The lovely Yung Fume is here to talk about his latest collaboration with JME, but JME is late because he was busy gaming. “It’s taken over fam, it’s too much,” he says arriving at i-D HQ, after plugging his electric car on to charge. “Even here people are texting me, like ‘When are you getting back, when are you jumping online?’” We tore him away from his new VR set to chat to us about featuring on the gr8 yung rapper Yung Fume’s latest track, Never Had. Fume’s also here, on time, but no less enthusiastic about playing Fortnite Battle Royale. After ten minutes discussing the merits of PC versus Apple and pretending to fundamentally understand the influence of Minecraft, I try to direct the topic of conversation back onto the track at hand. “So, how did you guys meet?” “Oh my god,” JME responds. “At a gaming event. Mad.”
It might’ve been the first time they’d met, but it wasn’t the first time JME had heard Yung Fume’s music. The latter’s had a relatively busy past few years. He featured on Stormzy’s debut EP, Dreamer’s Disease, back in 2014. He’s released three mixtapes, been playlisted by Radio 1Xtra for Watch Me Flex, which in turn saw remixes by Wizkid, Ty Dolla $ign and Tinie Tempah. He recently became the first UK artist to sign to noted hip-hop label Payday Records, which helped launch the careers Jay Z and Mos Def in the 90s, relaunched late last year. The trans-Atlantic connection probably explains the significant ATL presence on his most recent release, Something Else, with one of the city’s most prolific producers Zaytoven [Gucci Mane, Migos, Future] on beats and newcomer Young Nudy on bars.
Despite the last paragraph featuring more namedrops than Kim K recounting her date night, getting the JME seal of approval was a big deal. “For me it was mad because to be honest, growing up, BBK — they own the scene. They did it for everyone. Growing up, you want someone from BBK — whoever it is, but especially JME — to at least know of you. So it’s an extra for him to like your music.” It’s the icing on the cake, the guac on the burrito, the cheese on the beans to have Jamie Adenuga actually feature on your track – just ask Skep, Lethal B, Meridian Dan and Michael Dapaah.
Never Had, which we’re premiering the video for today, is in the same sort of meme-able mark of progress as Drake’s Started From The Bottom. The video name checks a slew of ‘spenny luxuries that the pair never had but do now. But it’s not just a brag track. Ok, there’s a bit of bragging, but it’s also a milestone moment in which the pair revel in how far they’ve come. And lest you think Yung Fume’s getting too big for his Nike Air Max 97s, he’s not. He’s polite, gracious and isn’t the least bit arrogant. “If you know me, I don’t like to brag, I don’t like to buy mad jewellery, I’m not that kind of guy. But I’m saying that basically I’m in a position where I can spend up some money for all the stuff I never had.” But still, he must have a standout purchase that reminds him he’s made it? A magnum of Veuve? A diamond-encrusted PC? “For me, the best feeling is just having my life transition into just music. Every day I wake up and this is my job. That’s the best.”
JME is just as humble. When asked what he still doesn’t have that he needs, he says, “I don’t need anymore, I want. The only thing I need is love and affection from all my friends and family, shelter over my head and food to eat. And I’ve got all of that. So I don’t want anything. But if you want a wish list…” He chuckles. “I want the second generation Tesla Roadster electric supercar.” Of course.
If their new video proves anything, it’s that big dreams and expensive things are definitely within the pair’s grasp. Take a look below, and stay tuned for the follow up in which they drive around in JME’s brand new Roadster. A VR one, obviously.