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Sam
Yo, yo, D, let me. Let me throw these knots your way. Yo.
Boz
Let me throw these.
Sam
He likes Earl Gray tea.
Diamond
What's your favorite tea? That's your. That's your people.
Boz
Thank you.
Sam
I say Earl Gray. Yeah.
Boz
Early gray.
Diamond
Is it not against your culture to not like tea?
Roxanne
I think it's for, like, progression to not like tea, really?
Boz
You know, you ever seen that one clip that went viral where bro's like, how'd you like the sandwich? And the British guy's like, oh, it's fine. But it's nothing like my mom's physics with ripple crackle. It's so good, I got to pull it up.
Diamond
It's like my mom's scrum.
Boz
She did lump every time you make a sandwich for, like, a Brit. And bro's like, yo, how's the sandwich? Oh, it's all right. But it's nothing like my mom's fizzle, crackle, and prickle bits, and she just ain't mad. Nonsense. Yeah. Mad nonsense. It's so funny.
Roxanne
Have you ever had a crisp sandwich?
Diamond
What is that?
Roxanne
It's basically any sandwich of your choice, and any crisp of your choice, you open up the sandwich, you put crisps in, you smoosh it down.
Boz
Oh, okay, Okay. I thought it was, like, turkey within the chips. I'm like, that's.
Roxanne
No.
Diamond
Is there. When did you.
Roxanne
Any filling.
Diamond
When did you realize? Because, you know, you grow up in the UK and then you start traveling, especially in the industry that you're in. When did you realize the food that you grew up on was shit? Like, how far away from home did you have to get before you realize you were eating, you know, fizzles and crumpets and shit? Whatever the hell.
Roxanne
About two hours away.
Diamond
Really? That where the whereabouts?
Roxanne
France.
Diamond
Oh, that'll do it.
Sam
Yeah.
Roxanne
When I came here, I reestablished that sometimes people just can't do food that well.
Diamond
It's a weird world, because here, the food we have, I think we have. We have. I don't think we have better food, but the quality and the. What it does to your gut health and your overall health is significantly worse. So it's like a give and take. It's like, it tastes incredible, but it's for your body.
Sam
Yeah.
Diamond
Whereas there, you guys probably ate, you know, bland. Whatever. You scoured the earth for spices but never used them. But the food is clean.
Roxanne
No, this is blasphemous. This is un.
Diamond
Kind.
Roxanne
This is not true. English food is actually legit amazing. You just have.
Boz
Yeah. When the Indians make it, shout out to D Is fire.
Diamond
You're a world traveler. What. Where would you rank their cuisine on the hierarchy?
Boz
Bottom of the barrel. I'm not going to lie. I don't know if you guys remember this. The first day I came to London, y' all took me to get this sandwich that y' all swore by, and.
Diamond
It was like, like the salt bagel.
Boz
It was like a. It was. It might have been like a chicken salad on, like, some kind of toast. And it sounds like it was so dry and tastes. And I was like. I was still getting to know y' all. I was like, I want to be like, what is this? What am I eating?
Sam
Yo, tell me that sandwich. I was the one that's behind the.
Boz
Probably still with.
Sam
Yeah, no, no, we've never been there.
Boz
I seen. You know, it's going viral lately. It's a. Is people reacting to those potatoes y' all make.
Roxanne
Which ones?
Diamond
Oh, yeah, potatoes.
Roxanne
Oh, yeah.
Boz
But the ones where you put, like, tuna.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
In a hot ass. Potato.
Roxanne
Cheese. Baked beans.
Boz
They say, yeah, you gotta put baked.
Diamond
Beans on baked beans. To them, it's like adding salt and pepper.
Boz
Not a beef grew on me because the English breakfast.
Diamond
I love an English breakfast. That's one thing I'm not that big of a hater. I can admit when I love it. I love beans. We don't do them enough here. Unless you're at a barbecue. Baked beans during breakfast. Sign me up.
Roxanne
Yeah, absolutely.
Diamond
Fart the rest of the day. But it's worth it.
Roxanne
The speed feels.
Sam
It's a staple.
Diamond
It's incredible. We haven't done, like a proper inch. We just rolled into it. But I'm. I'm here. Something wrong with the podcast episode. What, are we on 24 now? I think we're here with my dear friend Boz in the Hicks. Roxanne and Sam all the Way from London Town album just came out. Congratulations.
Roxanne
Thank you.
Boz
Thank you.
Diamond
We did that the live show. Yeah, that's right. A long time coming. You know, like, I. I want to. In the spirit of just like. Obviously I know you guys more than most, but I wanted to get into the history of when you ran into each other, the story of how even you guys met. I just found out via boss that you went to high school together.
Sam
Yeah, we did. We went to. We went to a school called Pimlico, which is like right in the center of London. And they had a really amazing music program going on at the time that was like a government funded program for kids that hadn't quite developed their skill in classical Music or jazz or performing arts, whether it's acting as well. We've had a lot of great actors come out of our thing as well. And yeah, we just kind of bumped heads there.
Boz
We're like, oh, I'm curious.
Sam
Yeah, we had Ashley Waters from Top Boy.
Boz
Oh, where's the food, bro? That's lit.
Sam
I with bro.
Boz
He was in something really good recently too. That was amazing with the kid that stabbed the girl. Adolescence, yo.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Diamond
Oh, I've heard great things about adolescence.
Sam
Yeah.
Boz
Yo, diamond, you could chime in. You don't got a mime over there? Nah, it's fine. Yo, Crazy.
Diamond
Yeah, that is.
Boz
Yeah, crazy. Yo, he. Yo, he went to your school.
Sam
Yeah, yeah.
Boz
Shout out, bro. Shout out, bro.
Roxanne
About. No, not a bad boy. The woman's in Game of Thrones.
Sam
The one in Game of Thrones. The Light. The guy that never ages, that turns into the Raven. The Three Eyed Raven kid.
Boz
The one who's the king at the end.
Sam
I don't know if he's a king.
Boz
Brand the Builder Brand the broken.
Sam
Thomas Sangster. He went. He went Pimlico as well.
Diamond
So is this like a well known. Is this like a. I'm trying to think of the school Word. Shallow.
Boz
Here's what I learned.
Diamond
What's the school Chalamet went to, though, in New York? Compared. Is it like the Laguardian?
Boz
I think Nikki went to LaGuardia Brit.
Sam
School in the UK. Is that okay? This was like a kind of unknown. Like a kind of.
Boz
Are there a lot of those? I'm curious how your. Your government.
Sam
No, there wasn't. This was like, the only one.
Boz
Okay. Because I was always like, man, like, I wish somebody would have. I would have, like, put me in something like that early. Like, I had to find it really late. But I feel like our government don't really, like, care about the arts enough to really invest in it.
Sam
Yeah, I mean, like, it was a rarity in London, to be fair.
Boz
Okay, so then it's. Yeah, because we have like one or two. Like, Nicki went to LaGuardia. Nicki Minaj went to LaGuardia in Queens. But I didn't find out about all that until I was like, in it and being like, oh, what's out there for kids? You know? So it's tight that you guys found that.
Diamond
How did you. When you started in that, how did you first get in? Is it like, oh, I knew. I like, at what point did it click where, like, this is the path I want to go with music. Yeah.
Sam
Like, I guess what you Mean within the Hicks itself.
Diamond
Well, even prior to that, because I'm. You guys met there, correct?
Sam
Yeah.
Diamond
So even before that, like, how did you even get to that point of, like, I want to go to this school to commit to the arts.
Roxanne
So the school was generally just for everybody.
Diamond
Okay.
Roxanne
But it had a special music program in it. Yeah. Sam went. You went for the special music program?
Sam
Yeah, I had to audition to get there.
Diamond
For drums, right? Or what was.
Sam
Yeah, for drums. Yeah. So I had, like. Most people would go, there is like a. They'd have to have a staple in a. In a classical instrument. They would have to have, like, grade five, at least in theory, and like, you know, one orchestral instrument. And I didn't know how to do that. So my mom and my dad, they just encouraged me to turn up with like, a. A backing track and like a CD with a backing track and. And a bong, a set of bongos. And I just went there and ripped it.
Diamond
You some slay poetry bongos.
Sam
That would have been fire, like, but literally, man, like, the queen.
Boz
Is.
Diamond
Baby dusty.
Sam
Yeah, it was beautiful, man. Shout out. My mom, like, she. She took me there. She went in there and she's like, listen, I know it's against protocol to do it this way, but just let him do his thing. And. And they. They offered me a place.
Boz
Like, it was really beautiful.
Roxanne
I grew up around the corner, so for me, it was like, the roughest school in my area, so I didn't really want to go there. I was super scared. I was very, like, shy as a child. Didn't really talk.
Diamond
You don't say.
Roxanne
And like, I remember, like, my mom told me, and I cried, and then I went and it was okay. And then about two years in, my music teachers started saying, you should audition for the music program. And I was like, no, I don't want to do it. And they were like, why not? And I was like, I don't want to do it because you're not going to let me in. And they were like, we've told you. They said all these things. They've, like, asked my mom, and they were like, look, they sat me down one day, and I was like, look, we have to audition, you know, but we will let you in if you audition. I was still like, no, I can't do it. So they were like, oh, for God's sake. And they just let me in anyway.
Diamond
Well, at that point, how did they. Because it seems like they knew you could sing at that point, even though you were afraid to do it. Say in front of people. But, like, where were you singing? Where were you comfortable singing at that point?
Roxanne
I grew up doing a lot of, like, amateur dramatics. I used to go to Pineapple Studios. I went to West London School of Dance. I went to the Royal Academy of Ballet, so. So I've always kind of been on the stage, but not singing. So I was used to being. So by the time someone was like, get on stage and sing. I was like, oh, okay, cool. Because I'd already been.
Boz
You like, acted in plays and shit.
Diamond
So you were more comfortable in like a troop and like an ensemble rather than like a solo act.
Roxanne
Yeah, exactly.
Boz
You gotta tap into that for like a music video or contest.
Roxanne
Absolutely.
Boz
I get you back on your Shakespearean.
Roxanne
Yeah, no, I was obsessed with Shakespeare as a child.
Diamond
Who did you. I played. I played Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Roxanne
Oh, you did?
Diamond
That's right. I put on a singlet and gallivanted across the stage.
Boz
Yeah.
Sam
Oh, so you went to one of them a little.
Diamond
A little theater fit.
Sam
You went to the Timothy shit?
Diamond
No, no. I grew up upstate, but my. My high school had a. John Sales went to my high school was like a really successful independent film director. One of, like, the most well known independent film directors. But he put a ton of money into a. A fine arts program into my high school. And.
Sam
Wow.
Diamond
Black. We had a really, really legit black box theater. And I would do some theater productions there. Little bit of acting. Wasn't too crazy about that aspect of it. But I was always obsessed with the theater itself. So I would just go and be like, you know, support friends or whatever.
Sam
This is so much fun, man.
Diamond
Like, yeah, it really is.
Sam
Like, we did in my primary school, we did a thing called Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. But we did like a medley of every single play that you could think about.
Diamond
Oh, wow.
Sam
So I was Bill. My mate was Ted. But we went through, rather than going through, like, history things, we went through, like, all the plays went through Greece, fame, like. Like all of them. I can't remember the rest we did, but I thought it was such a sick way to like, give everyone a lead. Yeah, I mean, like, yeah, that was my introduction into Boz.
Diamond
Do you do any, like, young theater acting or anything of that degree?
Boz
Hell no.
Diamond
Just roaming the streets in different.
Boz
That's it, man. Queens trying to survive.
Diamond
You heard the theater of New York City?
Sam
Yeah.
Roxanne
It is a thing.
Boz
It is not. New York really is now. You're right. Honestly, I guess in a way, you know, I'm I'm like a third culture kid, you know what I mean? So I think there's a part of me that's always like growing up in retrospect, I was trying to like relate and assimilate, you know what I mean? Like being an immigrant and like just being like, all right, like, like I want to fit in with you bros, you know what I mean? I think, I think we all do some acting first.
Diamond
I mean. Yeah.
Boz
On a day to day, I see all the time in front, like I with them. So give me the Oscar.
Diamond
You heard that for years. What. When did you move from Paris, by the way? I don't think I ever knew the story of that.
Boz
I was eight. Eight years old? Yeah.
Diamond
Was that like, what was that curve like a similar. You said you wanted to fit in. Like, what's the like assimilation wise or what's that look like coming here?
Boz
I mean, I mean I was young, so it didn't really take much. And then it was like my first homies. I think it was like, you know, WWF or WWE now because they got like pandas and they took the other one, but. But I think we just bonded over wrestling. You know, that was like the first one. And then it was sports. Sports is like the great equalizer. You know, playing basketball, you know, Queens is a million parks. You just go to the park, shoot around. You'll make enough friends, you know, I mean.
Diamond
Yeah. So okay, back in word at the high school now in, in. In London. And when did you meet in that process?
Roxanne
We were on a school trip to Prague.
Diamond
Prague.
Boz
Nice.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
Damn, sounds so fancy. And this was the roughest school in your neighborhood.
Diamond
My school trip would have been like the great Escape or something. Maybe it's like two blocks kind of bad.
Sam
Like just for context, only 30 pupils in every year out of 250 students got to do this music.
Diamond
Oh, wow. So it was very. So we were like very small.
Sam
Yeah, it was like a very selective few. And every year got to be a part of like the Quidditch team. Do you know what I mean? So it's like. Yeah, the rest were just kind of surviving.
Roxanne
Yeah, it wasn't. Yeah.
Diamond
So what was the trip to Prague for? What was the.
Roxanne
They just used to send us on like a holiday to play in churches and do little.
Boz
Wow's a beautiful city.
Sam
It was mad and it was like at the time, it was like you could buy beer as a 14 year old.
Roxanne
Yeah. So he was.
Sam
So we were like. We just took our bus passes and went into a store and we like.
Boz
Were y' all in Prague with me on the Milky Way tour? No, no, no. All right. That's a good time.
Sam
But, yeah, Prague was nuts. It's nuts.
Roxanne
I mean, I'm three years older than Sam, so we weren't. I never. I would not say that we were friends. If anything, he really irritated me and my friends because him and his friends were, like, young, and all of the younger girls were, like, all over them. And me and my friend Nina.
Sam
Everybody shout out that hairline.
Diamond
Yeah, right.
Roxanne
Rip.
Diamond
Shout out him. Dad. No, sorry.
Boz
Yeah.
Roxanne
I mean, I knew you because you started a. A situation with someone that was in my year, so that was.
Diamond
Wow. You were not only getting ass in your grade, cleaning up. Yeah. The upper classman.
Roxanne
Three years. Yeah.
