Now that I’ve finally been able to pry myself away from that new Unknown T album, I can share the first installment in my “Intro to the UK” series. I decided on this artist mostly because, other than the T album, he’s who I have been listening to the most lately, but I also think he holds a massive amount of potential as the UK Drill scene continues to gain traction worldwide.
Harlee Bashir Laguda Milne, better known as SL (AKA Slimz), is the first focus of this intro series. My goal is to provide a bit of background on the South London artist, take you through his discography thus far, and hopefully compel you do give his music a shot! He’s one of the younger, more promising talents in the scene right now, so now is the perfect time to get up to speed with his journey as he inevitably gains more fans and recognition in the near future.
I can start with a simple question: What were you doing at 15? Most likely, you were concerned with the day to day BS that comes with being in high school. All of the homework, drama, growing pains, all that fun stuff. I, for one, spent most of my time jumping from gym to gym during a hectic summer basketball season, really discovering my love for Kanye West’s music, and probably trying weed with my friends for the first time. SL on the otherhand, at age 15, was releasing the first huge hit of his career. On March 26th, 2017, the track, “Gentleman,” hit Youtube. As of today, a little over three years later, that song sits at just over 39 million views. At his age, I was happy to get to play basketball in front of a few friends and family members. Not for a second could I imagine doing something at such a young age that would almost immediately reach such a massive audience, and act as the catalyst for his budding music career.
The song itself, which I am a huge fan of, fits right into the realm of dark, somewhat cold drill bangers. It is a great introduction, however, to the thing that makes SL one of the more unique voices in the scene today; That being his voice itself. His cadence and overall flow is easily described as “laid back,” and if you’re a fan of jumping to conclusions, even “lazy.” I think that “comfortable,” and “composed” are more apt descriptors for his delivery. He finds the pockets of the beats well here, and never lets the beat speed him up. He always performs at a deliberate pace, in complete control. And that’s why his lack of over the top emotion, or speedy flows, are not the hinderances that they may be perceived as.
Content wise, it’s admittedly rather par for the course for a drill song, which is not inherently a bad thing whatsoever. It’s much more eerie and dark than his later work, and the mixing may leave a bit to be desired, but he hits some nice flow patterns, giving you a peek into his wordplay and his overall ability to paint a compelling picture. He describes “Valley Boppin with elegance,” which is a local South London dance, and his use of “elegant” just isn’t the type of vocabulary you see in drill very often. It’s the little things that stick out and make SL such a unique voice. He also describes being in his opp’s territory as being in “demon bits,” and confesses that he “still swims deep in the opp boy waters.” These descriptions stand as much more interesting and compelling pictures than other rappers may give when detailing the same kind of situation. He also mentions wanting “the Willy Wonka special,” from his girl, which give you a peek at the humor and tongue-in-cheek attitude that permeates almost all of his music.
The song that broke SL onto the charts and really helped him find his current, stand out sound, is “Tropical.” You get an instrumental full of plinky piano keys and chimes, immediately more playful than the dark, minimal “Gentleman,” or the similar drill tune, “Them Boyz.” His conversational delivery fits perfect over a beat like this, and it makes a ton of sense that this is the route he generally leans into. It’s also exciting, because it is very different from what many artists in the UK are doing. The only other songs that come to mind are a few of the recent releases from Blanco of the Harlem Spartans.
You get a lot of typical themes from SL: weed, girls, and the day to day happenings of his life. He kicks of the track by explaining, almost to himself, or in his own head, “let me sip on my tropical juice/ And let me smoke this tropical weed.” Not earth shattering bars, but he isn’t a Kendrick Lamar, or someone trying to give you that style of rapping. Later he explains how he’s a “real anti-social fucker,” and then, talking to someone who is clearly upset with his style of texting, “Moan bout these blunt replies/ Well, these replies only gonna get blunter.” He likes to be left alone, and isn’t afraid to get a little petty. I think we all can respect that. I can’t forget to mention how pleasant the chorus sounds, with him rapping “smiles when the pack came in,” as the bass and percussion drop out, leaving just chimes backing his voice. Shit, it makes me smile every time I listen to it.
