Get To Know: Blaze YL is Riding His New Wave on Debut Album "The Cost of Being"

Coming out of Kennington in South London, Blaze YL is not shying away from the opportunities awaiting him as a solo artist. 

Coincidently naming his emerging sound as the ‘New Wave’, Blaze YL’s new project cannot be tied down one genre. The message behind The Cost of Being is to “Be free to do what you want to do, for this exact project I’m keeping it original and not giving away too much yet”. With years of experience in rhymes and rhythms behind him, the well-seasoned rapper is riding in his own lane this year. 

Photography @eddie.davi3s

From attending none other than Brit School and releasing his music on Soundcloud as a young teen to utilising his position as the youngest member of House of Pharaohs, 8 years later Blaze YL has released his 12-track album. You cannot deny the success of his music so far with collaborators such as Arz, Kairo Keyez and JME rapping on beats alongside the artist. Blaze YL describes the process from working in a collective to writing solo as not be two worlds apart. 

Learning from his peers and coming to find his lane independently has grown Blaze YL’s music style within genres of grime, rap, drill and trap. “For this one, I wanted to give my fan base what they know from me, that’s one of the aspects of this tape. I feel like right now we are in a place where a lot of people hesitate to drop music because of certain things like social media and how things are going in terms of this whole industry.” 

The EP taps into relationships, frustrations and “real life experiences” which can be heard especially on tracks such as ‘Let it Fly’ and ‘Easy Access’. Each track shares what Blaze YL states as “Explaining those things through the music. I never used to be the best communicator. I feel like with this tape I can put things into perspective, and the things I didn’t get to say even years ago, I can now express through the music rather than putting that bad energy out there.” He alludes to identifying the project as an outlet to communicate freely and how his growth and maturity through the years enabled him to develop his storytelling abilities. 

Blaze YL is on his experimental journey of setting his sound in the UK music scene. He shares his hopes for the EP, “that surprise element is the main thing with this tape so people feel like, ‘I didn’t know Blaze could do that’”. He discusses growing up in his early teens around the music scene and how learning from older mentors developed Blaze YL’s sound beyond his years. “Being around House of Pharaohs and being so different within our collective, there was no one like us in the whole of the UK. That created us as individual artists as well”. 

Taking on the directing/co-directing role for all of his music videos, Blaze YL is continuing to contribute to the visual directory of his work in this new chapter of his artistry. He carries a certain charisma that is executed through the ‘Inconsiderate’ music video which features appearances from the House of Pharaohs members who Wonderland recently quoted as “Five very different characters but only one voice”. He recalls including his “brotherhood” in this solo journey, “That (music video)  was one of the most stand-out moments for me”.

Blaze YL will always reference the hometown he shares with artists Blanco and the Harlem Spartans with deep reverence, “I can never forget where I’ve come from”. His music derives from lessons learned in the process of reaching his success. 

You can hear this through his melodic and smooth lyricisms on the chorus of ‘Straight out of Kennington’, “All of this stress on my shoulders weighing a ton but you know I gotta double up quickly, swiftly”. He stresses the reputation that his district holds to the music industry, “Think of all of the artists from Kennington who have come out of there and set waves. When the producer played the beat (from ‘Straight out of Kennington) it brought me back to them days, forgetting about the industry or me even doing the music, just more for me to speak on Kennington and the things we have to do to learn from to get to the place where we are at now. That’s really where it all started”. 

The rapper’s confidence is exerted through his rhymes as he breaks the restraints of the industry and aims high with future goals. He lists admirable artists he wants to collaborate with from Skepta to Adele, already ticking Grime legend JME off the list on HOP’s recent single ‘New Era’. The collaborations on this album also include Ants Live and Joe Unknown, two talents that ignite the power of current UK rap alongside Blaze YL on ‘Toxic Minds’. A strong blend of unique flows 

There is no question that the rapper exceeds expectations with his first solo EP. The rapid flows and varied instrumentals combine fast grime tempos, slow bass lines, and gritty snares layered with clever similes. The Cost of Being defines the experimental sound of UK talent and Blaze YL is carrying all of it. He condones the present times with the title of the project emphasising, “the cost of what we have to do to get to where we want to be, it’s a lot harder now”.

Listen Here: https://open.spotify.com/album/1NHAoAwuN2OwtfJUPeY75d?si=So-LNrnnQXSgk_sronuSRA