Diamond
What was it? Was it the drums? Was it the swag? Like, what was. What was bringing them in?
Sam
I think it was these green eyes, man. That's like, you know.
Boz
Oh, you were drum. Not drummers. Always get some drummers.
Diamond
Yeah, yeah.
Boz
If you play an instrument, it's a cheat code.
Roxanne
It's true.
Diamond
What is the sexiest instrument?
Sam
I would say bass.
Roxanne
I would agree.
Diamond
Why does you have an answer to that?
Boz
Yo, low key. I bought a bass when I was. This is crazy. I was like. I was maybe like in high school and I used to love Jamiroquai. And I bought a base shout out to Stewart's end there because he actually. I spoke to him on. DMs. A cool dude. But I bought a bass. I didn't know you needed an amp, so I just got it. I was like, I don't hear shit. And that was the end of my bass career. No, I had no idea.
Sam
I thought that the most neglected, like, in terms of their recognition. No one can really hear what they do unless someone tells you that's what a bass sounds like. And that's what it does.
Diamond
Underrated.
Boz
Yeah, Just do it.
Diamond
An underrated instrument, for sure.
Boz
I got money now. I can buy an amp.
Diamond
How many. Okay, so the. But how many other. Do you play any other instruments or, like, drums?
Sam
Guys in. In. In the hicks, we're both more instrumentalists and like, we try and play around. Like, I play a bit of keys, I play a bit of bass guitar. Bit acoustic or electric guitar when I can. But if I was to. If Beyonce called me up and she was like, yo, I need you to play something in my band, I would only get employed as a drummer or percussionist. That would be my.
Boz
Like, you've played some sick ass baselines on a few records with Us.
Sam
Oh, I appreciate it. That's more just kind of like out of feeling confident.
Boz
Didn't you play the baseline ricochet?
Sam
Yeah, yeah.
Boz
Was that MIDI or was that.
Sam
That was key. That was key.
Boz
Cuz we were. We were in that Airbnb.
Sam
Yeah, but that was more like just out of feeling if I'm feeling confident.
Diamond
You said that. I was going to say you said that with like the. In the Beyonce example, you're like, you know, shooting for like the. The moon, like so to speak. But with. If you're comfortable and you're in like a setting that your friends or people that you're comfortable with.
Sam
Yeah.
Diamond
I'm assuming the base or whatever you can.
Sam
Sure, yeah, yeah, do it. I'll do it. I would like. I just think, you know, if there's someone in the room that's better, I might kind of guide them towards doing. Bringing out the idea that I have him in my brain trying to get them to execute better. Because I might take four hours. I've definitely held sessions hostage like that without clocking before.
Diamond
Rox, what do you. What do you play?
Roxanne
I play piano and guitar.
Diamond
Yeah, I want to see. I haven't seen. I gotta see that.
Roxanne
I just compose on guitar though. I played piano outside of school to like a grade seven standard. But then I smoked a lot of weed in my late teens and it all just kind of left me. So now I will only do it alone.
Boz
I didn't know there's grade standards for piano.
Roxanne
Yeah, I know.
Boz
It was like a seventh grade reading level, you know?
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
Like piano.
Diamond
Because what is great? What. What's the grading scale like when we say grade seven? Is that like what do I think grade seven is? Or is that a different scale?
Roxanne
Is that different scale?
Diamond
Is it out of like 10 or what's the scale?
Roxanne
It's out of eight.
Diamond
Oh, yes. You're great. What do you mean I did great? She goes, I'm trash. I'm a 7.
Boz
7. She's like, I'm a 7.7 out of 10 is good.
Roxanne
Yeah. But I'm not. I'm a 2 now because of the weed, man. I was like.
Diamond
Dropped five points.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Diamond
Really?
Roxanne
Yeah. No, seriously, he can play piano better and he has grade one.
Sam
I did grade one with a merit.
Roxanne
There we go. I think that different people are just like naturally good at certain instruments. Like, you're better.
Sam
Shout out Mr. Ralph. Grade one, let's go.
Roxanne
You're better at piano. I'm.
Sam
No, no, no, no, no. I think it's just like, you know, they're like. They're all different languages to learn. You know, you pick them up when you're in the right context. That's it.
Diamond
Yeah. Got you. All right, well, let's. Let's introduce the. Like the. The intro of how YouTube. Yeah, yeah. Bring in the. Come on, Diamond.
Boz
Time to celebrate.
Diamond
Bring it in.
Boz
I've been over here trying to mom the diamond. We trying to figure a good time to not interrupt y' all.
Diamond
Oh, come on.
Boz
Poor healthy ones. So you.
Diamond
Don't you know the legend?
Boz
A little more, a little more. Yeah. Now pour me something I can sip on. Yeah, yeah, boy. Good looking, good looking.
Diamond
We're going to keep it rolling. I'm just going to ask the questions as we're. As we're pouring up. So we've done, like, the. The upbringing, so to speak. But how did. How did you all meet? Yes.
Boz
Oh, well, I'll tell you how I first heard the hicks. It was Grand Theft Audio. Grand Theft Audio. That's hard. Yo, why would I make that album called.
Sam
It was low key Grand Theft Audio.
Boz
But, yeah, no, it was Grand Theft Auto 5 and it was GTA radio. I heard Cold Air, which is song. It is.
Diamond
Wait, wait, wait a minute. You were on. That was. You were on the GTA 5 radio?
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
How crazy is that? That's diamond happened to shout out to Diamond. Y' all just seen him pouring shots, but he does a lot more than that. Just understand. Diamond was already hip and put me on. I was just fell in love with the one song and then I was. I believe it was the what Dreams May Come tour with Cole in Europe. And me and Ron were out there. Me and Ron Gilmore.
Diamond
Shout out Ron.
Boz
Yeah, yeah. Ron's like, you know, he's an eight on the keys. Yeah. No, no, no.
Sam
Yeah, seven.
Diamond
Certified eight.
Boz
He's an eight. But yeah, I think I DM'd him on Twitter. And I was just like, yo, I with y' all. Let's link up. It was interesting because by the time they came to meet us at this Airbnb in East London, me and Ron are like, like, peeking on this acid trip.
Sam
Like, we have no idea.
Boz
They had no idea.
Diamond
Wait, when you pulled up, when you first met him, he was in the middle of acid trip.
Sam
I found this out maybe like a year later.
Boz
Yeah, yeah.
Diamond
Oh, yeah. He. I've never seen somebody with a composure. He's like. He's like, I'm. I'm. I'm smack. And I'm like, you're chilling Composure.
Sam
You.
Diamond
We could hang out Anywhere right now.
Sam
I just thought, Ron like to take naps occasionally.
Boz
Yeah.
Sam
I didn't realize you needed.
Boz
And honestly, it was. I remember we were up like 52 hours and they came on like the 46 hour.
Sam
You disguised it well.
Diamond
How was that from before you continue. How was that from your perspective, pulling up and seeing.
Sam
I mean, I felt like they were Americans that had just arrived in London. They're probably a bit like jet lagged or whatever. Yeah, they, you know, I didn't have any like preconceptions or anything.
Boz
Like they were on everything I love. I was looking out at the London skyline and I saw brontosaurus. You know the brontosaurus with the long ass neck. And this is so crucial. So that's what I was going through. This was just walking through the London skyline, long ass neck and me around. And then I looked at Ron, I'm like, you see that dinosaur? He was like, yeah.
Sam
And then add the dried chicken sandwich and this is. Yeah.
Diamond
So then how. How is that buzz? How did the like.
Boz
Yo, that first night we did Ricochet.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Diamond
Really? Yeah, we did Ricky on the Sid.
Boz
So Ron. Ron played. I think Ron played a lot of the music. Right? And you played the bass. But like Ron. Ron did like he was just like laying tracks and then I swear he just like crashed. Like he just shut off.
Sam
He just left.
Roxanne
Yeah, yeah.
Boz
No, he went to sleep because. Yeah, up like two and a half days and he just.
Sam
That's why I was like, maybe he just likes to take naps.
Diamond
Oh, okay. It's an odd time.
Sam
I've never had someone mid sessions just get up.
Boz
Yeah.
Sam
Almost. So you would assume that they're going for like to the bathroom or something and just never come back.
Boz
He was hanging off at dear life.
Sam
Like, should we. Should we maybe turn it down?
Boz
Like, you know, here's the funny though. That lady.
Sam
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Boz
Yo, so me and Ron get into this Airbnb. There's amazing speakers, like connected to like a home theater set up. But this is an apartment, you know what I mean? And like there's a lot of neighbors, but for these 48, 52, whatever hours straight, we were just making music in this crib. Loud as like playing bass, playing it over like 808-whatever. And we're just like, damn, the neighbors are chill, cool as out here. No one's tripping or nothing. Yo, this probably towards the end of our session, after they come, we just get a bang at the window and I open it and it's like the most disheveled Looking white lady I've ever seen, yo. I haven't fucking slept in days. Going crazy. And I was like, oh, yo. Like, you could have told me on the third hour and I would have turned this shit down. You waited two and a half days, yo. I felt so bad.
Sam
She really gave you a chance.
Boz
Yeah, she was really, really did.
Diamond
Is that like.
Boz
Yeah, she was like shaking yo rage, bro. Like, hair look crazy. Like bad. Yo, I'm sorry. I'm like, you should have told me.
Sam
You looked at me like, yeah, yeah.
Boz
Like, you know, when you need that. The white bailout.
Diamond
Oh, you got it. Yeah, yeah.
Sam
Let me step. Good evening.
Diamond
Did anything else.
Sam
Did any of the records had your picadilly circus sandwich?
Diamond
Did any other records come out of that session? Or was that.
Boz
Yeah, Ricochet. Ricochet is, you know, that's for. For my, like, core fan base. That's really, you know, part of the ethos of Too High to Riot was kind of exploring that vibe. And then we did. When did we do matches?
Sam
That was in the. The Metropolis sessions.
Roxanne
Yeah, that was only a Forest Hill Drives tour.
Sam
Yeah, we took. We had some.
Boz
What a beautiful studio.
Sam
There's some down. Yeah. Insane. I think you had some down time. And like, the fiends were like, you know, let's find a studio to cook in. And I think they. They managed to lock in an incredible rate in the B room downstairs at Metropolis, which for context is like this. The old Hammersmith. I think it's the old Hammersmith bus station. And it was converted into a bunch of studios and a bunch of amazing records.
Boz
Beautiful studio.
Sam
Like, Michael Jackson used the. Elton John's used it.
Boz
Adele be over there.
Sam
Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Boz
It's like one of the premiere. It's the nicest studio I think I worked in in London.
Sam
Yeah, I would agree. I would agree. And again, you know, we'd got one in the bag before in a kind of like a more bedroom setting. And this was a chance to hear what we could do on loudspeakers and in a professional environment. And also we had Caleb. Caleb Rollins.
Boz
Quick Shout out. My boy Quick.
Roxanne
I think like, that was there too.
Sam
Said was there as well. And I. I think. But the. The key thing about having Caleb there was he. He was a real professional person that knew how to make sense of a lot of bollocks. Like, do you know what I mean? Like, we could be kind of lit. Throwing ideas on the table without us.
Diamond
Quick's great.
Sam
Without us really thinking about things. He would be way. All those scribbles that You've just come up with that. This is what they look like, you know what I mean? So he was like, this one's Matches and this one's that and this one's that. And we came up with a bunch of. And. And Matt, he really put together Matches in a way that I thought was beautiful. And. And yeah, that's how we do Matches too. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. He was there. He was there as well. Yeah.
Diamond
Prior to. Prior to the. The recent album, what. What song that you've previously collaborated on would you say is your favorite?
Boz
Wow. I love those two equally for, like, different reasons, you know, And I think it kind of shows on this album. Like, we have. We have grooves where we can get in like a really deep, deep vibey zone. I think Matches had like, you know, something like a little more uplifting about Matches than Ricochet, you know, but both of them, I think, like, content wise. And there's one reason I love working with them is like, you know, there's just the. The pen is so deep and it's so poignant and everything has so much meaning and like, emotional depth, you know, which is like, there's not a lot of people I work with where I'm like, oh, shit, I got to match that.
Diamond
You know, I got to think.
Boz
Yeah, I got to think. Yeah.
Roxanne
I can't just think.
Boz
I can't just rap about holes in my jewelry. I figure this one out.
Diamond
But do you have. If you were to, like, you know, pick one. What. Before. Before the current album, what would be your.
Roxanne
For me, it would be Purge. I'm not on that. Oh, for me, it's definitely that one.
Boz
That was another London acid session.
Roxanne
It was. That's.
Boz
Damn. I'm starting to realize the role LSDs played in our friendship.
Roxanne
Yeah. And I'm the only one that hasn't been on it.
Diamond
Really?
Roxanne
Yeah.
Sam
Well, there was a giraffe, like, there was like a statue in the corner of the room.
Diamond
I thought you were saying this as if, like, he was saying. This is.
Sam
This was 2017, Milky Ways happened. And we're working in a studio in Bermondsey and Bars is like, yo, if you're around, we'd love to get you down. So have your ideas on this. We're like, of course. We turn up and he presents us some ideas of Milky Way. We did Purge, we did Sanufa. I think there was a few others that we worked on. And. Well, I remember this moment where we all saw this kind of wooden statue of a giraffe in the corner. And we're like, we wonder why that's there. Like three days later, fast forward a bunch of like, you know, things have been taken.
Boz
I'll never forget. That was another one where we're in the studio like 50 hours straight.
Sam
Yeah.
Boz
You know, and I never forget. I got a call, shout out. Tim Glover, who was a great friend of mine, but you know, at the time was my A R at Interscope. And he called me and he was like. He's like, boss. He was like, you still had the studio? I was like, yeah. He's like, you gotta let him go home, boss. He's like the assistant. Been there for three days. And I started realizing, bro never left our side.
Roxanne
No, he didn't.
Sam
I can't remember his name.
Boz
I feel so bad.
Sam
He met someone so dedicated to not up the vibe.
Boz
He.
Diamond
He understood what was happening. He wanted to procure that process.
Sam
And just like that album was amazing.
Boz
I'm starting to realize like the, the Brits are hella like polite. Cuz now I'm thinking about the lady at the lady.
Diamond
The Airbnb three days.
Boz
Like she, she withstood.
Sam
We're very non confrontational.
Diamond
They have a three day threshold by.
Boz
It was really passive aggressive. It was around the same time. They'll wait out your whole asset trip.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
And then they'll be like, all right, bro, I gotta. I gotta get some sleep, fam.
Sam
Yeah, but that giraffe came alive like.
Diamond
You know, for everybody in the room.
Sam
And then when we leave. Well, I think so. They're like, you know, diamond had a whole different energy going in the other room.
Roxanne
Yes.
Sam
That's, you know, we were just in one room like playing each other like a RA post arrangement.
Boz
There's one beat I still be thinking.
Sam
About that you did it like psychedelic rock. And then you go into Diamond's room and it's just like.
Diamond
Really outside of the assist from Acid. What is the. Because I've been in the studio a little bit with. With Boss. But like when you guys are working together, what's the atmosphere? Like? How do you set the tone? Like what, what. What are you listening to? Is there like a movie on with no sound?
Boz
I mean, I think there was like. What says there might have been like six or seven hours of that session where the three of us and. And Doobie. Shout out Doobie. Day one Fiend, my creative director done a bunch of stuff with us, but we were just sitting on the floor in the vocal booth.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
And playing mad like. Like what was bro's name? The Karush. Karush was like the guitar player. We were just like going through waves of music.
Diamond
Like, but that's not like playing before. It's like, hey, I found this. We should. It's just like, whatever.
Boz
It's like kids in a playground, man. Like, making music is supposed to be fun. You know what I mean? It's supposed to be fun. And then the only times it isn't is like when you're just by yourself. I realize, you know, sometimes that could be like homework could. Feel like, I gotta finish this song, I gotta finish this verse. But when you're in there and it's like a room full of people just buzzing off of creative vibes, like, you know, that's not work. It's just fun. Like, it's.
Sam
That's the difference with having Caleb in the room is that usually, yeah, you end up getting into a zone and doing something and then you go, shit. All right, let's try and replicate that.
Diamond
Yeah.
Sam
Caleb goes, don't worry about it. I've already done.
Diamond
I've already been.
Sam
It's already there.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Diamond
So, I mean, was there ever a switch? Because in the, in the. In the Milky Way days, like the. The before. Melancholic. Pardon me. Jesus Christ. Mellon chronica. It's a difficult word. Is. Was there because it's. I wouldn't. I don't want to say less pressure, but not pressure in the sense of you. You're locking in to make an album, right? It's like, we can come out with a single, that'd be great or like, just work on something that's awesome. There wasn't like a mental switch or a gear that you had to turn on when you committed to doing like a collaborative album together. Did it feel differently at all in that process? Creatively knowing that, okay, we're going to get. We're booking studio time at this time. We have to come out with 10 records.
Roxanne
No, I didn't feel like that to me at all because we did it over such a long period of time. And so much of what I've written, some of it was written in 2017, some of it was written in 2020. Like, it's. It was just very free flowing because, you know, the pandemic slowed everything down. And then everybody has their own schedules. And I think that that made it so that we could be a little bit relaxed about it. The only thing that was on our minds was like singles. But then I feel like that kind of pieced itself together. The more time we spent around Each.
Boz
Other creating the time was well spent. Yeah, I'll say that. It got to, like, really gestate and just be like, oh, this is what we're actually really want to do. This is what the messaging is. This is what the sonic. Like, there's. There's songs. There's plenty songs that didn't make the album.
Diamond
Yeah, I'd imagine. Yeah.
Boz
There's a reason it's. It's 10 songs, you know, is because they all were so cohesive and. And you don't always see that from the beginning or the middle. You know, it takes a little bit of time to be like, okay, this is actually the fat we need to trim. Even though we like this vibe and we like what it does, like, this is actually we need to trim this for the whole thing to make better sense to the audience.
Diamond
How many records were sacrificed in that regard?
Sam
Like, five or six. Like, I think they're there. We. We got into, like, a healthy flow of coming up with, you know, great moments of collaboration, but it was only until we got into the sequencing of the album, which is when we really realized, like, what didn't work and what stuck out like a sore thumb. And, like, we didn't overthink it. We just went, look, the cadence feels great when it's this, this, this and that. But as soon as you try and force that one into it, even though it might have been a joint that we loved, we're like, it just doesn't fit the storyline. Like, you know, I mean, yeah. And we knew that we wanted to keep it to 10. I don't know why we wanted to keep it simple specifics, but, like, I knew that it felt like a good number to.
Diamond
Nice round number.
Sam
Yeah. Like, and I think it's. It allows, like, I don't know, it gives. You need to work to some kind of target right when doing something. And I think we all agreed that, like, look, we aim for 10, and it should start here. It should kind of fill here in the middle. And then, like, we knew that we wanted, like, an ending, but we didn't know that the ending was going to be sometimes the most epic, the most nervous.
Boz
All time.
Roxanne
It wasn't until I heard sometimes that I was like, okay, now it feels like there's something that we can. We can fill in the gaps.
Boz
Yeah.
Roxanne
Fill in the other four songs. Yeah, we can pick and choose now.
Sam
And. And when you asked earlier, like, what's the favorite song that you worked on as a group? I would say sometimes is not absolutely.
Boz
Shout out to Harbor. Yes, Harbor Studio. Shout out to Zach. Yeah, you know, unfortunately that, that studio was lost in the fires, but it was the most beautiful space in Malibu. Just like overlooking the Pacific right there off pch, like up the hill. Just a great staff, great owner and Zach, again, very hospitable. And we had it, we had it for a little camp. It was myself, the Hicks diamond was out there. We had Gala Matias, that's more like the panoramic. So beautiful space. Tragic but, but you know, shout out to Zach. He's gonna come back bigger and better, so we're looking forward to that and we'll, you know, we'll all be there, support. He's hosted a lot of musicians and, and he's, you know, he's, he's big for the, for the creatives in la. So, you know, we got his back for sure and we're looking forward to the return. But you know, we even had Kelby on there, which was, you know. Yeah, it was awesome for me to see that. And Sensei, Sensei Bueno. Like, who's incredible guitar player. He's part of like the Wonderland camp, like Janelle Monae and all them. Who else was at those sessions?
Sam
Yeah, the Z came through a.
Boz
Shout out. A. Yeah, yeah, it was, it was cool for obviously for me because it was like. I think my music over the years has spanned like a lot of genres. And it was like. It was one time where I looked around the room and I was like, wow, this is like the coolest, like amalgamation of everybody I with that brings, you know, something completely unique, you know, and it's like, it's rare. Those moments are rare where you find yourself like, oh, everything clicked and everyone who needs to be here is here, you know, and like Gal Matias was on that piano playing that outro for like 45 minutes, you know, and it's like, it's like mad somber. It's hella like. I don't know how to explain, but we were all there like in like damn near in tears just watching them play it and just like, yo, I remember Sam looked at me and he was like, what's bruv going through? Because he was just playing it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was right there. I was definitely emotional. Just like, I just felt it. I felt everything he was playing. I was like, yo, it was beautiful.
Roxanne
I wasn't there for that moment, but I remember you. I was outside quite a lot because it was my mom's birthday that night. So I called her and then Sam was like, you gotta Come in. So I went in and they played me the whole song. And I'd only really been in there for when I was improvising. Me and Sam were improvising what we sing on it. I listened to the song in its entirety and there's this vocal booth in the middle and I have to get up halfway through to go behind it. And I swear to God, I got on my knees and wept like a baby. I didn't want anybody to see me doing it. And it's when the drums come in at the end, it's all building and I come back around whilst Gala Matthias's part is playing and I've composed myself and I sit down and then we start crying again. And diamond puts his hand on my shoulder and Baz looks at me, he goes, oh, I'm just that good.
Boz
That's amazing. This sounds like something I would say.
Diamond
Is that, is that like a common occurrence? Because I did notice that at the show, which was incredible. The show at Sony hall, there was a moment where, I mean, you were. I forget which track in particular, but you did this incredible run and it was clearly like they gave you that moment and you just took the front of the stage and just ran. And I mean, just for context for those that are listening, my, my, this was a big moment for me. My parents were in town. My parents have been DMing Boz forever. They. They, they FaceTime with him a couple times. They, they know and love Boss and they also, by way of Bosby, fell in love with you, both of you and your work.
Boz
That was my first time meeting him in person, though.
Diamond
And it was just like, it was a big moment for me. Like, we've been such good friends for years and Boz done like, amazing things and just welcomed me to an incredible creative family. And my parents are really thankful for that aspect of it and they're, They've, again, my relationship with. It's all that, all that ties into this moment. So I see you take that moment and you're singing and I'm with my mom and my dad's filming every second. The whole entire show is on his iPhone. And I just, I saw you got emotional and I could see it looked like you were just expressing like it was like a moment of, like, this is, this is what we've been like. You said these sessions started in 2017 and these are pre pandemic moments and things that you've spanned over the course of, you know, eight or so years. And it just, it hit you and you were, you were Crying, but still singing and carrying that moment. And I. I. I broke down. I started crying. And then my mom. My mom saw me. I was like. And then she started crying. And then we just, like, had, like, this moment. And it was just for me, like, as a friend and a fan, I was like, this is. It was beautiful. But I can't even imagine what that was. To come to New York, to have that moment, and just, like, you know, it just looked. I don't know. I can't even explain what that, you know.
Roxanne
Well, that really touches me.
Diamond
Yeah.
Roxanne
Moment with your mom.
Boz
But you.
Diamond
But based on what you just said in the studio, it sounds like you. The. The music in itself really hits you in, like, a spot that brings you to that emotional level.
Roxanne
It was definitely the way the crowd responded in that moment. And I felt like it was only.
Diamond
Because, by the way, you know, New York crowds. New York crowds are not easy.
Roxanne
No, they're not.
Diamond
Your crowds do not want to sing. They don't want to move. They're like, all right, whatever. Next song. They were clearly, like, just enamored with.
Boz
I remember we stopped. I looked at the band. I was like, hold on. Yeah, let them. Let them stroke her a little longer.
Roxanne
Because they wanted to go to the next song. Basically, like an ovation.
Diamond
Yeah, it was. Yeah. In the middle of the damn show.
Roxanne
I think I just. What happened was, it was almost like everything that I've been through since writing the chorus to Four Walls, which was in the studio in Bermondsey when they were writing Milky Way, everything that's happened since then kind of just caught up with me. And I had this, like, montage, movie montage in my head and thought of everything that I've sacrificed and thought of all the things that I've been through. And, like, yeah. Just the times when I wanted to give up. And, like, Sam's been like, no, we have to keep going. And all of the stress and the dedication to it, the hours, the literal blood, sweat and tears. Because that's no exaggeration with this for me. And, yeah, it just was like, okay.
Boz
Little pulmonary.
Diamond
This is. Yeah, this is. It's the release.
Roxanne
Yeah. And it was just. It was. It was like, okay, you gotta stay in the fight. Yeah. But also, like, I. I really appreciated it because no one has to do that for anyone.
Boz
Yeah.
Roxanne
I only really feel that way about a very small amount of artists. So it's. It means so much that the people that support this album are so nice, because nobody has to be.
Sam
At least they really. With you Though imagine you were just doing that, and they were just like, what the.
Diamond
Why is she crying?
Boz
All right, do down bad already.
Roxanne
I didn't come here for this emotional.
Diamond
Bring that girl to do Cole's verse.
Sam
That was a beautiful movement.
Diamond
It really was beautiful, because no one.
Roxanne
Has to be anybody with.
Diamond
With the album. You mentioned Four Walls, but just opening it up to the. To the collaboration. Collaborative process of the entire album. What's the. The. The writing process, like, the production process? Like, how much are the three of you bouncing off each other?
Boz
I think it's different on so many different songs, you know, like. Like we said, like. Like, doing Sometimes in Malibu is, I think, how we all prefer to work. You know, anyone who really, like, loves doing this, like, you want to be in there with the dopest people, the dopest musicians, the dopest producers, the dopest songwriters, because it's those, like, happy accidents where the magic happens, you know, And.
Diamond
And.
Boz
But in the same token, there's some songs like Four Walls. I don't know if she would have wrote that in a room full of people, but when she sent that to me, I understood the emotion, you know, that she was conveying. And I was like, okay, I can match this. You know what I mean? It gave me, like, a blueprint to kind of walk through.
Roxanne
Can I tell you a secret? So when we did Four Walls, we were in the Bermondsey Studio Milky Way, and Baz was using Sam a lot for vocals, like, on Purge and stuff. And I found I was listening to, like, the Law of Attraction a lot. Then I found myself getting real out of alignment, and I was like, why isn't he using me? He's like, sam, can I have your computer so I can, like, perform or something? He's like, yeah, yeah, I'll give you this. He gave it to me. I went in the other room, and I was like, I'm gonna write a chorus. And it was just because of the, like, competition, actually.
Boz
That's amazing, I think. And that always brings out the best of people. Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Diamond
That's. I. I want to go back to the. The rest. But I wanted a quick detour. What is, like, your ideal writing session? Is it. Is it the competition that motivates you? Or, like, is it I need to be in a quiet room with a candle lit and by myself? Or, like, where. Where does, like, the creativity strike you to just write or, you know, just think musically?
Roxanne
Being alone, being in love, being sad, being romantic, just all of those things. Basically, it's rarely. That's the only time that competition has ever fueled me. So maybe I should be more competitive in general because people really like that song. So I don't know.
Diamond
That's a great record.
Sam
On what. Where do I feel most comfortable with writing? Yeah, I like nature a lot, I think. I think being by the, you know, growing up in the city like you guys, I think being in that spin, I was to take a step out and look at the ocean. Literally, the ocean was like, right there, you know, that's. And the whole experience of la, that place is just ridiculous. It's like you can. In the. In the UK, you would drive five hours to see a coastline like you can in 30 minutes in LA, you know, I mean, and I grew up like, this is the ocean was like a dream to me as a kid. Like, I'm at surfing, but I love it.
Boz
What do you mean? Like, you don't think Brighton is up to par?
Roxanne
No.
Sam
The southeast coast, in my opinion. I'm about, like, four more shout out.
Boz
To all my fans in Brighton, though.
Sam
Holding down. But yeah, like, I, you know, I. I really like, you know, a bit of nature, at least a little bit of nature.
Diamond
All I need, you know, if there was something in total, like, if you wanted people that listen to the album, what would you want or hope to be the takeaway from the entire project?
Boz
I mean, for me is. It's not easy for me, I guess, to like, express as much emotional depth as I did on that album. And that comes, you know, that comes with. We're working with the hicks and, you know, being inspired to kind of cohabitate this world. So I would just want them to just feel like all the emotions, man. Like, just feel that shit. Like, it's so. I feel like we're at an age where music is kind of devoid of that, in a sense, you know, it's like everything is made for like, microwave consumption and the streaming era and like, tick tock. And it's like, you know, I kind of want you to like, like, do the dishes to this, you know, clean your house on Sunday, take that, reset to this, you know, take that long drive if you're on a road trip, you know, whatever the case may be, like, do something where you could actually sit there and, like, feel it and have a moment with yourself and find the ways that. I think everything we wrote is hella relatable because they're just really vulnerable moments we've all had and that we're, you know, expressing to our audience. And I think That's. It's basically the most powerful thing you could do in music is to make someone, like, feel an emotion.
