In Conversation: Blade Brown, K-Trap Talk ‘Joints’, Jamal Edwards’ Impact, Cloutchasers In UK Rap & More

The idea of a joint mixtape is one that often exists in the realm of possibility but rarely in reality.

If two artists make a successful song together, fans instantly start calling for a fuller body of work. On some occasions, one track is all we need. In other instances, a whole project makes complete sense. Joints—a collaborative mixtape from Blade Brown and K-Trap—falls in the latter category.

Blade Brown was one of the first road rappers to successfully drop a joint mixtape when he and Giggs connected for Hollowman Meetz Blade in 2007, back in an era when UK rappers needed to sell physical copies of their music and radio spins were rare. 15 years later, Blade has linked up with fellow South Londoner K-Trap as two generations collide to remind everyone why they’re both so highly rated. Calls for the rappers to release a joint mixtape started back in 2019 when they put out the trap banger “Joints”—which, at the time, was their third cut together, following on from “Show Me” and “Back To Cali Freestyle”. The music video for “Joints” has since garnered over four million views and still offers high replay value today.

Demand for a collaborative mixtape only grew stronger when K-Trap delivered his debut album, Street Side Effects, in November 2020. One of the standout tracks was “Probably”, his fourth release with Blade and another moment which listeners referenced as a reason why they should make more music together. Fast forward to the present year, and those requests became a reality when Joints—the mixtape—finally dropped last month. Blade Brown and K-Trap put out a couple of music videos from the 11-song tape and linked up with Trapstar for a one-off pop-up store to help spread the word, and it all paid off in a major way when Joints—released independently—entered the UK albums chart at No. 18, which is a testament to both rappers’ solid fanbases.

We caught up with Blade Brown and K-Trap to discuss the making of Joints, the impact the late Jamal Edwards had on their careers, cloutchasers in UK rap, and more.

COMPLEX: Blade, you first started rapping in 2005, and yet you’ve managed to stay relevant all these years later. What’s your secret?

Blade Brown: If you look at the length of the time that I’ve been rapping, I’ve been practicing my craft and I just moved with the times. I’ve studied the art of rapping—rap is something I’ve always studied. It’s not easy for me, but it is easy for me because I’ve studied the game and mastered my craft. Working with artists like Trap helps me keep up as well.

When Hollow Meetz Blade—your collab mixtape with Giggs—dropped in 2007, it was a really big moment for UK rap. Will we ever see a part two?

Blade Brown: That tape changed the streets and changed the dynamics of the game, so I’d never rule out a part two. It’s got to make sense and the people’s gotta want it, but I’d never rule that out.

Given the success of Hollow Meetz Blade, why did it take so long for you to link up with another artist for a joint project?

Blade Brown: I’ll be honest: other than [Youngs] Tef and Trap, the fans haven’t really asked for it. But they asked for this one a lot, so we decided we had to do it. The listeners spoke it into existence.

How do you know when you’ve made a good track? What’s your quality control process?

K-Trap: You just get that feeling. You can’t force the feeling—it just comes naturally. With this project, because it’s a joint tape, we weren’t as harsh on ourselves. But when I’m rapping by myself, I think of my biggest songs or the songs that people like the most, and if it doesn’t give me that same feeling, I need to go harder.

Blade Brown: There are moments where we can critique each other and no one’s gonna take it in a bad way, but the funny thing about this tape is that everyone thinks we made loads of songs and picked the best. We didn’t. We literally just made 11 songs and that’s all the songs right there. I feel like we were on point and the quality was on point—we didn’t really need to do a lot of chopping and changing. Trap was more on-form when we made this tape, in terms of releasing music and recording, whereas I haven’t put out a lot of stuff recently. During the first few sessions, Trap was definitely putting the pressure on me to get stuff recorded quicker than I was, which made me step things up a notch. Having that push was good for me.

How did you go about selecting the right producers for Joints?

K-Trap: We just got sessions in with different producers and made the tracks there and then.

Blade Brown: I think we kinda know when a producer plays a beat that we both like. We both have to be feeling it. There might have been a couple of beats I didn’t like as much as Trap did, but he’d be like, “Trust me on this one,” and vice versa. There’s definitely a sound that we wanted—we wanted it to be very trappy. We weren’t trying to make any commercial hits or anything like that, we just wanted to give people what they want and love us for. There’s a wide variety of producers on there. We got Skepta to produce one of the beats as well. That was just us vibing in the studio and then he started spitting that bit of the Gucci Mane freestyle, then we found it online, sampled it, and wrapped it there and then. It was very organic.

You had a pop-up store collaboration with Trapstar and used their font on the front cover of Joints. I know you both have close ties with the brand, but what was it about this particular project that made you want to do something bigger with them?

Blade Brown: Like I said, there’s no label or anyone else involved, but we wanted to work with a brand that we’ve associated with over the years. They were involved with some of the marketing side of the tape; we used the Trapstar font on the cover, and we kept the Trapstar theme going through the videos with the clothing, all of which led up to the collab [T-shirt drop] with them. It’s a brand I’ve been working with for years, Trap’s been working with them for the past few years as well, so we’ve got a good relationship. We both appeal to the same market, so it made sense for us to come together.

Trapo, one of your first big videos, “Paper Plans”, took off on SBTV. How did Jamal Edwards help your career progress?

K-Trap: He did so much for me. The thing I respected most about Jamal was that he wasn’t just looking at who’s the next to blow or whose hype he could jump on. He linked me when I had nothing going on. He would see things in people they didn’t even see in themselves. Jamal actually put out my first mixtape, and most of my videos were on SBTV early on. He was pushing me to get a project together. At that time, when I started dropping songs on his channel, a lot of people were interested in me, but he actually took time out to meet up with me and connect me with different people. And I’m sure he did the same with so many other people.

How do fans perceive your music when you wear the mask compared to when you don’t?

K-Trap: I didn’t really understand how big of an impact the mask had until I took it off in 2019. With the mask on, it’s more believable and it’s more intimidating. Somebody that’s not from that life would take to a guy with the mask more—it’s more movie-like. Without the mask, I’m calm. You wouldn’t look at me straight away and say, “Yeah, he’s a drill artist.” I feel like I’m at the best place I’ve been in right now since I took off the mask.

How would you describe your influence on the UK drill scene?

K-Trap: I feel like I’ve had a massive influence. I was one of the first people to actually do this UK drill thing.

You’ve both released a number of solid projects, but what’s your creative process when piecing together bodies of work? Like, how do you create a cohesive album or mixtape rather than just a collection of good singles?

Blade Brown: I think it starts from the beats. When you figure out your beat selection, you know what vibe the tape is gonna be, you know what the sound is gonna be, and you know how you’re going to rap on those beats. Whatever mindframe you’re in will determine what kind of beats you select. I think it starts from there. With a project, it’s not just about making songs: it’s about making the right songs that work together.

K-Trap: We make music about how we feel and what we go through. We don’t go through the same thing every day—we have different moments. Like Blade said, the beat selection is important too.

Not including Joints, what’s your favourite project you’ve released to date, and why?

Blade Brown: Because it was the start of a series and something that turned into a brand, I’d say Bags & Boxes 1. It started off the Bags & Boxes series, which then turned into BXB, which then turned into shops abroad. It’s got a lot of meaning behind it.

K-Trap: For me, it’s The Last Whip. It was before I knew about labels, charts and all of this stuff that will sometimes be on your conscience. Even though you don’t care about it, it’s a different type of pressure.

How much do you care about the charts?

K-Trap: It’s important, but it’s not important. It’s not important when it comes to who I am, what I stand for, or how good I am. But I feel like I’m at a stage in my career where I’m an established artist so these things do count. If you don’t chart, it doesn’t mean that your project isn’t good—or if someone charts and you don’t, it doesn’t mean that their body of work was better.

Some artists nowadays use clout-led tactics to help market themselves, but neither of you built your name off of that kind of thing. What are your thoughts on how artists market themselves nowadays?

Blade Brown: I think it’s a generational thing. For artists from my generation, we didn’t do that and it wasn’t really acceptable. With the younger generation, it’s not only acceptable, but it’s also kind of expected. People want to see who you’re linking or who you’re arguing with. My listeners and followers wouldn’t want me to get involved with stuff like that.

K-Trap: I don’t really believe in that stuff—I just keep myself to myself. That’s not me, that’s my character. I see social media platforms as being for music and music only. If people wanna make clowns of themselves online, all that excitement you get from clowning yourself online will come back to bite you in some way.

Blade Brown: It’s more acceptable for your generation. So for you to not do that, it’s probably refreshing for your fans. But Trap moves like he’s an old man, so it works [laughs]. Those kinds of fans that jump to where the hype is, you don’t really want those kinds of fans. It’s about the long game.

Are you both independent or are you signed to a label?

Blade Brown: We’re both fully independent. With Joints, there’s no outside involvement at all. It’s about as independent as you can get.

What are your thoughts on remaining independent versus signing with a record label?

K-Trap: I’m too hands-on. I’m passionate about what I do and my creative sense is crazy. I don’t even mean to sound cocky when I say this, but I feel like I’m bigger than a label. I’m not against them, but unless somebody can see my potential, how far I want to take things, understands my vision and is willing to invest in me, I’m not really bothered.

Blade Brown: I’ve spent the majority of my career with no management or outside involvement. All the relationships I’ve made in music, I’ve built by myself, so I don’t need to go through anyone to speak to anybody. When it’s all said and done and years go by, I own my music. I can sit down and say all my music pays me until this day.

Some artists trip themselves up with their ego and that makes it harder to build relationships. You two don’t strike me as being “too Hollywood.”

Blade Brown: A lot of artists can’t really go into meetings and conduct themselves properly, and this is stuff I had to learn because nobody did it for me. I’ve had to do everything, from recording, mixing and mastering, to covers, promo and marketing—no one helped me for over 10 years. I know how to spend money, and I know how to budget. Sometimes that scares labels away because they can’t do little tricks that they do with their artists, like overspending money or running up your budget and things like that.

On “Six Figures”, we hear lyrics about Blade having two shops out in Spain. How have you both diversified outside of music?

Blade Brown: It’s important for artists to understand the reach they have and what can come off the back of music. A lot of the bigger artists, a lot of their success comes from outside of music, so it comes to a point where you have to look at music as a platform to shine a light on the other businesses you have. You have to think about the future because you’re not gonna be hot forever. You can stay relevant, but you won’t be hot forever. With opening shops in Spain and becoming successful in business, it’s me showing people who come from where I come from, who had the same disadvantages I had, that you can do it.

K-Trap: Blade used to tell me this a lot. I’ve been in the game and made my stamp, but I feel like I haven’t really had the brand to fall back on, so that’s how I came up with Thousand8—my record label. You’re gonna hear a lot more about that in the coming months.