Fem Fel

Fem Fel, the gravel voiced South London rapper has been working on his debut album Eyes Closed since Summer 2010, it's now set for official release on 2 May 2011. Debut single Runnin’ produced by Rymez, featuring Lily McKenzie, was released on TenTen Records in December 2010, with follow up video single Put it in a Bag featuring Blade Brown produced by Dan Dare in January. The rap / club track features video appearances by various artists and friends from the rap / grime scene including Skepta, Tinie Tempah, Giggs, G FrSH, Sincere and lots more. 'Put it in a Bag' was made Ace & Vis 'Top 4 tracks of the week', and has also received plays by BBC Radio 1Xtra DJs Target and Semtex, and Choice FM's DJ Quincey. 'Eyes Closed' leaps from pondering troubled relationships on 'Hero', to contemplating his place in the rap scene with man of the moment Wretch 32 on 'Floating'. 'Runnin' explores Fem’s feeling of being constantly on the move, dodging trouble, driven by his love and passion for music. 'Put It In A Bag', the catchy club track, which recently closed the show at a packed crowd at industry showcase ILUVLIVE, brings a catchy hook and clever wordplay together to create one of the most quoted rap tracks of the year so far. 'Magnificent' explores the bravado and self confidence of a rapper, whilst 'Eyes Closed' sets the backdrop for Fem Fel to pick over his murky past to a backdrop of rap beats produced by some of the scene's best emerging talent. Fem Fel (real name Femi Falola) was a late-comer to music. He discovered his talent for rapping whilst serving a prison term in 2005. What began as penning some diary-style lyrics with his cellmate along to a Cormega CD, soon became an obsession, leading to him take part in rap battles out in the exercise yard. Fem says it was his obsessive personality that made him want to be the best at this new talent he’d discovered. Fem began to take his life seriously, away from the trouble and strife of a life of crime. He began volunteering as a support assistant with children and studied for a sociology degree. On leaving prison in 2005, Fem embarked on a journey of musical self discovery. His first stop was to join with friends and crew-mates South London hip hop crew ‘SN1’, made famous over the past couple of years by the XL recordings rapper Giggs, who Fem grew up with. Fem‘s foray into music produced a handful of releases including ‘The Beginning’, ‘Hollowgrind’, ‘A Brand New Problem’ and ‘345’ volumes 1 and 2. It was ‘It’s You’ that propelled Fem onto radio and out of the confines of South London in 2008. It was around this time that Fem left SN1 to concentrate on himself as a solo artist. Fem produced ‘Graffiti on the Wall’ with music website GrimeDaily in early 2010, a collection of tracks from some of the UK’s best rap talent including Sway and Bigz, and joined forces with Grime MC Skepta on B.O.S.S. In Summer 2010 Fem was signed officially to TenTen Records. It was at this time the rapper began recording his debut album ‘Eyes Closed’. Inspired by the sounds of DMX, Blackstreet and So Solid Crew as he was growing up; Fem describes the recording of his album as a cathartic experience; ‘closing his eyes and letting it all out’, telling story after story of his life over 15 tracks produced by Rymez, Dan Dare, Sibling and many others. A freestyle track picking through his murky experience of prison was picked up by BBC3’s Jail Tales, on which Fem appeared in 2010.