A product of a decade of genre-blending that shattered illusions of UK rap one-dimensional range, Pa Salieu’s debut mixtape helps prove this evolution of sound isn’t limited to London. Send Them to Coventry is unapologetic, ruthless and courageously vulnerable, with the Midlands MC bending his sound from the depths of dancehall to drill, while still incorporating strong Afrofusion melodies and hand drum-patterns while marinating everything in patois and Black British slang. “It’s just trenches,” he says. “I’ve been through the wars.” Here, Salieu steers listeners though his dynamic tape, track by track. Block Boy “I’m from Hillfields. We skip death, you know what I’m saying? I say, ‘How many times I skipped death?’ because this is Cov, you know? I’m just explaining, this is where I’m from. I’m stubborn. So stubborn, bro. I’m a stubborn block boy, I’ve been trying to survive, and that’s it.” No Warnin’ (feat. Boy Boy) “I found out about Boy Boy about seven or eight months ago. I’ve just been into his thing, and he’s doing what I’m doing basically. He’s using his flow, he’s using any flow he wants. He’s not trapped. He’s exploring and I fuck with that so much.” Frontline “There’s a strip in the ends and we call it the ‘Frontline’ and that relates to everywhere. America, Holland, there’s frontlines all over. In London, Manchester, there’s even frontlines back home, in Africa. There’s always that strip. Money, cash, hustle, market, everything goes on. It’s the frontline. [The frontline] is a metaphor, but again, it’s subliminal. I’m really into this. I can’t wait to see how my music develops using metaphors.” Flip, Repeat “This is a mad one! I came into this session and it was vibes, vibes, vibes. Started to spit and I don’t know what came over me, man. There’s something about this beat. It took me like half an hour to do the song. I fell in love with it. There’s something old school about it, too. It’s is about patience, the hustle. That ‘belly of the beast’ line…so many friends of mine have been taken away, dying. It’s deep in the streets: deep in the belly.” Informa (feat. M1llionz) “AOD and Felix produced this. I don’t respect informers or messengers at all. I don’t like gossip, in any type of the sense. I was raised unapologetic, this is me, what you see is what you get. With M1llionz, I’d already worked with him on ‘Year of the Real’ with Meekz and Teeway, but working on this track, we had a meal together, somewhere in Central [London] and it came together organically. The energy made sense.” Over There “Jevon produced ‘Over There’. He’s just my bruv, innit. He’s cool. We just flex out in his sessions. He’s so into his culture, when it comes to Brazil and everything and I’m into my Gambian culture as well. He used to come to the frontline. ‘Over There’ is me being very observant. I see lies in the eyes of men, when you speak too much you expose yourself.” Betty “I had just come from Coventry, I was with AOD and Felix in North London and this was the very first track we made. I started humming and singing and fell in love with it.” Pile Up (Interlude) “Orlando, Mr O, my friend is on this one. He’s God fearing and my brother.” More Prayer (feat. Eight9FLY)) “I’m picturing that afternoon, looking at myself in the mirror. It’s the energy of clearing the world. My reasons for doing things have always been straight [in terms of] intention. With Eight9, he’s a musician as well, very talented. When I first heard his music, I knew he was sick. It’s so different.” Active (feat. Ni Santora, Lz Dinero, Stizee & Shakavellie) “This reminds me of ‘Regulate’ by Warren G. It gives me that same feeling. There are certain songs that I’ve fallen in love with and when I heard this, it came back to me. The same feeling that I get from that song, it never left me. When I heard this I said ‘Yo, I’m just letting loose on the whole thing’. With harmony.” T.T.M “The title means ‘Trap ’Til Morning’, which explains my hustle. And I kept on doing that. Even now, I don’t sleep well. There’s an Of Mice and Men reference in the song too. It’s a reference to loyalty. I hold it down, I wasn’t going to shoot, it just means loyalty.” They Don’t Know (Interlude) “Wauve produced this one. He’s a cold artist too. ‘They Don’t Know’ means, simply, don’t worry I’m a G unit. There was a lot of depression once my niggas got locked up. They don’t know about the depression though, they don’t know anything.” My Family (feat. BackRoad Gee) “BackRoad is my brother, my G. He’s very encouraging. I’m telling you, there’s a straight energy and we all click. Everyone that means something to me is family. I want to thank my family. Family in Gambia, internal family. Family is not about blood. Even the term ‘gang’, for example. ‘Gang’ means family in Nottingham, so it’s the same word. B****K “Since I was a kid I’ve been observant and I do see that I’ve been treated differently, I know the reality isn’t an advantage. It’s been like a curse. Black this, Black that, always [seen as] evil. I wanted to say I’m unapologetically Black, I’m unapologetically African. Don’t be ashamed of being Black. This is pride, this is my intent. I want more unity for our people because we are warriors. I want people to go back home and take a look, there’s power in that as well.” Energy (feat. Mahalia) “Energies protect your energies! I’ve died a hundred times, but I keep fighting. It’s one of the deeper ones and it highlights me seeing everything. I had to get Mahalia on here because I love her voice man. I first heard her acoustic version of ‘I Remember’ years ago before I’d even started music. As soon as I’d met her I knew I had to somehow get her on this song.”