Crate-Digging Hit-Maker Mr. Cutts Reveals Soulful, Jazzy Hip-Hop Production "I Wish It Would Rain"

Crate-Digging Hit-Maker Mr. Cutts Reveals Soulful, Jazzy Hip-Hop Production "I Wish It Would Rain"


September 21, 2020

Owen Cutts, now operating under the name Mr. Cutts, already has a formidable reputation as producer and writer, with credits that include work with Stormzy, Loyle Carner, JGrrey, Greentea Peng, Pip Millett and Big Zuu. In March this year Cutts made the announcement that he was setting out on his own with his debut solo single "Weekdays" and now he's back with "I Wish It Would Rain" as well as confirmation that both tracks would appear on his upcoming debut album in November.

Clearly a voracious record collector as well as a self-styled "old soul head", "I Wish It Would Rain" shows off yet more of his gift for sample-hunting, pulling together fragments from classic gems across music history and layering them over full-bodied hip-hop beats for something timelessly joyful.

Explaining his never-ending hunt for samples, Cutts said, "When you hear a sample that you want to use there is a moment of excitement followed by panic. The panic is hoping no one has used it mixed with trying to Shazam it quick enough or taking a photo of the name of the tune in time. The excitement is knowing exactly how you are going to flip it and scrabbling to get to the laptop to start."

"I wanted the tune to bounce," he added. "It should give you the feeling of an old book shop, an apartment in Paris, a hopeless romantic. I wanted it to be a head nodder but if you listened closely it's actually about being sad in secret. It's about staying in the rain to hide you were crying. I think the juxtaposition of the beat and sentiment really works. It's the second single from my upcoming album and fits as part of a whole story."



Words: James Keith
Photography: Israel Peters


Recommended: