“I deadass do everything in my bedroom…I’ve never been to the studio once.”

Not long after the world was sent into quarantine, staff writer Jordan Walendom had the fortune to chat with the UK-based, Nigerian-raised artist 808Vic. While much of the world was just being sent into the arena of remote work, Vic was already well acquainted with hustling in the confines of his walls. The self-proclaimed bedroom musician has grown an audience with a do-it-yourself attitude in which his “studio equipment” simply consists of his personal computer and apple headphones. Taking a similar angle with his choice of collaborators, the talented musician doesn’t often need to look far for fiery, punchy, and emotion-filled features; rather, he just hits up family. His siblings Burgundy, annabel, and joshua often make beautiful appearances in his discography, accenting Vic’s colorful and rich production. By curating sounds with such personal and local materials, 808Vic establishes a deep sense of creative control as he outputs diverse, transnational, and lively art.

Since this interview, his trajectory has only skyrocketed. While he shows pride in this episode about passing 100,000 streams on Soundcloud in 2020, his 2021 project “Lived to Love” has beat that milestone tenfold. The title track of the work has amassed over 1.2 million streams on Spotify at the time of this writing, with his stand-alone single “Overstayed” (of the same year) closely trailing with over 1 million streams. We can only standby excitedly as we wait and see where Vic goes from here.

Recorded: August 15th, 2020

Opening Track: Alas - 808Vic

Closing Track: Don’t Play This Until Summer’s Over - 808Vic