When it comes to the UK scene, you can’t discuss promising young stars without mentioning London’s upcoming rapper Arz. At only 17 years old, the east Londoner has racked in one 30 million streams and support from the likes of Clara Amfo and Scott Mills. Dropping his debut project “Love Letters” in midst of a global pandemic last year, the artist took us a rare approach to rap music and unfolded a variety of feelings and emotions across slick trap-tinged production and warming R&B melodies.

“When writing & recording ‘Alone With You’ I just considered my feelings and my real emotions at the time,” the artist revealed. “Throughout the project, it’s just the realness and rawness of young love and what that looks like from my point of view.”

With the ability to craft an intricate flow and glide across a selection of hard-hitting productions and beats, it’s clear that the rapper is well on the road to stardom. Set for an explosive 2022, we caught up with the rising star talking his journey so far and how he originally wanted to be an actor.

Check out the interview below…

Heya! How are you? How has this year been for you?
I’m great, thank you! This year has been insane for me. So much growth and so much fun, I’d definitely say my most impactful year so far.

With everything that happened last year, was your creativity affected?
It wasn’t really affected, I’m kind of a home person anyway, so staying home wasn’t a problem to me. Most studio sessions ran as normal which I’m thankful for. I’d say the only way COVID slightly affected the process was just not being able to write about certain experiences that I would have had if covid wasn’t around.

How did you first get into music, what sparked the interest?
I’ve always been a creator, when I was younger I’d love to edit videos and I wanted to be an actor. I started freestyling around my boys and they gassed me. I started dropping freestyles on socials and they clicked with a lot of people so I thought why not do music if it’s easy and I love it. I’ve also loved listening to music my whole life, listening to music plays such an important role in my day to day life.

You’re only 17 and have already achieved so much success! Do you feel any pressure at all?
I don’t really feel pressure. I think if I keep doing what I’ve been doing with the team I’ve been doing it with then I will always be in a good position and having fun.

You’re from North East which is a melting pot of culture and sound, do you think your area has impacted your sound?
100%, east London rappers are the hardest. I think surroundings and your environment will always impact whatever you’re doing whether you realise it or not.

You’ve just released your new single “Alone With You”, talk us through your mindset approaching this project?
When writing & recording ‘Alone with you’ I just considered my feelings and my real emotions at the time. Throughout the project it’s just the realness and rawness of young love and what that looks like from my point of view.

What do you want people to take away from your music?
I want people to be inspired by my music forever. I want people to relate & get that tingly feeling whenever they press play.

It had an amazing response, how did it make you feel?
The response from the project ‘Alone With You’ was crazy. I knew it would be appreciated by people who are really into music but I never thought it would have this much of an impact. It makes me so happy that there are hundreds of thousands of people listening to me everyday. It makes me wanna go harder and show more.

Who would you cite as your inspirations?
I don’t really have any set individual inspirations but my family and team inspire me to go hard.

What’s next for you? What are you most excited for?
I aim to release a body of work soon that will be a blueprint & classic for the sound I’ve been working on & innovating. I’m most excited about shows and travelling the world, I love travelling. I always have, so I can’t wait to mix music and travelling to create many memories with all the people I love.