Darrell Cole - Sharing A Gift With The World, With His Love For Music & His Heritage [Interview]

The release of Darrell Cole's new single ‘BRUDDAH’, celebrates the life of his late friend Bis in a nuanced way that the UK music scene hasn't seen before, by focusing on uplifting the audience in a beautiful niche memoir for the visuals. With an Afro-beats inspired melody, the track perfectly showcases Cole's versatility with him switching effortlessly between singing and rapping throughout.

'BRUDDAH' comes alongside the news of Cole’s forthcoming 10-track-EP, ‘Return on Investment Pt. 1’, a project that centres around giving thanks to all those who have supported him thus far. When speaking to the humble musician he stated the project not only shows gratitude to his family and friends, but to his Sierra Leonean ancestors and the sacrifices they made for future generations. ‘Return on Investment Pt. 1’ is Cole paying homage to his motherland through his music. The multilayered EP glides between Jazz, Neo Soul, Hip-Hop and Afro influences allowing Cole to emphasise not only his vocal range but his inherent multicultural upbringing.

Impossible to pin him to one particular place, born in London to Sierra Leonean parents, he lives up to his “International Cole” nickname having resided in various places. With his roots heavily grounded in Hip-Hip, his sound has become fluid and a fusion of all the genres and cultures he grew up with. His influences are a combination of both the UK and US, citing the likes of Styles P, Nas, Jay-Z and Biggie as some of his biggest inspirations. He is a strong believer in the hustle and continues to inspire others through his hard-working approach to life with the ability to work hard and play harder.

Now residing in London, his has solidified his space in the industry with his new track that has an overarching sense of loss, but he also reminds us there is also a life being celebrated and invites us all to raise a toast to his friend.

New Wave: I think we should start the interview by going straight into your new track BRUDDAH. It’s definitely something different in the music scene right now steering into its own lane. – I really loved the cinematic elements to the music video, like the odes at the beginning. It reminded me of a quintessential Spike Lee film, where there’s always a moral to the story, more that lies beneath the surface. That being said, it felt more like a mini film rather than a music video. Do you want to talk me through how you came up with the visual concepts of the video?

Darrel Cole: I am part of a collective ’Alle$ Lifestyle’ and we have all of the components in our team in order to make music. Everything from makeup artists, producers, videographers, photographers. I was in the studio busy working on my album when I got the call about my friend who'd been killed, which is where the song idea stemmed from.

I didn’t wanna make a sad song as I had done this with previous songs and I realised that they were difficult for me to perform. Same thing for the videos, as they were always portraying sad stories, so this time I thought we need a different approach to it, more positive. I could reply to his death with anger and a lot of negativity but I thought I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life and this song is part of it and I wanted the visuals to be as positive as the song is.

NW: Although the song was about the death of your close friend, I really love how you channeled that mourning as a tribute to his life. It was different to how anyone in the music scene would channel similar emotions around the topic. This was uplifting in a way with a slight contrast…

DC: One of my favourite songs in hip-hop is Styles P ‘My Brother’ which was about his brother who passed away. That song has always stuck with me, especially whenever I’ve lost someone close to me. That's why the song is called ‘Bruddah’ as it’s like my own take on it, it’s almost a remake of the song. Shout out to the Director Poria Asghari who really painted the vision exactly how I wanted it, alongside the rest of the team.

NW: Going back to the song being a celebratory song of your friend, I really love the story telling aspects of the video that showed the friendship through using children to represent the both of you. Do you think the song and music in general has allowed you to express your emotions in a different outlet?

DC: 100%, in fact 200%, I'm not very talkative, especially about traumas! Going back to coming from Sierra Leone and the whole war situation and everything, I was never talkative. My mum tried to take me to a psychiatrist and I never felt like talking to them because I thought I had issues that nobody would ever understand. When I found music at the age of 14/15, I have to say that it helped me speak about stuff that I wouldn’t speak to close family and friends about.

NW: Why do you think most guys, especially ethnic males, feel like music is one of the only outlets for them to express themselves?

DC: I happen to be a musician but I could have been anything else within the creative world, and It would be the same thing, but I would still try and channel my emotions through the art. It’s not only music but for football players for example, they also go through tragic stuff and they go on the field and explode in a good way - channeling their emotion into their art. Unfortunately I can’t speak for everyone, but once you have that thing you love doing, it will translate through your emotions.

NW: I picked up on the Queen Latifah U.N.I.T.Y sample in the track which is a classic! I love that you used that iconic verse in her song and effortlessly put it in to yours, it’s very subtle.

DC: I just sang that myself. That's a tune that would always play in our household or family get-togethers as a kid. Although I could never forgive those people who did that to my friend, I would never put the message out there to go out and do something bad, so it was a perfect reference to use for the song.

NW: The song is slightly Afrobeats inspired with it being uptempo and a feel good tune, which is a contrast to the sentiment of losing a friend. Was it important for the director to capture those candid moments?

DC: Yeah definitely. My friend and I had a friendship of over 6-7 years. It wasn’t like we grew up together since we were kids but the story we wanted to project didn’t focus on the tragedy but the good memories we shared. That was the message behind the video.

