This Cardiff-based rap artist has marked himself out on the local scene with a soulful and somewhat old-skool take on the genre. New EP A Moment Later is being supported by three Welsh launch gigs – and a chat with Buzz’s Emma Way.

How does your new EP A Moment Later link to the release from earlier this year, A Moment’s Notice?

Charlie J: A Moment’s Notice was looking at the present. Like straightaway, short notice. A Moment Later is looking back, thinking of the future and how I got to where I am right now. I feel like the first track Tell Me addresses that in a sense, and then following that we have Daze, which is looking back to when I was younger and how I grew up, with Good Vibes and Spirit following on from that. This is looking back. The first project was looking at the present, maybe there’ll be a third one looking into the future.

So what sort of themes do you visit on this release? 

Charlie J: The tracks are quite different from each other, in the sense that a lot of my previous projects were about romantic themes, or even just hustling. This is more introspective. For example, Spirit is about my brother and some of the struggles that he overcame. He was working in a job that was getting him down and depressed and one day he came back after he left his job, and he was the happiest he’d been in years, in the garden.

Tell Me is about the process of becoming a musician, it can actually be quite lonely. A lot of the time I’m doing this by myself, I have lost friends throughout the years because some people get jealous. Some people see that they were in the same place as you and then you’re in a different place now and it’s like, how come we were in the same place and now Charlie’s over here? And it turns to jealousy and it’s not great, but unfortunately, that’s how it is.

Do you find it easy to put yourself into your songs and be honest – with yourself and with other people? 

Charlie J: Yeah, I do – but at first I didn’t. I think as an artist, you have to overcome barriers. There’s a track I was writing a couple of years ago, and when I was writing that song it was cathartic to me – because it was the first time I was able to really speak from the heart. I’ve got a couple of lines on the track like, “Never been in love and other than my mum see, I’m questioning my friends like, do they really love me?” For me, that was a moment when I was like, wow, I finally wrote that down on the page, I finally recorded that. Once that barrier had gone, I felt like I was able to from there forward, just open up and just be honest. I realised that this music’s got to be a true reflection of myself going forward. 

Are you a completely independent artist? 

Charlie J: Yeah – well, when I put a release out, it says it’s with Bard Picasso; Bard Picasso’s more of a community than a label. I haven’t signed anything with them. So everything is independent. This project was not produced by me, but a lot of my projects are. I do the PR and marketing, tour, I’m funding it myself, and I speak to all the venue owners myself. I’m like a six-man team by myself!

Do you enjoy it or is it something you’d like to spread out a bit if you could?

Charlie J: Spread it out. I know people come to me like “Charlie, you do it quite well, I see what you do on social media,” whatever. But the truth is, I’d much rather just be able to sit down and make music all day. To me, all the other stuff is like when you make a nice meal and you have to wash the dishes. I’ll be careful when I say that because my mum will probably say, “well, Charlie, you don’t wash the dishes!” But that’s how it feels. I feel like I have to do social media posts and the marketing and the PR and all of that and plan it all myself. I reach out to people myself right now because I don’t have a team of people or a budget. So it’s all me.

How long have you been doing music for?

Charlie J: I’ve been rapping since 2015 and producing since 2016 – taking it seriously probably since 2018. There was a moment when I was in sixth form and because I was quite academic, they wanted me to go to uni, but it didn’t feel right. My heart was in the music, I really wanted to give it a shot. That’s a decision I made – to do something that funds and supports my music career. So the last four years have just been full-on, just focusing on music.

How did you come to work with your producer and what do you normally look for in a producer? 

Charlie J: Before this year – and sometimes this year – I’ve been self-produced. But as we all know, life just gets busy and sometimes I’ll enjoy producing. I enjoy making beats, but sometimes I just feel like I’ve got to rap; get stuff off my chest. I’ve just got to write songs. I write a verse every single night and I’ve done that now since 2016. It’s just a practice that keeps me sharp, keeps me in the mode of writing songs.

FYKSEN is a Norwegian producer – I found his beats on YouTube. I’m a fan of artists like Lord Apex, and I wanted something different as well. So, A Moment’s Notice was quite neo-soul and summery, and that’s produced by a guy called Kwanli. Shout out to him! FYKSEN’s beats were more mellow, but hazy and chill. I don’t really know anyone around here who is doing that sort of sound, so that’s why I wanted to work with him.

When it comes to a producer, in particular, I just want someone that makes me feel a way, and then it’d be extra marks for things that I can recreate live. Live performances for me are very important – it’s something that I really focus on. I’m putting a band together for the final show of the tour.

Will this be the first time you’re playing live with a full band?

Charlie J: For my own songs, yes, but I have hopped on bands throughout the history of my working as a musician. When I started making music, I started going to a local youth club, More Music up in Morecambe. Some of the skills I developed there were freestyle rapping and improv. I was working with live instruments – and yeah, again, it comes to sort of doing everything myself. Earlier this year I got Katie, my guitarist, involved so this is the first time it’s gonna be a band performing my original songs. 

What is your 2023 looking like?

Charlie J: The first couple of months I’m just gonna take some time out to work on new music. I think it’s going to be more self-produced this time. I want more control of the whole project, rather than being like, “right, these are some cool beats, I just need to rap on them”. I want to look at doing more festivals, more shows further afield across the UK; in terms of Wales, there’s not much more I can do unless I get bigger gigs, which unfortunately I’m not in control of. I need somebody to help me. So what I can control is doing more in Bristol, London and Manchester, spreading my brand and getting further afield.

When I saw Kendrick in Birmingham in November, he had projectors and these choreographed dancers – it was amazing – and I’m thinking, my mate in Bristol works with projectors and I know dancers. So, I’m maybe gonna be doing one-off performances, different layouts with bands. I’m thinking about putting together a full female band, just to do something cool like that.

Is Kendrick one of your favourite artists?

Charlie J: Yeah, especially To Pimp A Butterfly – the jazz, the funk, the soul and all is crazy. I do like his new album as well, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, just because it’s so personal, very unfiltered. I do like sitting with a project, delving deep into it and feeling something.

Who are some of your other favourite artists?

Charlie J: I love D’Angelo. The Voodoo CD stays in my car. I can’t sing like him but the guitar solos, the grooves, the songs are just amazing. I feel like anyone who listens to that, you just feel energised.

I love Loyle Carner. He’s someone who takes that old-skool hip-hop, and is very personal in his lyrics. His new album, Hugo, again, is a very honest record, very personal. I always love hip-hop with live instruments and I love neo-soul as well.

Charlie J plays Le Public Space, Newport, Wed 7 Dec (Tickets: £6. Info: here); Bunkhouse, Swansea, Tue 13 Dec (Tickets: £5. Info: here); The Moon, Cardiff, Thurs 15 Dec (Tickets: £6. Info: here)

A Moment Later is out now on all streaming/download platforms.

More info on Charlie J here.

words EMMA WAY