For a good few years, the music beaming out from west London has taken on a new energy. No longer inferior to the bubbling artistic hubs in south, east and north London, the drip goes harder, the sonic boundaries are shifted further and the charisma feels charming and distinctive.
All paths in west London’s musical group lead back to WSTRN – the three-piece crew who thrust west back into the spotlight, with ultra-smooth, chart-bothering debut single “In2”.
Released in 2015, the track became a homing beacon for fans and artists searching for a fresher sound. Built around super-sweet melodies and crisp ‘put-your-white-trainers-on’ production, the track drew from west London’s multicultural pots, blending UK rap vibrance, candied R&B lilts and afro swing heat, long before any other group had thought to do so.
Breaking through on a culture-shifting level, “In2” became the best-selling debut by a new group in 2015 and it climbed to number four on the UK chart (ground breaking for their genre at the time). The following year they won Best Newcomer at the 2016 MOBO Awards. “You could hear the rawness. The hunger. The delivery,” says WSTRN member Louis Rei. “Some things are written in the stars, and this was one of those things.”
Zoom forward by five years and the group are cemented into British musical history. They’re the glue between increasingly diverse sounds and burgeoning scenes, with collabs ranging from UK drill hotshot Unknown T and road-rapper Skrapz to Nigerian superstars Tiwa Savage and Mr Eazi. In essence, over a half-decade they’ve become the leaders of the west London scene they created.
But, says WSTRN member Haile (who is cousins with Akelle, also from the group), “Getting comfortable can be a wake-up call – you forget and you need to remind yourself why you’re here, and why you need to stay.”
Enter: WSTRN Season Three. Having been signed to a major label throughout their career, the group’s fourth long-playing release is their debut as an independent. Meaning the dial-twisting UK crew are once again executing their vision and developing their scene-charging sound on their terms, much like they were able to do when “In2” first released on UK rap channel LinkUpTV.
The connective music tissue between the trio runs deep and across generations. Akelle’s father, Tendai, was in a reggae group with Haile’s father and Louis’s dad a British actor Gary Beadle, who starred in the Steve McQueen’s ‘Small Axe’ series. Meanwhile, all three members have relationships that stretch back far beyond WSTRN’s beginning, whether through family or music.
When the time came to create the next batch of songs, the crew leaned back into their influences, their history and their culture. “All of the greats had a defining time where they found their sound,” says Louis, “and we’re doing that again with this new music.” Reggae and bashment drum patterns, 90s R&B melodies from acts like Lauryn Hill, Brandy, Monica – essentially an amalgamation of their influences – were thrown into the mix. Ultimately, says Haile, WSTRN’s “third season is about embracing the culture of being three individuals from west [London].”
WSTRN Season 3 sees the WSTRN grow their sound, with features from artist across the world including fellow Londoners, Pa Salieu and Backroad Gee; Jamaica stars Skillbeng, Lila Iké and Dexta Dap; Nigerian hitmaker Fireboy DML and more. The 15 track project sees WSTRN bring together cultures and sounds from around the world.
Lead single “Wonder Woman” brings in playful patois, telling the story of growing up in west London, via the sounds and situations all three members came across in their younger years. It’s also an incredibly warm letter of love, to the mothers who raised them (“she never leave me hungry / because she’s wonder woman” – go one of the lyrics in the intoxicatingly melodic chorus).
“What our music does for people around us, whether it’s our friends or our family, it’s very positive,” says Haile. “That’s what keeps me going personally – how our music affects other people.”
Nigerian singer Fireboy DML pops up on “Be My Guest” – a follow-up track that leans further into the group’s love for R&B. “I was looking toward Fabulous – Diddy in his “I Need A Girl” era,” says Louis, honing in on the tune’s effortless flow. “I would think about the swag, the braggadocious, cheeky, tongue-in-cheek vibe – but it was still fly. That’s how I approached that song.”
“Professional Love” brings in sweet, brassy riffs, alongside references to ackee and plantain, amid kicked back, loved-up production. Meanwhile “Rollin Out” banks back into refined, smoked-out rap. Together, the four tracks are WSTRN’s most cohesive yet. Beforehand, WSTRN reached into “trap, slow jamz, R&B – all kinds of different vibes. When we used to do interviews, we would say it was feel-good,” says Haile. This time, the sounds are pulled closer. “It’s an evolution of everything,” says Louis. “We’re coming into ourselves and we understand who we are a lot more. There’s growth in terms of lifestyle, ideology – everything.