Thoughtful, frank and brimming with 90s pop culture references, speaking with local masked rapper and producer B of Briz is a lot like listening to her music - inciteful, inspiring and just a bit mysterious. Fresh from winning the Future Sound of Bristol competition held last month by local grassroots streaming platform Audiotarky and Factory Studios, B of Briz spoke to Bristol Live about her atypical path to making beats and what it feels like to have been selected out of 110 artists, as the next big thing.
As her name suggests, B of Briz hails from Bristol, a city she says is "full of experimental beats and unusual perspectives." Embracing the city's eclecticism, B's music is full of unexpected contrasts, with hooks and earworms hiding in the most surprising places. Her beats manage to be bold, multilayered, and minimal simultaneously, delicately woven together like an intricate quilt of unconstrained influences.
Rhythmically angular and weighty but dreamy and ethereal, B of Briz released her seven-track EP, Forty-Two, last year. Her lyrics are sharply philosophical, delivered with palliative ease, making for a remarkably polished and self-assured debut. Even more so considering that she only started writing and recording a few years ago.
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“It honestly never occurred to me that I could write a song and make music until lockdown,” she explained,” I was exploring making a podcast with a friend, and so I had a DAW [Digital Audio Workstation], so I had this amazingly powerful tool. And I had time, cos, Covid.
“Me and that same friend were having this really interesting conversation, and I just said,' I think I could write a song about this,' and she said, 'do it,' and so I did! And then I couldn't stop. I have a million ideas!”
One of those ideas gave rise to her first single What Would Buffy Do? which was included in Tom Robinson’s BBC Introducing Mixtape. An earworm that will delight anyone who still recalls their Slayer lore, B described the inspiration for the track, saying: “Writing that song was basically me sitting down and asking myself exactly why I love Buffy so much, why this set of stories has had this huge piece of my heart for so long since I first started watching as a teenager in the 90s. And it's because she's this amazing role model.
“She's strong, and irreverent, and intelligent, and curious, and compassionate, and bold and brave. But she also fails. And she suffers. And she keeps going, trying to do what she can to make the world a little brighter and safer for others. So that's where the question What Would Buffy Do? comes from - my lifelong quest to be more Buffy-like!”
Apart from a brief and ill-fated tussle with a violin as a kid, a love of bad pub karaoke later on, and an intensive period of loving music console games like 'Guitar Hero' and 'Rock Band', B of Briz says she hasn't had any formal music or production education.
But growing up in a musical household in a West Country town with two music-loving parents, she was exposed to Bristol's eclectic 90's music scene as a fan. "I loved trip-hop and drum and bass - Portishead, Massive Attack and Roni Size were big faves," shared B. "Then, later on, I enjoyed some of the best Bristol's dubstep scene had to offer.
"I loved hip-hop ever since I was a teenager - it really connected with me deeply - the way hip-hop artists used their craft to tell amazing stories and address injustice, and how much it is rooted in time and place whilst speaking to things more universal.
"I really hope my music embodies the best of Bristol: curious, creative and humane, and feels rooted in this time and place."
Inspired by artists like Missy Elliot, Akala, Kae Tempest, System of a Down and Neneh Cherry, B of Briz creates songs untethered from traditional ideas categorization. She said: “Production very much happens on a gut level for me - I don't have any formal education in music, so I feel my way through it.
“I'd say I don't feel very constrained by genre - my only aim musically is for it to be 'bassy'. So there's definitely elements from bassier genres (dub, dubstep, trap, trip-hop, hip-hop), and it's very beat-driven, but I can also go into more traditional instrumentation and different vibes with melodies.
“One of the joys of sharing my music is, in fact hearing other people describe it. I'm more just like, 'hey I made this, I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but I think it's cool?'”
The masked producer
Part of that freedom to express herself without constraint so openly stems from her decision to record under a pseudonym and without revealing her face. “I feel a sense of freedom in using an alias and wearing a mask to share my music,” she said, “In a weird way, it's helping me show more of myself in the music.”
Remaining anonymous doesn’t seem to have hindered B from making a name for herself, racking up nods on BBC 6Music playlists and now a competition win under her belt.
Speaking about her success in the Future Sound of Bristol, she said: “Winning a prize like this is an amazing opportunity for an emerging artist like me! It means the world to me when anyone connects with my music, and I'm so honoured that the judges did, and so pleased this win will give my music the chance to reach more listeners.
“There are so many amazing artists making music in Bristol, and the playlist from the competition is well worth a listen; I promise you'll discover some new local favourites! It's really hard out there for new and independent artists, who pour their creativity, passion, time and effort into making and sharing music, so competitions like this are vital for giving emerging artists a voice and a platform.
Taking the first prize of £5,000 and a one-month membership at Factory Studios, B plans to use her rehearsal time to develop vocal techniques and create a brand new concept album with a working title: “Patriarchy, a gentle reminder; Volume 1: Toxic Masculinity’.
"Weird and cool feminist alternative hip hop"
Feminist themes run already through B’s work like a golden thread. She said: “Feminism is key to my music - let's face it, it's the reason I get to have a creative process at all!
“I didn't want to write anything unless I had something worthwhile to say, something to contribute. And my experience as a feminist and as a woman in the world, and the way that's shaped me, has to be central in any music I make.
“Plus, we are living in a time where misogynists have a global platform and microphone, women's rights are under attack, and the need for feminist voices is more urgent than ever.
“I've been so inspired by women and non-binary people making interesting stuff all over our cultural landscape recently - this process is very much about channelling some of Katherine Ryan's Audacity, Mae Martin's Feel Good, and Kae Tempest's earnestness, and Issa Rae's weirdness.”
Brimming with ideas and possibilities, B of Briz is not wasting any time on getting started on her new project. “Being able to make my very first full-length album with these resources is an amazing opportunity, and I'm going to grab it with both hands,” she said, adding, “I'm going to make the most weird and cool feminist alternative hip hop album Bristol has ever produced!”
You can stream B of Briz's debut EP Fourty-Two along with the rest of the Future Sound of Bristol playlist at Audiotarky as well as on Spotify
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