Succeeding across respective disciplines, artist and creative Dabieh is taking the industry by storm. He is perhaps best known for being the co-founder and executive producer of Cloud X, the record label and live music organisation that is swiftly rising through the industry ranks. This year’s festival took place last month was their most successful yet, as thousands descended onto South London’s Beckenham Place Park to witness the likes of Pip Millet, Santino Le Saint and Samm Henshaw deliver sumptuous performances.

As well as his work with Cloud X, Dabieh is increasingly notorious for his artistic acumen, and this summer he released a highly anticipated body of work, entitled “An Awkward Solitude”. Showing an impressive sonic magnitude and features from TS Graye and Santino Le Saint the project is a cross pollination of genre, an immersive and atmospheric collection of tunes that places Dabieh as a provoking performer and intelligent narrator.

We caught up with Dabieh, discussing the origins and ethos of Cloud X, the shaping of his artistry and his recent project.

Listen to “An Awkward Solitude”…

Read the interview…

What are you influenced by in day to day life?
The small things, the medium things, the big things. Anything can make a person feel and react, and somewhere in that space between the external and the internal, inspiration. The will to “DO” something. To create something. To dismantle something.

The small things – a badly made cup of tea, the smell of fresh laundry, a bowl of jollof rice.
The medium things – finishing a book, arriving in a new city for the first time.
The big things – traumatic life events such as heartbreak, death etc.

Where does your love for music stem from?
I also love the taste of apple crumble. I think my love of music comes from the same sort of place, some random but all together sensible oasis resulting in a “this is who i am”-ness.

How did you begin to shape your artistry?
Just get on with it and be yourself whilst doing it. Overtime, I’m becoming more me.

We love your work with Cloud X! What are the origins of the company?
Me and my best friend Ben Cross were 15 years old and decided to throw underground raves where we could hear the music we listened to online, and Brixton had a tonne of empty warehouse spaces. That was it. There was no big plan or mission, we just wanted to have fun and do it with other people that were keen to share in that.

What is the ethos of the label?
Feel free to be yourself, and love as you would be loved.

What are your forthcoming plans for Cloud X?
Accra, Tokyo, New York, Paris. Keep your eyes peeled.

Why is community such a big focus for you?
I think we learn the most important lessons by osmosis. Proximity and open conversation are crucial to this. I believe the more we can see each other for who we are, and learn to understand and empathise with each other, the greater our capacity for love.

Really enjoyed your new body of work! How are you feeling about its release?
To be honest whilst rolling out the project I had to focus more on organising Cloud X Festival. The festival was a massive success, but deifnitely meant the project didn’t get the love (from me) that it needed, so frankly i’m feeling a little bit flat about it. But I’m still glad i made it.

Why did you choose those certain features for the project?
They are friends of mine who I think have special voices.

What are you conveying thematically on the project?
It’s in the title b. An Awkward Solitude!

What are your goals for the future?
Tell the greatest story ever told.

What’s to come from you this year?
Post festival I got some time on my hands so I plan to deliver 2 mixtapes (both full of rap and self-produced) + 10 accompanying short stories.