Album: RUDIM3NTAL (Deluxe) by Rudimental (2025)
Record Label: Room Two Recordings
Format: Digital Media

Artist Background: Rudimental are an English drum and bass quartet, signed to Asylum Records and independent label Black Butter. The quartet consists of songwriters and producers Piers Agget, Kesi Dryden, Amir Amor and DJ Locksmith. The group rose to prominence in 2012 when their single "Feel the Love", featuring singer John Newman, topped the UK Singles Chart. The group have released further singles since, including "Not Giving In" (featuring John Newman and Alex Clare) and 2013 single Waiting All Night, which... Part of the Hackney, London, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Drum & Bass movement. Known for Electronic style.

Music Scene: Part of the Hackney, London, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Drum & Bass movement. Known for Electronic style.

Tags: 2020s, Digital Media, Room Two Recordings


Album: Ground Control by Rudimental (2021)
Genre: breakbeat
Record Label: Atlantic Records UK
Format: Digital Media

Description: As Rudimental set to work on their fourth album, clubs were shuttered, festivals were being cancelled and the future of live music was in disarray. But as has been the way for the London dance collective for over a decade, during which they’ve become one of the UK’s biggest acts, it only hardened Piers Aggett, Amir Amor, Kesi Dryden and Leon “Locksmith” Rolle’s resolve. “It was that feeling of wanting to be in an environment where you can hear loud music and have subs playing loud; that was the thought process behind this album,” Aggett tells Apple Music. 
Ground Control is the quartet’s most focused record. The flip side of not touring through most of 2020 and 2021 was that, for the first time since becoming huge, the group could put their full concentration into making an album. “We’ve actually had the most productive year we’ve ever had as a band,” says Aggett. “The last three albums were all done on the road in between tours.” What’s emerged is an album that celebrates dance music in all its forms, from drum ’n’ bass to house to UK garage to jungle and more, the interlinking theme that this is music designed to bring people together, to evoke the exhilaration of that communal experience. Ground Control is ready for take-off. Aggett takes us through it, track by track. 
“Come Over” (feat. Anne-Marie & Tion Wayne)
“It’s almost like we remixed ourselves. In the garage days, you used to get these 1990s R&B tunes and then a garage producer like MJ Cole or someone would remix it. And we basically had an R&B idea with Anne-Marie and L Devine—who was the other writer in the room—and we wrote that. It was like 110 BPM, or maybe slower, a little slow vibe. And then in the first lockdown, we sped it up and produced the garage beat on it. It kind of set the tone for the rest of the album, I think.” 
“Jumper” (feat. Kareen Lomax)
“This is another track in that garage world. It was a song we wrote in 2018 with John Ryan, who wrote ‘These Days’ with us. We were looking for a vocalist and we knew Kareen Lomax from Diplo’s ‘Looking for Me’. She was in Atlanta and we sent her the beat, she vocaled it. She just brought an amazing, amazing emotion to it; it really encapsulated the vibe of the song. It’s an Afro-centric, garage-inspired kind of mash-up—it’s got a lot of energy to it.” 
“Straight From the Heart” (feat. Nørskov)
“We wanted to rework a garage classic. We all grew up in London around a lot of them tunes, and Amir actually got mentored by [‘Straight From the Heart’ artists] Doolally in Camden at his youth centre. It was just a special tune. We reworked it and put it in a modern context. Anne-Marie was on The Voice and met contestant Leona, whose artist name is Nørskov. We loved her voice and wanted to try her on the song.” 
“Ghost” (feat. Hardy Caprio) [Refix]
“This is another one of us remixing ourselves. Because in the pandemic, we had to really work with what we had. There were no sessions, no writing camps, no flying around taking inspiration from around the world or hooking up and doing sessions. So again, we remixed our own song that we’d put out on the [2019] Distinction EP. It didn't quite really kick off, but it was more of an EP filler track. So we got the vocal and put it into this garage relay and then got Hardy Caprio. It's a classic example of us reworking our own stuff to make these records work in an environment where you have to work with what you've got.” 
“Remember Their Names” (feat. Josh Barry) [with MJ Cole]
“We were in a studio with Josh Barry and we wrote an idea; it was around the time of the Black Lives Matter protests. We wrote this idea and then, separately, MJ Cole made this drum and bass tune with him on piano. And then we started singing the song that we’d written before over it because it was in the same key. We do that quite a bit, actually, because you write an idea and it doesn't always come out or the production isn't quite there for whatever reason. And then we sing our own songs over our newer beats.” 
”Be Somebody” [with James Vincent McMorrow]
“This was a kind of online pandemic collab where he had this idea, and James Vincent McMorrow sent it to us in the early days of the pandemic. We just needed something to work on when we were in lockdown. He had the song pretty much there; it was more about producing it and adding the elements. We kind of wanted to create something like a ‘Not Giving In’ Part 2, something that has the essence of the previous albums on this new record. And he's got a great voice, James.” 
“Be the One” (feat. MORGAN, Digga D & TIKE)