NW: Let's talk about the EP now. Its called ‘Return on Investment’, and is set to drop this July. The overarching theme is to give thanks to those who have supported you so far throughout your journey. I think it's lovely, a really nice sentiment. Could you tell me about the project as a whole and what sound we should expect to hear.

DC: It's my first project since getting global attention. This year I’ve got the right team behind me and the right label. The EP is literally about identity and who I am, I am Sierra Leonean. I traveled the world when I was a little younger which is a massive privilege as I now know different languages and cultures. My past projects were always about the negative things that I had been through and how I would deal with them. This album is literally about the aftermath.

Return on investment, our parents went through so much, I feel like we are the return of the investment. They did it so their kids can live a happier and better life and I feel like our generation looks over that, look at how many things we have achieved! This EP is celebrating the fact that we are living a good life and we are able to travel all alone throughout the world. Our parents used to stress getting into one country with a visa. Now we have the freedom to travel the world whenever we want to, that’s a return on investment for me. Our parents are able to be proud to see their kids flourish.

NW: Touching back on your roots, your project pays homage to that. Has your background shaped your musical influences?

DC: I come from the 90’s babies of London, so it was a mix of the very commercial songs which were on Top of the Pops then you have Michael Jackson, MC Hammer etc. You also had the African and Caribbean sounds at the house parties which has been an influence my whole life, which is at the root of the music that we listen to. I feel like because I grew up on Styles P and Jadakiss, after my time in New York I was always true to the hip-hop sound. Whereas now, I accept the fact that I’ve been through all of that but at the end of the day I need to go back to what’s really true and who I am. When someone looks at me they don’t think American or European they think African and my music portrays that.

NW: After living in Belgium, Amsterdam and the US, what made you want to return back to the UK? Was there anything in those places that you visited that stuck with you...

DC: I went to Sierra Leone for two years which was amazing, besides the ongoing war situations we were going through. I love Belgium, I lived there through my teenage years up until my early twenties. After that I started moving around again, I went to America, New Jersey, New York and then back to Barcelona for a while. In 2017, I went back to Belgium again to work on some music which is where I met a large portion of the producers I work with now.

If there is one place that will understand the music that I make, it's the UK. The US totally gets it of course and they have been showing love, but I feel like a foreigner everywhere that I have been. I’m literally a tourist right now discovering new things in the UK, but London does give me that home feeling especially with all my family being here, so it feels right but not only for music purposes.

NW: Did you pick up any inspiration from the rap scene in Belgium?

DC: I was the first black independent artist from Antwerp to be on TV, that wasn’t a thing there. Belgium is where it started for me, it's where I got in contact with hip-hop and I sharpened my skills whilst I was there. I feel like I’m in the premier league now, it's all different.

NW: So you met and collaborated with Styles P whilst you were out in USA?

DC: I met him at the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam. I was living in Belgium at the time and my manager hit me up and told me he was with Styles P, Ghostface Killah and Noreaga. He knew Styles was one of the the reasons why I started rapping so long story short, I hopped on a train and headed straight to Amsterdam. He was shooting a music video when I arrived but I met him right after that. I was making watches at the time too, and I didn’t tell him I was a rapper but I did give him a watch which he really liked and he said “let's get a photo!”.

So we did, and then exchanged numbers and emails. Complete euphoria. When I got home I had received an email from his manager who actually reached out and told me he was performing close by in Brussels. I hosted him for the duration he was in Brussels, so when we linked up he gave all the Notorious B.I.G and DMX stories, I was like a little kid asking all these questions, before leaving he told me if I ever wanted to go to New York, 'you’re family'. I really took that seriously and went to New York the year after, he always gave me a straight answer to what I needed to know, and it shaped me for the industry in terms of how to manoeuvre.

NW: Aside from music, you are an entrepreneur. How important do you think it is to be multifaceted, especially in our generation?

DC: I feel like in the early 90’s/00’s we were taught to focus on one thing and not 10 different things. I feel like now with technology and everything else, it's just like people have multiple things that they can be good at. The people I look up to in the industry are good businessmen, so I try my best to follow their footsteps.

NW: You own a shop in Belgium as well don’t you?

DC: Yes, I own it with my brother and a few friends. We are literally working on the inside of the store now before getting all the brands in line. Hopefully the store will be open the same day I release the project. I’m doing everything remotely so if it's still possible the store should be open by the end of July.

NW: Do you think that your hustling mentality is reflected in your music, and what sort of message would you like to portray to your audience?

DC: I think that I add enough lines to my lyrics that will motivate the people that listen to me, instead of making them feel like they aren’t doing well in life and I'm here just living this amazing life. There is always a message in my music to show where I come from, if people look at me, they should have that same feeling too because I really come from nothing. It's not where I want it to be yet but being able to make these steps should motivate people to listen.

NW: After the project drops, what is the next move?

DC: I’m definitely planning on flooding people with music, so after the first EP drops I will definitely be working on the second one. So this summer other than performing, I’m planning to work on the second part of the Return On Investment sequel. Right now I want to finish all the music I have with Samuel, I feel like it's time for us to off load and revolt.