I AM D walks us through his powerful new EP, M.N.T.N.S

I AM D is part of the ever-evolving BNE hip hop scene featuring some incredible young talent, and his new EP, M.N.T.N.S (Mirrors Never Told Nice Stories) further cements his status as one to watch. Working with fellow Brissie native James Angus AKA Uncle Juice on production, together theyv'e crafted a raw and powerful new EP that deserves a deeper looking in to. And with that in mind we asked I AM D to give us a track by track rundown of the release, which you can read while you play M.N.T.N.S below.

First of all the title of the EP reflects on the last year and a half of my life I spent trying to overcome the pitfall I was put in due to an undiagnosed chronic illness. Every time I'd look in the mirror and see my reflection I was physically looking at a shadow of the person I used to be, having lost so much weight. Along with that comes the mental pitfalls and struggles which perfectly lead to this project having a double meaning between "Mirrors Never Told Nice Stories" as well as the MNTNS I had to overcome.

Loco:

Loco set the tone for the EP. Uncle Juice and I came through with a very fresh, fun, summery vibe. This production is absolutely wild. I remember falling asleep in the studio and waking up on the bean bag to this beat being about 3/4 finished and my intial reaction was I didn't know what to make of it. I was just looking at him like "what even is this, wtf have you actually done?" and Loco was born. It's a little bit self indulgent, it touches on a number of issues that have come up as a result of living as a single, 25 year old good looking male.

Check Back:

Fresh styles, brand new styles, halfway trappy, halfway grime. Sat in my room one day enlisting the help of Tides to come up with a jam that would transcend the problems faced by up and coming artists not being taken serious enough by promoters when it comes to being paid for the shows they've booked us for. Turning a negative feeling into a positive situation. This shit bangs live.

Seven Deuce:

All I'm going to say for this is there's definitely times where I've gotta vent. This is one of those times. I also wanted to make this strong enough and use it as the main single off the EP even though I have a lot more "radio friendly" tracks on there. I'm all about doing my own thing and bending/breaking the barriers. It's a new era.

Win Win:

I originally wrote a different song for Win Win. The bridge was originally the chorus on the first draft and the verses had elements of the ones that are in the final but I re-wrote it again after James developed on the beat more. After the beat got the treatment and became a lot stronger I felt the same with my lyrics and the direction of the song. Basically I had to re-evaluate and go in harder. The D does that.

Family:

This one is a real work of art to me, a movie. I developed this over a while, possibly the longest track I took to make. I think for me it was just making sure I said exactly what I wanted to say and say it exactly how I needed to say it. James will tell you this but we actually did about 17 different versions of this beat. Whether it was a melody or drum change, but by the end we had 17 different files of this same song. That was a real lesson for us being at the stage we are at and learning so much about our craft while we're doing it. Some songs come easy. But some really take some work.

Fall Apart:

This is a raw one. Going off the back of family where I touch on my health issues almost in an aggressive manner. Fall Apart is the real emotional stance on it. I haven't told anyone this yet, but recording that song literally had me in tears. I actually cried whilst I was recording the adlib track. Obviously with a song like this to get the delivery right you have to feel that emotion and make it as real as it gets. It just really put me back in that place I was in and hit me in the realest way. A lot of early feedback is people saying this is their favourite track. I experimented with my singing voice as well. I'm definitely not a singer by any means and I could have enlisted a vocalist, but this track was too personal for me to do that.

One For You:

Last track on the EP. This song is reflecting on the lost couple of years I had as a young man especially with the opposite sex and love/relationships. Being in a state for a period of time where the only thing I was focused on was trying to dig my way out of this health stricken whirlwind, obviously there wasn't any type of romance had. This song is all about getting back to a place now where I'm able to experience the fruits that the female has to offer but it still being early days where I'm basically starting again and gaining my confidence back. "Can I be the one for you I be, asking me while I'm asking you."

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