“We’ve set up a record label and publishing company called Major Toms, and this one is an example of the family. MORGAN is signed to our record label and TIKE is on our publishing company. This was a Afrobeat tune that they've also put out together, but we sped it up and put it into the Ground Control realm. And then we got Digga D, who is a really hot rapper. It's a feel-good, summery garage tune.” 
“Handle My Own” (feat. Ella Henderson)
“I'm going to talk again about the Major Toms family. Ella Henderson is one of the artists signed, and we've been writing lots with her over the last few years. On this tune, we wanted to tap into the whole soulful disco element. It's a sample from a disco record by The Jones Girls. I took a sample of a nine-minute disco tune, but it's just a core structure that I really liked and then we wrote a whole song over it. It's kind of got an Angie Stone feel to me.” 
“So Sorry” [with Skream] 
“Skream is an old friend. We actually met Anne-Marie and Skream on an Annie Mac tour in 2012 and we all got on really well. I've been chatting to him for years saying we should do a collab and we finally got in the studio. He sent me the idea—he had a MIDI file idea that he hadn't really developed, but we then sent it to Anne-Marie, she wrote the vocal and sent it back to us. And then we all got in the room and finished it and put it through some synths in the studio. It's just a deep, emotional kind of rave-y tune. I think it's going to be one of them ones that we're going to play at 4 am in a club and then leave.” 
“Distance” (feat. Maverick Sabre & Kojey Radical)
“‘Distance’ was a bit of an older idea, maybe 2017, even 2016. It was an idea we wrote with Maverick Sabre. He's one of the best songwriters from this generation; he's such a great lyricist. I remember him writing the lyrics while we were making the beat and I was sitting down with him and we were talking about the song. And then he put the ‘Inner City Life’ by Goldie video on mute. He was thinking about the system and feeling caught in a system, the system that we're all in, and the feeling of that. And I think he really captured it, and then we got Kojey Radical in. He was the perfect person to put that to lyrics in a fast tempo. It's one of the ones you have to listen to on a loud system as well.” 
“Instajets” (feat. BackRoad Gee)
“This was a funny, interesting one. In 2014, we did a writing session with Ed Sheeran and The Game in LA. And we made six tunes, which are still not released. But we then went back and nicked a vocal from one of the tunes and crafted a new beat and then sent it to D Double E. I said, ‘Do you want to jump on this?’ And he jumped on it and then we got BackRoad Gee on it at the middle to end of last year. It was kind of another example of us playing with old ideas on our hard drive and mixing around vocals. And then we had to call The Game and say, ‘Hi, do you remember us? We met six years ago…’ That was a bit of a process, trying to get ahold of him!” 
“Krazy” (feat. Afronaut Zu)
“There was about 10 of us in the room, and there were lots of vibes in that room. I think we were drinking and just enjoying ourselves and listening to music. And then we just made that tune and it was kind of something more on the jazzy edge of garage. And Afronaut Zu, he's an artist to watch. He's got an amazing voice. Some tracks do take a long time, and you don't always nail the production every time, but ‘Krazy’ is an example of something that probably took about three hours to make.” 
“Make You Move” (feat. Nørskov & Keeya Keys)
“This is another track in the garage realm. It was a song that we wrote out on an LA trip with Tove Lo. We got Leona from ‘Straight From the Heart’ to sing it. And we brought in Keeya Keys, who's really a pioneer in that new garage sound as well, mixing Afrobeat and garage—part of that kind of NSG crew. And he's just a sick rapper. It really put us into that kind of 'when MCs jumped on garage' era. It felt like a really good, important moment for the album.” 
“Hostess” (feat. MORGAN)
“This is a Ground Control-style a remix of an original that MORGAN did; it's one of her songs and we remixed it for the album. We co-wrote it with her, and it's something we thought: ‘Let's go a bit jungle on this album and do something a kind of bit like Missy Elliott.’ I was then like, ‘Let's flip up and bring it into the jungle realm.’” 
“C’est Fini” (feat. Rv & LOWKEY)
“This one is an example of us really messing with sonics and just having a bit of fun on the production, using the synths that we were using. We had fun with the bass and put it into a real club environment. When we play this at parties and clubs, it's the one that really knocks your head off. No one's really done drill rappers on house before. Our production duo that we signed had a lot of drill rappers in the studio, so we brought them into the other room and said, ‘Do you want to jump on this?’ And they were into it. It was a kind of mash-up of stars. We like to play with genres, and this is an example of that.” 
“Keep Your Head Up” (feat. Hamzaa & House Gospel Choir)
“Our foundation is positivity, and we’ve all had a really tough year, so we’re bringing a positive to a negative in this tune. We wanted to do a tune with House Gospel Choir, who are amazing. We wrote it with 2fox, who are an Afro-house production duo. It was something we wrote at the beginning of this year; once we’d kind of done the album, we felt like we needed the positive kind of soulful, jazzy house tune. It surpassed what I even thought it was going to sound like. It came out really beautiful.”

