Name: JoSoSick

Where He’s From: South London

When He Started: 2008

Genre: Grime

File Next To: Logan OLM, Manga Saint Hilare, Duppy

Sounds Like: “Mellow, charming and diverse. I would say my sound is rooted in grime but refuses to be confined by it.”

First Music That Inspired Him: “Growing up, a lot of the rappers in my area—Camberwell, Peckham and Brixton—used to rap over bashment; think Sneakbo, Political Peak & JJ’s ‘Touch Ah Button’ as an example, which me and my friends would listen to. These kinds of tunes inspired my first recorded verse, which was also on a bashment song.”

Rising up at the time of grime’s second wave in the late 2000s, JoSoSick grew up on an era of MCs who took a much more holistic view to MCing. This was the time of rhyming over bashment, indie, pop—whatever they could contort and jump off. Grime is the backbone of what JoSoSick does, but that boundless approach to sound and structure is ever-present. That disregard for genre boundaries was something he picked up early. In the family home, much of his early musical education came from his mum and his older brother. From his mum, he got a taste for R&B, soul and reggae, and from his brother, it was pure American rap. “My older brother had trainer boxes full of CDs from Mobb Deep, Jay-Z, Big Pun etc.,” he tells TRENCH. “There wasn’t much UK stuff being played in the house, but a lot of my friends were into garage, which introduced me to other UK underground genres.”

Soon grime came into the mix, and it’s been his number one ever since—especially Wiley. “Because,” to quote the Roll Deep classic, “‘Eskiboy’s the reason why everybody’s here.’ Wiley’s consistently shown his ability to evolve with the times and stay relevant. Even through lows he’s managed to bounce and keep going. I really rate his resilience and have used that as inspiration to fuel my own fire during my own come-up. My favourite project is probably Playtime’s Over.. it has too many bangers and some of my favourite productions, obviously from Wiley but also Bless Beats work on ‘My Mistakes’.”

Last summer, JoSoSick collaborated with Critical Music’s Kasra and Enei on D&B slammer “Plan”, which kickstarted a new era of genre-hopping. On his new EP, SickNote, JSS cranks things up a gear with jungle, dubstep, garage, D&B and more all stirred into the mix. The new EP, which happens to be his debut, is something his rightly immensely proud of.

“This has been years in the making,” he says, “and it’s mad seeing it finally come to life. At a certain point I even considered stepping away from music, but instead I focussed on creating this project that reflects my journey, and that’s made me more proud than anything. We also recently hosted a listening party for the project, had a great turnout and got some sick feedback so that’s been another proud moment.” We’re fast approaching 20 years in the game, and JoSoSick has a lot of stories to tell. He’s weathered a lot of storms over the years, and all that heartbreak, growth, resilience, vulnerability, and pain are right there on the record. Here’s to 20 more.