New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Forget the East Coast; forget the West Coast; forget your London boroughs - the sound of this year's Hip-hop comes from slap bang in the middle of St Albans. Callum's forthcoming single, Sirens, is the product of his musical upbringing, having been exposed to artists as varied as Ray Charles,
Led Zeppelin and Nas. Combined with his ability to not take himself too seriously; a healthy passion for "medicinal smoking"; a passion for production and lyrics which are rather more true-to-life than most, Callum is THE rising UK hip-hop artist to watch in 2020.
Growing up in a fractured household did have one benefit - the exposure to a wide spectrum via the taste of his parents and grandparents. From jazz to soul to funk to hard rock, Callum eventually gravitated towards hip-hop artists like
Jay-Z and
Kanye West but not without acknowledging where the samples had originated from and the importance of each element of a great song. As tastes developed to include J.Cole,
Mac Miller and Tyler the Creator, his own freestyling started as bursts of anger at his frustration at his isolation geographically and mental health struggles but his dedication to his craft has seen him become an almost beyond horizontal, laid-back artist who cuts through temptations of a fantasised lifestyle to muse upon REAL life, warts and all.
Callum said: "The song was named 'Sirens' due to the creatures from Greek Mythology whose angelic voices would distract sailors and lead them to death by shipwreck.
There have been times in the last year where lust has distracted me from my goals and certain women had tried to lead me astray. I basically wanted to make a song to say, "stay close to the people who ride with you and who want to be with you all the way.
It's not just lust for women but lust for money that can act as a Siren. The
Siren ultimately is the lust for more, the idea that more is better even though what you really have should be all the fulfilment you need. This gave me inspiration for the music video to be filmed with my closest friends".
Callum is the son of Harlequins rugby legend, Rob Glenister and grandson of touch judge and coach, Peter, at the same club - the passion for sport has somewhat inevitably continued down the family line. Sirens is released on 17th January with an accompanying video.
You can check out Callum's released music on the links below, including his 2019 release, Honeytrap EP:
https://soundcloud.com/callum123455/sets/honeytrap
Facebook: www.facebook.com/callum101996
Instagram: www.instagram.com/fucallum
Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/callum123455
Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCbncXXuCbHOloRlu5RxinGA
