Creator to Creators S4 Ep 37 Rebel ACA

London-based hip-hop artist, podcaster, DJ, and loquacious individual, RebelACA is a charismatic force to be reckoned with. His latest collaboration, thesingle “Mygraine” with dancehall powerhouse Spragga Benz and UK iconRodney P., is not to be missed.Rebel ACA’s music can be found at the intersection of old school and new.Versatile yet distinctly personal, his sound is characterized by liveinstrumentation and a funk influence. His latest single explores the pain of dailymigraines mixed with the double-entendre by Spragga Benz and Rodney Pl. of“my grain of weed,” all set to vintage 80s French-influence vibes.The single comes in two versions: the original “Old Cool Funk” hip-hop versionand the drum and bass mix by DJ Phantasy. “The hip-hop version is funky, inyour face,” tells the artist. “Meanwhile, the drummer base has old-school, funkyhip-hop vibes; it’s eclectic.” A music video, directed by Big Ben Bro, is also partof the multi-dimensional package.Rebel ACA’s professional endeavors range from a white-collar day job tomoonlighting as a rapper, producer, and podcaster. His resume boastscollaborations with artists including Spragga Benz, Rodney P., Harry Shotta, DocBrown, Murat and Jose, and Illaman. And did we mention Buttercut Records? Heowns that, too.The single, “Mygraine,” comes from Buttercuts Records, the company RebelACA began in 2000. Featuring artists across various genres from hip hop toreggae, funk, and soul, Buttercut Records is home to many memorable hits,including Spragga Benz’s “Chiliagon,” a #1 reggae billboard hit in 2019.Four or five years after starting Buttercut Records, Rebel ACA turned to writingmusic of his own accord. “I always wrote poetry to cope with bad bullying inschool and an eating disorder. When you’re on your own, all you have is a padand a pen. There’s comfort in that. I was having a tough time when I was youngand realized there’s this honesty with a pad and pen—the brutality of you sittingin front of a pad and pen.”Rebel ACA realized that carrying around his decks to DJ was understandablyless convenient than sporting a pad of paper and writing utensil. And, so, itbegan—he slowly turned to writing rap. “By 2006, I found that the best release Icould find was rapping, writing stuff down, and rapping it out.” He shifted hisfocus from working solely with other artists—many of whom were different towork with due to their elevated narcissism—and began creating for himself.He connected with Spragga Benz, a friend of his late sister, and put his albumtogether. “That project got me into the studio with all of my biggest idols in Britishhip hop/rap. It was a terrifying experience having to rap with my idols. They did itin one take while I took 20.”Speaking of his idols—and collaborators—Rodney P. and Spragga Benz are twomajor musical forces of their time. “Rodney P. is an enormous figure in hip hopand an amazing rapper. Americans invented hip hop. It took decades to sound okrapping with a British accent, and Rodney was part of that. It took time for Britainto find its sound in the shadow of America. And Spragga Benz is one of the greatdancehall MCs. They are huge people in their space—full on legends.”It was also around this time that Rebel ACA realized he needed to stop being just“the business guy” and start being the confident artists that he had the potentialto be. “My wife at the time said, ‘a lot of your issue is a confidence thing.’ Sothat’s what I’m trying to work on—not doing everyone else’s **** and being thebusiness guy.”“I partly wrote the song with friends. Historically, I get migraines, so I thought I’ddo a song about them. I’m generally trying not to rap about sex or violence. It hasbecome popular in England—everyone rapping about American or Jamaicanconcepts—but it’s not very British. Rarely do we do violence outside punchingeach other in the face in a pub crawl. And we’re repressed about sex,” teasesRebel ACA. “It’s interesting that it’s one-dimensional, really. We’re bothered tolisten to what a 19-year-old artist thinks, yet they don’t understand a lot about lifeyet. Then I remember that the people listening to them are also 12 or 14. I comefrom a place where I want rappers to talk about something more.”These days, Rebel ACA is collaborating with crew, the ADHGs, tacklingimportant issues through hip hop. “There are so many things to be discussed,”adds the artist. “I asked ChatGPT what important issues are not being talkedabout in hip hop and it said ‘mental health issues.’ So, I wanted to create asimple dialogue around these issues. And migraines are a mind issue. They’reawful and a terrible infliction. All people need to do is work out their triggers.Anyone who has one has to diary what they did the day before and will find it’smanageable.”On the topic of mental health, Rebel ACA is quick to point out that “music istherapy.” “It’s strange that people give up music. Many see it as they have tomake it big or they have to stop,” adds the artist. “If you’re a runner, you’re stillgoing to run around the park to keep fit, even if you’re not as fast as Usain Bolt.Yet people don’t think that way about music. If they’re not the most popular orreach fame, they give up. You must love music to be involved. And there’snothing like it—it’s magic. No one needs to listen to what you create but you.”Make sure to stay connected to Rebel ACA on all platforms for new music,videos, and social posts.Website: www.buttercuts.co.ukInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebel_aca/https://www.Instagram.com/therealadhgsAmazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/artists/B01IUCK482/rebel-acaApple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/rebel-aca/1086797152Bandcamp: https://rebelaca.bandcamp.com/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ze2Yu0NUzfbXo6OqnOW22YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ButtercutsRecordsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/creator-to-creators-with-meosha-bean--4460322/support.