Get Acquainted With Kwame’s Impressive New EP ‘Please, Get Home Safe’
"I gave my all into this project, I truly believe as a writer, rapper, producer and artist I levelled up."
“I gave my all into this project, I truly believe as a writer, rapper, producer and artist I levelled up,” Kwame tells Music Junkee about his expansive and impressive new EP, Please, Get Home Safe.
Since exploding onto the scene after winning an Unearthed slot to open Splendour in the Grass, as well as a handy co-sign from A$AP Ferg, the Ghanaian-Australian rapper has proven himself as one of the hottest talents in the country, with release after release consistently showcasing his ability to slip between genres with ease.
“I’m the type of person to throw myself into the deep end, swim back out,” he explains. “I thrive off of pushing the boundaries, I dislike hearing the same sonics over and over again until they get rinsed out. Kwame isn’t that. Kwame is a creative experience.”
There’s no better person to walk you through his eclectic new EP — so we’ll let Kwame take it from here.
‘NOBODY’ feat. E^ST
‘NOBODY’, from memory, was actually the last song I made towards this project. 2019 was a fast-paced year for me, I dealt with a lot both physically, mentally and emotionally. I almost considered quitting music halfway through the year.
I had the wrong people within my team, I had people who weren’t in tune with my visions as an artist and who, instead, had their own ideologies of what Kwame should be as opposed to what I wanted it to be. It was through this song I let out every bit of anger within me to create what I personally believed to be a sonic masterpiece.
“I had people who weren’t in tune with my visions as an artist who instead had their own ideologies of what Kwame should be.”
The chorus was actually a freestyle that happened during the moment of producing the track, and what I love about it so much is the fact that the approach in my tone is somewhat delicate and not forceful. I’ve always found it best to get your point across without being abrasive, so having a hook like that on this song was powerful, meaningful and just simple.
What I love about this song in particular is the production and arrangement of the whole track. The arc to me is honestly so gorgeous and wholesome and unorthodox. I knew I needed an angelic vocal to carry out the post-chorus and E^ST was just that person. She is actually the first artist I’ve ever reached out to outside of my camp for a feature and I’m truly grateful for her contribution to the song.
Upon sending her the track, I asked if she could add somewhat of a motif adding more fuel to the essence of the track. When she sent back her parts I was blown away! It was the line “Superstar stardom give me a holler, all my big dreams make all my fears smaller” for me.
‘STOP KNOCKIN’ @ MY DOOR!’
This was the first song I made towards this project and this set the tone of the entire body of work. When I found the sample I just KNEW like, I KNEW I struck gold and I honestly couldn’t believe it! I’m super thankful for Ann Peebles and the team for giving me the okay to sample the track.
Kanye is definitely of influence when it came to chopping this sample, it’s very College Dropout days, when Kanye would chop his samples on his ASR. I truly felt that the way I sampled the track was super unique to other songs that have the same sample and if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from Kanye when sampling, it’s to sample in a way that redefines and creates your own identity.
‘AIN’T SO’ feat. Arno Faraji
This track came together so organically. Arno came straight to my studio moments after landing in Sydney from Perth as he had a show to play. He literally walked into the studio unannounced and I was like, “Woah, what are you doing here?!”
He replied be saying “Brooo, I got a show this week!”. I’m standing there confused thinking how did this guy get here but also, good on him for knowing his way around Sydney!
‘AIN’T SO’ is an anthem. It’s a conversation between the naysayers, and Arno and I about the undeniable movement we have within the music industry. Essentially, “say it ain’t so” is a phrase often used when someone’s claiming something to be false. It was through this phrase that we decided to flip the narrative and use it as somewhat of a rhetorical question to the public. Essentially what that phrase creates is a moment where the other person, who is most likely in the wrong, is unable to rebut the other person’s statement as it is true.
There’s a confidence when you ask someone say what I’m saying isn’t true, that’s essentially where we took this track.
‘TOMMY’S IN TROUBLE’ feat. CLYPSO & Phil Fresh
This track reflects the internal struggles one might face in today’s day and age. It doesn’t surprise me that lyrics such as “grew up round some bigotry, the system set for killing me” are relevant to this day as, unfortunately, institutionalised racism is quite embedded within our society.
