Finn Foxell was formative in my early rap listening. It was an era of smoking a bit too much weed, a bit too young. In my early teens in west London, Soundcloud was emerging as the go-to for underground music. Grime, UK hip-hop and the American East Coast were the foundations, and Finn Foxell and the rest of the Elevation Meditation gang (P-rallel, Louis Culture, Lord Apex) were the evolution, carving a soundtrack to our experience of London in the early 2010s.

That sound eventually morphed into the colourful and bouncy ‘alt rap’ scene, and Finn’s deep, smoky delivery was a mainstay, frequently collaborating with Elevation Meditation and fellow west London collective Nine8. But, as I grew up, so did Finn. He began leaning more towards the “alt” than the “rap”, incorporating live instrumentation, vocal melodies and themes of family life beyond the haze. He decided to name his debut album Mama’s Boy to reflect this changing direction but, just as he was gearing up to announce the project, news came that he was to become a father himself. 

It’s a funny full-circle moment for the rapper whose life has played out in front of the microphone, from his early stoner days to his reckless late teens, and, finally, to a return to family values. Chronicling this trajectory on the album through conversations with his family (including his cockney grandad’s candid advice on love: “you got loads of time, son”) over production that pays homage to the indie-rock sonics that he would have heard growing up, the now 25-year old is worlds away from the kid that first blew up on Soundcloud, and so are his listeners. Mama’s Boy marks a coming-of-age moment for the rapper, and it couldn’t have arrived at a better time. 

Below, we speak to Finn Foxell about becoming a father, forming Elevation Meditation, and his new musical direction. 

Congrats on becoming a father. Funny timing, eh?

Finn Foxell: Yeah, it’s weird how it’s all lined up. Like, naming an album Mama’s Boy and then having a son just in the thick of it beforehand. It’s really cool. I feel like I’m still a mama’s boy, but now I’m also my son’s father. There’s this whole other side to the title.

The project opens with a conversation between you and your mum, right? 

Finn Foxell: Yeah, it’s talking about trying to prove everything to her. Trying to prove the good job she’s done, telling her that [success] is gonna happen, and the fantastic bit of knowing that she believes in that. It’s an empowering feeling to have that, because it wasn’t always there. She’s seen what the industry does, my pops is in music, and we’ve had plenty of conversations about music being a complete washing machine that just spits you out. I know it’s a mad risk but I think she’s seeing what I can do, and she’s got faith in what I’m about to do.

How has your relationship with your family changed since those first Soundcloud releases?

Finn Foxell: Shit, I was just a teenager running around not really knowing anything. It was all experimental back then, and that’s how my music came out – experimental. I was just the youngest brother, a mama’s boy, who had a mad mission of wanting to get into music. Now, years later, it’s something that’s integrated into my life, and I do it on a scale where I can actually monetise it, and people around me know that it’s the best thing that I could be doing. Me and my pops weren’t really close, and now he’s my fucking guy! He’s always been in music, been in bands, and wrote songs for other people. In the snapshots of time that I did spend with him when I was younger, it always seemed like the coolest, funnest, most amazing fucking thing you could do. 

How did Elevation Meditation come about, then? 

Finn Foxell: I’d dropped a couple songs on SoundCloud that I’d recorded in P-rallel’s bedroom when we were 15 – we went primary school together. Louis [Culture] and P-rallel used to do dance together, and then, through that youth centre studio, Apex and Louis met each other. We all just instantly connected. We all sat down in Apex’s yard and smoked up and chilled, played some beats and freestyled to it. I feel like I still remember that day vivid, man, something was born. We all walked away from it like, ‘Yeah, this is my squad, man. These are my people’. 

Through sound I got to document all the different parts of growth for myself. I feel like some fans have really been there from the start with and they’ve evolved in their own lives and obstacles they face, just as I have within mine.

– Finn Foxell

It’s funny, because I was listening to “Cool, Bless, Safe” and it’s mad hearing the difference in your lyrics. At one point, you rap “fuck a love life”, now it’s all Mama’s Boy.

Finn Foxell: Yeah, it’s quite stark. I was just a gassed teenager, and gassed into my early 20s. I’m 25 now and I feel like my brain has fully developed. Through sound, I got to document all the different parts of that growth for myself and anyone who’s listened. I feel like some fans have really been there from the start and they’ve evolved in their own lives and obstacles they face, just as I have within mine. What a journey it’s been.

What influences do you draw on this new project? 

There’s a lot of music that my dad was into, like big beat, that whole era. Then there are all the wonderful children that came out of it, like Gorillaz and The Verve. There’s definitely a thread of them running through all my influences because that was our childhood. 

Does your mum like the new album?

Finn Foxell: Both her and my dad love the album, which is sick because I trust both of their ears in different ways. My pops has always been someone that I’ve really bounced off with my sound and songs I make, just from a purely sonic perspective. My mum couldn’t get her head around some of my rap stuff because it wasn’t conventional in any sense. Now, I feel like a lot of the songs with the more indie/songwriter approach to it, she can feel it a lot more.

Have you thought about what the little one will think when they listen to the project?

Finn Foxell: You know what, I hadn’t even thought of that yet. I’m just picturing him with his headphones on, banging the album. Nah, nah, I just be playing all sorts of sick lullabies. I got a sick lullaby playlist for him, bro. Got some Mongolian lullabies. Got a whole mixture of tunes between me and his mum.

When you do play him your music, though, which track are you choosing?

Finn Foxell: It’s a tough one, but I reckon “ALIVE”. It just feels like that would be the one. He might not get it, but, no, I think he will.

Mama's Boy releases April 25.