Artist Spotlight: Vic Santoro
Vic Santoro is a man of many talents. A rapper, an actor, a motivational speaker and an all round nice bloke, he epitomises the saying ‘good things come to those who wait’. Having spent time in prison during a turbulent coming of age pilgrimage, the artist has reinvented himself. Fast forward to today, Vic is now a BAFTA award winning performer, thanks to his turn in short film ‘Gun No 6’, and one of the most exciting upcomers in the UK Road Rap scene.
A humble and perspicacious wordsmith, the multitalented enigma is telling his story through the 3 part mixtape series, ’Glory Days’. ‘Pain’, the first leg of the story, was released in February via Big Indie Records. The project stood out amongst the unimaginative dross of much UK rap with vibrant instrumentals, condensed introspection and authentic writing. Now back with Pt. 2, ‘Progression’, Vic continues to show his nuanced musicality and incredible lyrical prowess over the mixtapes five tracks.
To celebrate the release of the new tape, Vic has joined up with South London chicken shop chain Morley’s to #FeedTheVillage, providing free meals to local communities in Lewisham, Vic’s native borough. Having visited these very branches whilst growing up, it felt vital to Vic to give back to his local area, further highlighting his generosity and humility.
I sat down with Vic to discuss the Glory Days series, his budding acting career and his awe-inspiring journey to success.
BT: What’s going on man, thanks for taking the time out to chat with me!
VS: That’s cool man, anytime!
BT: I loved your recent mixtape ‘Pain: Glory Days, Pt. 1’. I found it thematically dense and lyrically focused. Who were your musical inspirations when creating the project?
VS: I listened to a lot of artists first albums. I listened to Nipsey Hussle’s ‘Victory Lap’ and Jay Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’. I just went back to everyones first project because I always hear artists say that your first project has to be like your baby and have a sense of freedom in it, so that’s what I wanted to replicate on Pt. 1.
BT: I can see that, I think there is definitely a more American tinge to the project. So in terms of the themes then, there’s a lot of ideas of strife, struggle and overcoming hardship. Could you put the mixtapes narrative into context?
VS: The narrative of the mixtape is like a journal. For Pt.1 specifically it was about being comfortable being vulnerable. Basically saying this is me, this is what I go through and these are the thoughts I have. Sometimes as an artist it can become difficult to express yourself and be honest about where you are emotionally, so for me that was one of the key things I wanted to establish. Imagine when you open someone’s diary, everyday is not going to be just sad or happy, you have to expect a mixture. So that’s how I thought of it - an introduction to me.
BT: Really like the idea of the journal and now you’ve said it, it makes a lot of sense! You’ve got a real craft for storytelling. Not many rappers, especially in the UK scene at the moment, can take a narrative from one point and take the story further along.
VS: I always say I don’t rap, I channel. Rappers rap from the head, whereas I rap from somewhere further down. When you are speaking your truth so freely, you are connected to everything you are saying, hence why it flows different. It’s crazy that you say that, because I don’t remember writing those songs thinking I want to tell this story, I just wrote how I feel. For example, throughout the project I don’t swear or anything like that, but that was not a conscious thought; I wasn’t there thinking I don’t wanna swear. I’m actually just writing, and it happened to come out like that.
BT: So it’s completely pure, just how you feel inside?
VS: Yeah literally, even I’m listening back thinking wow I didn’t swear once, you must have been in some mad zone.
BT: I think something you’ve done really well is detail and express real life events in a lyrical format. How did you do that? Was it a conscious thought or was it just the way it flowed?
VS: What’s mad is that the whole project was done from scratch. There was no lyrics written, no beats. I would go there with a blank canvas, my producer Michelin Shin, he would start making the beat and we’d start crafting from there. When I would leave, I didn’t take the songs with me, so when I came back the next session, I’d start again from scratch and not even listen to what I did. So, getting to the end of it and seeing the structure, the storytelling is clear, but I would be lying to you if I said I was making a conscious effort for it to come out like that. I couldn’t tell you how it did, that’s why it’s about the vulnerability you hear in it - I don’t even have those conversations with my friends! So yeah I was just channeling the whole time, but I’m happy that it was honestly how I felt when I listened back to it.
BT: So, you let the writing flow and edited after?
VS: Yeah definitely, we didn’t take the conventional route of planning, I was just in the studio for 6-8 weeks and then we listened back. We had like 50 songs, and I forgot some of the songs I’d recorded in that time, so when I was listening back it was quite refreshing. The best way to explain it is that I felt like I was in a trance the whole time. When Pt.2 and 3 come you see how the diary unfolds, but I didn’t sit there and say okay I’m going to write this type of song because it needs to go on Pt. 1. There was no structure, no audience, I was off socials. I was in the mountains basically.
BT: When you started out, was it always going to be 3 mixtapes or was that a construct you came up with when listening back?
VS: Yeah definitely when listening back, we felt that because the music was so intense that if we put all 15 tracks on one project, it’d be too much to digest. Especially as I am introducing myself to the audience, so the idea was to break it into parts and theme it. It’s an effective way to digest it: Pt. 1 is 14 minutes, so whether you have heard of me or not, giving away 14 minutes of your time isn’t asking for much and naturally if it resonates with you, you are going to go back to it. I’m really excited for people to hear what the next part sounds like.
BT: Yeah I thought it was an innovative way of doing it because not only is it smaller bursts of content, it also keeps you in the public eye for a longer period of time. If you drop an album, you drop an album and that’s that, but with 3 short parts…
VS: Exactly, it feels like 3 separate releases but it’s all the same thing. It allows people to build into the story as well. I’m not the guy who wants to be the biggest rapper, I want my message to resonate, so if you are a new person coming to the music, you can be on the journey with me. You understand everything I say on Pt. 1, then you get the Pt. 2 and grow with it and then Pt. 3 recaps the whole thing and there’s going to be an amazing moment at the end where it’s like, wow we actually read this book together.
BT: How has the way that you’ve grown up and your life experiences shaped your musical style and outlook?
VS: I was introduced to the hip hop world by my older sister. When I started listening to hip hop, the rappers in American were talking about things that I could relate to, and from then I always wanted to be able to speak the truth about experiences. I came up at a time when the craft was important, it was important to have fresh bars and that your vocabulary is right. I fell in love with literature because of music and that’s why when you listen to my music, people always say I’m really articulate because I rap the way I speak.
BT: I want to stray away from the music temporarily and talk about the acting. How’d you get into it?
VS: Funny story! I ran into a friend at the gym and he said to me he’s got this film that he’s doing, did I want to be a cameo in the film. It turns out they had a prison scene they wanted to shoot, so the conversation went ‘you’ve been to prison before, you know how the scene should be directed’. So I ended up getting a bigger role and having a line or two. With me, you just have to show me the water, you don’t have to teach me to drink it, so I carried on pursuing it. Then I found myself in a feature film like Blue Story, then I found myself on a BAFTA stage!
BT: Wow.
VS: Yeah I know, it was meant to be. When I arrived at the BAFTA’s obviously I was overwhelmed, trying to deal with my anxiety the right way, and the director asks me if there’s any famous person who I’m looking forward to seeing. When I was away, I used to watch ‘Dragon’s Den’ a lot, so I wanted to see one of them. Then, when they came to announce our award category, one of the Dragon’s was announcing the winner. So I’ve gone up on stage and I’m shaking the Dragon’s hand! The directors looking at me like did you know this was going to happen and I literally had no idea.
BT: Haha that’s crazy! Have you got many acting gigs lined up?
VS: Yeah I’ve got a few things lined up. I’ve been type casted a few times and now that I’ve had the whole cinematic experience and auditions, I’m ready to play a role outside of my natural life journey. I want to show that I can actually act.
BT: Awesome man. Moving onto Pt.2 now, how does the new mixtape differ from Pt. 1?
VS: Sonically, Pt. 2 is more uplifting. If you listen to the tapes together, going from ‘Reinvented’ as track 5 on Pt. 1 and then ‘No Regrets’ which is track 1 on Pt. 2, you hear the shift. When I talk about the journal effect, on ‘Reinvented’ I’m at a point where I’m not going to make the same mistakes, so ‘No Regrets’ is the start of the next chapter. It’s more vibrant. Throughout Pt. 2 I’m not taping into the emotional side of it, I’m sort of summarising. For me, the mood and energy around it differs. After Pt. 1, the pain, I wanted to bring the listener out of that cloud and it brings me out of that zone as well.
BT: My personal favourite on Pt. 2 was ‘Slipped Up’. What’s your favourite?
VS: My favourite is ‘Slipped Up’ as well because when I get to just speak like that freely, that’s me in my pocket. I think lyricism and storytelling are the strongest elements of my artistry.
BT: Are all the beats produced by the same producer?
VS: Yeah, Michelin Shin.
BT: That’s crazy, The two of you seem to work seamlessly together.
VS: I got a documentary coming out that shows the making of Glory Days, and you see us just work silently.
BT: Just a mad connection?
VS: Yeah, like 6 songs in 8 hours, freshly produced. He’s really amazing and he’s got an amazing future ahead of him.
BT: Throughout Glory Days, you’ve talked about the troubles that you’ve had and how you’ve gotten through them and now you’re obviously killing it. What advice would you give to someone who is in a similar situation, wanting to get to a place where they are finically stable and doing what they love?
VS: Focus on the things that are within your control, that’s what helps you remain consistent. When I’ve been in situations where there was huge obstacles, the only way I got past them is by realising that some things aren’t in my control and all I can do is focus on the things that are. Don’t give up on yourself; in the moment things might feel monumental and overwhelming but you have to understand that consistency is everything and there is no substitute for hard work. You have to understand it is going to come down to what you do. It’s not just about the action as well, it’s about the mindset. You’ve got to have a positive outlook on things and do things that keep that positivity. Nothing is easy, get past that. Most importantly, just believe in yourself. You know your own greatness better than anyone else.
BT: You are a wise man. Thanks for your time Vic!
VS: Anytime!