Tiggs Da Author Talks 'MoreFire 2' Mixtape And Authenticity [Interview]

Tiggs Da Author has one of the most distinct sounds in the UK music scene, and it belongs to him and only him. Listening to a Tiggs song whether it’s him on a feature or on his own track you immediately hear the unique tone and the charming charisma paired with experimental beats.

It’s hard to put the South Londoner in a box, he draws inspiration from various sources and blurs them together to create a shifting soundscape that allows him authentically to express himself in the best way deemed for the situation.

Originally born in Tanzania but growing up in South London Tiggs go into music through producing and then he started to write.

As a result of being exposed to London life, and bringing his Tanzinin culture the multi-facted artist provides soulful melodies and hooks with UK rap and rhythmic afrobeats.

Even North-West London rapper Nines said it best himself on ‘Fly Em High’, “I don’t know if you know my guy Tiggs is the man with the bangers

Sitting down with Tiggs Da Author through zoom, after finding time to organise the interview during a chaotic period for the London-raised artist. “ It’s been super hectic I’ve just been doing a lot of things left right and centre but what’s what comes with it.”

His ‘More Fire 2’ ep dropped last week in November, so you can understand why everything is so full on at the moment, however, “Usually after a couple of weeks after you drop you can relax” according to Tiggs.

The first More Fire mixtape was released in 2019 and according to Tiggs he was always planning to do a follow-up, “It was just picking the right time and I felt that now was the right time for More Fire 2 .

When asked to explain what made him decide that it was the right moment for the project to be released, he said “I usually go off energy when it comes to releasing music and I felt like the energy was right for me in terms of getting into the right studio sessions and working with the right people.”

There is an organic cohesiveness when looking at the chemistry between the artists featured on the tracks of the mixtape. “I made sure that all of the collabs are artists that I am a fan of, whether they are big artists or a little bit smaller, but it was just more so about music.”

RIMON, Sam Wise, Sainté, Potter Payper and Wretch 32 are amongst the artist that graced the project lending their voice and essence.

Wanting to push the people he worked with outside of their comfort zones, “ it might be on certain beats that you haven’t jumped on in a while and I want to hear it from you just from a fan perspective or maybe I’m putting you in on a song with another artist or rapper who you haven’t collaborated with.”

“There are different reasons why I like everyone. They’ll just give me different levels of excitement”. Continuing he says, “They all add something different.”

Talking about Rimon who was featured on the mixtape, Tiggs previously worked with her on the recent single ‘Build Me A House’. Interjecting, “In fact the song we did on More Fire 2, ‘Fendi Riddim’ was the first song we actually recorded. We ended up making up a couple of other songs.”

Breaking down Tiggs' productivity over the past few years, there aren’t that many artists who have worked harder than him. As mentioned previously More Fire was released in 2019, his debut album Blame It On the Youth dropped last year and now More Fire 2. This isn’t taking into consideration the number of features he has appeared on such as Potter Payper’s ‘Gangsteritus’ and Nine’s ‘NIC’.

Speaking about his sound changes from project to project “ One thing I want people to understand is that I just go off of feeling. So, it doesn’t matter what sound is on what project. For instance, my first More Fire was heavily influenced by dancehall music, 90s dancehall to be exact.”

“Whereas More Fire 2 is heavily influenced by Hip-Hop so you might get a little different but it’s always going to be me. You're never gonna think this is not Tiggs.”

(It’s) “ less of a concept and more of a feeling and vibe that I usually go with. It’s never too deep. It doesn’t really have a narrative or a storyline.”

That authenticity follows Tiggs into his debut album, the only difference being “with my albums the one thing that is going to make them stick together is the content of the music. The album is always going to be about something. “The album is more cohesive whereas More Fire 2 is like putting a playlist together to listen to in the car.”

Alongside the release of the mixtape, Tiggs announced his headline show at London’s Jazz Cafe on 23rd March 2023.