You can find elements of grime in north-west London rapper Driss’ music, but an old school hip-hop feel is always present. Driss is clear, however, that what he’s saying is just as important as how it sounds. “I’m saying some shit.” He tells me. “Please listen to the words.”
“I think music is one of the first languages we had, it’s a way we can express ourselves through putting different sounds together.” Throughout ‘Act 1, Scene 1’ you can hear how confident he is in himself, but you can also get a sense of his vulnerability. He tells me, “Art is a reflection of your energy so if it’s not vulnerable it’s not real and if it’s not real, a lot of people aren’t gonna connect with it.”
“My cousin taught me to write poems when I was roughly six or seven, but I mainly started writing because I was bored.” Driss can’t pinpoint what influenced him to start making music but explained that he believes he was “born to make art.” He believes that everyone has the potential to be an artist, the only limit is your creativity.
Creativity is definitely something Driss has in spades, from his lyrics to the concepts of his videos. There’s no better example of this than in 2020’s ‘Bad Boy’, he shows up to a job interview in a tracksuit and proceeds to rap about girls and partying to the interviewer who is suitably unimpressed. Visually it’s a vibe and as usual, Driss’ flow is flawless and melodic.
Music hadn’t always been the plan for Driss. A few people had suggested he started taking music seriously, but it wasn’t until he did a freestyle challenge in 2017 and it blew up on Twitter that people really started engaging with his sound. He mentioned he does a lot outside of music and wants to make it clear that he’s “not doing this for the clout.”
Driss started “painting his picture” with his first EP, ‘Act 1, Scene 1’. Before releasing the project he asked himself what type of artist he wants to be. He tells me, “Creation’s all about doing what hasn’t been done before and you can’t do that if you’re not being yourself. It’s important to learn and respect the rules when it comes to music but most importantly you have to learn how to bend and break those same rules.”
He continues, “For me, there’s different stages of creation. I get an idea in my head, usually find a beat and then I can feel the words, but I won’t know exactly what I want to say. I practice and practice. That’s my favourite part. I enjoy the process of finishing the verse or whatever you’re writing, spit it back to yourself and you think ‘Yo, this is fucking cold.’ You’re in the vibe, you don’t need to be with anyone else.”
The project he would have most liked to be in the studio for is Jay Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’. He tells me, “That is arguably the best rap album of all time and that’s his debut album. But not just because the music is hard. Because he was in a specific place in his life at that time where it was a now or never moment in terms of doing music and I feel like I’m in a similar space so that speaks to me. It would have been nice to see how it was done as he and others pretty much set the blueprint for the way music is today.”
As a musician that makes art, he’d like to work with artists he admires such as Skepta and even some less well-known artists, but it’s not something he’s necessarily aiming for. “Me and C Biz would make a banger. I’m a fan so I’d know how to bring out the best in him and I think my style would work well with Dave’s.”
On a sunny Sunday you can usually find him ‘where the good vibes are’. Driss doesn’t have a ‘go-to’ outfit as he likes to ‘switch it up’ although he does favour Jordan Ones or Air Forces. “I just like to be myself and dress how I’m feeling but there’ll always be some colour to it. You gon’ look at me.”
When asked where he’d want music to take him and where he sees himself in five years, Driss plays his cards close to his chest, responding “I want music to take me wherever it’s supposed to take me. I’m on a path and my job is to become what I’m supposed to be in life by trusting the process and doing things to the best of my ability. I see a lot of success and I’ll be shooting in the gym until I get it.”
Written By: Athalia John
Email: athaliaj11@gmail.com
Instagram: @athalia_________