Diamond
So that was less of a distraction, more of like a. Take this time to reflect and.
Boz
Yeah, but even. Even if you're doing something, like, I just want you to, like, yeah, just feel it. Like, just feel the emotion. Like, cry to this, laugh to this. You know, like, think about yourself, think about your loved ones. Just, like, really just feel it, man. Like, because I just. I really like. Everything we put into this is so full of emotion. There's no filler. Like, there's no, like, you know, there's no party record. We weren't going for that. Like, that wasn't the point. Like, it's a real.
Sam
It's a real life story. Like, you know, for me, I was 23 on some songs and I'm 30 on others. Like, do you know what I mean? And, like, you don't hear that on many albums. Like, a story of, like, adolescence and, like, you know, growing up and the emotions and life experiences that you have. Like, same with you. Like, same with all of us. But I think, like, when I hear back to, like, how I sound on the first verse of Four Walls versus how I sound on Air one, it's like, it's quite jokes to.
Boz
Yeah, that's a fact. And that's even, like, those times where I thought of recuting like, Sand Junipero, because when did we do that?
Sam
Like, 20, 18, 18.
Boz
Yeah. And it's just like, I just. As a performer. Yeah, as a vocalist, I unders. You know, I understand things better. But I was like, it just wouldn't be true, right, to what we're doing. I was like, nah, this is supposed to be the way it's supposed to be.
Diamond
Boss, when do you, in particular to your music? Because people see, okay, this is, you know, the Dreamville label, like, the J. Cole moniker.
Sam
The.
Diamond
You know, we know he's. He's a rapper. We know him as a rapper. And you've seemingly, like, honestly, like most of my favorite artists to start in hip hop, they make that. They. They make a home there and they have a footing there. But then they. As they grow older and as they experience more life, they evolve into other genres and they try different things. What gave you, like, the. The confidence? Because even prior to this album, like, we only talk about real shit when we're fucked up. Similarly, is like, these aren't turn up records, aren't party records. They're more like, like you said, the reflective stuff. Things that you, like, sit and think about and, like, the more real moments as you mature as a person. Like, what gave you the confidence to really take that leap and be like, I'm not here to chase, you know, my last hit, but I really want to, like, make music that matches where I'm at in my life.
Boz
I think you just make what you want to hear, you know? And, like, I think about now in retrospect, bro. And I did my first mixtape in 2010. It was called Quarter Water Raise Me, Volume One. And literally the intro on it, I. I'm rapping over a Jamiroquai interlude that I ripped off YouTube. You know, it's like, it wasn't, like, planned that way, but when I look at now, like, the. The totality of it, I think what I did was. Anyone who's a fan of mine from Jump never put me in a box. Because the. I was doing, you know, the. The kind of music I was making, the people I collab with, you know, whether it's the Hicks or, you know, FKJ or Jungle or Jid and J. Cole and Gunna and whoever, you know what I mean? Like, that I've always. Not even, like, purposely, it's just what inspires me, you know, But I think I've always done it enough, and I did it early to where it was never like, what, like, why is this going left? Yeah, you know, I don't think there is a left for me at this point, I think. And that's a privilege, you know what I mean, to have an audience that'll be like, put me on to some. I get that from my fans all the time. Like, yo, I didn't even know about this art. Like, yo, FKJ is massive, you know, and there's people that tell me, like, I put them on fkj and I'm like, well, you're just not listening hard enough, you know, or whatever the case may be. But it's cool when you have an audience that just accepts that from you, you know, And I think I'm. I'm lucky that from Jump, I just did what inspired me. And I got on the soundscapes and the producers and, you know, the. The songwriters that inspired me, and they just happen to be from. From varying genres. And. And I'll probably, you know, I would have to point to. To my. My family, honestly. Like, I'm the youngest of five. All my siblings had varied, like, taste in music. And then obviously mom was like, the anchor who just has, like, the most vast knowledge of music of anyone I know. And since I was a kid, he'd be like, yo, I just bought. You know, come listen to this. I just bought this new vinyl. I just bought this new cd. Like, literally, those are, like, some of my earliest memories. Is. Is Mama coming into my room and grabbing me to come listen to some cd, some new music he got, you know what I mean? And all those years later, when you think about, like, what inspired you and how you trace back your inspirations, it's. It's those moments. It's how your. Your ear is trained. And, you know, I was just lucky enough to have, like I said, four older siblings who had varying tastes and, like, imparted all that on me in particular to Mama.
Diamond
I mean, so much so that you were able to stamp and create a song called Everyday People on this album.
Boz
Yeah, that's really full circle.
Diamond
One of the singles, Everyday People. Yeah. Best party ever been one of my favorite songs. Yeah. I was gonna say, if you're not familiar, I mean, you do a better job of pitching the party for those that aren't familiar with whatever.
Boz
Yeah. I mean, I don't even know how to pitch it. It's just a beautiful move worldwide, you know?
Sam
Yeah.
Boz
I've got the pleasure of seeing it grow from the. From the DL, from the DL right up, you know, a few blocks up here on the Lower east side to, you know, now doing just thousands and thousands of tickets in any city they show up to. From, you know, LA to New York to Chicago to Johannesburg and Lisbon and wherever the hell they end up going, you know, and it's. I think it's just, you know, I think mom was obviously a driving force, but it's also just a great space for people to come dance. It's, like, purposely not know, like, bottle service. Yeah.
Diamond
There's no hierarchy.
Boz
There's exactly. There's no, like, social hierarchy. I think that's the best way to put it. Like, everyone there kicked out.
Diamond
You told that Nas story. I don't know if that's something that's out there, but.
Boz
Which one?
Diamond
Moma said there was one in particular, one Everyday People that. Where Nas was in town. I forget which city was in. He wanted to go. And he goes, we're sold out. We don't have tables. We don't have anything available. He was like. He's like. He said the joke was. Which is very fun. He goes, I let Nas down. He was like, I couldn't accommodate Nas.
Boz
Yeah, you almost got to come. Just ready to be.
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
And I get it.
Diamond
Like, he said, we can accommodate you on. In the. The gen. The gen pop. But like we can't. There's nothing. You know. So in the spirit of just like everybody's equal, you're more than welcome. But we can't, you know, it is bump anybody.
Roxanne
Everyday people.
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
Let Nas down is funny.
Diamond
I do want to focus on. Because I was listening to it on the. On the way here on my city bike from the movie premiere that I was coming from. There was a.
Boz
That's why you dress like that, huh?
Diamond
I dress like a Colombian coke dealer.
Boz
Yeah.
Diamond
I'm lending out. Not because what movie?
Boz
I'm curious.
Diamond
It's called. Hold on, I got Pull up the. Where's the. So it's called Please don't feed the children.
Roxanne
Oh, okay.
Diamond
Which is a tubi picked it up. But it's the friend of mine. Daughter of Steven Spielberg.
Sam
Wow.
Diamond
Destri Allen Spielberg directorial debut.
Roxanne
Oh, congratulations.
Diamond
And I, I. I love. She's a. She's a good friend and I dog sit her doodle golden doodle chicken from time and time again. Who is a very cute.
Roxanne
That's a great name.
Boz
I know he was cool with Spielberg's daughter.
Diamond
Yeah. Yeah.
Boz
All right.
Diamond
It's New York. She's very sweet. She's very good. But I want to add the hook on everyday people is. It's like. It's just like in. In my veins at all times that.
Sam
I was very uncomfortable with my grandmother messaging me being like. It's so sophisticated. I love it. It's such a beautiful melody. And I was like, she did say that. That's what I'm saying.
Boz
Who wrote Shout out to the OG.
Sam
She's a devote Catholic woman. Like. And I'm like, I don't really want to them. Yeah.
Diamond
One more. Just one more time. Just so people that this is the hook.
Roxanne
Yeah. Yeah. I just want to. No more fighting. I just want to be where you're hiding. Maybe if it's just for a while, then maybe I can get in your mind. Yeah.
Boz
I want to read your mind. You gotta do the genius version.
Sam
But like deadpan. I just wanna.
Boz
I feel you on that grandma point though. Because my dad's favorite hat is like my album merch from we only talk about real and we're up and like I remember one day I was in the mosque with him and he had the hat on.
Sam
So I was like.
Boz
I was like, you can't wear that to the mos.
Diamond
Versus like when we're freaked out for that when we're fed up. What's the radio Edit of the hat. Yeah, I mean, that's like that. That. That hook in particular really stands out. I guess that's a good question. Like, what it. When it. When you had. You go to your. Your family and they. And they read in particular, I would assume rocks. You're writing a lot of the lyrics themselves. Like, is there ever. You know, like, because it's so. Music is so personable, and you're so much more comfortable expressing yourself that way than speaking to your loved ones.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Diamond
But knowing that that song will eventually go out to the masses and they'll hear it. There's like a guard there because you're in a booth. You feel protected in this space, but you do know it's gonna fall on the ears of the people that you know and love. I felt this even in podcast. I've done episodes mostly by myself. I've said some that I would probably never say to my mom and dad or my friends. And then my mom will text me like, hey, yeah, I just heard you say. I'm like, oh, I did say that.
Sam
Everything.
Diamond
They. Yeah, because they. They care and they love you. So it's like, all those things. But, like, how much is. Does that affect your creative process? Are you like, this is a part of the art. I have to let this out.
Roxanne
Oh, my God. I would be so much more myself if I didn't feel completely hindered by the fact that my family are alive.
Sam
Yeah. That's what I used to love about, like, the switch. The Instagram, like, post Facebook era, where you're like, finally, I'm free of. Free of the eyes of everyone, the aunties. And then suddenly, like, you start seeing family members crop up on Instagram, you're like, it's cooked.
Boz
I think for me, it's inverted. It's actually my younger family members.
Diamond
Oh, really?
Boz
Yeah, because they. They. They grow to, like, idolize you. You know, they brag to their friends at school, like, my cousin. There's my uncle. This, and the third. And then you're like, well, stop talking about drugs. You really started to think about it, and it's like, oh, it's fucked up, you know, but it's like.
Diamond
We've referenced three separate acid trips on this show, by the way.
Boz
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but acid's harmless.
Diamond
Psa. The boss's nephews out there.
Boz
But it definitely makes you think. And it's like, as you mature and as you. For me, at least it was like, oh, like, damn. They really, like, kind of hold on to the things I'm saying. Then it makes you think of, like, other kids that, you know, I'm only getting that perspective because, you know, I follow them on socials or, you know, I'm in contact with them, but I'm like, oh, like, you don't even think when you're doing this like, that you'll be someone that, like, someone looks up to. You know, you're just doing it to express yourself as freely as you can. And.
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
And then you're like, wait, like, don't, like, don't listen to that. You know, hold on a second. All right, Put on the edited version. You know what I mean? But it is what it is. You kind of have to strike that balance of, you know, trying to be authentic to yourself, you know, at the square root of that is like, that's just how you're gonna be.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
The truest, you know, artist you can be. But there are definitely some, some thoughts as, like, I mature and as I grow older and I start to think beyond, you know, myself.
Roxanne
I feel. I just want to say this, though.
Diamond
Yeah.
Roxanne
I posted, like, what I consider to be quite an inappropriate post. It wasn't that inappropriate. And I post, you know, these lyrics and stuff, and my almost 90 year old grandfather's sister, who is in her 80s, shout out, Gail Barker.
Diamond
Shout out, girl.
Roxanne
She liked it. And that's when I'm like, okay. Because it doesn't matter what age we are. If you're below 18, then maybe not. But like, if you're above, I know there's no reason for me to feel like the way that I do. Because we're all human.
Diamond
My moment of that was I. I used to teach. I did this program called Teach for America. It's. I taught on the south side of Chicago Middle School. Yeah, yeah, we're talking about 20, 15, 16. So I did that. Got my master's left and years fast forward, you know, six, seven years later, I'm doing the podcast, my old show that I was on, and I get a DM from one of my students from Chicago who, when I was teaching them, was 12 and now they're like 17, 18, and they go, hey, like, Mr. D, really proud of you. Been like, listening to you on the show.
Boz
Happy Mr. D. Yeah, well, that's what she was telling to you. Shame on you.
Diamond
I did. I did not. I. Well, I said, Mr. I said, Delgado is my dad. I was like, you can call me no Spacey. No, no, but I.
Roxanne
No Spacey.
Boz
Call me Mr. D. Yeah, let me get a shot, man.
Diamond
John o' Clock But. But in the. But that was my moment of, like, oh, what I say reaches people that many different walks of my life. And I'm not in control of who listens to what I say or what I publicly put out. I'm only in control of, you know, what I say.
Sam
Yeah.
Diamond
I think that was a big a moment for me. That was a huge.
Sam
This is why I'm great.
Boz
You gotta turn around so we can shout out diamond producer extraordinaire, Head A R on this album. This would not have made it to the finish line. You've been a conduit. Been a conduit.
Sam
This was.
Boz
Been a great host to the hicks on there on a New York run, holding us all down. Flowers.
Sam
I'm not a rapper, though, because, like, rappers be, like, snitching on themselves the most all the time. I mean, it's like as. As a.
Diamond
They're their own ring cam.
Sam
Yeah. It's like.
Roxanne
Yeah, they're brave, though. They're brave.
Diamond
We don't command.
Sam
I could just. I can just hide in some reverb and some drums and just be like.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Sam
I mean, I'm about saying anything in the.
Diamond
In the spirit of what we were just saying in terms of, like, us being that influence to our younger. Our younger selves or the. Or the generation below us. Who were the people when you were growing up who were, like, the artists that influenced your sound and your taste?
Sam
That's great.
Diamond
So that segue was fire, right? Flowers?
Boz
Pretty good.
Sam
Pretty good.
Boz
You're in producer mode. Mama mentality. Nah, I mean, for me, like, you know, just kind of echo that point. It was. It was a lot of, like, when my older siblings were playing. So, like, you know, moma had, like, everything from Prince to Stevie to, you know, Jamiroquai to Daft Punk to Digital Underground, Tupac, you know, Proof of Proof put me on to Bob Marley, you know what I mean? My sister would put me on to, like, Kaziah Jones, like, just West African instrumentalist, you know, E was like Nas fab, you know, like real. Just, like hip hop oriented, like, east coast air, you know, so it was just all of that, man. It was just a little bit of everything for me.
Diamond
Covered, like, the whole spectrum.
Boz
Yeah, yeah.
