A few days ago, I got the chance to have a cup of tea with up and coming British vocalist, Wolfie, at her flat in South London, and have a chat with her about the type of music she wants to create, the highlights of her career so far and what she’s got planned for the future. But, considering her slightly different outlook on life and music, I thought, rather than giving you a boring Q&A full off generic, scripted conversation, I would combine my conversation with the singer with a vignette of my experiences.
Although she resides just south of the river, Wolfie is Kent born and bred and after about five minutes in conversation with her, you’d be able to tell. She’s got a calm, benevolent attitude which isn’t exactly synonymous with the city she’s currently immersed in and I feel that this personality is projected in her music.
However, when discussing the fact that she grew up in the ‘Garden of England’ and whether that had effected the music she makes, she explained ‘If I’m honest, no. I don’t think it has. I feel like, I’ve met people that have grown up in London and these people have grown up on, I don’t know, early Garage, early Grime, Bashment, Dancehall. For example, I’ve got a friend called Simbe who grew up in Thamesmead, and all she listens to now, near enough, is alternative Rock. So, I don’t think it’s really about your surroundings, I think it’s who you choose to surround yourself with that influences the type of music you make’.
This suggested to me that, rather than being influenced by what other people are into, Wolfie has a very specific idea when it comes to how she wants to make music. She’s not going to compare herself to other artists that are in a similar position to her and she’s not going to try an emulate anyone who’s come before her. She’s going to create exactly what she wants to create and if you want to vibe to it, you’re more than welcome to.
At PMB we’ve been keeping a close eye on Wolfie for a while now, right from the days of her 7DS (7 Deadly Sins) EP, so we know how hard the young singer has been grafting. But, what I don’t think people realised (me included) is who she’s been working with. She has been collaborating with Nana Rogues (produced Tinie Tempah’s Girls Like which has reached the Top Ten in the charts), E.Y.(produces for Krept & Konan), WondaGurl (16-year-old who has produced for the likes of Jay Z and Travi$ Scott) as well as ADP and Show N Prove. Her track Faces, produced by Nana, even got picked up by Pharrell and played on his Beats1 radio show. When talking about who she’s worked with, she said ‘I got introduced to Nana through Tinie. That’s how I met Nana’ and claimed ‘A lot of the people I’ve worked with have been set up by my management… we’re like a little family… it’s really more like a friendship circle more than anything. It’s not like a studio session, it’s like I’m just chilling with my friends’.
After spending a bit of time with her, you can see how this sort of situation can transpire. Wolfie’s not looking to construct a tune like it’s a business transaction, it’s going to be more of a natural and fluid process. You can tell that she’s only going to make music with people she can vibe with.
‘A lot of the time, people will send me stuff. Like, Souncloud links or MP3s and stuff. But, to be honest, I find it a lot harder to connect to people over social media. A lot of the time I like to feel the energy of the producer and be in the studio with the producer and build from there’.
At the same time, Wolfie’s musical comprehension means that if you’re making good music, she will work with you. She added ‘Some of the sessions I’ve been in have been because people have sent me stuff on Twitter or on Facebook or to my Gmail or whatever and I’ve wanted to meet them because I’ve felt something from one of their beats. But it’s rare for me to feel something over the internet, if that makes sense’.
The singer’s success so far hasn’t only been down to the producers she’s been blessed with. Her talent and unique style has been spotted by some prominent taste makers in the UK and subsequently, US stars. Earlier this year, she supported The Internet when they came to the UK and her addition to the line-up seemed to be welcomed by the American collective’s fans.
I asked her about how the support slot came about and again, it was a pretty natural process. She explained ‘I had a meeting with Columbia and I ran into DJ Semtex. ‘Cause he’s in the same building. And Semtex sat down and listened to a couple of my things and he asked me who I was listening to right now and I mentioned them [The Internet] and Kehlani and a couple UK people. Then Sem was like ‘There’s support slots going for Kehlani and The Internet when they come and do their shows over here’ – this was at the end of last year. And I was like ‘sick’ but Kehlani didn’t want anyone because she was gonna bring out Stormzy or whatever. Then The Internet’s agent reached out to my manager because Semtex had already made that pattern and that’s how it happened babe’.
Wolfie invited me to come down to The Internet’s headline show at KOKO in Camden and their vibe was perfect for the venue. The bounding bass lines that course through the foundations of their music and Syd tha Kyd’s mellow vocals – which I’m pretty sure had most of the girls feeling bi-curious – made for a decent show. But, doing the job a support act is supposed to do, I feel like Wolfiedefinitely warmed up the crowd nicely and charmed the fans who may not have necessarily been that interested in seeing her before hand. Her captivating vocals – along with her chat between songs – had the punters immediately warming to her.
When I asked her what it was like opening up for such an established band, she explained that ‘because of the sort of band and musicians they are, I already knew that the audience would be conscious, vibey, wavey people just because of the calibre of music, really. So on that front, I was confident. And I’ve known my band for ages and I know what sort of musicians they are and how sick they are. I had no qualms in thinking that we could deliver. I was really excited to be honest and I don’t think I could think of another band that I would have wanted to support for my first tour. I think it was the perfect situation. How it all happened and aligned was just right’.
Over the past couple of year’s, in her musical career, Wolfie has experienced quite a few moments that would be noteworthy for any up and coming artist. The recognition from icons like Pharrell and supporting The Internet being just a couple of them. But when I asked her what the highlight of the preliminary parts of her career had been, she said ‘it would have to be signing to BMG I think. Just because it all got quite real I think. From that point. When my management, my mum and my dad and myself were in the BMG offices singing the deal and celebrating with champagne and shit. It got very real. It got real for me because it got real for my mum and dad. So I think that was the highlight because I sort of… everything had been working up to that point. I was just a pivotal moment and from that moment, certain things started to fall into place. So yeah, that would be the highlight babe’.
Considering what has happened in such a short space of time for the singer and the calbre of music we’ve already received, I think we can expect a lot more from Wolfie and her attitude and outlook when it comes to music, makes me feel like the next project could be a stand out body of work from an authentic, British artist.
