RADA

Name, where are you from?
My name is Rada. I am a London born Russian/British Jamaican raised in Russia, now living in London. My artist name is just RADA in all caps.

Describe your style in three words?
Soft, sensual, fairy.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
When I went to see 237mob perform for the first time at Birthdays. I was eighteen so I only started to go to underground gigs. I was listening to all of them but was never really able to go to a show, so when I finally did I was super excited because these guys were literally the soundtrack to my life that year. That’s the first time I heard 'Benzo!' by Kish! live, which I knew all the words too. I met most of them at that show and was opened up to a whole new world of underground music. I remember documenting the whole night and the boys were loving it lol. This was also where I learned that I wanted to make music properly. That marked the start of my music journey, as well as me eventually joining the collective and being part of the underground music scene.

If you could be on the line up with any two artists in history?
Brent Faiyaz because he’s probably my biggest musical influence and if I play with him I can die a happy woman. And maybe Rico Nasty because I feel like she would be fun to perform with.

Which subcultures have influenced you?
I would say anime culture is one of them. I started watching anime properly like three years ago and I definitely think it influenced my love for creating different versions of myself, like different characters. I can’t stand having the same hair for longer than a week and I like to play around with my look constantly. That’s also probably where my sad girl/fairy persona came from.
UK underground rap/hip hop and some of the alternative scenes surrounding that is another huge influence for me. Artists like Vinch, Kish!, Virgil Hawkins, Lava La Rue who were all dropping music on SoundCloud back in 2016 and the scene that popped up around that played a really big role in sparking my interest to make music.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
Aaliyah because she’s such an icon and I would love to just chill with her and let her teach me a few things. She was so focused and seemed to have such a good energy, which I admire. She’s the perfect embodiment of femininity with a masculine swag.

Of all the venues you’ve been to or played, which is your favourite?
I haven’t played that many shows yet, but so far I think my favourite venue is Wilton's Music Hall where I did my Boiler Room performance. I liked the traditional, rustic vibe it had. Made me feel like I was in an old film. And since it was a socially distanced show and only the crew filming were there, it was kind of nice to perform in such a space with barely anyone there.

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
King Krule. He was my first inspiration for writing poetry, which then carried on into music. I remember reading that he struggled with writing lyrics for a while because of learning difficulties or something like that. I related to that in a way because English wasn’t my first language, so I struggled with the subject at school for a long time, since moving from Russia. I liked how he wasn’t afraid to express how frustrated he was with life - which at the time resonated with me, as I never felt like I had a place growing up. Even though I don’t listen to his music as much as I did, a couple of people have said that my lyrics remind me of him which is kind of cool.