Artist Background: Rudimental are an English drum and bass quartet, signed to Asylum Records and independent label Black Butter. The quartet consists of songwriters and producers Piers Agget, Kesi Dryden, Amir Amor and DJ Locksmith. The group rose to prominence in 2012 when their single "Feel the Love", featuring singer John Newman, topped the UK Singles Chart. The group have released further singles since, including "Not Giving In" (featuring John Newman and Alex Clare) and 2013 single Waiting All Night, which... Part of the Hackney, London, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Drum & Bass movement. Known for Electronic style.

Related Artists: Sigma, Hybrid Minds, venbee, goddard.

Music Scene: Part of the Hackney, London, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Drum & Bass movement. Known for Electronic style.

Tags: breakbeat, 2020s, Digital Media, Atlantic Records UK

As Rudimental set to work on their fourth album, clubs were shuttered, festivals were being cancelled and the future of live music was in disarray. But as has been the way for the London dance collective for over a decade, during which they’ve become one of the UK’s biggest acts, it only hardened Piers Aggett, Amir Amor, Kesi Dryden and Leon “Locksmith” Rolle’s resolve. “It was that feeling of wanting to be in an environment where you can hear loud music and have subs playing loud; that was the thought process behind this album,” Aggett tells Apple Music. 
Ground Control is the quartet’s most focused record. The flip side of not touring through most of 2020 and 2021 was that, for the first time since becoming huge, the group could put their full concentration into making an album. “We’ve actually had the most productive year we’ve ever had as a band,” says Aggett. “The last three albums were all done on the road in between tours.” What’s emerged is an album that celebrates dance music in all its forms, from drum ’n’ bass to house to UK garage to jungle and more, the interlinking theme that this is music designed to bring people together, to evoke the exhilaration of that communal experience. Ground Control is ready for take-off. Aggett takes us through it, track by track. 
“Come Over” (feat. Anne-Marie & Tion Wayne)
“It’s almost like we remixed ourselves. In the garage days, you used to get these 1990s R&B tunes and then a garage producer like MJ Cole or someone would remix it. And we basically had an R&B idea with Anne-Marie and L Devine—who was the other writer in the room—and we wrote that. It was like 110 BPM, or maybe slower, a little slow vibe. And then in the first lockdown, we sped it up and produced the garage beat on it. It kind of set the tone for the rest of the album, I think.” 
“Jumper” (feat. Kareen Lomax)
“This is another track in that garage world. It was a song we wrote in 2018 with John Ryan, who wrote ‘These Days’ with us. We were looking for a vocalist and we knew Kareen Lomax from Diplo’s ‘Looking for Me’. She was in Atlanta and we sent her the beat, she vocaled it. She just brought an amazing, amazing emotion to it; it really encapsulated the vibe of the song. It’s an Afro-centric, garage-inspired kind of mash-up—it’s got a lot of energy to it.” 
“Straight From the Heart” (feat. Nørskov)
“We wanted to rework a garage classic. We all grew up in London around a lot of them tunes, and Amir actually got mentored by [‘Straight From the Heart’ artists] Doolally in Camden at his youth centre. It was just a special tune. We reworked it and put it in a modern context. Anne-Marie was on The Voice and met contestant Leona, whose artist name is Nørskov. We loved her voice and wanted to try her on the song.” 
“Ghost” (feat. Hardy Caprio) [Refix]
“This is another one of us remixing ourselves. Because in the pandemic, we had to really work with what we had. There were no sessions, no writing camps, no flying around taking inspiration from around the world or hooking up and doing sessions. So again, we remixed our own song that we’d put out on the [2019] Distinction EP. It didn't quite really kick off, but it was more of an EP filler track. So we got the vocal and put it into this garage relay and then got Hardy Caprio. It's a classic example of us reworking our own stuff to make these records work in an environment where you have to work with what you've got.” 
“Remember Their Names” (feat. Josh Barry) [with MJ Cole]
“We were in a studio with Josh Barry and we wrote an idea; it was around the time of the Black Lives Matter protests. We wrote this idea and then, separately, MJ Cole made this drum and bass tune with him on piano. And then we started singing the song that we’d written before over it because it was in the same key. We do that quite a bit, actually, because you write an idea and it doesn't always come out or the production isn't quite there for whatever reason. And then we sing our own songs over our newer beats.” 
”Be Somebody” [with James Vincent McMorrow]
“This was a kind of online pandemic collab where he had this idea, and James Vincent McMorrow sent it to us in the early days of the pandemic. We just needed something to work on when we were in lockdown. He had the song pretty much there; it was more about producing it and adding the elements. We kind of wanted to create something like a ‘Not Giving In’ Part 2, something that has the essence of the previous albums on this new record. And he's got a great voice, James.” 
“Be the One” (feat. MORGAN, Digga D & TIKE)
