Strandz: A vision shaped by self-belief.
It goes beyond just accolades and numbers for Strandz.
The first time I saw Strandz perform was in a small theatre in South London, back in 2016. We were both teenagers at the time; but, in the year that he’d been at The BRIT School before me, he had already made a name for himself on the mic. Eight years and millions of streams later; Strandz is now proving his star qualities to the world. This year alone, he’s been on tour, performed at Wireless Festival and released a collaboration with Unknown T. “There’s definitely pressure. But, good pressure,” he says. He has an undeniable commitment to his craft. With every social media post, comes requests for more music. So, how does Strandz keep on top of it all, while staying true to himself, and where does his determination come from?
Sinead Adams:
You've done a lot in your career, even though you're still quite early on. What kind of sacrifices have you had to make along the way to progress?
Strandz:
I don't see them as sacrifices. I believe there’s a balance to everything. If you want certain things out of life, you’ve gotta give certain things, innit. The main thing I'd say I gave is just time, like, from when I was young. I was maybe 14 when I started rapping. Since then, I just kind of gave it all my time, but I wouldn't say ‘sacrifices’, because I enjoyed it. That's why it was important for me to do something that I'm passionate about. Because then, all of the time that I'm giving up when I'm not going out or doing all that other stuff, I'm just enjoying myself and building to go somewhere.
Sinead Adams:
How are you coping with entering new environments as you level up, whilst staying true to yourself?
Strandz:
I guess at the start, there's always the imposter syndrome - not knowing if you belong somewhere, innit. I think eventually you just realise that no one really belongs anywhere. It’s kind of like, you're just there. How you carry yourself and how you decide to present yourself to people and the energy that you have with that, kind of determines who you are. So when I clocked that, I was more comfortable just being me and owning that I'm there for a reason.
Sinead Adams:
Being an artist requires a lot of resilience. Have you always been a resilient person, or is that something you’ve had to learn along the way?
Strandz:
I’d say, I’ve always been quite resilient. Moving around a lot when I was younger helped me adapt to things quickly. It makes you just immune to a lot of those smaller, childhood, kinds of emotions that hold you back a lot of the time; like being anxious and struggling to meet new people and build relationships. Because I was moving around so much, I felt that I was always good at that. When I came to London, obviously that was another hurdle of me having to, like, fit in and understand the culture and learn the language and all of that stuff. I think, because of that, it's always made me just, like, “If I want to do it, then I’ve just gotta do it and get it done.” When I started making music, it kind of automatically applied. This is just something that I'm gonna invest my time into. I'm gonna do everything I can, and kind of blindly believe that it's gonna go somewhere.
Sinead Adams:
I don't think I know anyone from South London, that's not proud of it. You’ve got connections with Germany and Nigeria as well. How do you think South London has shaped your identity?
