It’s been nine years since the release of Little Torment’s first project, the first of the three Behind Closed Doors mixtapes in 2013. Adding to this being his official introduction into the UK rap scene, the project featured respected rapper and UK trap-rap king Blade Brown as they collaborated on “Over That”, a major co-sign for young Torment so early in his career. What this triggered was an exciting buzz around his name spreading throughout the streets across South London. “I was hood famous. Everyone knew me. All the neighbors respected me. I had songs with Blade Brown and J Spades when I was a kid.” This tape arrived shortly after Torment stood alongside J Spades and Blade Brown, as the young MC freestyled in his first ever Westwood Crib Session in 2012.
Since then, Torment has dropped nine more bodies of work, such as Behind Closed Doors II and III, Lonely Road, and more recently, the Henny Music projects. A lot has changed in nine years but one thing that has remained unaltered is Torment’s ability to channel his life experiences into pain-filled lyrics. With each bar reflecting the realness of his current situation, you can almost consider each project somewhat like a time capsule; so much so that if someone was to actively listen back to one of his projects years later, they would see a snapshot of Torment’s life and surroundings at that moment in time. Torment tells me “[My son’s] actually got my whole life story from when I was 16 years old. So the moment he turns 16, he can literally follow my whole everything,” by listening to his music.
As I virtually interview Torment and prompt him to reflect on a multitude of factors ranging from his discography to his experiences with fatherhood, he is seated next to his son as he drives through different areas of London. It’s just another day for Torment, balancing his music career and fatherhood.
“I love being a dad, my kid love the presents. Most of all, I know the damage of no father presence,” Torment raps in “Damage”.
When I ask him how he manages to balance the two, he insists that there is in fact a lack of balance as the two regularly overlap. His son choosing the beat on his song “Grounded”, the second track on his Henny Music Deluxe project, is one of the examples of how this overlap can create memorable moments. “[That’s the only song] I struggle to listen to,” he says, as he reflects on his favourite songs from the Henny Music projects. “I think it’s because it’s just so personal to me. It’s hard to listen to [as] my son chose the beat.”
While fatherhood is a reoccurring topic discussed in Torment’s music, understandably for an artist who uses music to document his life experiences, he mentions it being a key motivation in life as well as in his career. “[Being a father has] given me a different type of motivation, a different kind of purpose and meaning for life,” he tells me.
Just to map out the timeline of Torment’s career, let’s take a brief dive into the context of his life in conjunction with the condition of the UK music scene. By the time Torment dropped his sophomore project Chapter 20 in 2014, various Black-British genres were starting to make an impact in the mainstream with the resurgence of grime and the rise of UK drill, coinciding with the popularisation of afroswing in 2015.
“This whole industry needs a big shake up.”
It was during this time Little Torment received a jail sentence which brought his career to a standstill, just as he was starting to create anticipation around his name and his music. “2015 [was when I released] Behind Closed Doors II. I was still in jail these times.” He goes into depth about his bail arrangements, being allowed to stay in his aunt’s house while he awaits the outcome of his trial, convinced he was going to do a lengthy sentence due to having a firearms charge. “I was still in my aunties house when I [recorded that] but that’s because I thought I was going back to jail. So I was like, you need to do something to get something out. That’s why it was rushed.”
“Real rap is going to last forever. I think we’ve already stood the test of time.”
About 20 minutes into our conversation, we came onto the topic of UK road rap, a genre that broke into the UK scene in the mid-to-late-aughts. While other black British genres have had their time to shine on the mainstream stage, UK road rap has maintained its underground status, with the exception of a handful of chart-topping rappers, such as the likes of Giggs or Nines. “I think road rap is going to have its time when road rappers support each other. And it’s happening right now.” Little Torment references collaborations between UK rappers such as Rimzee and Stardom’s recent link up entitled “Blew”, released in 2021. “If we’re all linking up like how Rimzee is linking up with Stardom, and Potter’s linking up with Benny, how I’m linking up with everybody right now, this thing’s going to go crazy. I think this year there’s going to be a UK rap show that’s just UK rappers. No drill, no grime, and it’s going to be very big,” Torment says.
Little Torment continued to confirm upcoming collaborations between him, Rimzee, Stardom and Benny Banks, which he says will be a part of his next project Henny Music Magnum, a sequel to his existing Henny Music projects. Torment also speaks on a potential feature from north-west London rapper Skrapz. “As for Skrapz, we’re definitely going to do a song [together],” he states. In fact, it’s Torment’s support for other UK road rappers that has landed him notable collaborations, including a feature from Nines on his “Lonely Road” project. “I’ve always supported Nines in terms of his music. I’m a Nines fan.” Torment confidently lists off the number of factors that led to his support for the Ice City rapper, from the way he delivers his music to him being a father. “[Nines] also supported my music as well. He would post me and tweet me randomly before we even met.”
As discussed earlier, Torment was establishing his lane in the road rap genre just while the Chicago-native drill sound was crossing over into the UK, setting the foundations of UK drill. When I asked him to offer his perspective on the UK drill scene, he noted the difference between the authentic drill sound and the newer wave of drill, which he called “soft drill”. “In terms of drill, the violent drill, it isn’t done but it has reached its capacity. It’s not going any further than where it is.”
He cites the Groundworks cypher as a key contributor to the preservation of authentic drill before highlighting the work of Central Cee and Tion Wayne as helping to bring drill into the mainstream. “I think the new thing is the Central Cees and the Tion Waynes and this soft drill – that’s what I like to call it. I got a few of them loaded up as well.”
“This whole industry needs a big shake up.”
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, many aspects of the UK music industry have changed since Torment sprung onto the scene. One of which is the expansion of independent artists, thanks to the development of digital technology causing the rise of streaming platforms and of social media.
Being someone who has remained completely independent from the inception of their career, Little Torment is no stranger to the challenges that cast shadows on the life of an independent artist. “It’s ruining relationships, it’s ruining my personal life, my availability and all the rest of it. It’s a lot of pressure,” he tells me while emphasizing the financial expenses that come with being independent. “But it’s like, I know what the alternative is. So I have to do it. I feel bad for all the little kids that want to rap and tell their story because it’s impossible unless they sell drugs and do things that they shouldn’t do. This whole industry needs a big shake up.”
I asked Torment to envision a scenario where he could change anything in the music industry if he had one day to do so. “I would [try and] change how people think. I think people don’t support what they can’t control for one, what they can’t eat from or can’t benefit them. Because that’s the only thing that’s holding everybody back.” Elaborating further, Torment refers to times in his early career when people would share his music out of genuine appreciation, without any financial incentive. “Now everyone’s a bit selfish and it seems to be all the people that are in control. [Also,] our community, the black community in this industry do not support each other and I’m not going to sit here and chat like they do. They support their friends and who they want to support. I’m gonna just leave it at that.”
One thing that makes Torment unique is the fact that he does not shy away from speaking his mind, whether it’s through his music or during this interview. I asked him to think of one factor he wants newer or older listeners to take away from his music: “My honesty. I just want them to appreciate my honesty. I’m never going to shy away from saying anything, even if it makes me look stupid. If it’s how I feel, it’s how I feel.”
