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Shifting impressions and giving feel good vibes. The Margin Kings - cultivating a new culture in the UK ‘urban’ music scene.

"The whole idea behind our movement (and our music) is to bring people together. We are trying to remove barriers, and ‘they’ keep chopping social groups how ‘they' want." - Rico Marvell of the Margin Kings.

“There are enough people talking about their struggle and telling my story for me. I don’t need to add to it. I want to come from another perspective.” - Reece Rydar of the Margin Kings.

“Are we starting to get singled out? It’s funny there used to be a lot of ‘beefs’ and post-code wars. It’s funny that the era of the gangs is dying out. Cos people are like ‘yo … come here my brother … are we getting singled out and picked on?” - Reece Rydar.

The Margin Kings are a tight group of 4 individuals between 20 and 25 yrs of age. What struck me the most is how much they know themselves and their own musical style - and they’re open about evolving and progressing as a group. All from London, you have the only female in the group Selz (Selina) who is the vocalist alongside Lorenzo Storm (Leo); Reece Rydar and Rico Marvell are the rappers of the group. This interview took place in London and in person - by Serena Hussain.

LV: What do your fans most relate to? Selz: So we have this thing called FGB or GBO - Feel Good Vibes or Good Vibes Only (Listen to ‘They Know’). People like us because, we just like to have fun. Our music, no matter what it is about, is always uplifting and relevant so people can relate. It’s just fun! Sometimes other artists have songs that are very negative or with hard hitting lyrics, whereas ours is calm and fun. You can listen to it in your house or car - everyone likes to hear something that makes them feel good. LV: Was that a conscious decision? To only make feel-good music? Selz: It happened naturally. All our personalities are very fun. When we all came together, the bond was there. We 'bust jokes' and the banter was just there. When you are around people the same as you, you just gel more, and our music reflects that. So when we are like that with each other, we want to make others feel the same way with the music. LV: Is that the Margin Kings mission? Selz: Yes. And definitely with our last show. We wanted to get that mood across - for everyone to just enjoy themselves. LV: So, each one of you have your own style musically... Rico: Yeah ... mine is a more soft rap and poetic style. I’m also the looks of the group (smiling). I’m more the playful, ‘turn-up' one. LV: How is it more poetic? Rico: Because I am an emotional wreck! (everyone laughs). LV: Musical influences? Rico: Anything 2000 era. Ja Rule... Ashanti sound. LV: Any other rappers? Rico: Reece. LV: EMOTIONAL MOMENT!!! Rico: Without sounding soft. That’s a legit answer. He’s the one I listen to the most to make myself better. LV: AMAZING Reece: My style is more gritty, almost like a counter balance to Rico’s style. Rico will tell the poetry and almost tell a story, then I hit the bullet points. LV: How do you feel about Rico saying you inspire him? Reece: It’s vice versa. I will listen to him and think the same. How he switches things. We might share the same vision, but our delivery is different. Rico: Like the Turtle and Hare. We will both finish the race but do it differently. He will get there quicker but I will chop down every alleyway and road to get there. Leo: Same thing but with different language. Reece: I’ll say ‘ yesterday I went to Morleys and got a fried chicken’ and he’d be like ‘I drove for days and saw a painting before I even reached Morleys … and which one was it?’. I almost admire how he does it. That’s what I love about it. So what I bring to the table is honest, to the point, and for people to really ask ‘do you really think that?’. Yeah! In ‘So Fine’ I do think she’s ‘a spice’! I do want her to cook. I’m not gonna go ‘I need a nice girl … aromatic’. I feel like people know they will get a story from Rico and get something different from me. Even the singers do it differently. Selz: My style is soulful. Very subtle. I think I am an emotional wreck as well. LV: Aren’t we all!

Leo: I can be an emotional wreck as well - my vocal style is calm, cool and chilled. But the thing is, as a person, I am nothing like how I sing. It’s a contradiction. My style has remained the same. I think theirs has changed. (Minor group disagreement ensues - another humorous moment!). Selz: My style has changed for sure. I used to be one of those singers who would sing with an american twang and used to hold notes quite a lot as well. But I’ve worked on that. Just being more angelic, more calm. Before I used to belt out. But in terms of that, my influences were Ashanti, Brandy, Aaliyah, Mistyque, Craig David - that 90s vibe - the songs my mum listened to. Reece: As a rapper you have your own identity. Singers might feel it more. I can’t think who Rico sounds like. With singers though … you can end up sounding like others before you. LV: I suppose with rapping it’s easier to establish your own voice? How influenced are you by current sounds? Reece: Take social media. When we were talking earlier, you said something that was spot on. It’s ‘in' right now but its a trend that could go. If there’s a trend right now … we will use it. Leo: It’s like Chris Brown. Initially he sang the ‘Yo’s' and 'Excuse me Miss' and then shifted to House Music. LV: And he’s rapped too and still manages to keep his sound and style. Leo: It’s not about changing yourself, but adapting. LV: That’s quite key actually. How to adapt but still be you. How things are constantly changing but sticking to your core foundation. Yours is that feel-good perspective. Reece: And the fact that we are more than just the music. Come bowling with us! The feel good vibes is us as a whole. You can be around us and be a part of that. LV: This quality you have, comes across in your music, and face to face. That kind of consistency is rare.

