Artist Spotlight: Rickyleupnext

Upcoming emcee Rickyleupnext has been making waves for a while now. If he’s not on your radar, he should be. He’s quickly been racking up views across platforms, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he blew up any day now. His personality shines on tracks like ‘Hood Celebrity’, for which he just celebrated 100,000 streams for on Spotify - but he tells us this is only the beginning, and he’s coming for a million. He’s got the confidence to become the next big force in UK music, effortlessly bridging the gap between melodic trap and heavy-hitting drill.

The promising basketball player turned independent musician hails from the thriving Sheffield scene, along with the likes of Deep Green, who he collaborated with on singles ‘On Me’, and ‘Till I Die’. Hard work is clearly paying off for the young, talented rapper, who will be in all your party playlists in no time. Over the past year he’s been meticulously planning out his road to success, drawing from influences like Young Adz, D Block Europe, and Drake. Make sure to keep your ears peeled for new releases guaranteed to make waves... 

Really nice to meet you, even if it's just over Zoom!

Yeah man, you too.

I’m a big fan of your music, especially ‘On Me’, and ‘Flyboy’ is really good as well. 

Yeah, thank you man, I appreciate that. You see with ‘On Me’... Um, people think that’s a new song, but we've had that in the pipeline and then been waiting to release it for like nearly two years.

Oh really? Maybe now was the right time to release it anyway.

Literally, it was a timing thing, you feel me like, with lockdown easing and stuff like, now was the best time.

Yeah, definitely, you’ve gotta put thought into things like that. 

100%.

So, congratulations on your first over 100K streams on Spotify with ‘Hood Celebrity’.

Yeah, thank you, that was a good one.

Yeah, as an as an independent artist, that's quite a big achievement. So how did that feel as an upcoming musician?

It kind of gave me the reassurance of like, I can actually do this. It gave me the feeling like I can do this, and I can do better, and I can do more. I'm just gonna keep pushing and hopefully turn that 100,000 into a mil, you know what I mean?

Of course, man. So how does it feel going from a promising basketball player to suddenly, now an upcoming musician. It's quite a big contrast, two pretty different experiences, but they surely must both be quite exciting.

Yeah, literally, with the basketball that was the first thing, but I had no idea music was gonna be like this for me, cause in school we used to just like freestyle and mess around, but I didn't think it would be like this. But obviously, with the basketball and that not really going to where I wanted it to go, but with me and the person I am I wanna make it, you feel me? And it’s gotta be something good, so I thought you know what, music as well. It’s been up ever since... I can't complain, It's not the same, but it's the same goal, I wanna make it and just take care of my people and music will let me do that.

So, you're from Sheffield, which I feel is a place that's never brought up enough in conversations surrounding music, especially rap. So how does it feel bringing like that new attention to Drill and Hip Hop in Sheffield, along with people like Deep Green as well? 

It feels good. I feel like I want to be the one to let you know that Sheffield is lit like everywhere else. 100 percent, and I’m gonna do that. 1000% by the end of this year. Everyone is gonna be like, okay Sheffield is lit too.

Did you grow up in Sheffield?

Yeah, I was born here. Grew up here, everything...

And how did growing up in Sheffield influence your music?

If anything, it’s helped me because I've got a story to tell, you know what I mean? But with my music, you would hear what I'm talking about, like I shed light on what went off and what's going on, it's like people just think of Sheffield like ‘oh, the countryside’ or, you know what I mean? It's really like these other places as well, so I'm just showing that through my music.

Of course. And so, outside of Sheffield, what cities do you think have underrated music scenes at the moment? 

Aside from Sheffield, Leeds as well. 

Yeah, definitely, I’m in Leeds right now!

Yeah? There’s good musicians there in Leeds as well. Nottingham, 100 percent. Just places like that really, Leicester probably, you know what I mean? 

Yeah, like obviously London is always the big one that people say but there’s so many other great cities with thriving scenes. 

Yeah, there's loads. Even Manchester, there's a few people in Manchester that are underrated as well. 

Yeah, I agree... Obviously, the past year we’ve had the pandemic and everything, and with being in isolation, do you think that helped with making music? Were you working on a lot of music during this time?

Yeah, it helped me because I remember setting myself a challenge like, cause I had nothing to do I was like ‘I’m gonna write a song a day’, and literally my notes was just full, like I'm ready, I could have songs for like two, three years, I'm good... But, I'd keep going, every day, every other day, I'm trying to get in the studio and make more music. I want to be like D Block Europe where they have like 1000 songs put down. 

