Interview: South London Rapper Ultra_eko Talks About His Newly Released EP "Kitchen Sink Dramas"

Major thanks to Ultra_eko who connected with DCWS for an exclusive Q&A to talk about his just released debut EP “Kitchen Sink Dramas”, as well as his haunting new music video “King of the Wild Things, and much more.

We learned a lot from our conversation with the South London based rapper, and we expect that you will too, so check our interview below, stream/purchase “Kitchen Sink Dramas” on your preferred music service, listen to some more of his music on Spotify, and be on the lookout for our in-depth review of the EP which we’ll be posting tomorrow.

Describe for us your creative process for new song development. Also, what do you look for in the production that you use?

I usually start with a concept, an idea, or best of all, a story that I want to tell. Then I just try to find sounds that bring the words out of me. I find that I usually write best whilst in motion, either driving or walking; my mind seems to enter a different state and the words spring forth.

In terms of production I just go with whatever feels right; I don’t have any particular aesthetic, and the album I am working on for an autumn release, will have a completely different sound and aesthetic than the EP.

Speaking of EPs, congratulations on the completion and release of your debut EP "Kitchen Sink Dramas". First off, what does the EP title represent and how long did it take to complete the project?

Thank you, I’m very pleased with the finished product myself. I think there is a completeness and something identifiable about the piece as a whole, which is what I was aiming for and which I feel I achieved. I have had some incredibly positive feedback, beyond what I was expecting, especially in terms of the writing and content.

I’ve also had others who suggest that there was too much similarity between the sounds of each track, that there needed to be more variety. Anyone who listened through all of the material I have released on Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/ultraeko - would recognize the eclectic nature of my sounds and the material I cover; often it is very flippant and humorous, sometimes absurdly so, others serious, others fantastical and full of science fiction elements, as in my Virus227 series.

With ‘Kitchen Sink Dramas’ though, since it was only an EP, and runs at just 24 minutes, I hoped it would be a piece of work listeners would run straight through with. And so in a sense, having similar sounds was exactly the aesthetic I was looking for – indeed 3 of the 6 six tracks are produced by the same person, SYKO. I wanted it to sound like a cohesive and connected piece of work, and I wanted it to showcase what I felt to be my best writing. The writing side is my true passion, and I felt these tracks represented the best I had to offer lyrically.

A few people who have really connected with the album tell me they’ve had it on repeat, and that the stories within the tracks really only began opening up and making their full meaning apparent after several listens, which really makes me happy to hear. I would love to create the type of hip hop that people do listen to over and over until they know the words by heart; that would be something really special to me, because I pour my heart and soul into the writing. These pieces are all quite serious in nature, but they represent the writing which has meant the most to me.

The title originally was going to be ‘Outsider Artist’; I wanted something that represented how I felt about myself as a person and an artist, someone always on the outside looking in; someone who always distances themselves from the crowd. However, I woke in the early hours one morning and the title ‘Kitchen Sink Dramas’ popped into my head from nowhere, and I tend always to pay upmost respect to any suggestions put forward from the subconscious, so that title was decided straight away.

It’s a very British title, and the term comes from a movement in British theatre during the fifties which also made its way into films, which focused on the dreary, depressing, mundane dramas of everyday life. And the six stories I present in the EP are really just simple reflections of the journeys, the struggles, and the everyday realities we all face; though I hope they are a bit more entertaining to listen to than something classed as ‘dreary’!

The EP itself was written over perhaps 2 months. Though I am usually writing about ten tracks at a time; I like to bounce from one to another; maybe not the most efficient strategy, but it keeps me from getting bored. Also, it gives the verses time to settle and breathe. When I was younger, I never used to have the patience to let something sit for a few weeks before coming back to it and reading through with fresh eyes; nowadays I have so much on my plate that the process seems to happen automatically! In terms of recording it was all done over a couple of days and then sent of to Adam Lewis, who does such a great job of the mixing/mastering.

How would you say that your hometown, specifically South London, has inspired your EP, and your music overall?

Coming from this part of London has certainly shaped the music, in terms of my accent, my upbringing, and thus the stories and narratives that are born out of this. If you listen to my ‘Wormwood Scrubs’ track it will perhaps give quite a lot of insight into the type of background and family I come from. However, it’s not something I really focus on or think about very much. I think that nowadays we are all citizens of the world with the internet at our fingertips. I would cite a masterpiece such as ‘The Sopranos’ as having just as much influence on me as the area I grew up in. Although, having said that, I do have that innate territorialism that is in all of us, and when I see someone from close by it makes me especially proud, or I feel compelled to support them just on account of where they might have been born and grew up.

When someone listens to the "Kitchen Sink Dramas" EP for the first time, what do you want them to take away from the experience?

I guess I would want them not necessarily to have enjoyed the experience, but for it to have made an impression upon them that went a bit deeper than the usual fare. Something that they wanted to return to, that they felt would benefit from repeated listens. That would be incredible.

We're blown away by your new video "King of the Wild Things". How did you and the director come up with its treatment and will there be other visuals for tracks off the EP?

The video was created by Israeli video artist Eli Levi, and it is the ninth music video he has composed for me. He really is an incredibly talented guy, and he creates these beautiful pieces of art using only stock footage. I think we have developed a pretty good relationship together, and he had come to understand my music and typical themes and ideas.

I think my material makes good subject material for a music video because the tracks typically follow a narrative of some sort, and often use quite descriptive and poetic imagery. Usually I will send him a synopsis of the track, along with annotated lyrics, making the meaning very clear. But he is a super smart guy and he gets everything; it’s amazing what he does with the material he has at his disposal. He will then take that, along with the track, and craft a video out of it.

This video is certainly one of his best, along with the ‘Revolution UK’ track I would suggest. The care and attention he pays to every little detail is what makes his work so good. I have videos for three of the EP tracks now - “Wild Things”, “Soul’s Code”, and “Six Numbers”. I’m really making an effort to build my YouTube channel this year and so I will keep posting high quality videos; I even hope to make some of my own featuring myself for the album later this year.

I have been in touch with Eli today actually, and hopefully we will have a video for the ‘Twisted’ track, my personal favourite on the EP, out in 2 or 3 weeks; there will also be an anime video out for this track. I may perhaps also do one for the ‘Run away’ track, and that will be it I imagine for this EP. Having said that, being the completionist that I am, I will probably end up with videos for every track.

Stream and Share “Kitchen Sink Dramas” on: Spotify | Apple Music

Connect with Ultra_eko: Instagram | Soundcloud