MCR-T

My background started to take shape when I was in middle school. I was always drawing on myself, doodling cartoon-like stuff, filming and editing skateboarding videos, and naturally got into graffiti. Even if graffiti was a hobby more than anything, I knew that repping your city and having your name everywhere for everyone to see was the ultimate honour for this community. I shared a similar mindset and still do — I want to be in everyone’s ear, everywhere, all the time. Sound work came into the mix while I was majoring in film and editing. At this point, I started doing more editorial and ad work for different brands, so I mastered how to communicate with an audience. For the past two years, I’ve put that knowledge towards album work, where the primary focus is the music.

Being mixed, I don’t belong to anyone fully, so the canvas is already blank, I get to choose where to belong. But, I might have the can-do and business mindset of a super-capitalist American who’s set out to take risks, work the problem, fall 10 times, and get back up 11. Then, there’s the craftsman in me, where I try to make everything I do efficient and self-sustaining, which is very German. As far as the Jamaican side, I think that’s where the calm and collected part of me comes in. Berlin is where I grew up, where I belong, and what shaped my attitude the most. A Berliner to a German is like a New Yorker to an American — always barking, being angry at something. I mean, I leave the house and I’m already getting bitched at and it’s humbling every time, it’s the real world.

I wasn’t making music back then, but these days shaped my attitude. There was a big DIY scene and of course, people weren’t as addicted to social media as they are now. The city hadn’t been sold out yet so there were a lot more clubs and it was looked down upon a bit more to the point where people weren’t capitalising off club culture and music. It reminded me that anything’s possible and you just have to take risks if you want to win big. If that means breaking the law to showcase your event or music then that’s your means to get yourself out there. Back then, like in 2014, we’d own our space, and gather people together, this was our platform. People weren’t out there filming themselves for social media, they were out there enjoying the moment. Right now, everything is fixed in the grand scheme of things. There is no concept, just people buying into fads of subcultures. People are so numbed down in their ways of consuming information. I could only name a handful of people that actively follow the news and it’s all my close friends. People don’t want to know what’s going on outside of their little world or face real social issues. There’s too much fakeness out there. This is where my Berliner Schnauze kicks in, by calling out the bullshit.

Part 2 of Not The Same ≠ is a deluxe edition. For this one, I wanted to have artists I look up to reimagine what I put on the table. As far as sound, it’ll translate similarly from the first release.

Well, most people expect you to take the easy way out during tough times and this is what makes them the same. But for me, there’s motivation in doing shit that people don’t expect me to do. Everyone would expect me to fire back lyrically if I get heat, but instead, I choose peace, humility, and keep a humble mindset during a difficult time because that’s how you heal. We overcome hard shit, we’re tough, we’re gritty, we’re built to last. Having little slices of life here and there remind you that we’ll get through shit no matter the cost. This is what Not The Same ≠ comes down to.

This track is a love letter to my supporters in Belgium and the Netherlands. The title translates to I’m your neighbour from Berlin, and the whole song is about showing love to them. The Netherlands was the first country that welcomed me outside of rave Germany and the first place I toured outside of Germany. The reception was so good that I kept going back. In 2023, I wanted to make a song for an Amsterdam Dance Event and perform it in Dutch as a closing track, which is where Buurman Uit Berlijn was born. It’s a gabber track, which is their native sound, but then has me rapping over it in Dutch.
For the collaboration part, I posted the track on my story one day and Joost Klein, who is a fantastic artist, hit me up and asked to hop on it. I was in album mode at this point and decided to go for it, and I ended up including it as the single right then and there. Shoutout to Joost.

Hmm, I don’t know. This one turned out to be the lead single and also the first single we dropped, so it’s tough competition. We didn’t know it was going to do so well, so pinpointing that something would turn out that way is hard to say. I might have some tricks up my sleeve though.

I started by writing lyrics for days on end, with no beat, no nothing. I was a superfan of Odd Future and Tyler, The Creator is my absolute idol. He’s always said he didn’t want to be boxed in as just a rapper. So from the jump, I always wanted to do different projects, like how I do MCNZI and MCR-T.
People will never know what to expect or what tangent I’m on. But what people do know is that I have a rap and electronic background, and I can do both with or without lyrics. With MCR-T, I always wanted to make music that could be danced to but that wasn’t a requirement. Some of it is conceptual, and some of it might not be for the clubs but just for everyday listening. The idea is for me to make a body of work without people thinking it’s a DJ producing something, rather, it’s an artist that self-produces everything who made an album and it’s different. I hate artists who rinse one formula through 10 tracks, it’s so predictable. I’m trying to piss against the wind and see what sticks.

I’d say for one, especially for the German listeners, it would be Die Angst In Mir. The track and video deep dive into anxiety and the fear from within, which is what the title means. It’s about fighting your demons and in the video you see me fighting my clone and mental health. I was at rock bottom when I wrote this, I had no clue if I was gonna make it past that point but at least I knew there was going to be a song that would come out of it. It has a haunting sound and is meant to be menacing since it explores the anxiety of self-annihilation and self-harm.
On a more heartfelt level, Pogo is an anti-war track. Today, we still listen to classics that were made decades ago about current events at that time like fighting for emancipation, social justice, and such. Right now, no matter what part of the world you’re in, guns are locked and loaded pointing to the sky, so I wanted to paint a picture of the current place we’re at in the world. Love to Tim Rudle and Lenny Altaras who worked on the music video for this one.
Lastly, How To: Getting Up 101 is about giving people the tools to make it in electronic music based on my experience. The root of hip-hop is to educate, community build, and help each other overcome hardship. So in this track, I chronologically list the how-tos for making it and pair them with ghetto tech to achieve that modern club sound.

This album is about overcoming a challenging time in my life. I’ve learned that no matter how much someone tries to get me down, I know who I am and I’m that person at the core. I’m not the same, I’m not like you, I’m not taking an easy route because it works. This is me tapping into myself and doing therapy for the first time. This album was my cleanse and a product of this journey.
To my listeners out there, especially to the Ultras, no matter what you’re going through, they can’t stop us. Why? Because we are not the same.

Yeah, of course. For any aspiring artists or DJs that are touring, remember to take time off and don’t overwork yourself. And to everyone else, especially the men out there because we experience mental health a bit differently: if you ever feel that impending sense of doom, write it down, speak it to existence, tell it to someone you don’t know. Talk to each other, because the more you express, the more you cleanse.