AtotheCE: "I'm back, I'm better than ever, and I'm here to stick!"

AtotheCE has been building his career from the ground up, with multiple experiences driving him forward into making his art. From interactions with some of the grime scene’s legendary names, to those who have helped him improve in all areas of his music, the journey that AtotheCE has been on is nothing short of inspiring to any emerging artists.

With the release of his latest project, Sun On The Estate: Volume 2, it only seemed right to have an interview with the man himself and find out where those influences come from and just how his career has shaped itself into this form.

Tell us about your background? An origin story of the artist, if you want to call it that?

I started releasing music at the end of 2021. After discovering Collistar and getting in contact with him in 2020, I remember sending him early versions of the tracks on Den of Thieves, my debut EP. He was brilliant at allowing me to see where I could improve whilst also encouraging me to show off what I was already doing well. While giving me some feedback he once said to me: "You're improving with every track." This has inadvertently become the mantra I live by. As most creatives tend to be, I am a perfectionist, but I always look back on this and think - as long as it's improvement then it's a step in the right direction. I kept dropping EP's and singles across the next year.

In November 2022 I met Manga Saint Hilare, after he performed at JME's Grime MC FM, the same day that he dropped his album Run For Your Life. I had been listening to this tape and his previous projects religiously, particularly his work with Lewi B. Although our interaction was brief, it was definitely a defining moment in my journey. The kindness and respect he showed me was just incredible. As an 18 year old aspiring artist, having one of the greats of the genre chat with you as an equal was just unbelievable. I still tell people I spudded a member of Roll Deep. This inspired me to do a project exclusively with one producer, which lead to the Release of ScruFAce in December 2022. While promoting this project on Instagram, under one of the posts, Manga left his one word review: "Cold". Every now and then, as you move through your career as a musician, you have moments which would be unbelievable to the 15 year old version of yourself. This was one of the most unbelievable. After ScruFAce had released, I took a 19 month hiatus entirely against my will, for various unexpected reasons. This was an extremely difficult time for me. With no creative outlet and no real project to be working on, it was difficult for me to maintain the momentum I had been building over the last four years of my career. Sun on the Estate: Volume II has been my return to releasing music.

What made you go for a project like this and how does it differ from Volume One?

I wanted to do a mixtape style of project as I felt it was the best way to showcase what I had been working on for the best part of two years. I wanted the biggest difference between this volume and the first to be the quality. You can definitely hear the improvement in my lyrics and flows, the mix and the overall style and structure of the project. Releasing a mixtape allowed me to show off the variety of styles that I can lend my ability to, whether it be the garage of Little Misdemeanour or the Jazz Rap of Footsteps.

What were your musical influences that shaped this project?

There was a wide range of influences I drew from to make this project; they tend to vary from track to track. The first project was based on the idea of the people I grew up with and what we would listen to during summer. It was an attempt at slightly easier listening and a more laid back vibe. I tried to continue this on Volume II. I wanted to combine as many of these genres into a project and use my own voice and lyrics to tie the project together. Ears Are Burning is probably the heaviest track on the tape, drawing influence from artists such as Little Simz but my flow still remains very much influenced by grime. COBWEBS has a similar slow UK rap vibe. Money, Money, Money the first Single from the tape is also UK rap based but has a Lily Allen sample. This is an artist that has dominated my summer soundtracks since her first album dropped when I was just two. Being able to flip her vocal into a UK rap track just felt natural. 90's and 00's R&B is always a safe bet for a summer playlist, so I used this as the basis for Georgie Porgie while also intertwining some personal experiences under the guise of the main character 'Georgie'. Being a grime artist by trade, garage has always been a key influence in my musical taste as well as an undeniable part of London culture as a whole. I used this to set the scene for the fifth song Little Misdemeanour, which also draws from the Soul music I was raised on. Every family party or event has been dominated by the sounds of soul and Motown. This is something I was very set on representing in this project. Suddenly also lends itself to this, through both the sound of their samples and the story telling nature of the tracks. Although US rap has never been a genre I've tried to recreate it has always been a key component of mine and my friends musical palette. In particular, the music of the Soulquarians, the blend of MC's over jazz-influenced hip hop beats, played a huge part in my selection of the instrumental for Footsteps.

Do you have your own favourite track?

That's a difficult question. I think each track serves it's own purpose to the overall feel and meaning of the project. But I have to say Footsteps is the song which means the most to me. It acts as a letter to my nephew. Because he was born ten years after me, it is natural for him to look up to me. I know I was the same with my brother and sister. However, I have found that there is a pressure that comes with being idolised. I feel as if I have to be careful with what I say and what I do because I know he is likely to copy it. It's a difficult concept to explain in a conversation and an even harder one to communicate to a ten year old. Despite this, I think this song does a good job of expressing the way I feel and he absolutely loves having a song written about him on my project, even if he's not 100% sure what it's about yet. So being able to share this track with him and my sister is very special to me.

How does this project define where you are in your career right now?

After the hiatus from releasing, this project is very much a comeback. I'm still in the infancy of my career but this was me saying to the fans: I'm back, I'm better than ever and I'm here to stick. It's me saying I'm going to continue doing what I've always done and keep getting better.

What's next for you?

I feel like I half answered this in response to the last question. There will be more music, more singles and I've got a couple projects in the works at the moment. Hopefully, some live shows will also be added to the calendar. But my main focus remains: pushing my boundaries. That could be into other genres or as Collistar said: Improving with every track.