By admin
Hailing from Essex, skater lad Rat Boy is one of the biggest new artists to come out of indie music. Stepping onto the scene in 2014 with ‘The Mixtape’, it was clear that this small town boy had something special to offer. After making a graffitied mark in the second half of 2015, it comes as no surprise that Rat Boy is diving head-first into the new year.
Rat Boy dropped his newest track ‘MOVE’ earlier this month, giving us a taster of what is to come this year. The track still in keeps with Rat Boy’s indie-rap style, which is often compared to Jamie T, but also offers something slightly different to his previous work. It has a far more techno-electric beat, opening with the high-pitched synthetic voice “When you hit the groove that makes your head spin”, a hook that both catches the listener and disorientates, making it easy listening to the radio, but also drawing in the more alternative listeners. The track channels influences from the 90s and 00s beat-based dance and hip-hop sound, something new to Rat Boy’s work.
There is evidence that Rat Boy is evolving both technically and lyrically. Although the lyrics may seem repetitive, it is this repetition that gives the song its charm. Rat Boy’s tongue-in-cheek personality comes through in the lyric “Well you know I never say the same thing twice”, which is repeated a total of four times throughout the song. The fact that most of his work are created and recorded in his bedroom adds to his persona as well as stripping back his music to its true form, avoiding the manufactured finish that so many songs in this day and age have.
‘MOVE’ is just the first of many tracks that will run up to Rat Boy’s first debut album. Having already toured with The 1975 and featured the cover of DIY’s December/January issue, 2016 was set for Rat Boy. He has confirmed a slot at Reading and Leeds Festival, is stepping out alongside Bloc Party, Drenge and Bugzy Malone at the NME Awards Tour, and has just announced a huge tour himself. Rat Boy has huge things ahead of him and it’s great to know he won’t be running off anytime soon.
