BAS ON DREAMVILLE, MILK CRATES AND REPPIN THE AFRICAN CONTINENT

Milky Way was one of my favourite albums of last year. Packed with great vibes, catchy hooks and a unique mix of cultural elements; there’s rarely a day at my place where Tribe ft J.Cole or Boca Raton ft A$AP Ferg aren’t pumping out the system. Despite not having the mega-profile of some of his counterparts, Bas and his music have quickly become ubiquitous in modern pop culture (just ask any FIFA player!). And neither he, nor the prestigious Dreamville roster to which Bas was the first J.Cole signing back in 2014, and now boasts names including J.I.D, Ari Lennox, EarthGang and Cozz, show any signs of slowing down.

Following the overwhelming success of the massive Revenge Of The Dreamers III label project in July, the Queens rapper bucked the album cycle trend and in only a matter of weeks delivered a 4 track EP – the first ‘crate’ of his Spilled Milk series – alongside the announce of his first Australian tour since 2017. In typical Bas style the project is full of fun; witty & relatable lyricism across a mix of global soundscapes including South African house, Brazilian baile funk and Afrobeats.

I caught up with Bas over the phone just days after the release of Spilled Milk and we talked in depth about the project, the excitement at being part of the Dreamville family, and the challenges of being a Sudanese artist in today’s world.

Yeah, I think for a long time my story was just told as that of a New York artist. And that’s because there’s so many layers to my story; I was born in Paris, I grew up in New York, my family’s from Sudan. I spent a lot of my childhood summers in Sudan. And as an adult going back to the African continent, travelling more, and also being inspired by all the sounds and the culture coming out of the continent – wanting to amplify that as part of the diaspora. I just really want to show more of our heritage and more of that culture. To really bridge that gap – to my friends in New York, or to my friends in Sudan, I’ve always I guess been what they call a third culture kid. You know, always belong to an outside culture, no matter where you’re at. Just socially, and in life, that’s been a big part of who I am and I’m just learning more how to convey that in my music.

It’s incredible you say that man because there’s a current… almost renaissance…  going on in Australian urban music at the moment, and a lot of it is fuelled by exactly what you say – people from an immigrant background in sort of a third culture space. And a lot of that coming through is of Sudanese or South Sudanese origins. We’ve got a lot of young talent telling their stories. What would your message or your advice be to them? Cos you’re seen as a bit of a role model in that community out here.

Yeah, you know what? That blows my mind! I been reppin’ Sudanese, or South Sudanese or Eritreans, Ethiopians, Somalis all over the world and the love is overwhelming. And it reminds you, we’re from a part of the world that’s underrepresented as far as global music goes. And a lot of that is how we’re raised, you know just generational gaps between us and our parents. Them having to chase security and the arts not being something that they were privileged enough to explore. And that’s something that the youth are getting a chance to do, and we’re getting to express ourselves. So, I would just say that it’s gonna be tough. You’re gonna get a lotta push back from your community and maybe from your elders. And they don’t mean it in a bad way; they just came up in a time where security was the most important thing. But we’re privileged through their work to have that. So it’s time for us to tell the world our story, give the world our perspective. And that’s a way we can do a service to our people, reminding everyone we’re not all so different. You know, you can hear it in the music. We all have similar wants, needs and goals for our families. We wanna express ourselves, and I think that’s a great service to our home countries.