Hot on the heels of their prior release ‘Kitchen’ Hackney collective Gramn drop ‘Minimum’ a trap ballad of epic proportions.

The track includes multiple messages attached to being broke as fuck but with too much talent in the bank. This narrative stalks Hackney like a spectre. If you don’t fit the dignity devoid standards of the industry, no amount of talent will buy you a seat at the table. Subject matter of this level cannot be fabricated and these realities are sugared by the wildly creative green screen madness of the video. The artwork too, so simple in its conception, shows singer Aux as a small money plant - foreboding hands reaching from every side. In its final crescendo, a trap bassline free falls beneath piano chords that break and weep as Aux punctuates every single drop of frustration. The multitude of harmonies combines as a single lyric line that ducks, dives and smacks you with the agony of minimum wage. 

The job of the artist is to reflect the times, and for artists bound to minimum wage, bleakness is not new. As recession looms and our government informs us that our god-given talents are no longer required, not being able to afford even the most simple of pleasures can be soul-destroying.

And yet Hackney stands strong.