'5 Questions With': Deema
"We just got into watching all the sets with BBK and other old grime groups - it was just amazing and we just wanted to be like them and recreate it so, when we would go to the park to smoke weed we would all either watch those shows or we would start to write our own lyrics and just have our own little grime sets"
Having gained popularity through his affiliation with Lewisham grime collective The Square, Deema is a force to be reckoned with. Ever since initially starting out as being fellow The Square member Elf Kid‘s hype-man, whose Amerie-sampling hit took over in 2015, he’s performed sets at Reading Festival and was part of Wiley’s iconic Eskimo Dance.
His debut EP ‘Chew Your Foods‘ last year further cemented him as one to watch, and now he is following up with his highly anticipated sophomore project ‘Rainbow‘, out soon, which showcases his more vulnerable side. Merging grime, UK rap and timeless 90’s hip hop, Deema is a breath of fresh air with his compelling sound. Only recently, he’s dropped his same-titled track, alongside a music video shot in his area. We spoke to the talented newcomer about all things music, his work with Dom Valentino and being part of The Square.
Read the full interview below…
EQ: How did you first get into music?
D: I first got into music because I was listening to The Square which I ended up being affiliated with but before that I was just a fan because one of my best friends George, his older brother showed us The Square and YGG on Rinse FM with DJs like Sir Spiro and it just really captivated us and we just wanted to be like them to be honest. We used to copy their bars, not copy but like sing their bars and lyrics along with the different shows that we’d watch and we just loved the energy and it was just so awesome ahah.
And then we just got into watching all the sets with BBK and other old grime groups - it was just amazing and we just wanted to be like them and recreate it so, when we would go to the park to smoke weed we would all either watch those shows or we would start to write our own lyrics and just have our own little grime sets. One of my mates would DJ on his phone with a little shitty DJ app. His name was Sebastian, he was really good.
So for a while we were just making up our own lyrics and just having fun and eventually one of the local Square members. Blakie (who I had met a couple years before this in the skate park opposite Telegraph Hill Park) came to the park and heard us spitting our bars and he liked what I had to say and how I was saying it so, that day if I remember correctly, he took me to a pirate radio station (Flex FM) and then from there I just got to hang out with those guys (The Square) and kept going to different radio shows and started networking onwards.
So really I got my foot in the door through my inspiration, which is just a crazy blessing for me.
EQ: You’re also part of the collective The Square, how has that prepared you for your solo success?
D: Being able to work with The Square from such a young age (15) really really really gave me a head start and I still believe that every day. I was able to go to shows that I couldn’t even legally get into but somehow was able to perform and just get experience in every sense of the word whether that be industry experience or life experience, experience in the studio. I just had incredible access to so many things that people just don’t generally have access to at a young age let alone even if you’re really working well with music. I always have to give thanks to The Square members ELF KID and BLAKIE especially. They taught me so much what not to do and what to do - I am eternally grateful!
“The whole concept of the short project is just to enjoy a little bit of music. I don’t wanna ask anyone for too much with this project and I feel it’s not. I don’t want to be known for being a weird experimental artist - I want to be known for being someone with great songs that can experiment too!”
- Deema
D: Shooting the Rainbow video was really fun, I got to do it with one of my good close mates and collaborators Jack Harper and his partner Bella Kemp. It was really nice to be able to shoot in my local area of Telegraph Hill the same place where I kind of got into writing bars. Also it was nice to be next to my primary and secondary school and just be in the local area in general. I made the shoot really easy and was a very natural experience. However I did bump into quite a few of my old classmates or friends or just local people or mums who I don’t feel the most comfortable doing a music video in front of but it was lovely to see them of course, I’m just a tad shy ahah.
It was also great to be able to get one of my good friends to do the artwork and the titles for the videos. He is better known as J-Money and is a prolific graffiti artist in south London.
EQ: What can we expect from your Rainbow EP? Anything you can already reveal?
D: The Rainbow EP is short but sweet. I found that Chew Your Food, although I loved it, it was a really hard listen. So for the next thing I released I wanted it to be a really easy, joyful listening experience. That’s why all the sounds on Rainbow are really bright and the bars are quite simple and easy to get - the whole concept of the short project is just to enjoy a little bit of music. I don’t wanna ask anyone for too much with this project and I feel it’s not. I don’t want to be known for being a weird experimental artist, I want to be known for being someone with great songs that can experiment too!
EQ: It’s produced by your long term collaborator Dom Valentino- how did you guys first meet and ultimately decide to work together on a regular basis?
D: Me and Dom went to school together but we were three years apart and the way my school worked there were two sites a bottom side down the hill and a top side up the hill so because of that and because of our age difference we never knew each other in school. We eventually met in the local park, Telegraph Hill and that’s where I came to meet one of Dom‘s closest friends at the time, Clay. Clay and Dom were very passionate about music and they were surrounded by people from other areas of Southeast London that were also very passionate about music. So much so that Dom and Clay started the 343 label when they were only about 18. Clay had a studio in his garden shed that was a melting pot for anyone who wanted to come and record or produce or smoke or crack a joke or just have fun and be creative. Dom would always be there I would always be there, loads of people would always be there every day, every week. Clay lived there. After a few years of going to Clay’s house and going to radio sets, eventually I started recording and Clay suggested I use Dom as an engineer. Luckily Dom was happy to help and he came to the studio with me just to help me record on some YouTube beats. At the end of the session he would play an instrumental and it completely blew me away. I still wanted to record a few of the songs I’d written but after those recording sessions me and Dom developed a relationship and continue to have studio sessions on our own to try and work on some new stuff. From there we just kept going. When I could or after work I would go to Dom’s studio in his bedroom. Thankfully he was patient with me and because of that we were able to organically grow and improve and just become better at making music over time. That time was just so important, we were able to just decide what we wanted to do, find different sounds explore different ideas and there was just a big sense of freedom for us to be able to do whatever we wanted to. And it’s still like that to this day.
Watch the video to the track ‘Rainbow’ below…
Youtube/ Deema
Stream ‘Rainbow‘ HERE
Follow Deema on socials:
Instagram: @swearthatsdeema
Twitter: @swearthatsdeema
Facebook: @swearthatsdeema
Pre-order his EP ‘Rainbow’ HERE - out August 6th
