’s so positive for people to see that and feel that. It’s about being utilised in a different context, but still paying homage to that moment. It’s a cultural moment that so many people reference but if anyone can reference it, it’s Ghetts and myself.

You’ve also got the Dave sample on there as well. Is there anyone else in the younger generation who is inspiring you?

Dave definitely inspires me and that moment felt so cool because he mentioned the area I grew up in. It’s cool to use Dave’s art to help add a texture to my art. He gave it his blessing and I linked him personally to play the whole album. He was so excited and so complimentary and wanted to do anything he could to help. 

The new generation in terms of inspiration for me is amazing. Seeing what Central Cee has gone on to do and him being from West London, it’s inspiring. People like Skrapz and Nines, Fredo, even newer generations like Pozer. I ran into him the other day and started listening to his music and it’s fire. There’s a new energy and a different twist to it. 

Just finally, what are your plans for the future? Have you got the music bug back?

I think I’m more in the space of if I have something to say, that’s when I’ll pop out. If I don’t then I’ll be living my life and experiencing things – likely filming and focussed on acting. For me it’s about being the best creator I can be in whatever it is I’m doing. Sometimes music is the extension of that and sometimes acting. I’m also interested in producing films and short films as well. I’m not going to make music purely for the sake of it and I want to push the culture in a certain way and add something. I want to do that in a positive and seminal way. That’s where I see myself right now■

​​1Xtra’s Album Launch Party with Bashy is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer. His new studio album, ‘Being Poor Is Expensive’, is also available now.