While speaking to NME at Reading Festival 2025, AJ Tracey reflected on his career, as well as discussing his latest album, his tenure in UK rap, and his readiness to “pass the baton” to the next generation. Watch our full video interview above.
On Friday (August 22), the NME Award-winning, BRIT Award-nominated rapper packed out the Chevron Stage with a feverish set of his newer high-octane tracks and classics. He flaunted the Union Jack and brought out indie-pop darling Master Peace, as well as rising UK trap star FinesseKid to perform their respective collaborations – proud of his Black British heritage.
From his breakout grime roots to the genre-bending hits ‘Ladbroke Grove’ and ‘West Ten’, the west Londoner has spent nearly a decade cementing himself as one of UK rap’s most versatile and consistent voices. But with June’s ‘Don’t Die Before You’re Dead’, he peeled back the layers more than ever before on his fourth studio album, candidly tackling faith, masculinity, grief and his mother’s battle with cancer.
Backstage ahead of his performance, Tracey told NME that he’s less focused on chart positions and more intent on legacy: “[‘Don’t Die Before You’re Dead’] wasn’t an album where I thought, ‘Yo, let me try and sell as many units as I can.’ If I’m talking about my mum and her struggles, it’s not gonna sell mad units – but that’s not the point.”
He said he knows he could create another album and “run up some numbers” but he “needed to get a message across”
“I didn’t want to tap out of music, or – God forbid – anything happens and people don’t listen to me anymore, and I haven’t spoken about my actual life. That would be an injustice because people who know me personally know I’m a lot deeper than that.”
Check out our full interview with Tracey, where he also commented on Drake saying the UK has “the best lyricists in the world” – arguing that the UK has always “set the trends” and doesn’t need validation.
NME: Hi AJ! How you been?
AJ Tracey: “I’m chilling, I’m good. I can’t wait to get on stage, I’ll be honest. I’m raring to go… shake the ring rust off. I’m gonna play a new [song] today… FinesseKid’s in there – that’s who I’ll be performing with.”
Can you tell us more about the collaboration?
“[FinesseKid]’s just cold, man. He’s got that South London energy I rock with. He’s witty with the way he crafts his bars. I like his flow, his beat selection is good, and he’s swaggy as well. He can dress – so that’s what we rock with.
“I’m happy [with the current UK rap scene], man. I’m glad I could be a part of it. I’m over on the edge [of it] – just doing my own thing, which is how I like it. But I’ve done enough work now that I can pass the baton a little, give people a leg up whenever I can. If there’s a younger person who’s doing well or just sounds dope, I’ll just tap them in. It should be like that, because people weren’t really doing that for me. You gotta break cycles and change things.”
As someone who’s been a UK rap authority for nearly a decade, how do you feel when Drake said the UK has “the best lyricists in the world”? Why are we so great?
“There’s a long list, man, such a long list. It’s important to remember we didn’t invent [rap – America did], so it doesn’t always need to be about puffing our chest out, saying we’re the best. We are cold, no doubt [but] we don’t need validation. Sometimes, it’s not about comparing… I’ll always say UK rap is the best because I’m a UK rapper, but I still love American rap. I listen to Drake all the time, Gunna too. But when I want UK rap, I’m bumping FinesseKid, Skepta, Lancey [Foux], EssDeeKid – depends on the mood.
“One thing though: the UK always sets the trends. Americans do look over here for inspiration – not saying we don’t look there too, but trust me, they do. People deny it because they get sour about it. But I saw it myself. Rest in peace Pop Smoke but, when I was in the studio with him, he was loading up only UK beats. That’s when I knew. So yeah – UK rap is different, man. Multi-layered, talented, inspiring. We’re doing our thing.”
You released ‘Don’t Die Before You’re Dead’ back in June, which is much more introspective, nuanced. Why was it important to be so candid?
“I’ve got to a point where I’m still hungry, but not hungry as in ‘It’s do or die.’ It was do-or-die. We come from an area where it’s the rich mixed with the poor. We did things as a means to survive, a means to an end. I don’t need to do that anymore, thank God.
“Whenever I listen to artists… I like to learn something new. I need to be growing with them. I don’t want people to just think: ‘Alright, cool, we know he’s got a big chain, he likes chains. He’s got a car, he likes cars.’ Cool – but we know that. What don’t we know?
“So, talking about my mum and her struggles was important… We all have loved ones we’re scared of losing, and me being vulnerable shows people: whoever you think is lit, they still go through what you’re going through. We’re all the same – not to be a hippie, but it’s true. I’m a bit happier now. I swear down, I feel like that. It’s not for the cameras.”
AJ Tracey, the philosopher…
“Nah, allow me, man [laughs].”
Your latest album is much more rap-adjacent – did you want to move beyond being just a “pop-grime star” or are you always grime at heart?
“The crazy thing is I started off rapping, not even on grime, but no one heard me on that…With the album, it wasn’t really conscious – I spoke what I thought I needed to speak about, and it just happened to be [on] rap, grime, Jersey, whatever.
How come you’ve maintained your independence all this time? That must have been trifling at times…
“You know what – it wasn’t. It was easier to be independent than be with a label because I have full creative control. If I make a song today, I can release it tomorrow. No one can tell me anything… That’s not to say I never had conversations with labels, but they never really say the right thing. As a young Black man – kind of young still-ish – I can tell there’s always a group of powerful people who want to utilise what you have until you don’t have it anymore. I’m not a commodity for you to use and then throw away.
“I’m building a legacy: for my family, for potential kids I hope to have, for my area, for Trini people, for Welsh people, for everything. It means a lot more to me than just signing away my life, then people own my masters and tell me when to jump. I’m not on that.”
Watch our full interview with Tracey at the top of the page.
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