If “Tropical” makes me smile, “Summertime Santa” puts a massive, ear-to-ear grin on my face every single time it comes on. Those smooth piano leads hit right at the beginning of the song, and you can’t help but feel good. Throughout the song, he paints a hilarious picture of himself as Santa, dealing out to the locals during the summertime. It’s upbeat, it’s light, and it’s all a perfect fit for SL’s style. The video is great, as are all of the visuals he puts out, and this image of SL in the pool with his balaclava on is perfectly absurd. I think it might be one of his best chorus’ overall as well. It’s extremely catchy, tongue in cheek, with SL saying, “So I crept in soft/ James Bond how I do it stealth mode,” after his girl asks him to slow his roll. Some pro-consent bars aren’t what you might expect to hear in a rap song, but we love to see it. Respect women goddamnit. It isn’t hard! That’s the SL experience for you. I love this song so much.
This takes us to his first full project, that being April 26th, 2019’s Everything Good is Bad EP. This EP features “Welcome to the Wild,” “FWA Boss,” “Homage,” “This Way,” “Oh Please,” Featuring Tiggs, and “Take You Away.” Here’s a shocker: I like all of these songs a lot! We see SL experimenting with his “Tropical Drill” sound a bit more, as he continues to move away from instrumentals you would find on most Drill projects. Many of the beats feel a bit more US centric, which makes sense given his later trajectory. But regardless, in these six tracks, you will find many of the things that make SL so compelling.
He paints another humorous picture on “Welcome to the Wild,” saying, “Vacant strip got me doin up camp in the opp boy waters/ Got me feeling like a rasclart tortoise/ I would’ve banged that mash, oh gosh them boy there fortunate.” He goes into a bit more regarding his upbringing in Selhurst as a Tottenham Hotspur fan, and just plays with his flow throughout the entire track. It’s some of my favorite straight up flowing he’s done. “FWA Boss,” see’s SL rhyme “woods,” “hood,” “zoobs,” “boobs,” “shoubs,” and “good” in consecutive lines, which sounds funny, and it is, as he shows these rhyme schemes off throughout the whole song.
“Homage,” (linked above) has a hypnotic beat that sounds like the synths are muffled under a pillow. He puts a bit more energy into his delivery here too. The idea of loyalty rings huge here, as he repeats “are you gonna slide for me?” all over the chorus. His skippy flow in the second verse is impressive as well. For some reason, the line, “Dumb cat with these bait transactions, told them alley way next time,” always gets stuck in my head too. It probably has to do with the sarcastic inflection he uses. “This Way,” is another track that fits into the dreamy, laid back vibe he’s curated the entire project. I do love the line, “my bitch look better, no make-up,” and the way the beat drops out and comes back in at the perfect time after SL says, “like I get paid cuz,” is a highlight in terms of how the production and performance fit together. His humor is always there, especially as he says, “She said that I need Jesus/ Let that booty be my savior.” I’m sure the religious side of my family would absolutely love that line!
“Oh Please,” has a nice smooth chorus performed by Tiggs, and features SL playing around with his flow even more, hitting a few new patterns that fit nicely with the beat. “Take You Away,” is a great way to end the project, with another smooth beat, featuring some subtle horns hanging in the background. He talks about getting “boobie trapped,” after seeing a girls body and making some less than advisable decisions. There is a lot of juvenile humor all throughout his music, but that feels appropriate considering his age. Some of it can be a little goofy, but to me, it adds a lot of personality to his tracks, and does a fair bit to set him apart from other artists.
Given all of the music he released before this, “Mad About Africa” came a bit out of left field. It is a play of the “Mad About Bars,” series, which features slick visuals and well crafted verses from some of the best artists in the UK. They are definitely worth checking out.
In this two part freestyle, SL flexes his storytelling chops and allows us peek behind the curtain much more than he ever as. This song stands as the emotional centerpiece for his entire discography thus far, and really shows off the versatility he possesses. He starts of at the beginning of his story, from the flats of his childhood, to being a budding football player, to slowly seeing his life veer away from school and to the streets. He hints having a strong support system that kept him on a straight path, stating, “Too cool for school, I was chillin with the gang/ That’s what I thought until my teacher called my dad/ Very next day, the classroom was where I sat.” In the next few lines he explains, “lost in the sauce, man that shit can’t stand/ Forget that and focus on the task at hand.” He’s clearly motivated and has his eyes on much larger prizes than some street cred. The crucial line in this relatively short verse is, “Life’s just one big old obstacle.” This packs a lot of meaning and emotion into just a few words, but sometimes it’s really hard to see life as anything other than a never ending roulette of obstacles and things to trip you up.
