What Made Me — In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s UK Jersey-drill purveyor POZER.
‘Whats Good’, POZER’s latest single, opens with brass. With three theatrical stabs, it sounds as if it could soundtrack a classic film, while its music video leans into the aesthetic, with Tarantino-esque graphics overlaid onto a woman putting a record onto a vintage player and dancing along. But before the old-school intro can settle, the beat quickly morphs into a head-shaking rap instrumental, and the Croydon-hailing MC begins trading tuff bars with Liverpudlian rapper Kasst 8.
Having burst onto the UK rap scene in 2024 with his singles ‘Malicious Intentions’ and ‘Kitchen Stove’, the rapper has resisted leaning into established genre boxes, such as drill or grime, instead building his own sonic aesthetic. Jersey club runs as a key thread throughout his music, while ‘Shanghigh Noon’ leans on the pentatonic scales of the far east.
He’s already picked up a MOBO, despite not releasing an LP or full mixtape, while also tearing up his first full festival season this past summer. As POZER looks set to break out beyond the ‘rising star’ label that has regularly been placed on him, to an established part of the UK’s music scene, we wanted to learn more about the forces that shaped who he is as a rapper and artist, so we asked him: “What made you?”
I grew up in South London, Croydon. I’m from an estate named after many Olympians such as Linford Christie and Karen Pickering. I know everyone on my estate as we all went to school together, that’s where the politics starts.
From young I’ve always had the ability to navigate and focus on what I needed to do in life.
My estate used to be lit, people would make it lit for the people that were on there – they’re colourful characters. In the summer the olders would bring out the bouncy castles for the kids, they held barbecues on the bottom of my estate by the big lake, it was real community vibes.
I used to ride around the estate on my dirt bike and ride peds, it was fun but chaotic.
I’ve had to calm down a lot, especially now that I’ve got a lot to lose. Lockdown was the turning point. I was living at my dad’s. Often I’d just lie on my bed with a notebook and pen, and just write my life into words. The writing and rapping as a whole was just an outlet, it was my therapy when I needed to vent.
“The writing and rapping as a whole was just an outlet, it was my therapy when I needed to vent.” POZER
The music was just me navigating my own path, so music was like an anchor, not knees‑deep, sinking into helplessness.
I moved into my own flat for the first time and the quiet changed everything. I could wake up, protect my energy and build with intention. Before that It could’ve been a recipe for disaster (literally), so music was like an anchor.
Where I’m from, role models aren’t handed to you. I want to build something I never had, generational wealth, stability & be an example for my family.
For as long as I’ve been making music, is as long as I’ve been growing my hair, it’s a timeline I carry with me. It’s proof I didn’t quit, proof I did it on my own. Croydon made me, its warmth and its rough edges. Music is how I make the quiet loud enough to hear and how I keep moving without pretending.
Whats Good (feat Kasst 8) by POZER is out now.
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