Yeah, of course man. And, so obviously this past year has been weird for a lot of people with everything going on, and the division in this country hasn't got any better as well. I saw from your Twitter a lot of posts about Black Lives Matter and the police.

Yeah, yeah, 100 percent.

Do you think your experiences over the past year with everything like that going on played a role in your music as well?

Kinda yeah, it's just made me wanna go harder. Gotta have a voice, and put on for my people, you know what I mean? 

Definitely. So, what are your next moves as you continue with music? Do you plan to stay independent? 

Well for now, 100 percent, but if something comes up along the way that could be life changing, then we might consider something, but for now, independent – it’s the way init? If they try and bring me more money, then we’ll have a nice conversation. Until then, I’m gonna stay independent. 

Brilliant, and are there any hopes for a mixtape or album coming soon? 

Yeah, 100 percent. I’m gonna shed some light on that. So basically, I’ve got a release coming in July. It’s a big one, and then I got an even bigger one than that in like August. Then after that, we’re gonna see where we’re at, but we’re gonna look to like drop probably like an EP or Mixtape into Autumn. 

Perfect, so you’ve got everything set out. 

Yeah, got my plan ready to go. Just gonna fulfill it. Just live it up. 

I wanted to get your perspective on this as a musician yourself, so what's your take on the similarities between the UK Drill and Brooklyn Drill scene, with the recent rise of people like Pop Smoke and Sheff G... Hopping on very UK sounding beats, working with a lot of British producers. What are your thoughts on that? 

I feel like it's perfect. I feel like, literally, my opinion, I'm really into the US drill, like the New York drill I listen to it all the time but, I feel like it's good that these guys are doing it because it's shedding light on Drill here as well. People might say it’s like copying or whatever, but I feel like it’s just giving us more recognition. So, the fact that it's getting done in other countries too is really good, cause it's only gonna bring more light on us, because we started this wave, you know what I mean? But yeah, definitely, that is sick. I love it all, I’m here for it. Obviously Pop Smoke, he’s one of my favourites, I like Sheff G, I like Rah Swish, there’s too many to name, I like them all... 

And with the UK scene, who are some of your favourites right now?

My personal favourite UK artist is Young Adz, but obviously D Block Europe as well, cause I like LB too, I like Central Cee. There’s too many to name, I'm gonna miss some out. 

Yeah, there’s too many! 

But yeah, I’m gonna be sat with them soon because what I’m about to put down is crazy.

So, is that your biggest goal right now? What do you want to achieve in the next half a year? 

Million views. Million streams. We’re gonna get it. I’ve hit 100 - I've hit 300k. I can get the half a milly then I can get the milly. But, I’m gonna, you know what I mean? It’s just timing, strategy and that. Just gotta execute. 

When you were younger, or growing up, what drew you to music in the first place? 

You see, my taste is very diverse, because growing up my mum, she would play everything, she would play R&B, she played Reggae, she played Dancehall, she played Hip Hop... So like, I'm in tune with everything, you feel me? Everything and anything, I’m in tune with it. I feel like I’ve got a really good music ear, you know? And I can give the thanks to my mum for that, for making me listen to everything as a kid. Now, my music ear is really good and I kind of know how to put that in place for my music, and how I want it to sound and stuff. 

Of course. On the topic of music and influences, if you could get a feature with any rappers, singers, any musicians, who would they be? What would your dream collaborations be?

Ah, how many? How many people am I giving?

Give us three.

Dead or alive?

Hmm... 

Alive, alive, alive! 

Okay, sure! We’ll go for alive. 

100 percent, I’ma go with Drake, 1000 percent. I’m gonna go with for the second one.. You’ve put me on the spot! I’m gonna go with Justin Bieber, I’m not gonna lie. 

That would be a hit!

For real, and then for the third one... Probably Chris Brown, I need Chris Brown in there, because I know that these are hits. 

Okay, what about producers? Who would you love to make an instrumental for you? 

DJ Khaled, is he classed as a producer? 

I mean, he makes hits. I'm sure you two could make something good.

Yeah, DJ Khaled! Everything he touches is gold!

So hopefully we’re gonna hear your song with DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Drake, and Chris Brown! 

Crazy, crazy, the streets need that! 

And if you could have anyone direct a music video for you? Who would it be? 

I’ll probably go with Director X. 

Oh yeah, that would be great.

Yeah, cause I just keep seeing him on all the hits and I'm like yeah, I need it. 

