In certain corners of the internet, the London artist and producer Brbko has been referred to as “elusive” and "enigmatic." No doubt, though the artist has worked with everyone from Alice Glass to Jawnino, his creative instincts have, at certain moments, tended to veer towards the obfuscatory. The genesis of his new single, “WE ALL IN GOD’S PUM,” the tale of which Brbko retells in our interview below, only deepens the intrigue. The artist’s output reads like a singular synthesis of various threads of British grime, rap, and electronic music, cut with a sharp lyrical position and a real feel for narrative. This is a story with more than a few chapters left. Read our interview with Brbko, and listen to “WE ALL IN GOD’S PUM” below.

Tell us about your newest single.

Brbko: Basically I was absolutely smacked while sat on a sofa in Paris. I’d been committing to celibacy and God came to me in the form of this magenta feminine energy and I just nutted out of nowhere. Basically from then I kinda realised God can take up any form and I guess this is me saying thanks. There are and have been a lot of amazing powerful women in my life and I guess it’s also an ode to them. Me and Cajm produced this beat together in January 2022. Been knew it was special. The main working theme of my forthcoming project BRAK VS. BRAK is “what happens after you die?” In this case the answer is “life was just a dream all along, there’s no universe just uterus.”

How do you approach making your own music versus production for friends or strangers? 

It’s two completely different disciplines, when making music for myself it’s a much longer process, more thought out. I guess ‘cos I’m more precious over it. Sometimes that will be the case too if I’m working with a collaborator on a full-length project. That can take months. Otherwise if it’s say a studio session and we’re against the clock, I like to make three songs minimum. When I’m just chilling with friends at the crib we can lock in for like a week just churning out tunes. It’s gonna be a bit more formulaic that way but we’ll end the week like 30 to 40 tunes deep. That feels more like playing video games to me if anything.

Could you talk a bit about this forthcoming record? Do you see it as a continuation of what you were doing on your last EP and on your first album? In what ways is it different? 

The new record is definitely its own entity. There’s a few easter eggs, though, that link it to the other material. It’s been in the making for a long time. Some of these tracks, instrumentals, lyrics have been in existence since 2021. Feels like a couple lifetimes ago. The working theme for this project was the afterlife, each song references that in some way. 

Is narrative important to you? How do you approach storytelling in your music?

Content is super important to me. I feel like that’s what makes media or art stand the test of time. I love playing with concepts, themes, narratives. My writing is generally inspired by my own real life experiences mashed into one digestible narrative. Sometimes I can draw from three or more life stories and put them together or sometimes I can be more direct—that usually comes when I’m freestyling. I’m definitely a storyteller by nature even outside of music. I got so many for the grandkids lol.

Could you talk a bit about your NTS show? 

I realised the other day I’ve been doing radio my entire adult life. It’ll be nine years this year since my first NTS show. So far that’s like 70 odd shows. It’s definitely evolved over the years, there’s a few different show pages even. I met so many important people in my life through radio, made so many memories. I’ve crashed out on air, crashed in on air. It’s definitely been a formative part of my life.

When you were younger, what inspired you to start making music?

It started from playing with loops on the app Sony Ericsson MusicDJ, but I would say it really clicked back in '08, when I went with my cousin to a youth space in Downham. They had Apple Macs there, so that was the first time I used GarageBand. They had this one loop that was used in Usher’s “Love in this Club.” Music defo became my main source of fun. It's like video games to me.

“DOWN2EARTH” is a very relatable tune. Where do those lyrics come from?

Really? I don’t think it is relatable. The first bar is “I’m Brak Baby not a regular Dave / sitting in Paris on a regular day” ha ha. It’s actually about how I don’t really have much in common with my peers.

I guess I'm talking about the chorus.

Ohhh okay. Yeah I guess that’s relatable to anyone making lifestyle changes, growing, moving forwards. I think I grew too much though. Missing some of the toxic traits that got me to where I am ngl.

What’s one of the best grime songs released over the past decade?

Man. If we’re talking the past decade there’s too many from pre-Covid times to even answer this. So I’m going to keep it post Covid and say “BRAK VS. BRAK.”

It’s late night in London. Where are you eating? 

Moonshine Lounge, Dalston. Iykyk.