Rizzle Kicks have spoken to NME about the release of their first single in eight years, ‘Javelin’, mental health and their legacy in UK rap music.
Back in 2008, Jordan Stephens and Harley Alexander-Sulé formed Rizzle Kicks. The two went on to have major success throughout the 2010s with their fresh and unique take on UK rap, blending hip-hop with pop rather than the rising grime trend of the time.
They scored two UK Top 10 albums (2011’s ‘Stereo Typical’ and 2013’s ‘Roaring 20s’) and two platinum singles before taking a break from the limelight in 2016 due to Alexander-Sulé being diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder.
Both Stephens and Alexander-Sulé embarked on solo careers, with the latter released music under his pseudonym Jimi Charles Moody.
They both found success in acting too: Alexander-Sulé had lead roles in the crime drama Unforgotten and the 2014 film The Guv’nors, while Stephens starred in the Star Wars spin-off Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Mae Martin’s sitcom Feel Good.
Eight years later, the Brighton duo are finally ready to release music again – kicking off their return with the funky and light-hearted ‘Javelin’.
“We’ve been writing for a long time, maybe three or four years on this music,” Alexander-Sulé told NME. “We went through different phases and versions of what this next record should sound like, but the more we wrote together, the more natural it became. It became clear what the sound should be, and we met in the middle somewhere. That’s what ‘Javelin’ encapsulates what we’re feeling in the moment.”
Stephens said ‘Javelin’ was made while in a studio session with producers Swindle and Ant Whiting. “That day, we picked up a vibe that felt in keeping with the music we both love now,” he said. “It still had that Rizzle Kicks spirit, but there are certainly trippier elements to our music now because we’re confidently trippier people. I mean, I’m a frequent user of magic mushrooms, so maybe that comes into it.”
When asked if any current musical trends influenced their new sound, Alexander-Sulé cited the late Mac Miller, Anderson .Paak, and “that jazzier, funkier hip-hop sound” as a “big inspiration”. However, he said he believed that “Rizzle Kicks have always unintentionally stayed in our own lane. The vibe we offer the public I think not many other artists do that.”
Alexander-Sulé continued: “That’s what is beautiful about Rizzle Kicks. Whenever we go into the studio, we’ve never thought, ‘What’s current? Let’s make something like that!’ We’ve just done what makes us happy what we feel comfortable with and often it comes out in vibrant, fun, happy moments.”
He then let it slip that the duo are working on their third studio album, which remains untitled and has no release date. The new music “is a lot deeper,” touching on “mental health struggles, family life, love and the idea of getting older”.
“There are loads of moments on the album that are pretty introspective,” Alexander-Sulé continued, “but we wanted this first moment to really capture the public and show what we represent, which is fun and joy and carefree.”
The theme of mental health is very personal for the band. “A lot of the reasons why we put Rizzle Kicks on ice was because we were trying to understand why Harley was experiencing panic attacks and anxiety and that very real reality for us was going to be incorporated into our [new] music,” Stephens said. “It’s always valuable to be honest about how we feel and the paths we’ve taken. We stand by that as a value; to try and be as truthful as possible.”
While reflecting on how mental health is treated now compared to 2016, Stephens said: “Oddly, it was only eight or nine years ago when we took a break, but there wasn’t as much understanding as there is now.”
Over the years, Stephens has become a mental health advocate, founding the #IAMWHOLE campaign and releasing his memoir, Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs, in which he explored living with ADHD and much more.
He admitted to NME that, when Alexander-Sulé was diagnosed back in 2016, he suggested some of “the wildest” methods “to heal Harley’s anxiety” because he “had absolutely no understanding of what an anxiety disorder entailed or how the nervous system works”.
“There’s more awareness now, more understanding, more access,” said Stephens. “But unfortunately – because of the demand for understanding – ADHD, for example, has an eight-month waiting list to get looked at, [sometimes even] two years. The mental health aspect of our current government is completely underfunded and it’s just the way it is in this country.”
Since the group disbanded, the UK rap scene has grown in international standing due to the success of the likes of Dave, Stormzy, Skepta and Central Cee. When asked how they feel about returning to a wildly different musical landscape, Alexander-Sulé argued that the success of modern UK rap isn’t completely dissimilar to that of their time – saying Professor Green and Tinie Tempah were also successfully charting.
“It is a different level, though,” Stephens stepped in. “It is like legit pop now. Also, when we were doing rap, some people would break through at the expense of [their musical integrity]. I remember a lot of people struggling to pop-ify their sound around that era.
“We were in an odd version of rap where pop stars would maybe get a quick 16 bars on the end of their songs because it would push their record into a different market – that was still a thing. Now, it’s crazy!”
He also noted that there are more duos in UK rap now than when they first started – a shift that reflects their pioneering influence: “We had already been out when Krept & Konan blew up off of their ‘Otis Freestyle’. We got nominated for Best Male Act at the [2012] MOBO Awards – that was where the recognition of duos was at that time.
“Now – fast forward eight, nine years – you got Krept & Konan, A1 X J1, D-Block Europe, Young T & Bugsey. There’s loads and loads. So, we started in a non-duo era and are re-entering one where there are loads of them.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpzyV55aScY
The duo admitted that they are not “apprehensive” about stepping into the new rap landscape but, for Alexander-Sulé, there was some hesitation as to whether he could “enjoy” being a pop star again. “I remember a time it was the best thing ever: me and Jordan making music, going around, doing fun things,” he explained. “It became less enjoyable because we were so successful.
“It got to a point where outside forces were pushing us to work, work, work, tour, be here, be there, be everywhere, and it took away from being a pop star and making music your friend.”
However, Alexander-Sulé believed this time around will be more fun as they’re “older, with more understanding of what does and doesn’t make them happy in this world”.
“We’re very aware of not putting ourselves into spaces where we’re going to be made to feel unhappy with this process,” he added.
Thinking about their evolution and legacy, Rizzle Kicks outgrew their 2010s chart-friendly sound, telling NME they “no longer relate” to their previous songs and music videos.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m so proud of those records and I love a lot of that music,” Stephens said. “But there was a conversation during this process which was like, ‘Are they going to expect us to do similar stuff that we did before sonically, or are they going to expect us to grow musically?’”
“This record or this bunch of music is definitely a big progression from what we did,” Alexander-Sulé revealed. “You’ve always got to progress, you’ve always got to grow, especially how fast-paced [the music industry] is now. As long as we keep our souls and the energy and feeling intact, [we’re good]. We’re just better musicians. We’re older and better.”
Stephens said it would be easy for them “to leverage the nostalgia” and go on tour and just play the songs we’re best known for. “But,” he added, “me and Harley rekindling our joy of creating music together” was more important.
“We’re not trying to prove anything other than what we are and I want people to listen to this music and say, ‘Damn they’re actually really talented’,” Alexander-Sulé added.
“Because of the space we [were] put into and that pop world we were a part of, I think people just rushed past what we’re capable of,” he concluded. “[Exploring our musicality] was a big part of our solo ventures and, now, we’ve got all that power [to put] into this record. But if we want to solidify ourselves and continue to make music, we’ve got to be more than just nostalgia.”
‘Javelin’ is out now via BMG.