Despite Blanco musically distancing himself from his former drill sound, as well as from Harlem Spartans to form his own path, he still pays tribute to his fallen members. The video features a Manchester United shirt with the name “Biscuit” on the back, a tribute to fellow HS member who was tragically stabbed to death just over two years ago.

Biz, real name Crosslom Davis, was a major player in Harlem Spartans, with a promising career ahead of him, though tragically died at only 20 years old. No matter how independent Blanco becomes in sound and style from his old group, it is clear that he will never let his fallen friends go forgotten.

Produced by Litek, the beat for “Time Out” is one of Blanco’s most gorgeous; the wah-wah guitar licks, punctuated by a perfectly muted click-clack of the carioca drums, the beat does just enough to bring full-bodied, dancy vibes without being too overstimulating or maximalist. His lyricism follows a similar to flow to other hits like “Shippuden” and “Pull Up”, clearly having found a formula, yet the beat selection is what makes this track so refreshing. A stand-out track from City of God, “Time Out” did all it needed to do to deserve its own music video and then some.

Blanco, starting out in UK Drill music, has found a completely new sound in the last couple years in the form of funk carioca. Speaking on the new musical influences to his sound, Blanco says: “When I make those songs, it just kinda flows. Songs like ‘Pull Up’ [from English Dubbed’] are actually baile funk, not afroswing, and people really liked that. And it was natural. I came across that sound on YouTube one day looking for something, and when I came across this, I was like, “This sounds good, so I used it. I didn’t actively look for it but this is the sound.”

Listen to Blanco’s most recent album, from which “Time Out” is taken from, below:

After his success with Harlem Spartans as a drill rapper, he has since swapped out the hardcore drill beats for a funk carioca sound lifted from Brazil. The shift in sound would be jarring if it wasn’t so gorgeous, with his single ‘Shippuden’ arguably being the greatest example, with his intricate flow falling perfectly between elated keys and snappy rhythms.

Blanco isn’t the first UK artist to explore this sound, with M.I.A. doing the same on her single ‘Bucky Done Gun’, and even Everything Everything admitting that their single ‘Cough Cough’ was directly inspired by Major Lazer’s ‘Pon de Floor’.

However, Blanco is certainly unique in being the first drill artist to explore this sound, especially as his exploration of the sound stays true to the original feel of carioca while still sounding like familiar UK rap.

Since the highly influential ‘Kennington Where it Started’, the track that arguably made drill rap relevant, Blanco has found independence and maturity. Speaking to NME, Blanco says “I don’t really call myself drill anymore. Probably in 2018, I kinda pushed… I didn’t make a big decision but the way my life was at the time, I just moved on from it. I grew out of it. It wasn’t for me.”

Speaking on the new musical influences to his sound, Blanco says: “When I make those songs, it just kinda flows. Songs like ‘Pull Up’ [from English Dubbed’] are actually baile funk, not afroswing, and people really liked that. And it was natural. I came across that sound on YouTube one day looking for something, and when I came across this, I was like, “This sounds good, so I used it. I didn’t actively look for it but this is the sound.”

His most recent album, City of Good, was a sensible compilation of the energies Blanco is capable of. He moved to a more modern, sample drill sound on ‘The Great Escape’ with drill-adjacent star Central Cee, and on ‘Cerberus’ with fellow HS member Loski and K-Trap, as well as showcasing his aptitude for carioca with ‘Time Out’ and ‘TSG’. Early fans of Blanco from the golden era of Harlem Spartans could surely only be pleased with Blanco maturing and finding his sound; it may be unrecognisable from the beats he was rapping on back in 2018, but its clear he’s found power through independence.

The 14 track project will feature six artists; NSG, Ama Lou, K-trap, Loski, Sango and Central Cee.

Harlem Spartans own Blanco took to his Instagram to announce his debut projects alongside the cover art which features the 20-year-old at the forefront wearing a yellow jacket from Drakes Nike label Nocta.

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A post shared by LB4E Blanco ✪ (@blanc0b0urne)

The 2002 movie ‘City of God’ is a clear inspiration in the cover art with the Brazilian favela background featuring the contradicting 6 bulletproof vest and balaclava-wearing individuals which highlights the London streets that Blanco has emerged from.

The Kennington rapper started his career four years ago alongside fellow rappers MizorMac, Loski, the late Bis and the rest of the Harlem Spartan Collective. The group out of South East London were members of the second wave of Drill that followed drill originators 67 and 150.

Blanco has released three singles ahead of his August the 6th project release date including ‘The great escape’ featuring West Londons Central Cee which charted for 4 weeks peaking at number 67, ‘Shipuden’ and ‘Magneto’ the latest single to be released which came out 2 days prior to the project announcement. 

 

 

 

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A post shared by LB4E Blanco ✪ (@blanc0b0urne)

The artist who was a member of the drill collective Harlem Spartans has veered away from the dominant drill sound, focusing on a sound that can be seen to mix a more melodic flow over the harder and faster drill beats.

Blancos debut project ‘City of god’ is set to release on the 6th of August and is available to pre-order here.

Watch the video for Blancos latest single ‘Magneto’ here: