For many artists, collaborations are born from industry events or connections. But it was a video game that brought together Sudanese-American rapper Bas and British electronic soul duo the Hics — and birthed a partnership that has become both fruitful and impactful.
As Bas was playing “Grand Theft Auto V” while on tour with J. Cole in 2015, he stumbled upon the Hics’ song “Cold Air,” which was featured on the game’s WorldWide FM radio station. He DM’ed the group, and it didn’t take long for the magic to unfold; they were in the studio together just months later. “That first night, we did the song ‘Ricochet,’ which ended up being on my second album, [2016’s] Too High to Riot,” Bas tells GRAMMY.com. “Our collaborative energy started there.”
Their initial work together also spawned another track for Too High to Riot, “Matches”; the Hics (Roxane Barker and Sam Paul Evans) joined Bas on the LP’s subsequent tour that summer. As Evans recalls, the live reaction to their collaborations hinted that they were onto something special: “We were like, ‘Look, maybe we should try and build something more off this because this energy feels amazing.’”
While they’ve worked together in the years since (including two more tracks on Bas’ 2018 album, Milky Way, and 2021 single “Smoke from Fire”), this year marked perhaps their biggest moment to date: their first joint album. Melanchronica, released June 17, has been nearly 10 years in the making, with personal hurdles, the COVID-19 pandemic, and respective creative endeavors delaying its release. In Bas’ eyes, though, the wait made the project feel all the more special.
“The songs came few and far between, but that’s maybe what helped us find such a concise point for the album and something this cohesive because we built it brick and brick,” Bas shares. “At some point, it became undeniable that this is something we needed to put out and stand on.”
Set to the sounds of 1970s progressive, 1980s pop, and 1990s R&B and hip-hop, Melanchronica, as its name suggests, tackles burnout and isolation coupled with the importance of self-reflection. From yearning for connection (“We’ve been fighting just to feel alive/ I’ve been staying just to have you close,” they sing on “Four Walls”) to self-doubt (“Somedays I count my blessings other days the demons outweigh em,” Bas raps on “Erewhon”), Bas and the Hics brilliantly capture the existential experience.
What’s more, Melanchronica proves that they bring out the best in each other; the Hics helped Bas tap into deeper sentiments, and Bas brings his boundary-pushing genre blending to the Hics’ ethereal electronic sound. They all feel the project’s power, too.
“When I listen to the album front to back, it takes me on an emotional journey that I don’t experience with a lot of our other music that we’ve released,” Barker says. “This album feels more like we’ve built a world together as opposed to a piece of work.”
Below, Bas and the Hics speak with GRAMMY.com about the inspiration that birthed Melanchronica, why it took nearly 10 years to execute, and how they stretched themselves creatively.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Tell me about the inspiration behind Melanchronica both in terms of the stories you want to tell and the unique title?
Barker: I was writing from the perspective of falling in love. I was quite isolated while I was writing some of my parts, so I just dreamt of this imaginary world that I kind of existed in for about four years.
Evans: I felt that the album sat in this total state of melancholy. I came across [the term] “melanchronica” when experimenting with different combinations, and I like the way it could describe chronic melancholy, like an old type of Victorian medical diagnosis. It could be a new genre of music, it could be a strain of weed, it could be anything. I felt like it kind of gave a roof over the vibe of the album.
Bas: Sam sold me with chronic melancholy when he [suggested it] because again, that is where the album lives sonically and even a lot of the [lyrics] are somber, very pensive and vulnerable. It’s a little apathetic; you’re kind of living in this truth as opposed to fighting to change it.
A lot of the verses come from that place of some self-examination and just trying to be honest with yourself, but at the same time, you’re not really pressed to do anything about it. It was cathartic to face those thoughts and wallow in them, but comfortably.
Melanchronica speaks to people who are longing for human connection in a go-go-go type of society that we live in today. What tracks best speak to that, and why did you want to zero in on the feeling of longing and isolation?
Barker: For me, it’s “Out of Sight” just because of the line “Call me when you want me/ Only when you need me.” That could be said about my relationships with a lot of people both romantically and non-romantically. I’m always longing for something that is consistent, which is so hard to find these days.
Evans: I don’t really have a set goal with things. I kind of go, It either makes my neck hairs tingle or it doesn’t.
I actually find it impossible to write a happy song. I’d rather write 20 sad albums for the rest of my life. “Everyday Ppl” was a challenge for me to try and write something more upbeat, and I felt the end result was sick. But speaking for myself, it’s easier to draw from pain. I’ll go for a sadder chord over a happier one.
Bas: “Four Walls,” that hook is just so potent. I don’t know who doesn’t relate to that. There’s that modern condition of being overstimulated in all our connections, but we also don’t actually have any real, meaningful connections. We’re trying to take a deeper look at ourselves, our peers and our generation in a sense, and it all ties back to the album’s melancholy theme. “Four Walls” embodies everything about that to me.
Evans: That was actually the first piece of Melanchronica.
Bas: It’s the seed of the album.
What do the three of you bring out of each other creatively?
Bas: The Hics helped me write from a more vulnerable space. Their music is naturally just so honest. I come from hip-hop, so certain s— just has to slap a certain way with the drums, so I was able to have my input with that. There’s a certain ear candy my audience is accustomed to.
For the Hics, it’s a certain vibe and world and musicality with incredible songwriting on top of that. We both bended where we needed to creatively, and that comes from having a great friendship and open line of communication. There were times we bumped heads over the direction of songs, but we would sit there and talk about it, and I feel like we made the right decision every time.
It’s very valuable to have an open line of communication with the people you’re collaborating with that’s devoid of ego. With some people, if you tell them the wrong thing about a song, they don’t ever want to work with you again.
Barker: I’m very lucky to be able to work with people that I can be like, “Yeah, I don’t like that song.” Or say if I feel like Sam doesn’t like something, but he’s not saying it, I’ll be like, “It’s okay.”
As far as what Bas and Sam bring out in me, it’s just a freedom to do and say what I want. I’m not afraid of saying very, very vulnerable things in code.
Evans: We bring out excellence in each other. I think we’re all naturally very lazy people, but we all have a really good talent in what we do and we motivate each other and really believe in each other’s craft. We check each other all the time, and that’s what family does. I feel very lucky to have that kind of relationship with my collaborators.
This album made us all go, Oh s—, we can make beats that knock them. There’s a level we never even saw before with what we are able to achieve.
Bas, you started teasing Melanchronica around 2018. And in a 2019 Billboard interview, you said, “If I win an award for some s— it’ll be that album.” Why do you feel so strongly about this album, and is it safe to assume you’re manifesting a GRAMMY win?
Bas: Of course! I got a couple nominations, but I think the best music comes from collaboration, and it comes from trying to create from a space where you feel there’s a void. Those are two things we did very well with this album. I think our styles contrast very well. We collaborated and compromised on all the right parts.
I’m not saying you can’t do magic on your own, but I think there’s a certain magic you unlock with others. To me, it felt very timeless.
Barker: I didn’t realize [Bas] said that, but that’s really nice to know. It’s amazing to be able to collaborate in a way that we have done and take our time with it. This album feels more like we’ve built a world together as opposed to a piece of work. When I listen to the album front to back, it takes me on an emotional journey that I don’t experience with a lot of our other music that we’ve released.
Bas: I agree 100 percent.
Barker: I’ve had nights where I’ve listened to it after going out and then I’m, like, crying in bed.
Evans: What you’re listening to is real diary events, like the pandemic in the middle of it and the frustrations of everyone’s careers within that, and the reality of everyone’s life experiences and relationships. It’s a real time-lapse for all of us and all the creatives involved.
