East London quartet Rascals refuse to be boxed into a genre. Don’t call them grime MC’s. Don’t call them rappers. They are just Rascals. Made up of Shizz McNaughty, Tempz St. Louis, Marcus Merkz and Kay Wills,the band’s sound is full of blossoming synths, big drums, breezy vocals, and rapid fire rhymes that is effortlessly of the moment. With their new single, “So High,” they well and truly arrive—the track’s bass-heavy production is sure to rev up the rebel in you, but more important is the impact it will have as it forces its way up from the underground.
They have surprised doubters by maturing and making some serious headway, shaking off expectations and putting their own contemporary twist on the traditional process. To say they’ve got a bright future ahead of them would be an understatement. We caught up for a chat with the group, who were in high spirits on the eve of the release of their EP, So High.
RESPECT.: There are a lot of connotations and denotations of the word “Rascals.” How did you get your name?
Shizz: [laughs] It was the people around us who gave us that nickname and it pretty much all stemmed from that. There were loads of us and we were all quite unruly, which was kind of the norm for kids and teenagers our age.
It sounds like you were quite rebellious.
Merkz: Yeah, we were and still can be.
Can you describe the attraction you have to music? What is it that it gives you?
Kay: When we were making music recently which we enjoyed so much, it gave us a weird feeling. I don’t know, but I think it was a proud feeling. I’m my own opponent and I try to always better myself, that’s the same with all of us.
Is it hard not to get arrogant about it?
Merkz: You’ve just got to stay humble. I’m lucky that my family have always thought me to be modest, no matter if I’m the best at something, I will always be humble about it. If I ever get out of hand my family will definitely tone me down.
Obviously being at the top of your game must be hard work. Did you always know that you were meant to achieve big things?
Shizz: Things just happened spontaneously, you know. I mean, when people see and want to better you as a person, and you start to take big steps it’s kind of motivating. Things that I can’t see from where I am, other people have seen those things in me and the rest of us. That makes you want to join them, embrace them and really push yourself to take things to the next level.
Shizz: But it was never like that. It was something that was happening like, being surrounded by the culture of grime — we captured that culture very early.
Tempz: To be honest, we just kept going with it. We had a lot of friends at the time who were doing it as well, but right now they aren’t anymore. So, we wouldn’t say that we knew it was coming, we just stuck at it.
Do you ever feel like your abilities are super-human?
Merkz: No, not abnormal. We just see music as putting different elements of sounds together as one.
Kay: Yeah, not really superhuman, but just knowing that you are capable of doing things that other people can’t.
If you could actually have a super power, what would you choose?
Merkz: Teleportation.
Tempz: Invisibility.
Kay: To read other people’s thoughts.
Shizz: Invisible man, so I can switch it on and off when I want.
Do you ever get tired of each other?
Shizz: Probably as just people [laughs.] That’s just real life, you know. I mean, musically, I never get tired. Every time I hear something from someone around this table like, Tempz, it inspires me. But it is what it is. We’re mates, but the simple fact is that we can’t live together. At night time, we’ve got to call it a day.
Does what you’re doing feel like a job?
Merkz: Away from music, I’ve had a normal job, but I don’t think it compares.
Kay: I went to college and when I finished, music was the way forward for all of us.
Shizz: My mom has always allowed me to do what I’ve wanted to do. I’ve always done what I’ve loved to do and thinking about it now, I don’t think I could’ve ever done a normal job. I would rather work towards something and spend a lot of time working towards that craft and just trying to be better. I know that one day it will be worth it.
Your new track “So High” seems more focused and melodic. What motivated that decision?
Kay: It just happened. We matured and that track just happened spontaneously. We have another track that we made that kind of kicked it all off. In fact, when we made it and people heard it they were like, “Wow. This is different.” So since then we’ve been working with that sound. I think if I’m honest, we can’t even put ourselves in a genre.
There’s a line you say in the song that had me thinking. “Just let me breathe, breathe, addicted to the feeling, don’t want it to leave.” I’m interested to know just how important oxygen is to you.
Shizz: I saw a Tweet yesterday talking about the possibility that oxygen might be poisonous, but saying that I love oxygen, man. I love it mate.
Kay: The whole song is about doing what you’re doing and not having negative energy trying to bring you down.
What do you feel you have to be successful in the music industry?
Kay: You’ve got people like Kendrick Lamar who are making real music and that’s exactly what we’re doing. I don’t think you have to sell out in order to be successful at all.
Shizz: Even having the opportunity to make an album with a major label, I wouldn’t want to make something that’s mediocre. I’d want to make it the best. We want one of those albums that people can go back to in ten years time. That’s what I do when I listen to certain artists. You can’t really make selling out the best of your ability, because you selling out means you aren’t doing something you’ve worked hard for, you’re basically doing something that’s relevant.
People have called your music grime, but you say your songs are much more than that. Why do you think your music is difficult to understand?
Merkz: We’re human beings and even though I do grime and I’m a big follower, there are days when I don’t want to hear grime. I want to hear James Blake or Jamie Woon, so when it comes ’round to making music, I say ‘make what the hell you want.’ I am not a grime artist. We are not a grime group. We just come from the same era. As a lyricist, I might have a grime tone in the way I deliver things, but we are musicians, that’s all. This new EP will give people an insight into why we are not just grime. We have Sizzla Kalonji on a beat that’s 140 BPM, that is the traditional grime tempo but the beat is not grime.
Speaking of Sizzla Kalonji, he’s the only artist featured on the EP. Who, living or dead, would you most want to do a song with?
Kay: Michael Jackson.
Shizz: I used to say Eminem, but I don’t like what he’s doing now, so Ali Campbell from UB40.
Merkz: Pharrell because he’s made most of the bangers from my childhood.
Tempz: I’d like to go back to back with Tupac [laughs.]
On your songs, you have this “We don’t give a shit” attitude. It’s really empowering. Do you have the same approach to life?
Kay: No. We’re controlled.
Merkz: I think how you see us is the same way we are as people. It’s not exactly, “We don’t give a shit attitude.” I mean, if we meet someone we don’t suddenly change the way we talk or anything, we don’t do that. If it takes ages for people to gravitate towards us, so be it. I think that’s much better instead of us changing who we are in order for people to like us.
Do you have a plan B?
Kay: Plan B is to make plan A work.
Shizz: I love music and everything about it. I’m a producer I love making beats and we will always do what we do.
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