One of the finest emerging rappers in the country, Zino Vinci has been assuredly making his mark within the alternative hip hop space. Building a sonic universe that is expressive and distinctive, the East London rapper has given the clearest indicator to date of the skill and creativity that he upholds on his new EP, “Filthy & Disgusting”.

Vinci takes us through his impressive new EP, track-by-track…

“Western Union”
“Western Union” is a short story describing an average Saturday afternoon where my mum would ask me to go to the corner shop for her to buy her a lyca or libera card to phone home to family and what not, which is a simple enough premise. However, growing up where I grew up wasn’t so simple. The name itself comes from the local Western Union which is where I would go to buy sweets, comic books etc. and usually it would be fine but there was always a leering sense of fear which manifested into paranoia due to all the crime around me. I was a pretty normal kid and did not like confrontation so when I would be put in a situation where I could be robbed, beat up or worse I’d always have my head on a swivel. Although it was a dark underlying theme I do still shine a light on how this corner shop had such a huge impact on my love for comic books due to it being the only place I’d be able to get my hands on them. Fully enamoured with the artwork and story lines, this made that period of my life so much more memorable.

“Filth”
“Filth” is probably one of if not my most transparent and vulnerable songs I’ve ever released. This song is a small insight to the life of a 9 year old Zino Vinci AKA Jeff. Although comic books drawing brought me joy as a kid more often than not Jeff wasn’t the most confident kid, with the most self confidence, he thought he was ugly, dumb and somewhat unlovable. Looking back on it maybe I was a bit harsh on myself, but at the time it was truly how I felt and I wanted to be as honest as possible. The Dizzee Rascal sample was vital for the song because I wanted to have a voice that was familiar to that era and location, who is also one of the most popular rappers of our time. The lyrics of the sample are also very haunting and match the vibe I was going for. “Maybe I’m meant to lose this race” the little section at the end of the song is just me summing up my whole existence as a child, looking at the table with all the card I was dealt, an ugly, skinny, illiterate, awkward young black boy, maybe I was meant to lose.

“First Time”
“First Time” is a very interesting song, the first half of the song is essentially just a love song, a love song about meeting, courting and mourning your first love. However, the second half of the song is more braggadocious and cocky and this is because I feel like for the first time in my life I can confidently live in my truth. My first time being openly nerding out about things I love and not caring what people think, my first time  speaking my mind in public situations, my first time being legit. I feel like growing up a timid child and hitting a stage where you just don’t care anymore, you can catch yourself making up for lost time be that the clothes you buy, the chores you where, how you conduct yourself etc. You want to make it known that you’re here and you’re 100% yourself and don’t care what anyone else thinks.

“Tamagotchi Crocs”
“Tamagotchi Crocs” is probably one of my favourite songs to write and listen to. I feel like a lot of the time people like to box me into a conscious rapper category which isn’t the worst thing ever but I don’t think it’s necessarily true. I just enjoy rapping, in all forms sonically that could be anything, I could draw from Kendrick Lamar or I could draw from playboi carti. Conceptually the hook of the song is just a little insight on how naive I was as a kid, hearing things like “I got a strap in the back” and assuming they meant like the straps on the back on crocs or nike huaraches. As well as that, I wanted to show love to a few of my inspirations in the hook that being Kendrick Lamar and Knucks, who I’ve been listening to for quite a long time now in a stage in my life where I was really developing as a young teen.

“Romford Road (CD Exclusive)”
Romford road is simply my artist’s response to a Grime song. I’ve been hearing the title “neo grime” being thrown around which I think is pretty cool, I wouldn’t say I do grime to not minimise the actual Grime MCs who live and breathe Grime. I’m just a guy who grew up listening to a lot of rapping and quite a bit of Grime and I tried to combine my sonics with Grime’s formula and came up with this song.

“Benson”
Benson is a song about toxic love, loving someone who you know is bad for you but you just can’t help being around. I’ve had my fair share of heart breaks and rough situations and this song is just a manifestation of a few of those situations.

“Jeff”
The concept behind the song “Jeff” is quite different from the other songs, the themes and sonics are similar but the concept is very different. Essentially the song is about me going back in time and talking to a younger version of myself, and basically telling myself that through all the hardships and pain never be anything other than yourself. “One more shot at love, more is all it takes, please stay focused on my face”  is essentially me trying to show my younger self that eventually it works out, that I shouldn’t get distracted with things I think will make people like me more, or that don’t serve me. The love I gain as a young man is all due to me staying true to myself and being me 100% of the time, people love me for me and the feeling is mutual.