AT LARGE CREW: The Ipswich based collective of Hip-hop artists and producers

From the school playground to the booth, the young aspiring artists have seen what started out as fun, grow into their own hip hop collective and release of multiple albums. With the help of their member and main producer Ingenious, who had recently returned to Ipswich from University in London, studying music and growing in experience, the group of young boys soon turned into hip hop artists, their voices heard and their vibe spread across the town.

In my interview with the leading members - Ingenious and AL of AT LARGE CREW, I learnt about their journeys in the Ipswich music industry and got their opinions on the current music scene.

So how did you start out as a collective?

The two cousins grew up in a ‘musical household’, with many influences from Nas, Kanye West and Wretch 32. The hiphop collective consisted of Ingenius, AL, RP, Midinight Academy, Takz Theory and Dillz, with Ingenious and AL being the current active members.

AL: Started out just as like fun. Just spitting almost like when we in school, just in the playground, spitting bars. And we took it to the house, and we started recording voice notes on the phone, started getting better. They were like, maybe we can take this somewhere. Then I linked up with Jerome (Ingenious), Jerome had just come back from uni in London.

Obviously, Jerome's my cousin as well. And he'd been doing music there, so I showed him some of the stuff we were doing. He said he could record some of it properly, professionally. And then we all kind of decided we should probably form a group and make something proper out of what we were doing.

Ingenious: Tracks were just building up slowly, and when we were getting together, we were just writing and building on what we had already, which then stemmed into ’23 till Infinity’, which was our 1st album that we put out. 

I had been making music for quite a bit of time. I'd been studying at uni, like music tech, music, audio, engineering and producing for myself. So I was just like building up my calibre of music.

Who are your biggest music inspirations?

Its clear throughout their songs, from ‘Old book, new page’ to ‘that’s my reason’ that their influences and dreams of creating their own tunes, stem from legendary hiphop and rap artists.

From Kanye Wests use of Motown samples in his production, Christian hip hop, the real raw boom bap style of Wu-Tang to Nas and Wretch 32, it is clear that the young artists have used these influences to create music they’re passionate about.

AL: My biggest influence is always going to be Nas. Since I was like 13 when I first played, ’It ain't hard to tell’, for me, is the greatest hip hop track of all time. Like, it hits every mark for me. And I think, from that point on, he changed hip hop and rap and took it to like a next level and influenced everyone else after, whether that's Kanye, whether that's whoever, man. 

But I've also got a good credit to people in the UK, like Wretch 42. The amount I would listen to his fire in the booth and dissect what he's saying and the lyrics and the word play is just ridiculous. Like every time I listen to it, I find something different that I didn't catch before. 

I've also got to give props to, obviously, my dad, because he's a massive influence, when it comes to making music, obviously, he was making music before me. He’s even an influence to people in this town when it comes to music. 

How would you describe your music for new listeners?

Ingenious: It's always changing. I think it's very clear what our inspiration is in terms of our music.

We're very heavily 90s influenced. like Boombab style, and just UK hip hop. But, we've delved into different styles, like grime and garage. 

We love electronic music. We love jungle, we love drum and bass, so there's elements of that that I think creep into our music as well.

AL: I just think we're very versatile in our sound and we can jump on anything to be honest.

What messages do you hope to get across through your music?

I think, 1st and foremost, just always on a positive vibe, rather than a negative, I think some of the music made now is very violent demeaning towards certain groups of people. I think because of our faith, both of us being Christian.

I think that definitely is the forefront to what we're saying. Even if it isn't always, we're screaming about Jesus on the track. The message behind it is always biblically based and based around that subject.

I think we all we all share similar experiences in life and you can tap into real, real emotion and depth. Because at the end of the day, we can't avoid that there is an end to this life and there's something coming after that. And I think it's just a reminder to look into your own life and see that there is better for you waiting and that is a life with Christ in the centre of your life.

Do you have any advice for aspiring young artists in Ipswich?

Ingenious: You have to start somewhere, and you develop and you build um, each time you're making new things. So, um, I just say you have the confidence to just get started and, believe in yourself enough to just, to just, begin that journey, your musical journey. 

AL: A lot of people go in and they think, I'm going to start making music and they treat it like school or something and really, when we started, we was literally just having fun, which is literally where hip hop and rap comes from. Started off just people freestyling in parks, pulling out decks and just having fun.

That's what its about.

How would you describe the music scene in Ipswich?

I lived in Bristol for a good amount of time, I lived in London for a bit, and there's artists everywhere all the time, always doing stuff, and I'm not saying that there isn't anything going on in Ipswich, but I definitely think that there will be a point where Ipswich will just, it will evolve in the music scene and more will happen. 

But I think we‘re yet to get to that point. There are people with talent. I just think there's more that we can do as artists to get together and make something happen. 

Because I think that Ipswich has a lot of potential.

AL: I think also looking back, like Ipswich has a really rich history when it comes to music, but right now we're in like a really dead spot with culture, even like with like there not being any clubs, there's not a crazy amount of events. 

I think I would like to just see more, not even just music, more creativity in general, in every aspect. To be honest, I think the people that do it the best are the older generation, like there's a lot of the older, a lot that are putting on events that we've been going to that are just like so good. There's no ego involved, everyone's just there to have fun and enjoy the music. 

So, yeah, I think Ipswich is on the come up and we're hoping to be a part of that.