Roxanne
What about for me? Because I started ballet when I was 2, so I grew up listening to classical music by proxy because of that. And then I used to spend summers with my grandparents because my mom had to work because she was a single mom. And so I'd listen to, like, Frank Sinatra with my grandfather and, like, Bill Evans and loads of jazz musicians. And then at home I lived with my mum and my auntie and they listened to like a lot of Tony Braxton and just. Yeah, a lot of like 70s R&B and 90s R&B.
Boz
It makes sense.
Roxanne
Yeah. And then my auntie was only 10 years younger than me. Sorry, not younger, older than me. So she would be listening to like Biggie Smalls and like just she loved rap music a lot. So it was everything. Not in the way that you have more depth of everything.
Boz
Yeah. But, you know, put me on the Frank Sinatra, the New York Yankees every time we win the game.
Diamond
Isn't it funny?
Boz
Like the, Every time I want to play New York, New York, spreading the new. I'm leaving today, I want to be. Yeah, we'd win a game and they'd play that. And I like this fire. Who this?
Diamond
Yo, isn't it funny? Like, I, I, I wanted to ask this, this is a great, like, what if. What was like the, to discover an artist or untap a genre. Like, what was that, that barrier of entry for a, A baseball game for Frank Sinatra, for Boss. But like, was there like an artist or a genre that you were unaware of, but you have that moment of like, oh, like this stuck for me like on a commercial or I saw this at a, you know, a polo match or whatever the hell you were doing when you were younger.
Sam
Me personally, like, my, my dad kind of dominated the kind of musical education I had from an early stage with like, you know, he's, he's a professional drummer himself. He's, he's worked as a professional drummer his whole life and a bunch of stuff. And he put me onto like very sophisticated level stuff right from all around the world. And then my mum was like, by the way, in Safeway, which was our local supermarket at the time, they were like, they got an essential R and B summer hits, like, like compilation cd. She was like, I think you would with this. It would be like a, at the grocery store, smoking hot woman coming out of a pool, like, and she'll be like, what do you think about this? And my mom just like taught me to, she put me on to like the music that I ended up producing and like felt in my heart in a way. And what. So she's, she put me onto like early R B, like essential R and b, like from 2000s to 2005. Non intentionally, but in a way that like you can hear what she put me onto. In out of Sight, for example, like the kick drums and out of sight and like that. And like I find like probably early R B. And my brother put me onto Illmatic, like as a kid. He was just like, educate yourself.
Boz
You know, let's go.
Sam
Like.
Diamond
Yeah.
Sam
So that I would say. I'll say R B and, and, and like kind of 90s hip hop, like were the two things that, you know, my dad's. My dad's like an old cat. Like he's an old hippie. So he weren't really listening to that kind of stuff. So like, for me to have that exposure to R B and hip hop, like, was. Was like a mind blowing thing.
Diamond
Yeah. It's even funny. Like, even you're the introduction that you had like Basa GTA 5. Like, I remember when I was younger, my older cousin had in their finished basement, we would go up there for holidays. He had Vice City on PlayStation 2. And I remember like, you're 100. I remember taking katana and lopping off strippers heads on the boardwalk.
Sam
Yeah.
Diamond
Taking their $50.
Sam
That. But we all did it.
Diamond
But like that, that driving around to like hauling oats. Yes. Like take stealing a car and driving around Vice City. Look for that on the beach. Yeah, yeah.
Boz
I was definitely playing Cold Air, which is like, that song just brings me peace. But really in retrospect, I was just like mowing down pedestrians and. Yeah, yeah. Remember you used to pick up a holder and then your car would start to shake.
Diamond
Yeah. You could hit the joystick and get the 360.
Boz
Yeah, yeah.
Roxanne
So that's what I yo you a while. That was my motive.
Boz
Yeah.
Roxanne
I was like, it's true.
Boz
Was that only when I just paid.
Diamond
Them and let them come on.
Sam
You would never get the same amount.
Diamond
You don't.
Sam
You never get the same amount. I'm like, what happened to the Sam's, right?
Boz
You pay.
Diamond
You pay 500 to beat and then you kill her and you get 50.
Boz
Yeah.
Diamond
You're like, what was that about? What should disappear in her? Where was the money? Where'd the money go?
Boz
I was like, where is the money? Go get your nails done. Get your hair done.
Diamond
Where'd my dollars go?
Sam
You're right. I think, I think like video games also in our subconscious, like we take for granted how significant they were for the earworms that we had.
Boz
Absolutely.
Diamond
I, I played like NBA. NBA Street Religiously Volume 2. Whoever curated those soundtracks smoked. But it was the reminiscence.
Boz
Oh yeah, Remiss was on that.
Diamond
Like, that was like. That was the intro, the title record.
Boz
All the Japanese dudes That was on like the 16 bit systems. Yeah, bro. This is one game called Chrono Trigger. That soundtrack is all time, bro. And those dudes are just incredible composers. Like, every time I go to Japan, I get it. Like, I go to like these vinyl bars and they'll just be spinning like, just strictly like vinyl from. I actually went to a music school out there with. With Ali and we did a. We did like a. Some kind of workshop, you know, but it was like we just ended up popping into the live room and it's all these like 18 year old, like jazz savants and they were just going crazy. And I was like, yo, like the. They were doing in those video games when we were young, we didn't even realize it, but again, it's like you realize as an adult, you start to realize where your ear was trained, you know? And yeah, video games was a huge part of that.
Diamond
Yeah, in massive. Because it also was like a matter of like, you felt like you were discovering. I feel like for me, discovering music was such like a unique moment in my developmental stages because my parents listen to amazing music in the house. But I also wanted to be like, I wanted to share because at that time when I was growing up, like, Kanye was sampling all my. My dad's records that he. He was listening to from the 70s, like when he was, you know, outside in his prime, and my mom as well. And it's like I wanted to meet them at the table and be like, I know that Al Green sample. I know that Marvin. You know that string progression. Because. And they're like, how do you know that? And I'll play in the Kanye record. And they would hear like the. Are you gone? Or like, whatever. The sample was like, oh, shit. Like he flipped. And that was like. I was like. I felt like an adult even though I was 10 or 12 or whatever, like middle school.
Boz
They.
Diamond
I was like, they were welcoming me into a conversation that I may not have belonged in otherwise.
Sam
Yes, yes. Yeah, it's very true.
Roxanne
I had that experience whilst seeing what they called Nirvana on MTV Unplugged. Well, I didn't see them because he died, but I watched it on how. Unplugged. Sorry.
Diamond
Oh, how.
Sam
How did he die?
Diamond
In detail.
Roxanne
Feminism. I'm not gonna snitch. I don't know who did it.
Diamond
Deep State.
Roxanne
Okay. So I watched him say man who Sold the World by David Bowie on MTV Unplugged. And I was 11 and I went into the. The next room and I said, oh.
Boz
Don'T try to cover that. For that.
Roxanne
Yeah, that's why we covered it. Yeah, I chose that song. They were like, what David Bowie song do you want to perform?
Diamond
Wait, where was this? Where did you cover it?
Roxanne
We have it on and David Bowie tribute album that was released on BB Records.
Sam
Yeah.
Diamond
Oh, nice.
Roxanne
So I chose. Sam was like, what song do you want to do? And I was like, we have to do, man. Sell the World.
Diamond
And that started because you were 11?
Sam
No, because I chose it for that. Rocks. Chose it for.
Roxanne
I need to finish this.
Sam
Yeah, sorry. Go ahead, Go ahead.
Roxanne
So thank you, Feminism. So hashtag.
Diamond
Hashtag call this number. Isn't it like three digits now? Shout out, logic, whatever you.
Roxanne
I have no idea what that. I don't know. If you want to.
Diamond
What is it?
Roxanne
So I went into the next room and I was like, mom, I have to go to this band. I have to go to the next concert. You have to take me. Even though I never asked her to go to a concert before in my life. And she was like, what band is it? I said, nirvana. And she was like, I don't know how to tell you this. And she sat me down and told me that Kurt Cobain had died. And I cried and I shouted at her. And I was like, why did you never tell me about rock music? You're white, you bitch.
Boz
You're not supposed to know these. Stop. Why are you here?
Roxanne
You just gave me R and B.
Boz
Wait, so what. What. What year did you find out Kurt Cobain died?
Sam
This is about three years ago.
Diamond
On the way here.
Roxanne
Oh, 2002. No, I'm not going to say that gives away my age.
Boz
No, no, I'll jump side RP though. Man, what a legend.
Sam
I know, man.
Boz
What a legend.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
Honestly, that's what drew me to, like, songs like Norbit San Juniper.
Sam
Right. That nice grungy.
Boz
It feels like grunge. Yeah, I like when you tap into.
Sam
That on the production Bueno shot Diamond.
Boz
Yeah.
Sam
For. For Norbit. Like, they brought that 90s grunge right to the forefront, you know?
Diamond
Yeah. Is there a genre of music that you may not have explored yet that is on your radar that you want to tap into?
Sam
I would say drum and bass or like something very up tempo and aggressive.
Boz
Like, I would like to see a little drumming. Bass drumming as mug.
Sam
Just like, not necessarily like drum and bass, like in like, the Australian format, which kind of gets overdone.
Boz
Like garage.
Sam
No, but you remember, like, bands like Pendulum and shit, like when we were growing up, like 2012, there was a big drum and bass, like High contrast Pendulum and like I found them quite jarring. But I also, I also envy their ability to maintain like people's focus at that tempo.
Diamond
Yeah.
Sam
And I feel like electronic music hasn't. Or commercial music hasn't gone back to that tempo. It's kind of stayed in this kind of like two step realm for about 15 years. And it's time, it's time to like shake it up a bit. Like, I mean so I would say that like something more like high tempo.
Boz
Would be some British. That moment put me on to once again. When I was really young was Artful Dodger, right. I had like Arthur Roger summer where I was so tapped in like what? Square pusher. Yeah, Mama put me on a square push as well. I ended up rapping over. Over Red Hot Car on like an old mixtape. Wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what would square but should be considered like John said like garage. Garage, right. Same as Artful Dodger.
Sam
Yeah, yeah.
Boz
Are those, are they still active?
Sam
Burial is like kind of like. No, I'll say. Barry was just like, you know, like kind of minimal garage. Like kind of.
Roxanne
It's funny you say that because I wanted this one track that bonded me and Sam was bi Burial. Do you remember there was like holding you.
Sam
Yeah, you know that one?
Boz
You know what's the one Drake sampled? That was kind of like a garage record.
Sam
Kyla, do you mind?
Roxanne
Do you mind?
Boz
On which. Which is that One dance.
Diamond
Which record?
Sam
Yeah, one dance. And the original is way better than what he did to it.
Roxanne
Okay.
Boz
What? One Dance. A classic.
Sam
Oh, that. Kyla. Kyla, do you mind? Shout out Kyla, do you mind? That's like a national.
Diamond
But I feel like that's. I. If that's your country, man.
Roxanne
Most of people lost their virginity.
Sam
Like I, I would take, I would take, I would take.
Boz
Whoever lost their virginity to one dance. Tell you that much.
Sam
I'll tell you the L's in our food.
Boz
Who was the one dance and who was to this song?
Diamond
Comment below. Comment below.
Boz
I bet you I'm winning. I still the one dance.
Roxanne
Yeah, but we're English.
Boz
Every summons every summer. I feel like one dance as a.
Diamond
World, as a world. We've locked in the summer of 2016 as like the holy grail of music.
Roxanne
It wasn't summer of 2016.
Diamond
It was magical. But it's like we hold on to that like it's the golden child.
Roxanne
Why do we all think it was the best?
Sam
That's right.
Diamond
It's a beautiful year for me.
Roxanne
Accepted. It's the great year Though we all agree.
Boz
What was it about? It feels like the world ended in 2016. We just been in like a black mirror episode since.
Roxanne
It has been crazy.
Boz
Take us back, man.
Diamond
I don't. I don't want to cause a division here, but I do want to ask because Boz is a huge. I'll say in your language. A football. A fan of football. Yeah, I know. He's a PSG guy.
Boz
Sore topic. We did his boys a little dirty.
Diamond
We've been on this Kumbaya piece.
Boz
Wave. Can I say Arsenal gave us our biggest cop.
Sam
Thank you.
Boz
Of the Champions League. My scariest games.
Sam
I'll take it.
Diamond
So Arsenal, is that your club?
Sam
Yes. Yes. Saw team.
Diamond
Are you. You're both Arsenal fans?
Roxanne
Yeah, I'm by proxy. That doesn't count. Not because of him, because of a friend.
Boz
But it's like, you know, it's different. We don't even have a real rivalry. It's just this year we met at it. We met at a head in it.
Sam
We met a real good head, you know? Yeah.
Boz
But like, actually I. With Arsenal, because I feel like. I mean, it might not apply to you necessarily, but I feel like like the black club of London all the out. We were the first.
Sam
We were the first team to filled an all black 11.
Boz
Like, so y' all were like. Y' all broke the.
Diamond
All 11. Like the starting stuff.
Boz
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The color barrier. Like Jackie Robinson.
Diamond
Wow.
Sam
We. We. Yeah.
Boz
My family in Oxford, all my cousins in Oxford.
Sam
I'm pretty sure we're talking venga.
Boz
The Gooners must have been like all the goners.
Sam
90S, late 90s.
Boz
All right, no more shots for me specific year. All the Gooners shout out to the mandam. They tapped in.
Sam
It's true, man. Like for context. Yeah. I remember 1, 1, 1 title breaking season for the Premier League about a year or two ago. Like, all like Bars's cousins in. In. In London and Oxford, like, shout them all out. Love them. They're divided between Man United mostly and Arsenal.
Boz
It's really Arsenal. And then there's like two that'll die on the hill for Manu, which I really respect.
Sam
Yeah.
Boz
You know what I mean? Because they'll like. If I pulled up my family chat right now, you wouldn't even think these was related. These. God. At each other's. At each other's next.
Sam
It's crazy, but like, you have like. So that we had like a title deciding game against Man City and I was watching it with Bars in. In LA and. And the family in Oxford watching It in Oxford in their time. You had. And he was like, look at this on FaceTime. Right? You had the Man United fans upstairs.
Diamond
Yeah.
Sam
Like a whole different section of the house. And you had the Arsenal fans downstairs and like the difference in real temperament. Like just tone like upstairs or like celebrating like Arsenal. Like, you know, we hate each other. Right. And then the Arsenal fans. I said, it's just dead quiet, like dead silence. So, I mean, so it's a real. It's a real. It's a real pain. Like that's, you know, I'm not sure. I'm assuming you're a Knicks fan coming from New York.
Diamond
That's the. It's the only team I care about.
Sam
So, like, I would say that the. From my experience of kind of being like a. Like by proxy, like a knicks fan since 2016.
Boz
Jets too. We made him a Jets fan.
Sam
Yeah, jets fan as well.
