Words by: Angelina Nikolayeva
Photography by: Suzanne Waijers
French II shares his rework of Flowdan’s ‘Welcome To London’ as a name-your-price digital release available today on Bandcamp.
Ever since his last Time / Tracker EP saw the light of the day, our resident French II has been fervently honing his creative voice and cultivating his skills as a producer. “I never stop learning and lately I’ve been trying to get better in making my own basslines,” the artist shares. “It requires a lot of practice to get the right energy in the mid-range and a proper low-end when working with analog gear, but I think I’m getting the feel of it lately.” This fervent experimentation brought him back to his musical roots, resulting in a wicked edit of one of grime’s fiercest MC’s, which is available today as a name-your-price download on Bandcamp. As if the original didn’t bang hard enough already, in his ‘Welcome To London’ rework, French II fuses Flowdan’s acapella vocals with zippy dubstep rhythms into a 135-bpm killer dance floor weapon. “About a year ago, I heard Alix Perez playing his remix of ‘Welcome to London’ and was quite flabbergasted by that track. And yeah, Flowdan has the grimiest voice in the grime scene for sure - definitely check President T if you like that low murky tone,” he tells. “So, I downloaded that acapella to see what I could do with it and it was an instant fit to the composition I’ve been working on. Coming from the darker sound of the UK bass scene, I really loved the combination of gritty vocals with an airy and playful instrumental. Feels quite French II for me.”
Listen to 'Welcome To London' (French II rework) below. The edit is also available for streaming on SoundCloud.