After a real breakthrough year in 2016, Essex rapper Nick Brewer has already started 2016 off with a bang. His latest single ‘Never Say Never‘ is receiving praise from across the board and his debut album is due out later this years. So of course we had to catch up with the man himself to get a bit more info on his new single and find out what he’s got planned in the near future…
So, ‘Never Say Never’ is the brilliant follow-up to your huge debut ‘Talk To Me’ – what was the thought behind getting another female vocalist on the hook?
When I wrote it, I wanted to write it as a conversation in which I could put my point over and get the female to put her point across. So I just felt that in that way it made the most sense. Sinead and I got on straight away and it felt very natural to bring it about that way.
Across your career so far we’ve seen you work with a host of artists and you seem like someone who is always happy to collaborate. Will you continue to actively seek out working with other artists on future projects?
Well I love working with other artists and I never put an artist on a song or reach out to collaborate with someone just because I’m not sure what to do or I need a verse filled up or whatever; it always has to make sense. With some songs I feel like it just has to be my story and I don’t want anyone else telling it, but other times I don’t want to be precious about people hearing just me. I always feel that if it makes sense to reach out to an artist that I really like and I feel can bring something to it then I’ll do it. At this point, I don’t have any specific songs where I need to get this person or that person on there, but it’s something I’m always open to doing.
Having put out tracks of various different styles over the years, your last two tracks were slightly more club orientated. Is that something we can expect more of on your forthcoming debut album?
I don’t feel like the whole album is gonna be like that, but I felt that was definitely an aspect that I wanted to get across because I haven’t necessarily done so much of that in the past. But it’s definitely a part of me having those fun, upbeat songs that people can smile to. Naturally I go for a lot more of a mellow vibe and that’s also definitely a part of me, but especially in an album where I want to paint a complete picture of who I am, I needed those sort of upbeat songs. So there’ll be a few but there will still be stuff that long time listeners will relate to.
‘Talk To Me’ was named 2015’s biggest viral track in the UK by Spotify. How did that feel?
That was mad. Spotify is genuinely one of my favourite apps and I’m not just saying that. It was my first proper single and I definitely underestimated the impact that Spotify has. It’s a huge key in this new music age that we’re in, so to know that people were sharing the song and showing their friends through Spotify was great. It’s always nice to know your music is listened to but on an app that is directly impacting on the sales and chart stuff was a bit surreal but also a cool little nod and I appreciated it.
In terms of the album, have you got a title for it yet?
Yeah, I wanna call it Recreation. I feel like that has two meanings – one is the idea of re-creation. When I think about times at school and even when I was first making music and stuff, I was always trying to fit into this type of person that people wanted me to be. I was always re-creating myself to fit in and meet people’s expectations, but I realised that that wasn’t me being me. When I first started being the person who I thought I really was, that’s when things started happening and people started respecting me. The other reason for the name is recreation being leisure time. It took me a long time to realise that this rap stuff was something for me. I was quite embarrassed by it and I remember people used to ask me if I was a rapper and I’d play it off like it was a hobby and that I just do it for recreational purposes. That was just me not accepting who I was. I wanna tell that story cos as I look around I feel that a lot of people can be really caught up trying to be what people want them to be but by doing that we miss out on what we have. I think we’re all valuable and we’ve all got purpose and individual, unique things that we can bring to the world so I just wanna tell that story
Those sentiments were certainly showcased in your recent ‘One Take’ freestyle. Was that the idea behind you putting that out?
Yeah definitely. With a lot of Hip Hop and Grime stuff, people are often drawn to the more hood, gritty side of things and I think if that’s what a rapper or an MC has experienced growing up then by all means talk about what you’ve experienced, but that’s not what I have and I wanted to get that across. I’m just realising that people connect to whatever they connect to and I can’t try and force anyone to connect to my stuff. If they don’t then it’s not for them, but if they do then wicked. I’m a huge fan of Ghetts and Rude Kid and so it felt like the right beat to do that on.
Nick Brewer’s latest single ‘Never Say Never’ featuring the amazing Sinead Harnett is out now and you can grab your copy on iTunes here. Make sure you’re following Nick on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date with all the latest news and info and keep an eye for his debut album dropping later in 2016.
Matt Tarr
@MattTarrJourno
Matt Tarr
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