S Virgo
14th October 2022
Interview: Amy Bell
Sheffield’s S Virgo started out rapping over beats he found online. After releasing his first few singles on SoundCloud in 2019 and 2020.
He settled on his current moniker, based on his first and last name and the year he started releasing. Moving to London has allowed him to harness his talent to record dozens of demos, while still finding time to captivate his audience with his lyrics, storytelling, and mellow tone at various live shows in the capital. Back-to back EPs followed (Strangers in the Night & 19) in 2021 as well as performing at Birmingham’s MADE Festival in September of that year. Get lost in alternative soundscapes and witty punchlines, for fans of Tyler the Creator, Kota the Friend, Knucks, Sainte and Night Lovell.
“That’s Just How It Goes” is the third and final single too be released from his upcoming album. Svirgo19’s smooth vocals slide gracefully over the carefully crafted instrumental. It lyrically touches on a range of aspects in teenage and young adult life. From life itself, self-reflection, the aspirations of becoming well known but all the pitfalls that come with it. The chorus “That’s Just How It Goes” is a motif for all those things in the form of a simplistic, pessimistic repetition of the phrase “That’s just how it goes”. In a forced sense of accepting the problems of the world around us. But not letting them takeover and affect life. Baltimore native and Spillage Village member. Jurdan Bryant carries this same feeling on with his verse.
We chat to S Virgo about his latest single and the rise of his debut album, 'The Path to Paradise Begins in Hell'.
Thanks so much for talking to ReVamp, what is the backstory behind wanting to get into music, and who did you listen to growing up?
Hey thank you for having me! So I guess my backstory started at home in Sheffield. I've been surrounded by music since I was a kid through my mum, I grew up listening to alot of 80s,90s and early 2000s music. Especially Rap and R&B artists like Beyonce, Jay Z, Kanye West,Usher, Eminem. I'd say Rihanna, Kanye and Aaliyah are definitely my favourite though. I've always had a love for music because of that. I also played the clarinet as a kid. My main influences though were actually somewhat different to that my favourite artist is actually The 1975 which surprises alot of people as its not a rapper. When it comes to rappers definitely Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott are my main inspirations from a musical perspective and from a fashion and aesthetic perspective. ASAP Rocky, The Weeknd, Isaiah Rashad, Amine, Saba, Don Toliver and Denzel Curry are all definitely up there as well.
If music wasn’t an option, what do you think you would be doing?
If music wasn’t an option I'd probably do law if i'm honest or something around that kind of job role. It was something that I was interested in and still kind of am too this day. I'm pretty good at retaining knowledge and also very good at holding my own so i think i'd make a pretty good lawyer. Maybe in another lifetime...
You have a new song ‘That’s Just How It Goes’, with Jordan Bryant, how did this collaboration come about?
Quite simply this collaboration came purely from me shooting him an instagram DM and he replied gave me his email and voila the track was there for him.
What is this song about and what gave you the inspiration to create it?
This song was always meant to be a sombre song and I happened to come across it in a sample pack I downloaded - the original sample was called Virgo which is my last name - so I guess you could say it was meant to be in a way. Lyrically the song touches on a range of aspects in teenage and young adult life. From life itself, self-reflection, the aspirations of becoming well known but all the pitfalls that come with it as well as religion and drugs. The chorus “that’s just how it goes” is a motif for all those things in the form of a simplistic, pessimistic repetition of the phrase “that’s just how it goes”. In a forced sense of accepting the problems of the world around us. But not letting them takeover and affect life.
The inspiration came from me being at a sort of crossroads where i was getting a little overwhelmed with everything from making my album and pretty much having to do everything myself and organise everything myself, working, uni and trying not too completely fall off the face of the earth - so this song was just a reflection of everything around me - i would say it's the most emotional verse i've written that's going to be released this year - but the album that comes after this i definitely open up more which is exciting and i'm looking forward to really share othersides of myself.
What was the creative process (recording/writing) like, with the both of you? Did you feel you had the same vision for this song?
The creative process was pretty much me finding a sample I like and pairing it with either a drum sample I like or just making my own from scratch. I usually write too beats instead of having lyrics already there. So I just started writing about everything that was going on around me and I kept going back and perfecting it. Till I was happy with my verse and the chorus came to me pretty easily so that was a relief. I then explained my vision to Jurdan Bryant and he came back with his verse which was fantastic so I came away from it pretty happy. I recorded my verse in one take and that was that.
What is coming up for you next? What can we expect from you?
Well, the single is finally out today! November 18th is the big one and I'll be dropping my debut album, 'The Path To Paradise Begins In Hell' which will be out everywhere; it's 10 tracks and just under 30mins in length full of talented features and amazing songs.
After that gonna be doing a few shows in London and maybe some in other cities. Got some really exciting content for YouTube coming.
Then it's back to the studio to record my second album which I wrote this summer it will definitely be out next year or early 2024 so I guess we will see.
Thank you so much for having me !
Download 'That's Just How It Goes' here.