Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.
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So how did you get into music? So basically from a young age I always wrote poetry from the age of 10, and then school I used to rap, for jokes like, and that was it, I was always able to rhyme, but I never really thought of doing it as a career. And when I was like 23 I went to see J Cole perform and I was like, 'ah, that's what I actually want to do' and then I started making music and that was it. Tell us about your latest track 'Prison'. I actually wrote 'Prison' a long time ago, and I had been given a beat, and the beat that was given to me was called Prison, that's just the name the producer had given it, not with any idea of a theme. But then when I heard it, it just gave me this idea to write a poem, write a song, maintaining a prison metaphor. I like doing that anyway I like taking a subject and then maintaining a metaphor for a long period of time and because I love anything to do with the mind, that just came to me, 'the mind can be a prison'. Each verse in Prison is filled with powerful lyricism, but right at the end of the song, you say 'Happiness is the true currency', tell us a bit more about that statement. Well, I think a large part of the 'Prison' metaphor that I am talking about is that people are striving for things, that I don't think bring happiness, they bring pleasure. Material things are cool, there's nothing wrong with them but I think that it is just pleasurable to drive a nice car, it's pleasur- able to have nice clothes but it doesn't give you lasting happiness. Why did you choose to specifically talk about mental health in this song? Every time I write what I am hoping is that someone who hears it, is going to hear a line that makes them think ' oh fuck it's not only me that feels this way, and make them feel better'. Mental health is something often that people suffer with in silence and that's why I want to speak about it. You describe your music as the 'Drunken philosophy', is there a story behind that? I am into philosophical kinda things, spiritu- ality and all that, and that's one element of who I am but I am also very much a party, hedonistic type of person like I go nuts when I go out! So I was just trying to bring the two to- gether. Cause once people have heard you from one aspect people think right that's a con- scious rapper or that's a turn up rapper, and even in my turn up songs I try to make sure I still say spiritual lines, references and things like that, because nobody is all one thing so I just want to represent all sides of who I am and 'Drunken Philosophy,' sums it up. So as an artist would you prefer to not be labelled as a conscious rapper? I want to show the full human of who I am so yes, you just want to be an artist but people are going to throw labels on it and I guess 'Drunken Philosophy' is my way of like already saying well if there must be a label 'Drunken Philosophy is the style and I thinks it's nice also to be able to turn up and still have a philosophical gem you might be able to take from the song as well. If there was one message you are trying to get across in your music what would it be? The phrase that actually fully sums it up is 'embrace your contradictions'. Again 'Drunken Philosophy', the contradic- tion in terms of being like, drunk and then reading books about philosophy, 'embrace your contradictions' sums it up in the most succinct way. If I build on that, it would be to say, I am trying to encourage people to be every ele- ment of who they are and be comfortable with that. So can we expect an EP soon? Yeah! I have got an EP coming out within the next two months and it's called Regardless,but not Regardless like the full word, its Regard - Less, it's a little play on the words. So what would you do to make the world a better place? I would basically make spirituality like a compulsory and large part of the curricu- lum so that people grow up feeling more connected and in tune with the world, and in tune with themselves. What would you fill a swimming pool with if it could be anything? Women! So what's next for you right now? I just want to travel around the world performing my music and poetry, and spreading the message of 'embrace your contradictions' and as a result, that helping people to feel okay and comfortable with themselves. 2017 / ISSUE 99 33 HIP HOP & RNB "MENTAL HEALTH IS SOMETHING OFTEN THAT PEOPLE SUFFER WITH IN SILENCE AND THAT'S WHY I WANT TO SPEAK ABOUT IT. " Unlike most MC's London-based rapper Patch isn't afraid to tackle the issues that really matter. From mental health, embracing our own contradictions and creating intricate flows that are drenched in 'drunken philosophy', Patch isn't one to be boxed in. The 20 something talks to us about his future projects, the back story to his latest track 'Prison' and the reason behind his message. follow @PatchandOnly Patience Takyuka | Guestlist