In the second half, we get a much deeper dive into the issues that eat at SL constantly. Here, we get one long verse that stretches for nearly 4 straight minutes. Every second is captivating. His delivery sounds so worn down and dejected, a different kind calm compared to his normal care-free flow. He clearly cares about the issues he is addressing a lot, and just needed to get these thoughts off his chest. When someone starts anything with, “Where should I begin? It’s been a long year,” you should probably buckle up and prepare for the impending story.
We get a sort stream of conscious from SL, where he see him discuss being conflicted about his life in the streets, spending time in Africa with his grandmother after things got too hectic back home, (which explains the video being shot in Africa), wanting to take his friends with him to the top, and inevitably mourning some of those very same friends that he has lost Two notable lines touching on this are, “This shit’s messed/ I’m coming from a block where my dog could outlive my friend”, and “I had to throw dirt over my n***** coffin/ RIP to the guys that never made it out of college.” Being someone who lost a friend close to me in high school, right before we all should have been leaving for college, that one sticks out. Imagining the things he would have accomplished still hurts. Even with that in mind, I cannot imagine losing multiple friends at such a young age, to the point where it just becomes another “thing” that happens.
He goes on to explain that, “N**** this is life as usual/ Only time I’m seeing all the guys is at a funeral,” and that loyalty to those who are close to him is really the most important thing to him. He divulges, “Coming up, I never had no hand out/ But that don’t mean I never have my hands out/ I was low and you wouldn’t know, cause you didn’t stand ground/ You were in the light while I was watchin from the background.” He also can’t help but flex how he’s been selling the best weed you could ever buy, and confesses that he really does not care one bit about living the flashy lifestyle that could come with his impending fame. He just wants to be happy, and to share that happiness with any and everyone in his life who actually deserves it. This is evident as he says “I don’t need no funny yutes/ I don’t need no gold tooth/ I don’t need no flashy booth/ I still come through with this tune/ I don’t need more bad news/ Or I’m sliding to get duke/ All I need is to come through/ Till I’m balling like I hoop,” with more urgency and emotion that normal.
He leaves us, and anybody stupid enough to think that this lifestyle is fun, or something worth envying, with the bars, “We never done this cause we love this/ If you think so, you’re confused/ No, we done this cause we must win/ So we did what we gotta do.” Overall, its a powerhouse of personal experience and emotion, giving us a whole different side to SL as an artist and human being.
Finally, we have SL’s most recent output. This would be the four track project titled Selhurst SE25 EP, drawing it’s name from where SL grew up. Three of the four tracks, “Bad Luck,” “Little Bird,” and “Leave Me Alone,” are produced by fellow 6’7 white dude, Kenny Beats. The fourth track being “Hit The Block,” which also features the Coventry artist, Pa Salieu. I consider Kenny Beats to be the best producer in the American Hip-Hip scene right now. His work with Vince Staples, 03 Greedo (FREE GREEDO!!!), Rico Nasty, Key!, Denzel Curry and his Youtube series, “The Cave,” really cement his status in the game. So, at least to me, this is a pretty big statement of intent from both artists.
The only non-Kenny produced track, “Hit The Block,” serves as a return to his earlier drill output. It’s a dark, dirty banger, with SL handling the chorus. Pa Salieu (check out his song “Frontline”) holds down the first verse, and his gruff, thickly accented voice acts as a perfect foil to SL. He’s more assertive and grimy than SL, which allow’s for SL’s playful, calm flow to stand out even more than usual. We also hear SL deny a second round with his girl because, “She does magic with the head/ Had my knobby out of use.” Which has to be the first time a rapper has ever been honest, and not bragged about fucking over and over and over and over and over again in a single night, right?
