Spotlight On... Psweatpants

We've been enjoying the slick delivery of rapper Psweatpants at The Skinny for some time now. Following a guest feature with former SAY Award winner NOVA, Psweatpants was a surprise guest with NOVA on our stage at the Kelburn Garden Party in 2022. A nomination for the Sound of Young Scotland came later that year, and in 2023 Psweatpants returned to Kelburn to play The Skinny stage in his own slot, getting the Friday night crowd riled up. That same year he released his LIFE WAS SHIT, IT STILL IS NOW EP.

With his latest project freshly out in the world, the stitched-together-by-radio-segments AM/FM RADIO, Psweatpants is gearing up to play his first headline dates in Edinburgh and Glasgow. We catch up with the man himself to find out more.

The Skinny: Can you tell us about the idea behind the new project? In particular, I’m interested to know why you were drawn to this idea of radio that links it all together?
Psweatpants: The idea for the project came from something I've been thinking about from when I first started music. I grew up with my brothers and cousins listening to pirate radio and I always thought the concept was sick so I wanted to bring that into my music.

Something that really stands out on AM/FM Radio is the juxtaposition of your South London flow interspersed with very Scottish radio segments. Why was that important for you?
It was important to me because I wanted to show off the two environments that have shaped me as an artist. London is my birthplace and home, and to me has one of the best hubs for creativity and culture in the world. I grew up in a place where it was full of all types of people from all races and walks of life, taking in different sounds and learning all the time through my environment, whether it be good or bad. With Scotland being my home for the past four years it’s been a huge influence on my life, the people and some of the stuff I’ve done up here has been unreal and has definitely influenced me as a person artistically and personally so I wanted to infuse both cultures into my music and show everyone where I grew up and where I am now. 

Outwith the radio concept, can you tell us about some of the themes found across the record?
The themes on this project are really just about my life and what I’ve been doing for the past year, especially songs like PENSIVE THOUGHTS where I’m delving deeper and showing everyone a bit more of my emotional side, while songs like NONSENSE is me showing everyone the environment I grew up in and some of the things I was doing while being in that environment.

How did the collaboration with Washington come about on BAGUETTES?
That tune came about naturally, my guy Washington hit me up to pull up to his studio (studio.111), to just come through with axor. While we was chilling axor was just cooking up a little storm on his laptop, and all of a sudden me and Washington were writing lyrics and whatnot; it was really a natural thing tbh. It actually wasn’t my song originally, LOL, but the song was too good to keep just in files so I decided to put on the tape; ngl Washington is a genius in the studio – it made it easy.

You’re celebrating the launch of the project this week with shows in Edinburgh and Glasgow, what can be expected at the shows?
It’ll be a party really, that’s how I want it to be anyway. I’ve been a support act for the past two years so to have my own headline is pretty sick and such a good feeling, so I just want everyone to enjoy themselves and vibe out, you know?

Beyond this release, and these shows, what’s next for Psweatpants?
What’s next? Ummmm, more music definitely. I've got some stuff planned and hopefully more shows, the goal is to go on tour with someone this year, that would be pretty ideal, but besides that, I have no clue. Watch this space.

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AM/FM RADIO is out now; Psweatpants plays Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 18 Apr and The Poetry Club, Glasgow, 19 Apr

Follow Psweatpants on Instagram at @_psweatpants_