Meet B of Briz: masked rapper and producer
I grew up in a town in Somerset – so, close enough to come to Bristol to go ice-skating, then later, out out. Then I came here in the early 2000s to study for my doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Bristol. I was lucky enough to be here studying at the same time as my sister, and we built a community here that kept us both tied to the city long after we both got our PhDs. Now I’ve lived and worked here for more than 22 years, and I’ve worked in all of Bristol’s Universities, some of its charities, haunted its coffee shops, slogged up its hills and walked on its Downs.
Winning the Future Sound of Bristol prize (from Audiotarky, in association with Factory Studios) was an amazing moment in my career. Getting to feel this sense of connection, that I shared part of myself, and other people understood it, understood me, was really meaningful. And knowing that out of that I’d be able to use the prize to make and share my album, which meant such a lot to me, was so exciting. Allowing myself to do a very weird, unusual, strange thing and share it was such a big internal step for me as a human, and I’m definitely proud of that.
I’ve really loved making my debut album – the writing, recording, performing – it’s been full of joy. That kind of work doesn’t feel like work; it immerses you, you get drawn into it. The technical and business end, that’s not as much fun! But I’m trying to learn and get support. I’m trying to stay present in the great bits of sharing this – hearing people’s responses, what it’s meant to them, all that human stuff – that’s why we share art.
I’m really feeling the energy of these creatives who are alive and working now, and would love to have them at my table… comedian Fern Brady, she’s just brilliant, in every way – an amazing articulator of autistic experience, fiercely intelligent, actual real empathetic human, silly and acerbic; musician Aldous Harding, her work feels like genuinely timeless, like a Palaeolithic woman might’ve made it, but in a great way; artist Delphine Lebourgeois, who’s responsible for the artwork for my album and the singles from it – I love her mind and brush; philosopher Miranda Fricker, as her work on epistemic justice is really important and accessible; and video essayist and philosopher ContraPoints’ Natalie Wynn, her work is just its own thing, in a genius way, she’s the public intellectual we need. Check out what they’re doing, and if any of them are around your table, invite me along, will ya?
There’s a line from my single The Man at the Party that sums up how I see the world right now: “We didn’t build this city alone, we built it together, the best of what we leave behind will be here forever…” It’s meant to convey, we can build a way of working together to lessen our collective suffering – that’s what’s real, and that is the only real legacy any of us can ever really leave.
If I had to describe my new album in three words, they’d be: feminist, laid-back and rage.
You can follow B and buy/stream her music online at: bofbriz.bandcamp.com