Diamond
Jumped on the Jets.
Sam
Cuz everyone. Everyone in.
Boz
Sorry.
Diamond
That's a plane that keeps crashing. But you can. Like, it's like our current faa, like, if any.
Sam
That's what it's like to be an Arsenal fan. Like, you know, you, You. You can't. And same with the Knicks. With the. With this champion.
Diamond
Oh, no, no, we're not going to go that far. Don't do that. See, now you're Invincibles.
Boz
Yeah, it's true. We don't have the Invincibles. Maybe you don't know in our lifetime, bro, the jets haven't won since what, 68, 67.
Sam
See, I don't. I don't know. I don't know that. That lineage, but I do know generation.
Diamond
The Civil rights movement. Yeah.
Sam
The level of like, pain. They're kind of like you were the. The things and flows, ebbs and flows. Like peaks and troughs. Like that.
Boz
Troughs. Is that like a valley?
Diamond
Troughs, troughs, troughs.
Sam
Tr.
Roxanne
Trough.
Diamond
Trough. Like where you pee in a communal trough.
Sam
Yeah, that's very medieval. Hold on.
Boz
Off topic, off topic. What's up with y' all medieval ass urinals in the uk?
Diamond
What?
Sam
Is that what you like, bro, with the big metal ones?
Boz
It's not. It's not like. It's just like a huge sink.
Sam
It goes like, how many. How many of us can fit there? How come?
Boz
No dividers, no nothing?
Diamond
Who says AO first? He's diamond off. Off. Mike said you have to check out what everybody's working with.
Boz
That's crazy.
Diamond
They call that the UK heat. Check.
Boz
I love the uk. Like my second home. But like better urinals, right? It's better get your urinals right. It's not sanitary. It's other piss ricocheting off the metal.
Diamond
He's right.
Boz
Like, you can't wear shorts, right?
Diamond
It's like a buck shotgun. You hit. You. You. If you. If you have a healthy stream and you hit the wall, it's gonna bounce back and hit you. In casualties.
Roxanne
Toilet train properly, that wouldn't be an issue.
Sam
Yeah, but it's better than France.
Roxanne
Yeah, it is. In France.
Sam
France, you want to take a. And there's a hole in the floor and you go, oh my.
Diamond
Where is that happening?
Roxanne
Service stations. Service stations.
Boz
Really?
Sam
You've not experienced that?
Boz
Oh, you mean like the little. Yeah.
Sam
Like you squat towards the ground and you go for it. And I'm like, what the is this?
Boz
You go for it? I'm like.
Sam
I'm like, no.
Boz
Oh, man.
Diamond
Is that like growing up like so, so growing up here, like in New York is like, we like, you know, Philly, like New Jersey, Boston, whatever. Like, yeah, like those are like our. Oh, yeah, France. The France is your.
Sam
I love France, but the French just off rip, Like, I mean, it's different.
Boz
They didn't. Y' all have some. Literally, we were at war for 100 years. 100 year wars.
Sam
Like, I love the French way more.
Diamond
Just we love.
Sam
But like the French and English, like, we love just kind of like slapping each other in the face for the fun of it at this point.
Diamond
Yeah, I mean, like, we ain't never.
Boz
Been to war with Boston. Like, it's a different deal. It's just sports.
Diamond
It's purely these met in the field.
Boz
With big ass swords. So it's like, I can see how it's hard to get over that.
Roxanne
Hard to get over.
Sam
Like, it's such a great. It's such a great piece of history, you know, like we. And the funniest thing that I learned recently was about the cockney language. Language, right. So linguistically, like, you know, we have a lot of national pride within the Cockneys. They think that they are the English of the English. But the only reason that they drop the H on like, you're, you're. You're having a laugh, right? They'll be like, you're having a laugh. The only reason that they drop the H is because of the Huguenots that settled in East London. So if you listen to a Frenchman speak English, they'll be like, you are having a laugh. It becomes you're having a laugh, right? Or you're having a laugh stuff. So. So technically the Cockneys are French.
Diamond
So you even on them.
Boz
Yeah, yeah.
Diamond
So it's like, like.
Sam
So it's just the full circle of, like, you know, what is national, what is nationalism?
Roxanne
Doesn't mean anything.
Sam
Doesn't mean anything.
Diamond
It does.
Sam
Not everyone. Everyone's French, especially in Europe.
Roxanne
Doesn't mean.
Boz
I mean, here too. It probably even more so.
Roxanne
That's here. Yeah.
Boz
I mean, country's 200 years old. Try to convince you. You gotta.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
You know, make America slavery again.
Sam
Yeah.
Diamond
This country is.
Boz
We got more Lego over there.
Diamond
Is there? If you were to compare. I know London's home. But, like, comparatively, if you were to have a preference, is it New York or London or what do you prefer over between the two.
Roxanne
New York or London?
Diamond
Yeah. Well, in culturally and also, like, we can get down to, like, clothing and food, which you've kind of already addressed other things. Yeah.
Boz
Healthy one.
Roxanne
I mean, fashion 100. New York.
Diamond
Yeah.
Roxanne
New York, hands down. Yes. New York is like the closest thing you can get to, like, I don't know, Paris.
Boz
Nah, man. Tokyo's flying.
Roxanne
Oh, sorry. Tokyo. Yeah.
Sam
I'm sorry. Not all of us have been to Tokyo's.
Diamond
Damn near lives in Tokyo at this point.
Roxanne
That's why he looks so good. He's so well put together.
Sam
Thank you.
Diamond
Have you. Have either of you done Tokyo yet?
Roxanne
No, never.
Diamond
I've been dying to go to.
Sam
Yeah, but let's go.
Roxanne
You already have been.
Diamond
I would. I would love to go.
Boz
I took Julian to South Africa.
Sam
Wow.
Diamond
Yeah, it's a fun time. You mentioned acid earlier. The only time I've ever taken acid was in South Africa in a bush.
Boz
Oh, you did that?
Diamond
I did it because in my mind.
Sam
I did a caller went out into the house.
Diamond
Oh, yeah. So when we. So this is my journey was like, I arrived in. In Johannesburg, and I didn't know many of the guys, like, I had met, you know, like, so many of the. The fiend.
Boz
Wait, backstory. I had just signed my pub deal.
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
Got a crazy bag.
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
And I was like, it. I'm gonna take a gang of the to Sa to celebrate.
Diamond
He calls me. I'm at Atlantic Records. I'm working like, we're in office three days a week. He calls me on, like, a Thursday. He goes, what are you doing next week? Or like, in two weeks or whatever.
Roxanne
And I was like, what are you doing tomorrow?
Diamond
I'm here. I'm working. What do you mean? He was like, do you want to go to South Africa? And at that time, I was already, like, committing to Transitioning from leaving Atlantic. So then that just became, like, my impetus for, like, all right, I'll put in my two weeks, like, go and, like, get my, you know, passport rushed. Shout out, rich. Who did that? Rich got the plug. And next thing you know, next week, I'm in Johannesburg and I'm meeting all these guys. I just landed. No time to, like, shout out Vaughn.
Boz
In the Stay Low family, first and foremost, shout out, yes.
Diamond
And I. I. I land. I drop my bags up in the. In the. At the telly. And they're like, all right, we're getting in the car and going three hours north to the Shambhala. And I was like, I'm sorry, where? And they're like, shambhala. And they were like. I was like, my bad. I don't know.
Sam
Shamble.
Boz
Let me tell you about Shambhala, because one of my favorite.
Diamond
All right, you've never been. We're not doing.
Boz
Is basically, you know, you know, stay loaded. Part of staying entertainment. It's a big, big, like, South African family, and they own, like, a 35, 000 acre, like, it's one of the.
Diamond
Largest private bush in South Africa of the bush.
Boz
And, like, and their big homie was like, Mandela's guy, and he built. He built Mandela a house in the bush for him to, like, vacation, which is the house they gave us to stay in.
Roxanne
Amazing.
Diamond
And a lot of presidents.
Boz
It was mornings where I'm sitting there taking a, like, Mandela ass was on this toilet. Yeah, I'm sleeping in. Mandela's like, King Ross. We was in the office. Was in the office. And, and. And. And then some of the security dudes and then some of, like, the managers shout out, dale. Dale came in, and he was like, dale? Yeah, Dale. Dale's a guy, man. Big, big homie. And he was just telling us about, like, you know, the history of the whole place. And it's like, bro, it's the most peaceful, beautiful, serene, like, experience you can have. Like, especially when you're tripping acid.
Diamond
Yes.
Boz
Because you. Yo. I mean, the brontosaurus was fake, but the rhinos were real. And I remember we came where you see where this camera is right here is right off screen, like, right here. I'm telling you, the rhino was right here. And I swear to you, I was the first time the rhino got that close. I was shook, and he was just grazing. And then he looked at me and, like, telekinetically, he was just like, my. Used to be down here with us. Like, you change. I ain't change. And I Was like, damn. In that moment, I was like, you. Right? Like, I'm not scared.
Sam
You became like Jeff Goldblue.
Boz
And I mean, luckily, like, I wasn't high enough to, like, go all the way and jump off and be. And, you know, my brother. Because then I might have got my, you know, let me hug you right on my shirt. I got my rock for sure. And. Because they probably wasn't thinking that and.
Diamond
Wasn'T saying that they were not on the same page.
Boz
Yeah, they probably wasn't. But in my heart, all the animals were talking to me. You know what I mean? Straight up. But then we. Remember the hyenas.
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
So.
Diamond
So this is where my. My story. Like, we. We took. We. We did a ride when we got in to. To. On the morning ride. Morning? No, like, afternoon. And then we did a sunset cruise. Beautiful. Private dinner. Private chef. Beautiful. We had a kuru. It's like their antelope deer situation.
Sam
Yeah. Yeah.
Diamond
And I remember I asked the chef. I was like, is this, like, an indigenous animal? Like, I don't want to eat something that's like. And they're like, no, they run rampant. Like, yeah.
Boz
They gotta call them. They. You know.
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
Do something with them.
Diamond
Beautiful. They got it. So there was. So then we take the. The night ride, and we take acid for the night ride. And during the night ride, we're. We're on.
Boz
We took acid on a boat for the sunset cruise.
Diamond
That's right. Because I was smashing you this.
Boz
Could not catch a fish. But he's so com. I didn't. That's when I seen how competitive, bro. He would not stop fishing. Everyone else was just catching fish left or right. This thing was like.
Diamond
They were all socializing, hanging on the boat. I was like. I was like, yo. Approaching my acid trip.
Boz
It's the most beautiful. There's hippos. And.
Diamond
And he's like, I didn't want to talk to anybody. I said, I'm all you. I'm getting to finish.
Boz
Locked in.
Diamond
Locked in for an hour and a half. However long we were on the water, I respect it. I didn't want to talk to anybody.
Sam
I couldn't leave that, bro.
Boz
We docked, and this was still fishing.
Diamond
There's video footage of this, too, by the way.
Boz
So.
Diamond
So we get back on the. On the ride, and we're going in the night now. The sun's down, and it's our only light source is the. The headlights on the. The Land Cruisers like, you've never seen the stars. And the. The. The lantern that Dale, who Is driving. Is holding in, like, pointing in the. In the direction of the road itself to also to spot animals. That was more of like a. Hey, here's a. You know, whatever.
Boz
Mind you. He's sitting on a.
Sam
On the thing on the front.
Boz
The thing on the front.
Diamond
He's. It's a jump seat. It's a jump.
Boz
V is driving.
Diamond
V is driving also off the.
Boz
I'm saying the driver. I'm saying passenger. And we're looking at each other and I'm like. I'm like, bro, I know you did the same tab as I did. So, like, I'm like, you good? He's like, hell, let's go.
Diamond
He's off. This is like, oh, hearing the.
Boz
Out of this thing.
Sam
Like an old land driver or something.
Boz
He's like, like, yeah. You know them big ass. Yeah.
Sam
Like 12 gigs.
Boz
Yeah. Because it's really like roads.
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
It's like a few paths, but then like, yes. If. If they see it off the side, they going off the road.
Diamond
We go into the bush.
Roxanne
Was this when Caleb was there as well and diamond and Clay?
Boz
Oh, no.
Diamond
It's a different trip.
Boz
That's different. That's a different trip. So Tori was on this trip, right?
Diamond
Yeah, Tori.
Boz
Guy furious was on this trip.
Diamond
Yep. Guy. The gully gully.
Sam
The gully gully.
Boz
Yeah.
Diamond
Yeah, yeah.
Boz
Guy fear is on this trip.
Diamond
Falcons.
Boz
Falcons was on that trip.
Roxanne
Wow.
Diamond
Momo. Momo. Reg proof Reg.
Boz
Maddie.
Diamond
Maddie, you just need to get a.
Sam
Reg POV in general.
Diamond
Like, just put a GoPro on red.
Boz
We're not gonna talk about that.
Diamond
So. So. So we're.
Boz
The realest one.
Diamond
We're riding it. We're riding in the pitch black in the dark, and we. We see a hyena scurry up the the road and. And we. Dale goes. Vaughn follow. And we turn it off the path. We get off the path, and we're no longer on a road. We're in the. In the bush proper. We see a bunch of trees, a bunch of like. It's just wilder. And then Dale goes. Cut the lights.
Boz
No, no. Remember why he said that? He's. We got into. I know.
Sam
Den.
Boz
He's like, then. And so you look around and that shit is like. It's like Lion King. I get it. It was bones.
Diamond
We see. It's just. It's just. It's ripped carcass, ribs, carcasses, heads. And it smells. It just reeks of meat. Just meat. And just like. And it's. It's the African heat, and it just smells like rotting flesh. And then we see all this. We establish where we're at. Like, cut the lights.
Boz
Cut the lights in the engine. Let's see if they come back.
Diamond
And then it goes. And all you hear is.
Boz
No.
Diamond
And then we black, pitch black. And I.
Boz
Can I tell you, I've never been more at peace in my.
Diamond
I'm peeking off the acid. Dying, laughing. I could not stop laughing. I was uncontrollably laughing, laughing at this. We were. I've never been more at risk in my life. We look up, I see shooting stars. Just the galaxies and things. Just like seeing an inverted version of the earth that I ever experienced before. And we're all crying, laughing is smelling, rotting. Except Falx was himself foul. On the opposite.
Boz
Get your head back in because I got my head out this stupid. These felines got night vision. Like they can just swipe my ass out. That bitch.
Diamond
We were both all. We were all like, oh, look at the stars. Dumb as yo.
Sam
Really could have gone.
Boz
But it could have been.
Diamond
It was. It was. We would hear like just like. Like foot, feet, pitter patter.