Of course, so many classics.

Yeah, yeah, for real.

Dream festival to perform at? Anywhere in the world.

Anywhere in the world? Probably something like Coachella, or Wireless or something, you know? Something big like that. But to be honest with you, when I'm saying these things to you, it don't feel like ‘ah, hopefully...’, it feels like I can do it. It’s going to happen. I can see it in the near future. It’s going to happen. I’m gonna get there. I’m not dreaming, it’s gonna happen. 

On that note then, can we hope for any potential live shows coming up? Especially with the pandemic sort of nearing the end. 

At the moment, no. But in the future I will be touring, 100 percent. I feel like now that things are easing I’m gonna get a lot of opportunities, so we’ll just have to wait and see. And I'll announce it, 100 percent. 

Make sure you come to Leeds as well. 

Yeah, I'm gonna pop up in Leeds.

It would be great to catch you live. So for the last part of the interview I’m gonna do some quick fire, ‘ones gotta go’ questions. Ok, so you choose one to stay, and one to go. 

All right.

Jay-Z or Biggie?

Oh... One’s gotta go? Crazy... I love Biggie yeah, but I would say that I come up more off Jay-Z, cause it’s my time. You feel me? 

Nas or 2Pac? 

Oh my days, you’re killing me. I know more 2Pac music so... 

Wiley or D Double E? 

Wiley, Wiley gotta go.

OutKast or Tribe.

Tribe gotta go. OutKast stay. 

I'd have to agree with you. OutKast are my favourites. Skepta or JME? 

Skepta’s staying.

Frank Ocean or The Weeknd? 

Ooh... The Weeknd’s staying. Frank Ocean gotta go. 

Kendrick Lamar or Drake?

Kendrick’s outta here! 

Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder? 

I’ma keep Stevie. 

J. Cole or A$AP Rocky?

I’ma keep J. Cole. I like A$AP though, he’s stylish as well, very stylish. But, J. Cole... he plays basketball as well. 

James Brown or Otis Redding?

James Brown staying. 

Travis Scott or Lil Uzi? 

Travis Scott staying. 

Playboi Carti or Lil Baby? 

Woo... That one’s steep! Playboi Carti’s my little brother's favourite artist. I like Playboi but Lil Baby, that’s one of my favourites, top 5 probably, he’s staying. 

Snoop Dogg or Dr. Dre? 

You’re giving me the crazy ones, the impossible ones. Probably more Snoop, cause I had long hair when I was a kid and thought I was Snoop. 

A$AP Mob or Boy Better Know? US versus UK on that one... 

A$AP Mob going, I’ma stick with the UK. 

Ghetts or Roots Manuva?

Ghetts staying. 

Mobb Deep or Wu Tang Clan? 

I’m gonna keep Mobb Deep. 

Headie One or AJ Tracey? 

Headie One. I’m gonna keep Headie One. 

Kano or Dizzee Rascal? 

Ahhh... Haha, obviously Dizzee Rascal dropped that legendary album when I was a kid, but at the time I didn’t really understand. I know he did a lot, but I’m gonna stay with Kano. 

Slowthai or Little Simz?

I’m gonna keep Little Simz. 

Lauryn Hill or Missy Elliott? 

I’m gonna keep Lauryn Hill, she touches my soul. 

Some really good picks there... I don’t know if this last question is gonna put you on the spot, but your top three rappers of all time to end things off? 

Oh my days... You’re killing me! I've been thinking about this for months. All time? That’s crazy. 

It doesn’t have to be like the best, just your favourites. Your go to favourites. 

Oh my days, I’m gonna get slaughtered for this. Obviously, I'm putting Drake, 100 percent. Drake’s going in there. My top three favourite rappers of all time. Drake, who else am I gonna put in there? Future, I don’t care, Future is going in there. And umm... You’re killing me man. I’m gonna go with a more new school one, I’ma put Lil Baby in there. This is a crazy mix, I didn't think about it properly.

Yeah, it's a good mix. Thank you so much for talking with me man, I’m excited to see where you go from here, and for everyone whose seeing this, make sure to check out Rickyleupnext’s music. Is there anything you want to say to everyone?

I just wanna say thank you to everyone whose supported me, and to keep supporting because the journey is gonna get crazy. You know what I mean? So, I appreciate everything, and thank you for the interview. 

Of course man, of course. Thanks for joining me. 

No problem, thank you, take care.

Check out Rickyleupnext’s music here.