Berwyn turned his darkest days into soulful rap
Written by ABR on 01/03/2023
This story originally appeared in i-D’s The Timeless Issue, no. 371, Spring 2023. Order your copy here.
“You don’t get nothin’ in this world without a price. No, you don’t get nothin’ in this world unless you fight,” Berwyn croons on his 2022 single “Path To Satisfaction.” In the accompanying video, he’s shown exploring his homeland of Trinidad & Tobago and spending time with members of his family, a big smile across his face. For those unaware of his immense talent and the adversities he’s faced to get a shot showcasing it to the world, it feels like a full-circle moment, as poignant as his introspective, soulful brand of rap music.
The 26-year-old rapper, singer, and producer, born Berwyn Du Bois, moved to Romford from Trinidad at the age of nine: the third generation of his family to make the journey to the UK after his grandmother – a roadside corn seller – had emigrated decades previously. “It was like going from one planet to the next,” he reflects now. “The first time I ever saw a white person was literally just before I came to England, it was a big switch-up. Plus I came in the winter, it was blitz!” Berwyn was a “smart kid” growing up, but his formative years were spent obsessing over prime YouTube-era grime with his schoolmates – “We would be late for class because we were spitting bars over ‘Nutty Violins’ in the playground,” he reminisces – or watching The X Factor with his family on a Saturday night before running up to the bathroom to replicate the performances that inspired him in the shower.
But it was learning to play the piano during his GCSE music classes where he had his first inkling that music would be something he could pursue professionally, thanks to a teacher who spotted his potential. “She was very passionate and made sure I spent time practising,” he explains. “Thank God she did, because the progress I made then gave me the confidence to continue when times were tough later on.”
That turbulent period he alludes to came after leaving school. Berwyn was removed from university just two weeks into starting a psychology degree, and subsequently unable to find employment due to issues surrounding his immigration status. “Those were the darkest days of my life,” he explains. “I didn’t have my papers. This was the Theresa May-era hostile environment, too. I faced homelessness, I faced joblessness. I had no right to see a doctor, no right to open a bank account. It dehumanised me to my absolute core. But it’s defined me, it’s the difference between me and everyone around me when I walk into a room.”
It would have been enough to break anyone, but Berwyn’s resilient nature saw him use his talent and record the mixtape that pushed him into the limelight, DEMOTAPE/VEGA, in just a fortnight while living in a bedsit. “I was desperate and time was of the essence,” he shrugs. “I didn’t even have a working keyboard. I had two pairs of broken headphones that I had taped together. But I focused on that tape and nothing else for two weeks.”
Released at the end of 2020, tracks like the delicately-written “Trap Phone”, about a friend who was victim to inner-city violence, and the minimal piano-laden “Glory”, quickly earned him critical acclaim. His perseverance paid off. He was soon invited to perform the track “Glory” on Later… with Jools Holland, albeit from his Mum’s kitchen during lockdown. The night before the performance he decided to write an additional verse, in reaction to George Floyd’s death, filled with upfront lyrics tackling his struggles with racism, self-hate and being denied work as a window cleaner by a client fearful of “N*gger’s germs”. It sparked a reaction online that cemented his reputation as an artist with something to say: “I would say I’m political. Do I like writing music about politics? I’m not so sure. But I am emotional and passionate, I can’t help it.”
Soon after, The Mercury Prize came calling with a nomination, making Berwyn the first artist to get a nod for the prestigious award for a mixtape. Where was he when he found out? Working on his next project of course. “We were recording in the studio at the time. There’s even a vocal take that includes when I answered the phone and I’m like, ‘What!’” he laughs. “It meant the world to me. It was something I really needed.”
The success pushed him on, as he quickly returned with a second mixtape TAPE 2/FOMALHAUT in the summer of 2021. The project saw him rapping about everything from texting your ex on New Year’s Eve on the nostalgia-tinged “Vinyl”, to sleeping rough in his car on the powerful “I’d Rather Die Than Be Deported”. Berwyn sees this openness as a vital element of his craft. “As long as I maintain this level of honesty, my projects are always going to be a perfect timestamp of the moment,” he says.
That’s not to say it’s always an easy process, as he reveals when discussing his freshly-released single 3450, a raw track touching on a day Berwyn’s house was raided by the police. “It was very scary and one of the most profound and traumatic experiences of my life. There were kids in the house,” he explains. “I had to record and re-record the song while still feeling the effects of the trauma in real-time, from take to take to take.”
Despite 2022 being a well-earned quiet period for Berwyn, the release of those aforementioned tracks and the equally beautiful “Cousin’s Car” – a collaboration with fellow rising star Debbie – feels like the start of a new period of output, something he’s as excited about as his fans are. “2023? It’s going to be music all year bro. I ain’t stopping… and the quality of the songs coupled with the frequency won’t have been seen before,” he proclaims. “Can you be that good, that often? Because that’s what I’m going to do. It’s all about high frequency from now on.”
As our conversation comes to a close, it feels natural to rewind to the start of Berwyn’s journey, before the success and the hardship he had to overcome to get here, and ask if he’s ultimately happy with how things turned out. “My life has changed, that was inevitable. I’ve tried to remain the same as much as I can. I wouldn’t say I have!” he laughs, “But even if all this hadn’t happened, the previous version of me would have changed anyway. That’s what growing up is.”
Credits
Photography Lola & Pani
Fashion Dan Sablon
Hair Naoki Komiya at Julian Watson Agency using Kiehl’s
Make-up Kristina Ralph Andrews at Future Rep using Tom Ford Beauty
Photography assistance Cameron Williams and Sam Dearden
Fashion assistance Appoline Coquet
Production Ania Jankiewicz
ABR Group