Technically within the R’n’B/Hip Hop genre, the Margin Kings have a fresh more encompassing sound (with well known UK R’n’B singer Shola Ama professing how they have “...brought a new, fun, and exciting element with energy”. What struck me is how they reflect on where they sit right now within the music movement, but also their inclusive perspective when it comes to connecting with their followers and fans.

LV: Is there a need for speed when it comes to putting your music out there? Selz: If you care about your art, you'll only put music out that’s relevant. Content is important but it’s about quality, rather than quantity. LV: There’s a lot of pressure to post and publish content these days. Do you feel it? Selz: Yes there is. Especially with younger people always watching things on youtube or twitter, always expecting things. Nobody really sits down and takes the time to even read! Everyone is on social media looking for the next best thing. So if you’re not continuously putting things out, consistently, you don’t get noticed. So there is a lot of pressure because a lot happens on social media. Top labels and managers are always trying to scout for people. It does take from the creative process, but it’s part of what you have to do now. LV: If there is a lot of musical choice out there … what’s happening with your listener? Selz: If what you put out is good, then listeners and followers engage, they ask Q’s, and connect with us directly. Once they like what we put out, they want to know when more will be out. It’s a fast pace, so if you leave a long pause, people move onto the next best thing that’s coming out. Young kids always want to know what’s new. But then at the same time, it’s good to have a fan base. If you establish that first, naturally you’ll have those supporters there already. You might get people clicking through, but you want the people to stick with you and what you’re doing. I would say youtube has been good for us. Especially putting our music on ‘Link Up TV’ - a worldwide site with a big following - getting our music on there has given us good exposure.

LV: What does your listener most relate to?

