Lord Apex is Back to Reclaim His Throne
Cult West London wordsmith Lord Apex has emerged from the haze. The fourth instalment in his Smoke Sessions series is here, unveiling new depths in the rapper's creative smoke cloud.
Lord Apex in 2025. Image property of Fifou.
As a rap fanatic growing up in the 2010s, there's a chance that your after-school activities consisted of listening to the latest XXL freestyle or hearing your favourite underground rapper's unreleased demo on SoundCloud.
There's an even greater chance that Lord Apex, from his humble beginnings in West London, was dominating your playlists, laying silky bars over timeless beats inspired by '90s American greats like J Dilla, Madlib and MF DOOM.
From the get-go, Apex knew he was in it to win it. "My dream was to collab with DOOM. You think I was about to play? Nah, I'm trying to take everybody's head off," he says from his crib in London while cuddling his beloved feline companion on a rainy day. He started his career claiming the now-defunct stage name, Tino Vintage and now Apex has achieved what most in the underground scene could only dream of.
The list of wins is endless: "Spliff In The Morning" and "Sunny Daze" have garnered over 20 million streams. AP's also collaborated with the likes of Westside Gunn and Freddie Gibbs and has led campaigns for brands like Salomon, Carhartt, Supreme and New Balance. Equally, he's travelled the world on tours, performing in regions from Asia to South America and Oceania.
Over the last decade, Apex's sound and style have travelled the globe organically, rightfully earning him an international fanbase who eagerly await each new release. Lucky for them, they won't have to wait much longer. Paying homage to the music that spearheaded his rise, and nine years after his first mixtape, Lord Apex is back with the fourth and final volume of Smoke Sessions.
The Culture Crypt caught up with the rap trailblazer to learn more about the project and AP's secret to staying on top.
The Culture Crypt: How are you doing, Apex? Hanging in there with this terrible weather?
Lord Apex: "It's not nice. I've been doing my best to avoid seasonal depression and shit, but the weather doesn't make it easy. But I've been good—album's coming out, new singles going wild, videos going crazy, so I'm grateful. Since these have been the first drops in a while, I was kind of uncertain about how people would react, but the feedback has given me a lot more confidence."
Let's talk about your new single "EM4" first. What's the story behind the track?
"Everything I spoke about in the song was just letting people know where I was at in life. I wanted to be truly vulnerable again and just show people where I've been, what I've been going through, where my head's been at. I didn't feel any pressure about doing a continuation of 'EM3', but when I got the beat, my brain said, 'This is gonna be the sequel,' before I even wrote it.
I've been sitting on that beat for two to three years—when I believe in something, I'm cultivating it, I'm incubating it. I'm not looking to top 'EM3' or nothing, it's just a continuation of the story."
I absolutely loved the visuals that came with the single! How did that come together?
"The visuals for 'EM4' are our best work to date. I'm so thankful for the Japan team—everybody that we met out there showed me the utmost love and respect. Since I have a lot of Japanese influence in my music, it felt very full circle to be able to go out there and create a visual of that level.
We also had some great outfits. My guy K was doing the styling and we are very much on the same page. I don't need a stylist, bro, but I like collaborating with other fly cats and being like, 'Let's see what we can come up with together'. So yeah, it's my favourite visual I've done in a long time."
How do you stay mentally and spiritually fit while dropping a project like this?
"One beautiful thing is that I've been more vulnerable than I have been in the past. When I dropped The Good Fight, I didn't realise how vulnerable I would be until the album came out. This time around, I tried to be more confident in that. I wanted to navigate around the negativity and provide something that's more motivational.
Instead of it being like, 'Yo guys, we're sad, we're gonna stay sad', I wanted to say, 'You may be a little upset, but get back on your shit.' That was the main premise for this project. That frustration and pain and hunger that you feel on 'Initial P' is what I tried to do for the whole album."
Sonically and lyrically, how is this project going to be different from the previous Smoke Sessions volumes?
"I've always been someone who relies on producers to be the backbone of my projects. Anyone that I worked with, we had a real organic vibe between us. For a long time, I was just collecting production from different places and staying true to my old process of making albums.
This time around, I took it upon myself to put ten toes down to make the best project I could. For example, I don't usually like to rewrite verses—whatever my mind comes up with the first time, I'm not rewriting my verse for nobody.
It wasn't until we started making these recent songs that I was like, 'It's me versus me', and I rewrote a few verses because I knew I could do better. I'm confident it paid off; you can hear it in the music. As a full cohesive project, it's going to show, and I'm just excited for the full reaction."
“It’s like world domination for me. I’m trying to buy a world map and put a pin everywhere.”
You also announced that the Smoke Sessions tour begins this October. How excited are you to take this project on the road?
"I'm trying to go everywhere, bro. It's like world domination for me. I'm trying to buy a world map and put a pin everywhere. I feel like fans deserve good music no matter where they come from, no matter what politics are going on in their country, I'm always going to perform for the people I think deserve it."
The Smoke Sessions series was what started it all, with the first volume back in 2016 announcing your arrival in the scene. Since then, you've had an illustrious career. Have there been any pinch-me moments over the years?
"The fact that I've been able to build a career from timeless songs that I made when I was 16, and still get to perform them? That lets me know I'm one of them. I was doing this very early; I'm 29 now and will be doing this forever, but I'm way more aware of my emotions and how to use them, especially on a more mature level. I'm only going to make better music for the people. Anytime I write a verse, it’s better than the last."
Over those years, you've also had some internet-breaking collaborations, Westside Gunn and Freddie Gibbs in the States, Cookin Soul in Spain, and of course, working with Brazilian producer El Lif Beatz. What have you learnt from these experiences?
"Being yourself always pays off. Even when I do collabs like those you just mentioned, the first initial thought is, 'Do I have to appear 'street' in my song, or do I just be myself?' Anytime I've been challenged by a Goliath, I just bar about being myself. I'm thankful I got them opportunities, but I can't avoid rapping with nobody, bro."
Speaking of smoke sessions, who would be in your dream blunt rotation right now?
"That's a good question. Gonna smoke with Willie Nelson, man, that'll be real. Rihanna, maybe. A lot of my favourite artists stopped smoking themselves—the people I would have smoked with, they've all grown as people. Even the feel I have for weed now, it's like I'm so over this shit. So my blunt rotation will probably just be like Snoop, Wiz, Afroman, the icons, the actual pioneers of the smoke shit."
As an artist who grew up in the peak SoundCloud era, you still place great importance on physical releases and merch. What's the reasoning behind that, especially at a time when social media seems to be the only link between fans and artists?
"I'm still trying to find a way to navigate where I can just be myself. I came into the game before many of these apps existed, so I still go off of old school blueprints, where we don't need to do a lot of that shit.
Physical releases create tangible moments. What if the internet decides to crash out tomorrow? What the fuck is Spotify? I have so much tangible shit, CDs, cassettes, vinyls, so that you can create a memory with it. These play a part in the artist I want to be."
Looking back on your journey so far, what has been the Lord Apex recipe for success?
"Man, be yourself. I was a fun and bubbly person before I started music. Once a personality like mine got on camera, it was foolproof. I'm this big, goofy, weird dude when I'm off the camera. So, for the people who know me truly, it was inevitable for me. The music's cool, but I feel I have a good personality. I love what I do. I love who I am."
Stream Smoke Sessions 4 below: