For the first time in a long time, I had the opportunity to do an interview face-to-face with an artist. On a sunny afternoon in Peckham, I was fortunate enough to not only interview but spend a few hours with rising wordsmith and musician Archy Moor and his good pal, producer Earl Saga.
Have you heard of Bonnie Hill? If you haven’t yet, look it up.
The Nigerian born, Dublin based talent released his debut EP ‘Bonnie Hill’ earlier this year. While it’s a well- known fact that Dublin is no stranger to churning out some of the best talent with the likes of Rejjie Snow and Biig Piig. I’m here to tell you about an artist who is infiltrating the hip-hop game like no other. He’s not infiltrating the scene with what you typically see - his words are full of stories and presence is unpretentious. It’s refreshing and interesting in every way.
In a wee little pub called Skehans, I sat with the man himself to talk about his journey and how ‘Bonnie Hill’ has turned his life around - in a way he never saw coming. When I asked him how he was doing, he responded with a hearty laugh and said: “Good shit. I mean, what's been going on? I dropped the EP two weeks ago and that’s actually been mad. I’ve just been having heavy imposter syndrome. I’m just on autopilot because sometimes I just can’t believe we’re doing the things that we are doing.”
It’s hard to categorize ‘Bonnie Hill’ in just one genre. It almost seems rude. With ‘I’ve Been’ as his lead single released earlier this year, the track is hip-hop at its core with Archy’s smooth flow of words and Earl’s signature drum set. The track was constructed and deconstructed multiple times on a 13-hour flight to Korea, Archy (who hates flying) found an escape and whipped out the instrumental and wrote the track. It was the perfect DIY project for the two as they took control of the visual aspects of the song as well, filming scenes straight out of Korea.
When I asked Archy how he would summarize the EP, he said: “I'd say it's family type of stuff and personal experiences. It's not really gimmicky. It's not really trying to be like, ‘oh, this song is hard for no reason.’ There's actually shit that went into it. And it's stories that were lived to make that song. It’s also weird because outside of music, I hate talking about this type of stuff.” The EP is versatile. With anecdotal lyricism and catchy hooks, it’s got it all.
Earl’s favourite track is ‘Down N Up’ on the EP: “The production just slaps. It’s outrageous. I don't know. I don't know where that came from. I just made it and sent to Archy and he sent it back to me and I was like ‘Jesus Christ.’” Archy and Earl are the ultimate dream team - under all that hard work, you can see that there is just a beautiful brotherly bond between the two. With Earl having such a pivotal role in the production of the EP, I wondered if there was a set dream team for Archy besides his good pal Earl.
He said: “Jay Grey for one. She's amazing. She did like the little voice intro. Beautiful. Joyce Rice as well. She's outrageously good. I don't really have many rappers like I'm really just more drawn towards singers. I don't know. I just feel like my music gels better with singers than rappers.” When I asked the same to Earl, I could hear Archy in the back say: “Drop some names bro! Drop some names!” The names were not disappointing at all. There might have been a casual J. Cole, potentially EARTHGANG. He was ridiculously chill about it and it was honestly the most humbling experience of my life.
‘Belly Of A Queen’ is Archy’s favourite track on the EP. The track is a combination of soul and lo-fi with Archy’s mum making an appearance at the end of the track with a sweet message. An unsurprising choice as it pays homage to Archy’s Nigerian heritage and a reflection of his upbringing and family ties. I asked Archy to guess what my favourite track was on the EP and he was spot on. ‘Teach’ is so well thought out - it’s the type of song that would make a live crowd go nuts and also the type of song that would want to make you sing your heart out. It’s the perfect mix with a melodious hook and Archy’s deep voice overlaying with bars.
Spending time with Archy and Earl made me appreciate the hustle it takes to put yourself out there. The debilitating act of being entirely vulnerable to the world can be a frightening one but he is able to do it with much ease and his recent EP ‘Bonnie Hill’ is an exemplary example of what we can expect in the future from the Dublin based prodigy.
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