Lemzi - Interview
East London rapper Lemzi teams up again with super-producer Butter Churn Beats to bring a conscious reflection both of the world and himself, the final release of “OUTLIERS - The Lost Chapter EP” Opening with a message by economist Gary Stephenson about the macro; the state of the UK, the first verse remarks on imperialism, establishment and a call for unity amongst the “ordinary” people. The second verse is a bigger focus on the individual & micro; that he is not perfect and regardless of the macro, the world will keep Spinnin’ on its axis.
Lemzi sat down with Wordplay Magazine to answer our infamous 10 Questions:
1. So tell me, how did it all begin? What sparked your love for music?
Rap, around the time I was 8 years old. At family bbqs or school parties, music was always this thing in the background or “kids music” like Makkarena or the Ketchup song lol. My earliest memories of genuinely enjoying a song consciously; the song, the video, the artist etc was Eminem - Lose Yourself. I remember every time that video came on MTV (or whichever channels at that time) I’d get fixated and try to learn the lyrics.
From there, I got “The Eminem Show”, studied all of those lyrics and branched out quickly into 50 Cent, Dr Dre, Ja Rule, Jay-Z, Ludacris & Missy Elliot.
But whilst hip-hop felt glamorous and exciting, it didn’t feel real. 50 Cent’s story, some of the cartoonish music videos from Missy, Busta Rhymes, Ludacris etc (iconic visuals of course) all felt like grandiose stories. Then grime came at the perfect time, pretty much at the start of secondary school for me, at that impressionable age and it truly left an imprint.
Artists like Kano, Dizzee, Ghetts, Wiley, Tinchy, SLK etc replaced all the hip-hop and R&B I enjoyed, up to a point where I refused to have anything American on my Ipod ha.
Obviously, since then, a lot has changed but that was the beginning of me appreciating rap, grime, mcing and the art of lyricism.
2. Who are some artists that influence you and that you want to work with in the future?
I enjoy A LOT of music but find it’s mainly hip-hop that genuinely influences my writing style. A few artists whose music style resonates are Kendrick, Nas, Mick Jenkins, Kano & Ghetts. For more abstract substance, sometimes battle rap, Lupe Fiasco & Jill Scott. For creativity and range of style Missy Elliott & Little Simz. How they navigate the industry, people like J. Cole, Loyle Carner and Chance the Rapper. But it’s always evolving and it might be a small moment from an artist that inspires an idea.
The top 3 people on my list that I’d love to work with in the future are all producers/songwriters; Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys and PJ Morton. I just feel they’d bring something different out of me creatively.
3. What projects have you released and worked on recently?
The “Outliers” series is my latest work. It includes the Creative Project “Outliers - A Creative Project by Lemzi” (OCP) in 2023 and “Outliers - The Lost Chapter” (TLC) in the latter part of 2024.
OCP was a full length, 14 track project that I called a “CP” (aka Creative Project) because of its format and structure. It included a lot of honest feelings mixed with storytelling and creative writing, plus a myriad of genres from spoken word to trap to meditation music.
Its standout feature is that it is formatted as an album-audiobook. There’s narration to create the “chapters” and each “chapter” could be listened to as its own EP. Alongside OCP I released a digital booklet to guide people through and give more context about each song and the CP in its entirety.
During 2023 I did 2 headline shows for the CP, the second one being a free vinyl launch in Rough Trade East, making me one of the first artists to independently print and launch their vinyl at the infamous store.
The Outliers journey was continued with more music ranging from jungle, trap, RnDrill, lo-fi to boom bap creating TLC EP. Multiple music videos and my first headline tour, “The Lost Chapter Tour” in November 2024 - independently executed! - concluded the Outliers journey. Now I’m even looking forward to what I can do next.
4. How would you describe your sound and which song would you like us to know more about?
Eclectic but lyricism is at the forefront. I enjoy words and piecing them together to create my style of music. Genre wise, you could say alternative hip-hop, but I’m refining things at the moment as my “Outliers era” was sonically too diverse.
I feel like my latest single “Spinnin’” is a great representation of my core and what I grew up with; the jazzy boom-bap sound was one of my favourites from an early age and always feels like the perfect soundscape for my more socially conscious side.
“Spinnin’” is the final track of TLC, featuring an intro skit by Gary Stephens of Garys Economics (highly recommend his book and Youtube channel), some incredible production by Butter Churn Beats and me yapping about some of the stuff I see in the world around us including discrimination, imperialism and much more.
“Spinnin’” has both a net video and a lyric video shot and edited by me. Enjoy!
5. What's your proudest moment to date so far as an artist?
You know what, it’s sticking to the plan and making it through the many times I’ve doubted myself. Where I’ve genuinely pushed past the fear and more egotistical complexes and just “done the thing.” I’ve always come out the other side feeling fulfilled and like I’ve improved as a person let alone an artist.
For example, I’m very proud of “The Lost Chapter Tour” and used that word a lot at the time immediately after as I was reflecting on what we’d achieved. Alongside GotoBeat, we arranged a 4 stop tour that no-one asked for ha! I say that but people definitely came through and I enjoyed pretty much every aspect of it, from the logistics, to the planning, to the calls, to the rehearsals, to the driving and most importantly, performing what I’d curated.
Performing is my favourite part of music and I’m a big believer in pushing yourself to know you’ve done everything you can to make a dream/vision you hold come to life. My own tour was on my career vision board and I’m blessed to say we executed it. I definitely took a lot of learning from the experience, but that wouldn’t be possible without us actually fulfilling the idea. It’s given me more confidence to know I could do it all over again, even bigger and even better.
Other things include Performing and curating a festival in my borough (Chingfest 2019) and supporting Kota the Friend on his UK Tour dates last Easter.
6. Do you have any advice for our readers who may be trying to play the mad game of music?
Understand and love your madness. It’s not going anywhere but it’s a choice on how influential it is in your life.
I feel that artists/creatives/entrepreneurs are somewhat delusional people. We create images or sounds or ideas in our minds that don’t actually exist, that no-one else sees or hears, and we’re determined to bring them to life.
It’s very difficult to explain this verbally, you just have to show it through your art/creativity.
Other things that have proven to be useful to me include: (1) Patience. (2) If your passion becomes your career, finding another hobby you’re into and (3) collaborating with other like minded people, even if they’re in a different industry, sometimes especially if they are.
7. Are there any artists on your radar right now that we should check out?
Loads, please check out @infactsevents on Instagram and you’ll see a Creative Community that supports some of the best artists in the UK.
8. What albums are on heavy rotation on your Spotify playlist currently?
I’ve been flicking through a lot recently rather than replaying the same music, so some albums/EPs I’ve recently listened to for the first time include:
Gil Scott Heron - Pieces of a Man (jazz, spoken word, blues)
Samara Cyn - The Drive Home (hip-hop/rap)
Berlioz - open this wall (jazz, instrumentals)
SAMSON - UNDERSTAND. (rap, grime)
Jamilah Barry - Full Circle (RnB)
9. What do you like to do when you're not making music?
Family time, solo walks, watching football, playing padel, badminton or squash (tell me if you want a game), going to the gym, going out to eat - I love a good restaurant, live shows, going for drinks and other forms of writing like journaling and “Morning Pages” after I recently started reading “The Artist Way” by Julia Cameron.
10. Name Three things you can't live without when in the studio?
Good speakers.
Comfortable seating, I’d love to be able to take off my shoes if I can.
Though I can live without it, studios with a window.