“We’ve set up a record label and publishing company called Major Toms, and this one is an example of the family. MORGAN is signed to our record label and TIKE is on our publishing company. This was a Afrobeat tune that they've also put out together, but we sped it up and put it into the Ground Control realm. And then we got Digga D, who is a really hot rapper. It's a feel-good, summery garage tune.” 
“Handle My Own” (feat. Ella Henderson)
“I'm going to talk again about the Major Toms family. Ella Henderson is one of the artists signed, and we've been writing lots with her over the last few years. On this tune, we wanted to tap into the whole soulful disco element. It's a sample from a disco record by The Jones Girls. I took a sample of a nine-minute disco tune, but it's just a core structure that I really liked and then we wrote a whole song over it. It's kind of got an Angie Stone feel to me.” 
“So Sorry” [with Skream] 
“Skream is an old friend. We actually met Anne-Marie and Skream on an Annie Mac tour in 2012 and we all got on really well. I've been chatting to him for years saying we should do a collab and we finally got in the studio. He sent me the idea—he had a MIDI file idea that he hadn't really developed, but we then sent it to Anne-Marie, she wrote the vocal and sent it back to us. And then we all got in the room and finished it and put it through some synths in the studio. It's just a deep, emotional kind of rave-y tune. I think it's going to be one of them ones that we're going to play at 4 am in a club and then leave.” 
“Distance” (feat. Maverick Sabre & Kojey Radical)
“‘Distance’ was a bit of an older idea, maybe 2017, even 2016. It was an idea we wrote with Maverick Sabre. He's one of the best songwriters from this generation; he's such a great lyricist. I remember him writing the lyrics while we were making the beat and I was sitting down with him and we were talking about the song. And then he put the ‘Inner City Life’ by Goldie video on mute. He was thinking about the system and feeling caught in a system, the system that we're all in, and the feeling of that. And I think he really captured it, and then we got Kojey Radical in. He was the perfect person to put that to lyrics in a fast tempo. It's one of the ones you have to listen to on a loud system as well.” 
“Instajets” (feat. BackRoad Gee)
“This was a funny, interesting one. In 2014, we did a writing session with Ed Sheeran and The Game in LA. And we made six tunes, which are still not released. But we then went back and nicked a vocal from one of the tunes and crafted a new beat and then sent it to D Double E. I said, ‘Do you want to jump on this?’ And he jumped on it and then we got BackRoad Gee on it at the middle to end of last year. It was kind of another example of us playing with old ideas on our hard drive and mixing around vocals. And then we had to call The Game and say, ‘Hi, do you remember us? We met six years ago…’ That was a bit of a process, trying to get ahold of him!” 
“Krazy” (feat. Afronaut Zu)
“There was about 10 of us in the room, and there were lots of vibes in that room. I think we were drinking and just enjoying ourselves and listening to music. And then we just made that tune and it was kind of something more on the jazzy edge of garage. And Afronaut Zu, he's an artist to watch. He's got an amazing voice. Some tracks do take a long time, and you don't always nail the production every time, but ‘Krazy’ is an example of something that probably took about three hours to make.” 
“Make You Move” (feat. Nørskov & Keeya Keys)
“This is another track in the garage realm. It was a song that we wrote out on an LA trip with Tove Lo. We got Leona from ‘Straight From the Heart’ to sing it. And we brought in Keeya Keys, who's really a pioneer in that new garage sound as well, mixing Afrobeat and garage—part of that kind of NSG crew. And he's just a sick rapper. It really put us into that kind of 'when MCs jumped on garage' era. It felt like a really good, important moment for the album.” 
“Hostess” (feat. MORGAN)
“This is a Ground Control-style a remix of an original that MORGAN did; it's one of her songs and we remixed it for the album. We co-wrote it with her, and it's something we thought: ‘Let's go a bit jungle on this album and do something a kind of bit like Missy Elliott.’ I was then like, ‘Let's flip up and bring it into the jungle realm.’” 
“C’est Fini” (feat. Rv & LOWKEY)
“This one is an example of us really messing with sonics and just having a bit of fun on the production, using the synths that we were using. We had fun with the bass and put it into a real club environment. When we play this at parties and clubs, it's the one that really knocks your head off. No one's really done drill rappers on house before. Our production duo that we signed had a lot of drill rappers in the studio, so we brought them into the other room and said, ‘Do you want to jump on this?’ And they were into it. It was a kind of mash-up of stars. We like to play with genres, and this is an example of that.” 
“Keep Your Head Up” (feat. Hamzaa & House Gospel Choir)
“Our foundation is positivity, and we’ve all had a really tough year, so we’re bringing a positive to a negative in this tune. We wanted to do a tune with House Gospel Choir, who are amazing. We wrote it with 2fox, who are an Afro-house production duo. It was something we wrote at the beginning of this year; once we’d kind of done the album, we felt like we needed the positive kind of soulful, jazzy house tune. It surpassed what I even thought it was going to sound like. It came out really beautiful.”

Album: Toast to Our Differences by Rudimental (2019)
Genre: electronic
Record Label: Asylum Records
Format: CD

Description: “Rudimental is a finishing school,” Amir Amor tells Apple Music. “We train our vocalists up, and when they’re ready to fly, we release them into the wild.” The multi-genre London collective’s third album features another vast roster of talent, but this time with a more international, multicultural flavour. “This group is a prime example of the good that comes from difference, and how those differences feed off one another. It’s helped us make our most cohesive album.” Here, Amor goes through Toast to Our Differences track by track. 
“Toast to Our Differences (feat. Shungudzo, Protoje & Hak Baker)”
“Fittingly, it was one of the first ones we wrote. It was around the time Brexit was happening and Trump was being elected and feelings were really high about people being divided and the mainstream world becoming more right-wing. We weren’t intentionally trying to put out a big message. It’s more of an observation.” 
“Let Me Live (feat. Anne-Marie & Mr Eazi)” with Major Lazer 
“We had worked on this with Mr. Eazi, but it felt like it was missing something. Then we suddenly thought, ‘Diplo would be great for this.’ He came through to my studio [Major Tom, in London] and sat up at the controls working on the beats with me, so it felt right for it to be a true collaboration rather than a feature. Major Lazer are our EDM doppelgangers.” 
“Dark Clouds (feat. Jess Glynne & Chronixx)”
“When I put that robot voice on at the beginning, the label thought I was joking. ‘You’re putting Jess Glynne through a vocoder? Are you mad?’ I love this track. We actually wrote this around the time of [2013 debut album] Home. I came across it on my hard drive and it was like finding a nugget of gold down the back of the sofa.” 
“Walk Alone (feat. Tom Walker)”
“We came across Tom four or five years ago when he sent us a demo. Things always happen as they should, so we went around the houses for a bit before finding the right song. We shouted him about this one, as it made sense to have him for the album’s big emotional moment. He’s got a lot of wisdom in his voice.” 
“Thula Ungakhlai (feat. Ladysmith Black Mambazo)”/“These Days (feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplen)”
“It’s an unforgettable, emotional thing to hear Ladysmith Black Mambazo, so it felt very apt for ‘These Days’. But because it’s quite a busy track, we didn’t feel we could do them justice, so we moved them onto this special intro. We’d met Macklemore on an Ed Sheeran tour—he was just hanging around a few of the gigs—and he was super-easy to work with. You can really feel it when an MC's just been given some money to record a verse—the listener can feel it, we can feel it, and none of us will be happy. Having this as a single was a bold move, as it’s the slowest tempo track we’ve put out. But we needed to shake things up a bit. And it worked! We knocked Drake off the top of the UK charts to get a No. 1 single.” 
“Sun Comes Up (feat. James Arthur)” 
“If you leave the studio and you’re still singing a chorus a week later, you know you’ve done something right. We had heard James on a radio interview saying that he didn’t want to do any collaborations unless it was with Rudimental. So we were like, ‘challenge accepted’. The song made sense for him at the time as he was going through his difficulties and the lyrics really resonated for him. His renaissance sort of started here, which was nice.” 
“1by1 (feat. RAYE & Maleek Berry)”
“RAYE is someone we’d wanted to work with for ages. I think she’s got the most potential out of the UK artists and she’s going to get bigger and bigger.” 
“Last Time (feat. Raphaella)”
“Raphaella is so sick. We’d just come back from our Ibiza residency a few summers ago when we did this one, so we were definitely strong on that Balearic, euphoric-house feeling.” 
“No Pain (feat. Maverick Sabre, Kojey Radical & Kabaka Pyramid)”
“This and 'They Don’t Care About Us' are the backbone of the album. Maverick is a very underrated guy. He’s a real artists’ artist. He’s pure soul and won’t be confined to any one box, which makes it harder to bring him out to the mainstream—but it works perfectly for us.” 
“Scared of Love (feat. Ray BLK & Stefflon Don)”
“Ray is one of the purest voices representing the UK. Steff is just a force of nature, all by being herself. It’s a very vulnerable song, so we didn’t want anyone who might tip it over into becoming something too defeated, and went for singers with real strength. I like it because it defies what you’d usually expect to hear from both artists—especially Steff.” 
“Summer Love” with Rita Ora
“Rita and I wrote this at the tail end of summer, so we developed this nostalgic feel with the lyrics. It’s all about chasing the sun. She’s one of the hardest working people I’ve met. Despite what people might say about her—the different record deals and dismissing her as a “celebrity” or whatever—she comes back and smashes it every time.” 
“They Don't Care About Us (feat. Maverick Sabre & YEBBA)”
“We heard YEBBA on a YouTube video and almost immediately flew her over from Mississippi. We spent a few days working on songs, including this one that we had been developing with Maverick. It’s been brilliant that she’s become so in-demand now, but we always have our eyes open for new talent.” 
“Do You Remember (feat. Kevin Garrett)”
“We did this one in New York and had a little list of people we wanted to reach out to. Kevin’s one of the most unassuming people we’ve met—you would have no idea he’s been writing smashes with Beyoncé. One of those really easy, flowing songs that came out in a matter of two hours. Kevin had a lot to say lyrically.” 
“Leave It for Tomorrow (feat. Elli Ingram)”
“Elli is a proper free spirit. She got involved in rewriting a lot of the lyrics we and YEBBA had done, and her character has ended up right across the track as those lines were very personal to her. When Elli's in the room, she has to have her stamp on a song. You can also hear YEBBA on backing vocals here.” 
“Adrenaline (feat. OLIVIA)”
“We co-wrote this one with Sigrid. She's super sweet and incredibly intuitive with the feeling in the room. If I look back to Home, eight of the vocalists we worked with were unsigned when it came out. They all got signed as soon as the album came out. Watch out for our touring singer OLIVIA in 2019.”

Artist Background: Rudimental are an English drum and bass quartet, signed to Asylum Records and independent label Black Butter. The quartet consists of songwriters and producers Piers Agget, Kesi Dryden, Amir Amor and DJ Locksmith. The group rose to prominence in 2012 when their single "Feel the Love", featuring singer John Newman, topped the UK Singles Chart. The group have released further singles since, including "Not Giving In" (featuring John Newman and Alex Clare) and 2013 single Waiting All Night, which... Part of the Hackney, London, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Drum & Bass movement. Known for Electronic style.

Related Artists: Sigma, Hybrid Minds, venbee, goddard.

Music Scene: Part of the Hackney, London, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Drum & Bass movement. Known for Electronic style.

Tags: electronic, 2010s, CD, Asylum Records

“Rudimental is a finishing school,” Amir Amor tells Apple Music. “We train our vocalists up, and when they’re ready to fly, we release them into the wild.” The multi-genre London collective’s third album features another vast roster of talent, but this time with a more international, multicultural flavour. “This group is a prime example of the good that comes from difference, and how those differences feed off one another. It’s helped us make our most cohesive album.” Here, Amor goes through Toast to Our Differences track by track. 
“Toast to Our Differences (feat. Shungudzo, Protoje & Hak Baker)”
“Fittingly, it was one of the first ones we wrote. It was around the time Brexit was happening and Trump was being elected and feelings were really high about people being divided and the mainstream world becoming more right-wing. We weren’t intentionally trying to put out a big message. It’s more of an observation.” 
“Let Me Live (feat. Anne-Marie & Mr Eazi)” with Major Lazer 
“We had worked on this with Mr. Eazi, but it felt like it was missing something. Then we suddenly thought, ‘Diplo would be great for this.’ He came through to my studio [Major Tom, in London] and sat up at the controls working on the beats with me, so it felt right for it to be a true collaboration rather than a feature. Major Lazer are our EDM doppelgangers.” 
“Dark Clouds (feat. Jess Glynne & Chronixx)”
“When I put that robot voice on at the beginning, the label thought I was joking. ‘You’re putting Jess Glynne through a vocoder? Are you mad?’ I love this track. We actually wrote this around the time of [2013 debut album] Home. I came across it on my hard drive and it was like finding a nugget of gold down the back of the sofa.” 
“Walk Alone (feat. Tom Walker)”
“We came across Tom four or five years ago when he sent us a demo. Things always happen as they should, so we went around the houses for a bit before finding the right song. We shouted him about this one, as it made sense to have him for the album’s big emotional moment. He’s got a lot of wisdom in his voice.” 
“Thula Ungakhlai (feat. Ladysmith Black Mambazo)”/“These Days (feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplen)”
“It’s an unforgettable, emotional thing to hear Ladysmith Black Mambazo, so it felt very apt for ‘These Days’. But because it’s quite a busy track, we didn’t feel we could do them justice, so we moved them onto this special intro. We’d met Macklemore on an Ed Sheeran tour—he was just hanging around a few of the gigs—and he was super-easy to work with. You can really feel it when an MC's just been given some money to record a verse—the listener can feel it, we can feel it, and none of us will be happy. Having this as a single was a bold move, as it’s the slowest tempo track we’ve put out. But we needed to shake things up a bit. And it worked! We knocked Drake off the top of the UK charts to get a No. 1 single.” 
“Sun Comes Up (feat. James Arthur)” 
“If you leave the studio and you’re still singing a chorus a week later, you know you’ve done something right. We had heard James on a radio interview saying that he didn’t want to do any collaborations unless it was with Rudimental. So we were like, ‘challenge accepted’. The song made sense for him at the time as he was going through his difficulties and the lyrics really resonated for him. His renaissance sort of started here, which was nice.” 
“1by1 (feat. RAYE & Maleek Berry)”
“RAYE is someone we’d wanted to work with for ages. I think she’s got the most potential out of the UK artists and she’s going to get bigger and bigger.” 
“Last Time (feat. Raphaella)”
“Raphaella is so sick. We’d just come back from our Ibiza residency a few summers ago when we did this one, so we were definitely strong on that Balearic, euphoric-house feeling.” 
“No Pain (feat. Maverick Sabre, Kojey Radical & Kabaka Pyramid)”
“This and 'They Don’t Care About Us' are the backbone of the album. Maverick is a very underrated guy. He’s a real artists’ artist. He’s pure soul and won’t be confined to any one box, which makes it harder to bring him out to the mainstream—but it works perfectly for us.” 
“Scared of Love (feat. Ray BLK & Stefflon Don)”
“Ray is one of the purest voices representing the UK. Steff is just a force of nature, all by being herself. It’s a very vulnerable song, so we didn’t want anyone who might tip it over into becoming something too defeated, and went for singers with real strength. I like it because it defies what you’d usually expect to hear from both artists—especially Steff.” 
“Summer Love” with Rita Ora
“Rita and I wrote this at the tail end of summer, so we developed this nostalgic feel with the lyrics. It’s all about chasing the sun. She’s one of the hardest working people I’ve met. Despite what people might say about her—the different record deals and dismissing her as a “celebrity” or whatever—she comes back and smashes it every time.” 
“They Don't Care About Us (feat. Maverick Sabre & YEBBA)”
“We heard YEBBA on a YouTube video and almost immediately flew her over from Mississippi. We spent a few days working on songs, including this one that we had been developing with Maverick. It’s been brilliant that she’s become so in-demand now, but we always have our eyes open for new talent.” 
“Do You Remember (feat. Kevin Garrett)”
“We did this one in New York and had a little list of people we wanted to reach out to. Kevin’s one of the most unassuming people we’ve met—you would have no idea he’s been writing smashes with Beyoncé. One of those really easy, flowing songs that came out in a matter of two hours. Kevin had a lot to say lyrically.” 
“Leave It for Tomorrow (feat. Elli Ingram)”
“Elli is a proper free spirit. She got involved in rewriting a lot of the lyrics we and YEBBA had done, and her character has ended up right across the track as those lines were very personal to her. When Elli's in the room, she has to have her stamp on a song. You can also hear YEBBA on backing vocals here.” 
“Adrenaline (feat. OLIVIA)”
“We co-wrote this one with Sigrid. She's super sweet and incredibly intuitive with the feeling in the room. If I look back to Home, eight of the vocalists we worked with were unsigned when it came out. They all got signed as soon as the album came out. Watch out for our touring singer OLIVIA in 2019.”

