dna: artist interview -
NO TOURISTS

WE SPOKE TO “no tourists” - a multi-genre fused musical collective engrained deep in the roots of the toronto scene.

Following up from their recent headline show in collaboration with PLUSMINUSEQUALS, the Manchester based band continue to make a mark on the underground music scene with their latest single “Goddamn” available on all streaming platforms. We sat down with The Beautiful Sinners to talk about their journey so far and what it means to be an emerging Manchester artist approaching 2023.

Describe your musical style in three words.

Eclectic, playful and unapologetic

Being from such a musically oversaturated city, what advice would you give to other artist trying to break through in Toronto?

Just be you and stay consistent. Consistency is so important.

How did you originally form as a rap collective?

We met in 2019 through our mutual connections. Abdullah and Kafaye were making music together, Wesson and Universes were making music together, Deelo and Keynes were making music together and then Lan’do came along and joined the mix at some point. During the summer of the same year, we decided to cook up a one off compilation tape.The initial tape would end up not being released because our harddrive crashed. We lost all of the tracks save for one because we did not have a back up. We eventually decided to make a whole new tape in a week and then continued making and releasing music under the name “No Tourists”.

What would you say is the most important thing you have taken from Toronto and reflected in your music?

The variety of different cultures and sounds. No tourists is a good representation of the multiculturalism in Toronto, a few of us were either born or raised in different counties spanning from South Asia , Africa and even the Caribbean.

What would you say is the significance in the overlapping of the UK and US sound?

Not too sure how it happened, but the internet has made the world so much smaller. Whether its a viral song on twitter or finding a track off a playlist, new music from all over will just randomly catch our ears. The Uk is also surprisingly not too different from Toronto in terms of the mix of cultures you come across.

With the merging of the British and American musical cultures in mind, was there ever a noticeable shift in the city? If so, when did this happen and what has it been like since

There are so many little moments and things just kept building. There was a point where people in the hood started bumping k coke. Some of us say stormzy vids on youtube in 2015 A little later there was the Drake and Dave collab. All of sudden Djs would start playing Uk tunes in their sets. All the while there has also been an underground grime scene in various little pockets, however drill was the major peaking point to be honest. Especially with artist in the US like pop smoke now making it more mainstream in North America.

What other artists would you consider as your main inspirations when making music?

Kanye, Chief Keef ,Calpeton, Ghetts, Skepta, Lil Wayne, Future, Frank Ocean, Beyonce, MF Doom, Jai paul, Tyler The Creator, Drake, Ty Dolla $ign, Brent fayez, Daniel Caesar to name a few.

If you had to play a headline show in only one city in the UK, where would that be and why?

London for sure. A few of us came in 2022 and we were shown mad love when some of our tunes got radio airplay. London would for sure be a vibe.

What are your best qualities and how do they set you apart from other hip-hop collectives?

Some of us are rappers by trade, some of us are singers, some have production experience, some do both. No Tourists is like a collage, the more you look the more you find something that resonates with you. Our sense of brotherhood is also very important. We have all at one point lived at the home studio where most of the music is made so we have become a family in a way.

What is in the pipeline for No Tourists FOR THE REST OF 2023?

We bout to drop one of the coldest projects of the last 5 years.

LISTEN TO NO TOURISTS on spotify