I don’t think a lot of projects now are given that much time to breathe. The pressure on artists to turn around music so quickly now means that they’re having to draw from inspiration that’s either from the past or they only have a six-month window to realistically put something on paper. With this album, I’m not saying it’s the way we wanted to do it, but it’s ended up being way. We’ve had a lot of time and energy and perspective to really shape these diary entries with a real nice story to them by way of a miracle.
Every artist sets creative tiers in terms of what they hope to unlock within themselves through each project. What tier did you all unlock by way of Melanchronica when it was all said and done?
Evans: Now I feel more equipped to tackle an album again; it doesn’t feel like such a daunting thing. Coming from [the background of being] a London bedroom producer, unless you’ve got real structure and time and money behind what you’re trying to do, albums are mad expensive. From our world, you do EPs because it’s easier and it’s cheaper.
Bas was like, “I believe in this music and I want us to experience what you’re capable of in studios as opposed to bedrooms and producers, rather than just a phone call with a sound engineer on the other side of the world.” That was special for me in that regard.
Barker: It’s been such a long time, and we’re older, so we trust ourselves more, and I think that communication gets better because you are growing up. We’ve been through so much individually in the past eight years, and I think we’ve worked on ourselves as well in our personal lives, which means that our work and creative relationship has been able to move forward because we’re developing as people as well.
Evans: It’s given me the first body of work that I can say, as a writer and a producer, “This is what I’m capable of making and the proof is in the pudding.” Whereas before, album producers in America would turn up with a folder full of s— that kind of says, “This is who I am and this is what I’m capable of,” and I would turn up in that room hoping someone would just give me a chance. I didn’t necessarily have the ingredients to prove that I was capable of the ideas that I had.
Take “Erewhon,” for example. I believed in that record from the jump, and I’m glad that it exists in the way that it does because that’s the kind of song I’m capable of writing and producing. I feel that way all across the album, but with that one in particular, I was very proud. It’s given me the structure to build on.
Bas: More now than ever, we’re constantly consuming information. There are a million songs that come out every Friday … There’s just so much going on that you have to be really aware and present and grateful for those core fans that have been waiting for this since, like, 2018 when we first started talking about it, that came to see us on tour, that loved “Ricochet” and “Matches” and started this cult-like demand for this collaboration. All my efforts are focused on that. That’s the only tier that matters, honestly.
More now than ever, artists have the freedom to tap into any genre they want. Melanchronica illustrates what greatness can happen when you stop approaching genres as these rigid categories.
Evans: Bas was like, “Look, you know our world is hip-hop, you know what we do,” but even in that space, if you listen to Bas’ earlier work all through to now, he’s always had a very eclectic taste. He’s always had a very unpredictable direction in his albums. And I think he brought that out in us and what we do.
He’s like, “I know you guys are capable of doing these things and these things, and don’t hold back on it. Let’s do it boldly.” Like, if we’re really going to change the drums up entirely on this one, let’s make it a single instead of some interlude in the back.
That’s what I think was really powerful in the song choices for this, is that Bas is like, “‘Everyday Ppl,’ it needs that switch up in the middle. Let’s put them tech drums in the middle so that it’s got that force beat.” It wakes you up. Bas is really good at finding those strong moments with intention where unpredictability [takes over].
Barker: If you’re gonna create anything, you need to be able to throw everything that you’re capable of at that time into it. So I never really agreed with the idea of genres. It always kind of confused me.
I’m really happy that artists are advocating more for the freedom of being able to do a country album, and then an R&B album, and then maybe a classical album one day, because we all love music, you know? We don’t just love one genre. When I was younger, I’d listen to a Britney Spears album and it wasn’t just pop; she’d have all kinds of different genres. I think the pigeonhole is getting old.
Bas: How do you create something new if you don’t try something new? Independently of each other, the Hics and I don’t sound like [what you hear on Melanchronica], but exclusively in this collaborative space, we can make these kinds of songs — and that’s worth it for me.
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