Album: We the Generation by Rudimental (2010)
Genre: breakbeat
Record Label: Asylum Records
Format: Digital Media

Description: Two years on from the success of their debut, Home, Rudimental prove they are generation now—and it’s reflected in their guest vocalist recruitment. Ed Sheeran is affecting on “Bloodline” and “Lay It All on Me”, Lianne La Havas adds some subtle shades with the jazzy “Needn’t Speak” and the late Bobby Womack is gripping on “New Day”. Across an expansive 18 tracks, We the Generation confidently broadens their brassy drum ’n' bass blueprint but day-one fans will still find a band bonding authentically with their roots.

Artist Background: Rudimental are an English drum and bass quartet, signed to Asylum Records and independent label Black Butter. The quartet consists of songwriters and producers Piers Agget, Kesi Dryden, Amir Amor and DJ Locksmith. The group rose to prominence in 2012 when their single "Feel the Love", featuring singer John Newman, topped the UK Singles Chart. The group have released further singles since, including "Not Giving In" (featuring John Newman and Alex Clare) and 2013 single Waiting All Night, which... Part of the Hackney, London, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Drum & Bass movement. Known for Electronic style.

Related Artists: Sigma, Hybrid Minds, venbee, goddard.

Music Scene: Part of the Hackney, London, England music scene. Emerged in the contemporary era. Associated with Drum & Bass movement. Known for Electronic style.

Tags: breakbeat, 2010s, Digital Media, Asylum Records

Two years on from the success of their debut, Home, Rudimental prove they are generation now—and it’s reflected in their guest vocalist recruitment. Ed Sheeran is affecting on “Bloodline” and “Lay It All on Me”, Lianne La Havas adds some subtle shades with the jazzy “Needn’t Speak” and the late Bobby Womack is gripping on “New Day”. Across an expansive 18 tracks, We the Generation confidently broadens their brassy drum ’n' bass blueprint but day-one fans will still find a band bonding authentically with their roots.

Rudimental

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