Here’s some insights into my writing process. If you’ve heard Shella Verse then you know it’s a party tune and in my head I was just visualising mashing up a dance in the most wickedest way possible. This manifests in the lyrics of course but also the call and response with the crowd, which is why the “pull up that” chorus goes down so well. It works on the track and in the rave and now everywhere I go this one gets shouted back at me by you lot and always get a reload - which is the whole point of Shella Verse.
Tracks like Rumble are so simple and perfect that it probably seems like they were created like that right there on the spot. But Rumble actually took years to see the light of day, slowly marinating in the background before the right time came. Big up @fredagainagainagainagainagain and @skrillex on the buttons - you all know how this one turned out.
Less words, more impact. This is how a conversation with @skepta influenced my lyrics on Skeng and helped shape an anthem that’s now well over 20 years old and still doing damage. Everyone’s been dropping Skeng in their 2000-2025 lists so here’s some more lore for you lot to add to the history ⚡️
It’s funny how a vocal can evolve over time. My shella lyrics first appeared on my track Shell A Verse in 2018 (produced by @dok1000 ) before the boy wonder @sammyvirji put his own spin on them on Shella Verse in 2023. Same lyrics lighting up two different decades - and now the shella bars are some of the best known in my live sets…
I must also take a moment to shout out the late, great Terror Danjah who put me on to the original Shella Verse beat by D.O.K. I was looking to make some party music and the production suited what I wanted to do perfectly. Fast forward several years and Sammy does his thing and bang, we have another hit on our hands.
Music is a constant state of creative evolution - big up everyone involved with this one 🫡