Leo: The feel good vibes. It’s because of our personalities and the upbringing we have had - with regards to the music that our parents have listened to. Even if you listen to Heavy Metal, there’s something in there that makes you feel good. Some of us have got reggae, old school afro-beats, the Jamiroquai’s. Anything that has a bounce to it and a positive message for sure has influenced me. LV: Your lyrics are young and relative to your experience right now; like (smiling) wanting "a lady on the street and a low key freak”? (The group laughs). You put a spin on a well known lyric! Reece: It’s funny. I picked up on something when you were saying earlier how you listened to a Biggy song and appreciated the sample/reference he used. The key is how he sampled and mixed into what he was doing right then at the time. So we as our generation are listening back to music like the Biggy’s, the Ashanti’s and the Ja Rules. We like bits of that and then mix it into what we’re about right now. Our lyrics represent where we are right now, but the sound is definitely coming from other influences. LV: Funnily enough, Selz’s vocal and style reminds me of Ashanti. What is it like being the female amongst a lot of young testosterone? Selz: It has its ups and downs (smiling). Being the only girl vocalist, I offer my own style with my singing. I am not very outspoken and a lot of the time, especially when these lot are having their dramas, I give my bit and manage to calm it all down. But it’s been really good. As the only female, I just want to be empowering and make sure I stick to my own direction as well as the direction of the group. LV: Interestingly, their lyrics (the guys) talk about the types of girls they want. You almost need a track where you get to put down your own words about the kind of guy you want. I mean, they talk about how the girl has to be ‘spicy’. (Group laughs). What’s your criteria for a guy then? I don’t actually hear much from the female about what she wants in a guy … it’s always the guy dictating qualities, don’t you think? Reece: (jumping in) … can I say why though? What I have realised in this society that we live in - or this generation - that the guy has this clear idea of what he wants. Yet girls have this thing about communicating what they are about. I rarely hear a girl saying ‘I want this’. I hear them more saying ’I am this type of girl or not this type of girl’. So when we are writing our lyrics, I make sure I state what I want. But Selina (Selz) in her lyrics states what she is about. Selz: It’s almost like I counter what they are saying. LV: It’s like you’re having to react to all of this messaging. Do you find you have to counter a lot of ways of thinking in your generation? You’re all about the positive vibes but are your peers on the same page as you? Is it common for them to be this positive? Reece: That’s a good question because there have been a lot of hurdles and definitely a lot of negativity. That’s because the scene is saturated. There are a lot of singers. Everyone wants to be a musician. Everyone is almost like, when are you going to succeed? They’ll appreciate what you are doing but it gets countered with ‘you’re still not here’ (gesturing high with his hand). Sometimes it is hard, but the more you keep going, the more people see how it is going somewhere. Having to tell people who you are and where you want to go can feel challenging. LV: Do you feel like you are having to transform their thinking? Rico: I don’t think so. I think it’s absorption. You’ll gravitate towards someone that interests you. We don’t need to force it down their throats. It’s like a rave. If a rave is ‘live' you’re gonna want to go. I think that’s what we give off. LV: Do you view the current (young) culture being a feel-good vibe culture? Leo: I there there are feel-good vibes out there. You’ve got different types though. Reece: I actually think it is negative you know. I am always hearing about how people are grinding, someone got stabbed last week, the lyrics… Selz: A lot of young artists stress a lot about what is going on in life. Back in the day everyone used to love the feel good vibes and I feel like now, so many people are stressed about so many things in life. LV: Why is that? Because you guys are between 20 and 25, why is it that there is so much stress? Reece: As an example, the #BlackLivesMatter thing. Are we starting to get singled out? It’s funny there used to be a lot of beefs and post-code wars. It’s funny that the era of the gangs is dying out. Cos people are like ‘yo … come here my brother … are we getting singled out and picked on?’. Even though everyone is not working together, they are talking their pain. I don’t believe they are being negative, but they have an outlook and they want to share that message. Where we have come from is ‘yeah we might have had the same upbringing as most of these guys, however, sometimes you just want to be happy’. You want to be scrubbing your kitchen with just your boxer shorts on, listening to music and you’re smiling like YO! That’s where we are coming from. There are aspects in your life that are good. Like you said going to a rave or going on holiday with the guys and coming back saying ‘yo that was live’. Let’s put that in a song so people can feel like we have made their day. If everyone wasn’t talking about their struggle, then we might talk about our struggle. But there are enough people talking about their struggle and telling my story for me. I don’t need to add to it. I want to come from another perspective. LV: That’s really powerful. I was wondering how you feel about these campaigns … are they having an adverse effect? Rico: I think it is splitting people up even more - in my opinion. It’s another way to divide and separate. The whole idea for our movement (with our music) is to bring people together. They keep chopping the groups down to what they prefer - into social groups. And that’s what we are trying to remove as barriers. LV: Do you see that the people initiating those campaigns are perhaps older with more baggage? Whereas your point of reference is different? Reece: I feel like they are trying to teach us their knowledge and what they have learnt. To be careful. However it’s a bit of what you (Rico) are saying. The beauty of life is to walk your own path and learn what you have to learn. You know when you have a preacher for a father and you end up rebelling later. Listen, the clue is in our name. We are called Margin Kings and it is all about breaking the boundaries. What we are trying to do is make music that everyone, white / black / chinese / young / old can listen to and say, I like these guys. Stop putting people in categories. Even though we are within a specific genre of music, our music takes from all genres of music. Just so everyone can relate to us. LV: It’s interesting you should say that. I was telling Selz earlier about why I wanted to start this publication in the first place. I feel like many of us, whether you’re a creative or whatever, get put into a category or a box, and the mainstream media does that to us. I just wanted a publication showing people doing their thing without having to say this is black or brown or for an ethnic/cultural community. To show how different groups of people are relatable. Just because I had a Muslim upbringing and I am Pakistani doesn’t mean I am only about THOSE ‘thing’. I was born and bought up in London. My experience and identity is more than the ethnicity questionnaire ‘they’ get us to tick! Rico: Definitely. (All laugh at Rico’s brevity and nod in agreement)

There’s something that troubles me when it comes to viewing and valuing racial diversity. This word ‘diversity’ is banded around in a one dimensional way. We are more than our colour - we are our diverse opinions and perspectives along with our racial/cultural identities. That’s where our true diversity lies.

