Rimzee is in many ways, something of a UK rap veteran. As he ventured across the country recently on a promotional tour for October mixtape Cold Feet , fans still raved about his “2010 Freestyle”, and his seminal 2012 debut Upper Clapton Dream places him firmly in British rap’s canon of greats.
However, he’s also very much an artist of the 2020s, as evidenced in recent weeks by the demographic of fans from whom he was praised. “The maddest ones were the people I met that were young,” he explains below, “and when I asked them their favourite song, they said my “2010 Freestyle” that came out 12 years ago. I was like ‘you would have been six when that came out.’ For them to have gone all the way back to those times was quite impressive.”
Something of a come-back kid, an intervening period spent in prison following his debut’s release saw an interval between his work of the early 2010s and re-emergence in recent years. However, as epitomised on the ambitious 18-track Cold Feet, replete with collaborations with some of the most prestigious of his genre’s figures, the rapper’s still in the early stages of what looks set to be an enduring and storied career.
Head below to read our chat with Rimzee on everything Cold Feet, attending the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premiere, and just what his future may have in store…
Congratulations on Cold Feet! We’re almost a month into its release. How have those first few weeks been since it came out?
It’s been kind of hectic, because, most people promote for the first weekend, and me, I’m just trying to continue pushing. I went to 35 cities. The first week I went to 24 cities in a week, and then we did another 10 cities, so I was all over the UK really – Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Derby. I was doing pop-up stores so fans were getting to meet and greet me, I was selling merchandise and unsigned CDs, taking photos and whatnot.
Tell us about some of the interactions you had with fans on the ground!
The maddest ones were the people I met that were young and when I asked them their favourite song, they said my “2010 Freestyle” that came out 12 years ago, so I was like ‘you would have been six when that came out.” For them to have gone all the way back to those times was quite impressive. A lot of people were also asking me for entrepreneurial advice as well.
Can you break down the project’s title: Cold Feet? What was the inspiration behind the name?
So, my first thought was to call it “Cold Feet” because I’m basically warming up to something great. Because if your feet are cold then you want to warm up so that was the first initial thing. And, in the dictionary it means ‘to be scared’, so then I thought, I want to flip the meaning, so I’m calling it that because I feel like the industry is afraid of me. Because, my social media photos, for example – I’ve got over 100k followers but my interactions will be the same as someone with 300k. And then, I’ll go to The Rated Awards, premieres and all of these people that everyone looks up to will be coming to me talking about my music. So I kind of feel like a hidden talent.
Why do you think you occupy that kind of role in particular?
I’m a threat. I’m independent, I’m talented. I’ve got the look, I’ve got the story. I’ve got a lot of things.
The respect you have among the industry is exemplified by the calibre of figures who appeared on your album, such as, Emeli Sande, Maverick Sabre and Giggs, to name but a few. Tell us a bit more about those relationships!
They’re all people who I’ve listened to and thought they were talented from when I was young, and then when I reached out to them, when I got them on the tape, it was sick. Giggs is cool! He understands it, he gets it. I felt like I could relate to him in a lot of ways. He was in America when he did his part, so he sent it from America. Emeli Sande was proper cool. I was actually surprised as well as I didn’t know what to expect because she’s a proper superstar, but she was proper nice.