“Bad Luck,” with Kenny Beats has a hard baseline over a playful flute line. SL is at his most comfortable here flow wise, as he sounds incredibly at home, with his ad-libs standing out as well. They’re still in his usual laid-back cadence, and help add his usual humorous edge to the track. Him calmly following up, “Back my blade, tell a boy what’s good?” with “what’s goodie?” right after always brings a smirk to my face. The chorus is great too, with him saying, “Smoke weed till it turns man quavers.” You can’t tell me that the image of someone getting so fried that you can only compare them to a crispy, fried chip isn’t hilarious. (Quavers=Lays chips in America)
“Little Bird,” feels a bit more urgent, and that’s mostly attributable to the constant strings and bass hits you get with Kenny’s beat. (Kenny Beats’ Beat?) His way of explaining things in his own unique way shines here. If that sounds vague and horribly explained, let me give you an example. A lot of rappers talk about blowjobs. Right? They do. So does SL. The man loves a bit of head. But even then, he has his own special way of explaining that. He says, “She attractive, smashed it, case closed/ Very fantastic, the way she give the great blows.” It’s hilariously formal, and just a unique way to say something like that. Every artist doesn’t need to cover brand new ground every single song, and SL always finds a creative and humorous way to convey his ideas. The preceding lines see him hit a few crazy rhymes schemes, rhyming “Masvidal,” “mandible,” “cannibal,” “casual,” “irrational,” “magical,” and ending with “Hit the milli mark, then invest in some capital.” In addition to his exceptional word choice and creativity when it comes to stringing lines together, he again shows that in the same way success in the streets could have lead to eventually moving past that lifestyle, he clearly sees his career as a rapper, and the money that will come, as a path to an even better life for himself and everyone close to him.
He closes the brief tape, which clocks in at barely 10 minutes, with “Leave Me Alone.” Kenny provides SL with an extremely unorthodox, experimental sounding beat. But even then, SL sounds comfortable over such off-kilter production. We find him rapping with a bit more fervor than usual, matching the energy of the dark, quirky instrumental. He hits a very nice pattern on his shorter, second verse that feels as if he almost on the verge of teetering off beat, maybe losing it for just a second. But he gains momentum and puts together a flow that feels like he’s hop-scotching from syllable to syllable. It’s choppy, laid back and smooth all at the same time. It’s a nice send-off, and hints at the direction that we may see Drill move in the future. But I could have said that the second he announced he was working with Kenny Beats. That man is never disappointing when it comes to production, and SL matches him at every turn here.
Apart from his music SL, now 18, recently announced he would be committing $100k towards youth development programs in the UK. Consider this again: What were any of us doing at 18? I think it would be hard for any of us to claim the accolades that SL has piled up at such a young age, and that’s what makes him such an exciting figure to keep an eye on. He. Is. So. Damn. Young. Imagine where he can go from here? Being so young and using his status to work towards a better future for kids just like him is beyond admirable.
Even with the experimental nature of his latest project, it feels like he has barely begun to scratch the surface of what he can do musically. He has mentioned himself that he purposefully employs a sort of “quality over quantity” mantra. You may have seen other young rappers try to immediately flood the market with mixtape after mixtape after scoring one hit, allowing the public to hear them search and find for their sound in real time. It seems like SL isn’t afraid to let that process take place behind the scenes, only releasing material when his vision fully realized.
His approach to music and life in general hints at huge things to come. He should be nothing but proud of himself, and I do hope he’s doing alright after he had to witness Arsenal win the FA Cup this past weekend. After all, on his “Freestyle” track, he does talk about “going to the Lane” and wanting to “smash a bottle round the Arsenal cunt.” (He’s a fan of Tottenham, and one of their biggest rivals is Arsenal.) My friend Patrick may want to steer clear of that track, considering his status as an Arsenal supporter, and his unfortunate history with youths and bottles (lol).
But that’s SL for you. As always, I linked his social media accounts below, as well as his Spotify account. Give him a follow, check out his other videos/songs, and support him if you feel compelled to do so! Just like with Unknown T, all I see is success and growth for SL in the future, and it is extremely exciting to see what he does next.
2 replies on “Welcome to the Wild: An Introduction to SL”
super well written!! started listening to his latest EP while reading this and it goes crazy
Thanks, Thea! Glad you’re enjoying it! It’s seriously such a great lil ep.