Recently, I’ve wanted to discuss the whole matter of ‘cultural appropriation’ within music, but in a gentler way to try to understand the grey area more. Since there is always a grey area. In my opinion the guys pretty much nailed the whole issue within a short moment... It’s about ‘giving props’ to the influence - and referencing with respect:

LV: When you’re a creative you are influenced by so many things. How can you, lets say, ‘borrow’ and be respectful? In terms of your sound and how you put a spin on your influences? Reece: I can’t even say we pick. As a creative, when you’re in that moment, writing something, or things are getting bought to the table and you’re like ‘eh!’ … we go with the moment. Even when Leo was writing something, he was referencing Janet Jackson, but it was still him. We aren’t calculated. It’s more like being in the lab and you’re cooking up something. Rico: That’s the difference between copying and being influenced. If you can listen to something and immediately hear the original, you’re copying. Whereas if you notice a reference, it’s an influence. Reece: Like our tune ‘Good Vibes Only’, Selina in the bridge had an Usher themed ending. The reason was that our rapping flow was fast and she wanted to take it slow. She didn’t want to steal it, but she went with a theme. LV: I know you guys are in a good zone with your music. But what are the frustrations? Leo: Having people understand who we are and what we are right now. When it comes to doing a show, everyone wants to come, but they also want to start to dictate our direction. Reece: People show us support and believe in the unknown because the sound we are putting on the table is unknown. But people want to compare you to a sound that’s been proven and done before. But we believe in what we’re offering and how different it is, and we just keep going. People don’t know if this will work and don’t know where it is going. So there is a bit of fear coming from them. Leo: Funny thing though, when it does work, the strangers embrace it more than friends and family. It’s sad but the truth. Rico: All we can do is be consistent. Especially with social media. People can see right through you. Just keep on going as we are now. It’s worked so far. Don’t want to fix something that isn’t broken. Leo: There is a bit of pressure though. If you disappear from social media, people will forget you. When you come back, nobody really connects. You have to keep the momentum going. Reece: I don’t know if I would be on social media if I wasn’t a musician. And that’s part of the struggle. Waking up and telling people what I’m up to today … do I have to? But it is part and parcel. LV: What about as the female of the group … doing the social media thing … do you get treated differently online? Selz: As a girl I do get more likes for sharing music. But I feel like it’s my job to relate to the female fans. I told Reece too … if I wasn’t a musician I wouldn’t share my life as much. LV: Do your fans connect to the sound or vocals more? Leo + Selz both answer: I think it’s the sound first and then the vocals and the lyrics after.

LV: Your current project has just come out (Nov/Dec ’16) and you’ve started working on new sounds for the summer? Reece: We don’t rest or sleep - we live and breathe music. The first project ‘The Waiting Room’ was to raise awareness. LV: When you started - did you want to get signed immediately? Leo: Yes for sure … when I started. But when you do music you learn your worth. (I dreamt of a big house for my mum though). There is only one thing that appeals to me about being signed. It’s the financial backing. We wouldn’t look for it if we had this ourselves. Rico: Plus labels have a bad habit of wanting to change you. Reece: And you have to promote yourself. There are a lot of aspects to learn about the music business but it doesn’t affect our music. We have a big team behind us.

Young creatives like the Margin Kings aren’t pushing any agenda as such. They are doing something much more refreshing. They are being inclusive and are a segment of a generation not given much, if any airtime at all, within the (traditional) mainstream media.

LV: How do you guys communicate with each other daily, to stay on the creative page? Reece: Whatsapp. What you’re doing now (recording audio). It’s a technology based world so we use that to our advantage. LV: Some conversations for the journal have taken place as an insta chat actually. So social media is and has been really useful, and powerful. A lot of people in lets say ‘older generations’ don’t want to share their lives on social media. But aren’t they missing out on a whole new era of sharing? Reece: 100%. I’m not gonna lie. You can pick a lot of negatives out of it. But communication has become easier. There are a lot of positives.

As there are about this group. This conversation was a light hearted but insightful one … the kinds of conversation which would be incredible as a future podcast episode for sure.

Upcoming performances: The guys will be joining a great line up of performers at ’The Legacy Showcase' this Sunday night (15 JAN 2017 in Balham, South London). Venue: The Bedford, Bedford Hill SW12 9HD, 6pm til 11pm. Tickets: https://shoobs.com/events/16351/legacy-the-showcase. AND Boxpark Croydon (22nd JAN 2017), 99 George Street, Croydon CR0 1LD, at 1pm.

Shifting impressions and giving feel good vibes. The Margin Kings - cultivating a new culture in the UK ‘urban’ music scene.

“There are enough people talking about their struggle and telling my story for me. I don’t need to add to it. I want to come from another perspective.” - Reece Rydar of the Margin Kings.

LV: What does your listener most relate to?

As there are about this group. This conversation was a light hearted but insightful one … the kinds of conversation which would be incredible as a future podcast episode for sure.

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