Making music as early as 2013, rapper Bexey has been on an upwards trajectory as of late. The 21-year-old East London native sold out multiple shows, including the show at the Borderline we covered earlier this month. The is perhaps best known for his emotional, unorthodox style and eccentric fashion sense. After a vast tour with Lil Peep and other members of GothBoiClique, Bexey also made a name for himself collaborating with the $uicideboy$ and Fat Nick. We had the chance to speak with the enigmatic artist about his musical upbringing, brand Villain Tears, future collaborations we can expect, and more.
Underground Underdogs: You grew up in London – what was your upbringing like when it came to music? On one of your early tracks ‘Dark Magician’ with Dylan Ross there’s quite a Garage sounding influence – did you take any influence from any UK genres?
Bexey: Definitely, definitely yeah. My Dad was in a Rock band and my Mum was heavily into Disco music. Both my brothers and sisters were heavily into things like Garage, Drum n Bass and Grime. I grew up on the Heartless Crew, So Solid Crew, Pay as U Go Cartel: the acts at the beginning and shit you know?
Now, when you first started releasing music you went under the name ‘’Zethroid VZN.” What was the meaning behind that and why did that transition into Bexey?
So, it was like, Zethroid, then VZN standing for Vision. Really man, I hated those times: I was living in the middle of nowhere and it was like I full on lost my mind. That name just came to me, yeah that was a really fucked up part of my life, so I felt like I needed to change.
One person you’re really close to is HeavyRayn. How did you meet him?
Yeah so, I met him in school, when I was like 12. Yeah that’s my brother, that’s my family.
You always make it clear how much you hate the word fans and refer to your fans as your family. What made you feel this strongly about your supporters?
I don’t even know what a fan is anymore man. My music impacts people so deeply that we have a different connection you know? I don’t do a show and just walk out to perform to a big group or a crowd, when I go out there it’s like we need each other, we keep each other alive, It’s really a family. It’s different to everyone else’s following or group of supporters.
A lot of them know all the words to your unreleased music when you perform new songs live, how does that feel as a songwriter?
It’s amazing man. I could perform something that I just recorded a week ago and only previewed it once, but people are singing it word for word, yeah it’s an amazing feeling.
Your unique fashion sense is a big part of your image. Are there any specific brands/shops that you like to get your clothes from?
No brands in particular, with me it’s just if I see it and I like it. It could cost a thousand pounds, it could cost five pounds, it could cost one pound. If I like it, I rock it, you know?
Speaking of Clothing Brands, you just recently started up your own brand ‘Villain Tears.’ What was the inspiration behind that?
Villain tears, basically I had this thought one day of a villain crying at the end of a film. It just seemed powerful, like at the end of Batman, the Joker bursts out crying and apologises. The whole thought of that is just really crazy. I named that song “Villain Tears” and I just thought fuck it I’m gonna make a clothing line too. Yeah next month I’m gonna be releasing a bunch of shit from that.
You also said how you’re putting out your collaboration with $uicideboy$ next month too, as well as some videos. You’ve already worked with a lot of people such as Lil Peep, Fat Nick, Ghostemane, Black Smurf and many more. Who was your favourite person to work with?
My favourite person to work with? Definitely Peep.
Is there anyone in the future you aim to work with?
One of my favourite rappers of all time, in my top 3, is Danny Brown. I spoke to him recently and yeah, we’re gonna work. I have his album ‘XXX’ Tattooed on me. That album taught me a lot about music and self-expression. He was raised on grime: Dizzee Rascal at that time, so we had that similar energy in us. That’s something I’m really happy about, working with him. That was one of my goals when I started this, like ‘I need to work with Danny Brown,’ you know?
Are there any other shows or anything that you want to promote that’s on the way?
Yeah so I’m gonna be touring with Fat Nick later this year, there’s no exact dates, but yeah it’s gonna be huge, I’m really excited about that.
In the meantime, listen to Bexey’s discography down below, and check out the music video for “Villain Tears” above.