Strandz talks chart success of breakthrough single Us Against The World and Digga D remix: "It's worked out exactly how I planned it!"
21.02.2023 - 15:29
/ officialcharts.com
Strandz has finally arrived on the Official Charts, and he's not wasting this moment.
The ascendant South London rapper - who was born in Germany, before relocating to Nigeria and then finally making his way over to London - has recently burnt a trail up the Official Singles Chart with Us Against The World, a love track indebted to the 90s East Coast rap he grew up on almost as much as it is to his girlfriend.
"I love the classics, like Jay Z and 50 [Cent]," he says to us on a call from his flat, looking remarkably calm and composed as his music career is blowing up around him. "But I listen to a lot of R&B as well. I love Rihanna. I love Destiny's Child."
And you can definitely hear that influence on Us Against The World, whose bare production seeks to hone in on Strandz's bars and musicality as much as it does the swooning Smokey Robinson sample built around it.
Now joined by Digga D on an ascendant new remix, Us Against The World has quickly become Strandz's Top 40 debut on the Official Singles Chart, and it just might crack the Top 20 this week too.
In a wide-ranging chat, we discussed his plans for world domination, how his journeys as a young child centred him and how he wants to influence the next generation with positivty and love.
It's been crazy. I've been sitting and just trying to slowly adjust [to the success]. But now, I'm kind of focusing on the next thing. That's the way I work. A few months ago, I was really focused on [Us Against The World]. I process things very quickly and think...how do I get to the next stage? I've been busy stratergising!
Yeah, I always had it in my mind. I knew that. Like, it was my plan that by the end of the year [2022] I'd had really specifc goals that I'd promised myself.