Boz
And the real is the big cats when they. When they like, like purr. Like the lions that like. Because it's hills, it like reverberates through. Yeah, it's crazy. It's a crazy low end, like rumble. And then like the guys will be like, they're in that direction and they just pull the. And like speed off over there, find some lines.
Diamond
The greatest thing they said that. That was a hell of expert. One of the craziest things. Like, what about like people that, you know, come to the. To the grounds and try to poach them, the elephants in particular for their. For their tusks and trying to get the ivory or like chopping off the noses of the rhinos. And so when we catch those guys, you know, we'll shoot them, we'll kill them. Which is 100 justified. They're allowed to do that. And then we'll just leave them to. To bleed out. And we'll let the animals. We'll let nature take its course. Well, let the lions and whoever just have it their carcass.
Boz
Yeah. Shout out Rylan. I think that was a Ryland story.
Diamond
If you're on these grounds and you're. And you're one of those people, nature will do its part and just eat them.
Boz
Yeah.
Diamond
And take care of it.
Boz
One of my security guys out there, Rhonda was like anti poaching. So he would tell us, yeah, we would just stay in a bush and, like, wait to, like, ambush the poachers. And then he was like, we leaving for the animals by see. All right, let's get it.
Diamond
Yo. Such a good impression.
Boz
Shout out, Rylan, man, what a. This is a great dude. Dude. Great guy.
Diamond
Such a good dude.
Boz
Shout out, dog. Shout out everyone that takes care of us when we in sa. Shout out the whole of sa, man.
Diamond
They know they got my heart is there as well. Since we're on the topic of traveling, is there a. A country that you. You have performing or haven't performed in that you really want to do a show in? Or, like, what's your favorite stop on tour? Where do you really want to go next? Rocks?
Roxanne
Oh, I really like Amsterdam.
Boz
We did Amsterdam a few times.
Sam
I wanna. I wanna see.
Boz
Oh, not something new.
Sam
I wanna.
Boz
You're gonna lose your minds when you go to South Africa. Because when I go to South Africa, they ask for y' all all the time.
Roxanne
I know they are.
Boz
They have the most unique and varied, like, love for music I've come across. You know, some people think it's just, like, dance music. And you hear a Mapiano and like, Afro Tech and all the. That's going on. That's obviously that they're exporting to the world. But there's like, such a deep love of, like, hip hop, R B, jazz.
Sam
Yeah.
Boz
So, like, they. Those are the most active people on social. Asking me to bring out somewhere.
Roxanne
Yeah, they're always asking, I think outside.
Sam
Of Scandinavia, like, the. The melanchronic kind of like the. Sorry, the melancholy. Yeah, melancholic melancholy. Like energy exists within a Mapiano. Like, it really does. Like, I've had that experience for, like, since we did the joint with Sims With Gratitude had a really big connection with South African audiences. And I think, you know, we've had, like, a. We've been blessed to have support from South Africa. I think it'd be good.
Roxanne
Yeah, we have.
Boz
No, it's a great. It was a great. It's a great, like, country to get loving Shane Eagle as well. Shout out Shane.
Sam
Yep.
Boz
Shane Eagle was on the middle. And y' all did the joints on his album as well.
Sam
Exactly. I think, like, yeah, South Africa would be a great one. Like Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, anywhere, probably. Like, I've never been to Asia, like, ever. I think something. Anything in Asia would be incredible. You know, whether it be going to, like, Tokyo, whether it be going to, like, Silhouette, Silat. Sorry. In Bangladesh or something. Sell it. It's not seller. Or going to, like, Malaysia or going to Seoul.
Roxanne
I want to go to Tibet.
Sam
Yeah, I know. We just worked with an amazing artist called Sagun. He's from Nepal. Like, and he was telling me about, like, the kind of landscape that he grew up in. Yeah, the sounds incredible.
Boz
Like, yeah, that's where Mount Everest is at, right?
Sam
Yeah, it's like. And that's just.
Boz
That's just.
Sam
That's just nine to five.
Diamond
Yeah.
Roxanne
We were up in the, like, where were we? Strawberry Peak.
Sam
Yeah.
Roxanne
In Los Angeles in, like, April, shooting some content with him. It was 6am we were like, look at how amazing this is. And he was like.
Sam
This is great.
Diamond
It's weird how, like, we just kind of get, you know, that wears on you after a while. You just, you know, it just becomes. Becomes the. The normal.
Roxanne
Yeah, whatever. You grew up with this wherever you.
Diamond
Grew up, which I think, like, inspires especially, like, I know in particular, like, as the friend of Boss, like, his sound like he travels so damn much. And I think you can hear that reflected in so many records and so many versions of his music. But, you know, like, with you guys as well, like, is that what. What's like, the. I find, like, when the artist, the more they advance in their career, you can go down, like, one of you can go down many paths, but certainly one of two ways where I see is like, you can. Can get comfortable and as. As success grows, the comfortability grows and the lack of creativity can grow as well. Or you can, you know, that success can manifest and grow, but at the same time, you keep pushing yourself to try different, you know, cultures, go to different countries, try different food, and just like, inspire yourself in different ways. Like, what do you hope is there, like, a driving force that's been the same thing since you were like 11 or when you guys were in high school creating music, or like, what is, like, the continuing force that makes you just want to constantly create?
Roxanne
When I was younger, I don't think I ever really realized how much travel plays a part in being an artist.
Diamond
Yeah.
Roxanne
Whether it's writing or acting or whatever. Like, I. I'm very used to being in solitude, but it wasn't until I pushed myself and had real life experiences that I had no control over.
Boz
It's the best form of education.
Roxanne
Exactly.
Boz
Irrelevant of what you're doing. There's. There's nothing that'll educate you like traveling, because everywhere else, you're just getting indoctrinated by the state.
Sam
Yeah.
Boz
You know, at the end of the day, no matter where you live, it's just the state.
Roxanne
Indoctrinating you and the same people saying the same things.
Sam
Yeah.
Boz
It's like, don't with them. Don't with them. Don't with them. No. It's like, all right, brother, I get it. But let me go see what's up.
Roxanne
It's in the moments where, like in Raleigh, for instance, I started the song on our ep. Harmon, I started the song on you. And then we're at the shelter and it was just like the. The expansive trees, just the height of trees.
Sam
And they were all big trees.
Roxanne
They're very tall trees.
Boz
Shout out to the shelter.
Roxanne
I was looking out the window and I just felt this, like, overwhelming feeling of creativity.
Diamond
Yeah.
Roxanne
So I think traveling is the most important thing in order to fuel that for me. 100 and I used to hate planes and now I don't, so.
Boz
Yeah, that's true. That was like an early.
Diamond
Really?
Boz
It was like an early hindrance. Hindrance. That's a good word. Yeah.
Roxanne
Yeah. So, yeah. Shout out to you.
Boz
Completely conquered that. Proud of you.
Roxanne
Thank you.
Boz
We wouldn't be here today. She'd be skyping in.
Roxanne
No, I literally would.
Diamond
Really? That bad? Really?
Roxanne
Shout out homeopathy and shout out turbly. Love you terribly. You should create an app because you're the best.
Boz
What's that?
Roxanne
It's a. It's a website where you can put in your flight number and it tells you from previous. What they called the people.
Diamond
That gives you, like, some context of the pilot.
Boz
Oh, terrible.
Sam
It's like, it tells. It tells you how much you're gonna.
Roxanne
Like, might die by the hour. By the hour. It tells you and it's accurate. We're like in the second hour, if.
Boz
I want to know.
Sam
Creative rock. Sounds like I actually knew this was going to happen.
Roxanne
I'm like, like, oh.
Diamond
In terms of like, holding on to the seat.
Roxanne
Traffic control tells them what's happened in the previous, like, three flights. So then I told the girl across from him about terribly and when we were experiencing really bad turbulence, she lent over and I was just like. She was like, was this, like, supposed to happen? I was like, yeah, for the next 20 minutes.
Diamond
Okay, cool.
Sam
She was crazy.
Boz
That's impressive. I'll be sleeping through all of that.
Roxanne
Oh, you're so same. I've never slept in a flight in my life.
Diamond
Really?
Roxanne
Even 12 hours, I'm awake. I'm almost also staring out the window when the woman comes along or the man and tells me, put the window down.
Boz
Like, you ever seen that classic episode of Twilight Zone?
Diamond
That is my favorite episode of Twilight.
Roxanne
So I don't think you should tell me if it's scary.
Diamond
It is scary.
Boz
Next time we hang out, I'm just gonna play it for you. Next time, wearing my crown, I'm just.
Sam
Gonna play for you as a true Englishman. I'm gonna go for a quick slash.
Boz
I'll be right back.
Diamond
It.
Roxanne
Oh, wow.
Boz
I think we only have, like, a.
Roxanne
Few minutes left for, like, 25 minutes.
Boz
Are we slashing?
Diamond
I'm going to pee myself.
Roxanne
Oh, okay.
Boz
All right. Yo, slash. Tom. As a. As a.
Roxanne
So maybe we could ask each other questions.
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
Let's go, rocks. So, hey, when did you know that Sam's hairline was receding?
Roxanne
Okay, so actually, this is really interesting. He kept telling me, my hairline is gonna recede. My hairline is gonna recede. I didn't even.
Boz
Oh, no. He spoke it into existence.
Roxanne
No, because he knew, because his dad's had. And his brothers as well. But I didn't even know what that meant because all of the men in my family are full heads of hair, like, even the ones in their 90s. So I was like, it's okay.
Boz
But he looks good with a baldy.
Roxanne
Yeah, I do. Like a. I do. Like an egg.
Boz
Yeah. I think he should have just always been bald. Just stay bald.
Roxanne
I've always really fancied Mark Strong, you know, Mark Strong, of course. So.
Boz
Yeah, I can see it. I can see it. All right. All right. Shoot one off for me.
Roxanne
When did you know. How does it start that you were gonna be a rapper? There we go.
Diamond
Wow.
Boz
When I know I was gonna be a rapper.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
I think I'm finding out every day.
Roxanne
There we go.
Boz
Every time I put something out, I'm like, am I still a rapper? Do they still with me or like.
Roxanne
But that's true. Because it's so hard.
Boz
J Boma. That's my backup plan. I'm just gonna just. Just open up all of MoMA's gigs, which is how I got it. I started music that way, you know, I was running around the streets in New York. I got into a bunch of trouble. Mama. Like, a great big bro was like, yo, man. He's like, like, I told you, used to always play me music. And we always kind of had that bond. So he was like, yo. He gave me his laptop and was like, just start opening up my gigs for me. This was, like, 09, you know, and that's. That's the first laptop that, like, I ever did a freestyle on. It was me and the Fiends. We used to have this crib. In the West Village. We called it the Carter. We're huge Lil Wayne fans and, you know, New Jack City. There were some similarities. Yeah, yeah. And, yeah, I used to DJ all their parties or a bunch of, you know, a bunch of homies. I went to nyu and. And I had dropped out of school. Hampton, Virginia. Shout Out Hampton. And then. And, you know, I think. I think my. Oh, I was DJ Bastradamus. That was my DJ name. That was my DJ name. I was DJ Master Thomas Bastardamas. But I think DJ Boma is better.
Roxanne
I like Boma.
Boz
Boma's way better. Yo, Mo, come on. I cut you a little royalty. Let me just run with it. I kind of. I ain't gonna lie. I kind of want a DJ again.
Roxanne
You should do it.
Boz
I want to start DJing again. Just to hang out with everyone. I like to hang out with and drink and play. We want to hear. Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's do it. I'm gonna come right back, DJ Boma. Yo, let me run with that, Mo. Let me run with that one time, my boy. Come on. I'm your brother. I'm your brother. Your. I'm your flesh and blood, Bulma. If anyone could be DJ Bulma is me. I'm your little bro, man. Let me run with it. Y' all good. You guys, so good.
Diamond
I'm so glad.
Roxanne
Yeah, I've been holding it for about.
Boz
It's cool. I was. I was moderating in your absence. I was in producer mode.
Diamond
You were holding it in producer mode?
Sam
I held it down still.
Roxanne
Wait, Balls of Steel is an English TV show.
Boz
Yeah, but no, it's also a saying.
Sam
Here in the fact.
Boz
Yeah. Like, you're. Like. You're courageous.
Sam
We needed to pee mid, you know, conversation.
Diamond
Oh, wait. I just. No segue. Just a genuine question I'm curious about. But we talk film a lot and, like, watch movie. We're into that. Like, what. What movies are like. What's your, you know, art fix? Outside of music?
Roxanne
I love film.
Sam
Yeah, film is.
Boz
We just went to the movies the other day, you know, three of us.
Diamond
What'd you think? 28 years later.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
Yeah.
Diamond
Decent. Mid.
Boz
I'm still perplexed. Mixed feelings. I don't like to on anyone's art publicly, so I'm just gonna, you know.
Diamond
Noted.
Boz
But I really like the original trilogy. Just. They threw me for a loop. And I don't want to spoil.
Sam
We have a habit of watching.
Boz
I enjoy. It was like. It was a fun watch, but, like, I don't know, maybe I Had hyped it up in my head. Maybe I was expecting something.
Sam
I was expecting more than that.
Boz
Same.
Sam
Yeah. What's the one? The Vivich. That's our.
Boz
It's a period piece. Robert Eggers. You know Robert Eggers?
Diamond
Robert Eggers, Yeah.
Boz
And you don't know the Vivich?
Diamond
No, it's really the witch.
Boz
But the way they stylize, it's two beats. You've seen the witch?
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
Have you seen the witch? I'm gonna say. Because if we say the Vivich and you're acting like. Yeah, you know, don't be like, oh, I saw the witch. I didn't know what you meant by for vids. Yeah. Right now you bullshitting a lot of the people. All right. Nah, that's. Honestly, that's probably my favorite one.
Roxanne
I still want to know why you lot didn't invite me to that. I was confused. We were out in LA at a sushi restaurant. It was bars, Sam and bars's creative directed do.
Diamond
Talking about sushi in New York?
Roxanne
No, in la. And we're having sushi and then radioactive kind. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The. The mercury. The three eyed fish from the Simpsons.
Sam
Yeah.
Roxanne
They're like, we're going to see the witch. And they just threw me in an Uber.
Boz
Oh, did we do that?
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
Really?
Diamond
Bye.
Boz
Damn.
Roxanne
And then I went back to the Hollywood house by myself because.
Boz
Really?
Sam
Yeah, because we knew she was.
Boz
Sometimes it's really for the bros.
Roxanne
I stood outside of that house for an hour on the phone.
Boz
Sometimes it's too much.
Diamond
Too much. One woman.
Roxanne
I had way too much that day. Evidently. Just kicking five.
Boz
It wasn't five.
Sam
D won't go.
Diamond
This is too much of the ratio.
Roxanne
Sometimes guys just need to be a little bit, you know, close to one another.
Boz
Yeah, I mean, these guys just went to the bathroom together. So we held hands.
Sam
Great.
Boz
We were like one.
Sam
Great.
Roxanne
Was it a long trail?
Boz
Sam was like, what's up with all this privacy with your urinals? I'm used to 15 dudes wings out. I'm used to like shoulder everywhere busted out of bed. Why is no one piss ricocheting on me? You know, Summer Miss, you know the urinals.
Sam
The Uranos he's talking about, right?
Boz
Uranus, we call them Uranos. Is crazy. What you call them urinals sound like.
Diamond
A Middle Eastern conflict. Where's the.
Boz
Hey, Ur.
Sam
Yeah, we call him.
Boz
That's your anal at that point.
Diamond
Israel about to bomb that place.
Boz
What the. Is that the Uranos.
Diamond
Uranos fc.
Sam
So what we used to do. Yeah. Like, at school, if someone was, like, pissing on one of them, you just fly kick him in the back so the whole would get pressed.
Diamond
That is so up.
Sam
It's crazy. You know what I'm saying? Like, that would be like, up to.
Boz
Like, the n. I feel you. I went to school. A lot like it. Oh.
Diamond
Where it's just like.
Sam
Yeah, the piss wool. Yeah.
Boz
White boy humor is the same worldwide. Like, you just violate, like, privates. Like, intimate, like, private moments. Yeah. Like, if it's a dick out, it's a white boy making a joke.
Roxanne
The Olympics.
Sam
Yeah. Cooler G. You know? You already know.
Boz
What is that.
Diamond
Why is that, like, teabagging and, like. You know what?
Sam
I don't know.
Diamond
Pants and people panting people was a big thing.
Roxanne
I think it stands back to the Roman and Greek empire. Not to be a neek, but, like, I think it does. They all used to love getting naked with each other and doing everything naked.
Boz
That's how you feel, Sam.
Diamond
So homoerotic.
Sam
Yeah. Yeah, sometimes.
Boz
And that's how we came up with the title sometime based on. Oh, man. Sam in the bathroom with a lot of men.
Diamond
Most times.
Boz
You got to make it pretty.
Roxanne
Okay.
Sam
Yeah.
Diamond
Is there. This is whale. You mentioned the songs that didn't make the album. Is there ever a chance that those come out? Or over the course of, like, an EP or a random drop.
Sam
All right. To say that.
Boz
Yeah. I mean, I think when we landed on Melon Chronicle, we realized, like, it's kind of a genre in itself and a very unique sound. And I would love to, you know, revisit that world and expand on it and grow, you know, as a unit. We learned a lot in this go around, so there's like a learning curve we don't have to go through. You know, I think it would be more efficient. Hopefully we'll take another decade. You know, I think we can put it together rather. Rather quickly, you know, But I'd love to keep exploring it, more so than sharing the old ones that didn't make it. I'd be more vested in new ones. New ones. Yeah. I think. I think we'd all agree on that.
Diamond
Melon. I didn't feel like I haven't asked, like, the easy question. Melancholic. Melanchronic, huh? Jesus.
Boz
No more shots for Julian.
Diamond
But.
Boz
What'S the.
Sam
Melanchol.
Diamond
What does that mean? Like, who came up with that? What's the. Explain that.
Sam
I mean, I was looking for a substitute to Maloka Vel, which was the original Title. Yeah.
Boz
Which is the original, because again, when. When we started this, like she said, four walls, which. Which is like the genesis of everything. We were working on Milky Way and the milk motif was so heavy. And then. I honestly still love the title because it's. It's. It's amazing. But it, It's. It's from Clockwork Orange.
Diamond
Yeah.
Boz
Which is the. The Drug with Milk. The Milk with Drugs, which is a very Fiend Boss Hicks friendly title, you know. But I think as, again, that was the beauty of having all this time is like, when you progress and you realize what you want something to mean. And it grew out of being something tied to that moment, to something timeless. And it. Again, I still feel the same way about four walls today as I did in 2017, which is like, you know, that's what. That's what made us want to get to this point. It's like, yo, this is. This is timeless. You know, this doesn't belong to any certain time, moment, genre, trend, anything. And so, you know, when. When Sam came up with Melon Chronica, it just seemed perfect. It is. It does speak to this chronic melancholy, you know, that. That a lot of the messaging and the, you know, the songs about longing and. And we joke about, even visually, the three Lonely Uppies, as we call them, you know, which is like these characters that we embody. And it's like just this. This modern human condition of being overworked and over stimulated, but, like, just lacking and longing for connection and, you know, things unsaid that we wish we set the people, you know, emotions that we feel that we don't express. And, you know, we. We believe that vast majority of our peers and our listeners, our audience goes through these same things. You know, we're all of a generation that's had to kind of navigate all this. Like, you know, when I was growing up, there was no dating apps. You know what I mean? Now there's this concept where it's like, okay, what you doing? You know, it's like. It's kind of weird, like, all of it in totality. And we could like, you know, wax deeper about that. But I think it just came to speak to, like, this. This feeling that we all have and this. It's almost Black Mirror. Ish. I use Black Mirror as a. A reference a lot because I love that show. You know, I think it's. It so accurately speaks to, again, the modern human condition and how, you know, how we. How we're taught to socialize, how we. How we taught to love and fall in love and the places we meet people and all that's changed drastically, like for tens of thousands of years. It was one way, you know, and then it's just. And. And even for the beginning of our.
Diamond
Lives and through, I mean from our parents to where we are, it's just.
Boz
I mean even where we were when we were in high school to where we are now is. Is a completely different thing, you know, and it's just like. I think to me it encapsulates all of that.
Diamond
Well, in the spirit of the. The melancholy and. And the dark and like the minutiae of things is what that can put listeners in a place of like a reflective depressive state, including myself. I heard the album, I was like, I even.
Boz
Good, that's good.
Diamond
Which is good. And I think you should sit in that. I think you should honor those emotions. But is there in the spirit of like following the script of most films or this arc of a story, what is the silver lining? Or what should people take away that listen to the album be like, okay, although this put me in this. In this. I want to say funk, but I'm in this mood.
Boz
Feel it.
Diamond
Take this.
Boz
Okay to feel down. It's okay to be sad. It's okay.
Diamond
I'm asking, does there. Is there a. Is there a.
Boz
It doesn't. I don't think there needs to be a silver lining.
Diamond
Yeah.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
You know, I don't think a lot of times you go through in life and there's absolutely no silver lining. You get your heart broken and you're like, what? Damn, I just. Whatever. I got dumped. You know what I mean? You lose a loved one, you know what I mean? Someone passes away, you. You long for talking to them, for seeing them, for hugging them. There's no silver line.
Diamond
Like the end of past lives.
Roxanne
1. Oh my God, the end of past lives. I literally was in the cinema crying. My friend had to hold me.
Diamond
Yeah.
Roxanne
Cuz I was just shaking and everything.
Diamond
Everywhere, all at once. I cry every time I watch that.
Boz
I haven't watched past lives. You had to put me on Jesus.
Diamond
That is.
Sam
I watch Dragon Heart though. That.
Diamond
But that, but the point is like.
Roxanne
These are one thing I will say.
Boz
That scene in Braveheart when they all start swinging their dicks on the hardware. I remember being a kid, like, you think this is wild.
Roxanne
Again, an English tradition.
Diamond
So that's how they pee.
Boz
That's where it starts. That comes back to the. That that's why they're like urinals, come on.
Sam
My urinals.
Diamond
Urinal Urinal for what?
Boz
Just keep swinging, fam.
Roxanne
So one thing I will say about the album and the emotion, if you listen to the end of sometimes during Gala, Matthias's on piano. Not that it sounds like that. There is this moment where the. The back of the piano kind of surges a bit and it sounds like, you know, when you're watching a film and they show light breaking through a window and it kind of makes that, like that high pitched noise. It kind of does that. And during those notes, I feel like in the real sadness and emotion of that song, it's that bit where it breaks. I'm like, there is hope in everything. And it's the end of that chord sequence that I'm like, yeah, I might have been through all of this, but there is always hope. And maybe there's always a break of night.
Boz
The next Melon Chronicle, we should pick up from where that note left off.
Roxanne
That's okay.
Sam
Yeah.
Boz
Let's bring some hope to the world.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Boz
And it'll challenge us. It's easy. Like, now we know this is, you know, this is easy for us. This is what we do. Miss.
Roxanne
Just, you know, or do reggae chronica. Yeah, reggaeton.
Boz
Maybe we'll do Drill Chronicle.
Roxanne
Oh, God. Well, we'll just do a post.
Diamond
All right, well, great. We'll bring some light into the world. Melon Chronica available everywhere now. I nailed it, you guys.
Sam
I know. I'll just say finally.
Boz
After a two hour pot, he's finally pronouncing it correct. Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise for Julian.
Sam
I'll just say my takeaway from the whole album is just. Just make music with your friends.
Diamond
Say it one more time. Just. Just my peanut.
Sam
Shut the up, guys. I'm trying to say something. I'm saying my. My takeaway from this whole album is just make music with your friends.
Roxanne
Yeah.
Diamond
I love you.
Boz
You can never fail with that family.
Diamond
My. My name. You're here on my YouTube page, obviously.
Sam
Color.
Diamond
This is episode 24. Something wrong with the podcast. I love you all. Thank you.
Boz
Sam Rock.
Diamond
Thank you, man. Boz, this has been a pleasure. I love you guys. Thank you so much. I'll see you next week.
Sam
Shout out. O great.
Diamond
That one's fucking awesome.
Podcast Summary: Something Wrong With The Podcast
Episode: SWWP #24 - Bas & The Hics
Release Date: July 1, 2025
Host: Julian Delgado
Guests: Boz, Roxanne, Sam, and Diamond
In the 24th episode of "Something Wrong With The Podcast," host Julian Delgado welcomes his dear friends Boz, Roxanne, Sam, and Diamond. The episode sets a relaxed and conversational tone as the guests share their camaraderie and recent achievements, including their latest album release.
Julian Delgado: "Welcome to episode 24 of Something Wrong With The Podcast. We're here with my dear friends Boz, Roxanne, and Sam—all the way from London. Congratulations on the new album!"
The discussion kicks off with Boz and Sam reminiscing about their time at Pimlico School in London, highlighting the robust music program that fostered their early musical talents. They share anecdotes about collaborating with notable peers like Ashley Waters from "Top Boy" and Thomas Sangster, the actor from "Game of Thrones."
Sam: "We went to a school called Pimlico, right in the center of London. They had an amazing music program for kids developing their skills in classical music or jazz."
Boz: "Shout out to Thomas Sangster. He went to your school as well."
Delving into their musical journey, the guests discuss the formation of their group, The Hicks. They recount memorable sessions in iconic studios like Metropolis and the profound impact of collaborating with producer Caleb Rollins. Boz emphasizes the emotional depth of their music and the importance of genuine collaboration.
Boz: "When we landed on 'Melon Chronica,' we realized it's a genre in itself. We learned a lot and knew what we wanted the messaging and sonic feel to be."
Diamond: "The majority of our peers and audience go through the same emotions we're expressing—it's about vulnerability and connection."
Roxanne narrates a deeply touching moment during a live performance at Sony Hall, where emotional connections with family and the audience culminated in a powerful emotional release. This segment underscores how personal experiences and emotions are intricately woven into their music.
Roxanne: "I was on my knees and wept like a baby. It was a moment of pure emotion, reflecting everything we've been through since writing 'Four Walls.'"
Diamond: "Seeing Boz perform with that level of emotion was beautiful. It showcased the depth of our collective journey."
Boz shares his adventurous experiences traveling to South Africa, recounting a memorable acid trip in the bush that fostered a deeper bond with his friends and influenced their creative process. The guests discuss how traveling serves as a vital source of inspiration and education, enriching their music with diverse cultural elements.
Boz: "Traveling is the best form of education. There's nothing like experiencing different cultures firsthand to inspire your artistry."
Roxanne: "Traveling fuels my creativity. Being in new environments pushes me to explore and express myself more freely."
The conversation transitions to their diverse musical influences, ranging from classical and jazz to hip-hop and electronic genres. Each guest highlights artists and genres that have shaped their sound, expressing a desire to experiment with new musical styles like drum and bass, garage, and reggaeton in future projects.
Sam: "I’d like to explore drum and bass or something more up-tempo and aggressive. It’s time to shake up the streaming era's two-step realm."
Boz: "Artists like Squarepusher and Artful Dodger have been major influences. I’d love to incorporate more garage elements into our music."
Diamond reflects on the profound impact their music has on listeners, including interactions with family and former students who find solace and inspiration in their work. This segment highlights the responsibility and influence artists hold in shaping and supporting their communities.
Diamond: "I received a message from a former student proud of me for listening to our show. It was a huge moment realizing how my words reach and impact people from different walks of life."
Sam: "It’s why our takeaway from the album is to just make music with your friends. It fosters genuine connections and meaningful creations."
Interspersed with the deep discussions are moments of humor and playful interactions among the guests. From teasing Sam about his receding hairline to sharing funny stories about urinals in the UK, these light-hearted segments add warmth and relatability to the episode.
Boz: "When did you know Sam's hairline was receding?"
Roxanne: "He looks good with a baldy! He's just embracing it."
The guests delve into the essence of their creative process, emphasizing authenticity and emotional honesty over chasing trends. Boz articulates the importance of making music that resonates on a deeper emotional level, encouraging listeners to engage with music that fosters personal reflection and genuine feeling.
Boz: "The most powerful thing you can do in music is to make someone feel an emotion. We wanted to create something that people can sit with and experience alongside us."
Diamond: "We hope our listeners take away a moment to reflect and honor their emotions through our music."
As the episode wraps up, the guests reiterate the core message of collaboration, authenticity, and emotional expression in music. They encourage aspiring artists to connect with friends and fellow creatives to produce meaningful and impactful work.
Sam: "My takeaway from this whole album is just to make music with your friends."
Diamond: "Just make music with your friends. It fosters genuine connections and meaningful creations."
Julian Delgado: "Thank you, Boz, Roxanne, Sam, and Diamond for sharing your incredible journey and insights. Until next week!"
This episode of "Something Wrong With The Podcast" offers an intimate glimpse into the lives and creative processes of Bas & The Hics. Through heartfelt conversations and shared experiences, the guests highlight the significance of authentic collaboration, emotional depth in music, and the enriching power of travel and cultural exploration. Whether you're a long-time listener or new to the show, this episode provides valuable insights into the making of meaningful and impactful music.
Tune in next week for another episode where Julian Delgado continues to unravel the cultural threads and personal stories that shape our thoughts and lives.