Nonetheless, this track in particular is a record that I’m truly so proud of. I feel as a lyricist I was sharp across both part A and B and as a producer I really stepped up and just did my damn THANG.
This track came out from the second session I did with CLYPSO, she came by to my studio and we literally made the first half of the song in that sitting. Initially part A was just the song itself however I just knew that it needed an extra section where I really needed to talk my shit and get a lot of things off my chest.
When we were mixing the project Phil was in the room and I played him the song and he was blown away by the track, I expressed to him that I need a second section that the both of us could go bar for bar on, he was excited and understood the vision. It was in that session the second half of the track was added and both Phil and I SNAPPED when writing and recording our verses.
This track was heavily influenced by Tyler, The Creator, who I look up to as a mentor. His musicianship inspires me to push past the sonic boundaries creating something so unique and innovative. The swing and pocket of his drums has been something I’ve wanted to get a hold of for so long and I think I did it right with ‘TOMMY’S IN TROUBLE!’
‘GLORY’
This track to me is so wholesome. This was made during a time where I was going through a lot both mentally, physically and emotionally. The track definitely takes inspiration from a religious standpoint however, I wanted this song to be healing to anyone, irrespective of their religious views.
The purpose of writing this track was to find healing on a deeper level, to throw out all my trials and tribulations I’ve faced and even continue to face throughout my life. I no longer fear anything anymore. I know my purpose and calling, it’s to motivate and influence the world to realise the greatness we possess as human beings.
I sat with Nikos H. Smallman who wrote out the choir harmonies. He actually wrote the harmonies to ‘NO TIME’. We both felt that we needed to take the choir parts to a whole new level.
“I no longer fear anything anymore.”
We had the idea of an eight-person choir, half the choir being men and the other half being women however, things didn’t really go to plan with people not being able to make the session and somehow on the day we had a room filled with women and one male. It was so empowering and beautiful to be in a room filled with predominantly women. An honour in itself!
I’ve always been supportive of women in the industry and just women in general so to have had them all in the room was a blessing, seeing them come together, creating new friendships and supporting one another was amazing.
For anyone out there who may be facing tough moments in their life, understand that you’re not alone, it’s never a bad thing to just speak about the hurt we face in this world as suppressing it only eats us alive.
‘WE CAN BE’
I’ve always said that if this was the last song in my discography that anyone heard from me, I would genuinely leave this Earth fulfilled.
‘WE CAN BE’ in my eyes is the most best-felt song on this project. What’s so beautiful about this song is that it features backing vocals from Nikos H. Smallman and my engineer Matt ‘xiro’ Fioravanti. It was only right that they were the two who actually sing backing vocals on this track as there is a certain bond between the three of us that is truly unbreakable.
Together we’ve all been at our lowest but it was through the essence of family that really kept us together which saw us face so many situations that really tested our friendship. I love those two to death and no matter what we face, we’ll always overcome any hurdle set in front of us.
‘WE CAN BE’ is a conversation with both myself and the world. The hook like ‘NOBODY’ came from a freestyle, in fact, I’m going to label it as my ‘stream of consciousness’ yup that’s what it is.
I just knew the power behind this chorus and how inspirational it was. The moment the keys were laid down, it just gave me an instant vision of my band and I at Glastonbury dressed in all white playing this as the last song of the night with the crowd reciting back the lyrics, just imagine that?! IMAGINE IT!
The first verse was written from the perspective of speaking to myself. “I won’t let you fall this time, I can’t let you cross my mind,” it was just something about this line that actually had me pause the song as it was on loop for me to write it and I sat there and I almost wanted to cry haha. It was a moment where I felt like I was really about to take the level of belief within myself to another level which carried out to the last line of the verse: “I knew that I’d be someone, when they said I would be no one” which honestly is my favourite line across the entire project.
I’ve honestly been trying to write the most insane and lyrical line for that message in particular as I felt I needed to really be on my advanced English bullshit.
Kwame’s Please, Get Home Safe EP is out now via Def Jam ANZ.