Meet Rome and Floetic: The Croydon Rap Torchbearers
Croydon's own Rome and Floetic (aka blaccboibrit) are Croydon's answer to Kane and Abel. With a blend of chemistry and postcode-honed charisma, their debut EP is a grime-tinged masterclass. We spent a day in CR0 with them: here's what went down.
Floetic (left) and Rome (right) in 2025. Image property of Patrick Sear.
If all the bygone summers of the 2020s decade were to compete in a WWE-style grudge match, August 2025 specifically would take the upper hand, delivering a serious powerbomb to '23 and '24. For London summers (word to Odeal), TWSTDFEST 2025 was a one-day festival explicitly crafted for the rousing UK underground scene. Across social media, it had fans of rap, grime and neighbouring sounds talking about how much better things were, considering the admission price compared to some shakier, more costly events.
But what did fans get for their £15 tickets? A front-row seat to the bubbling core of the UK underground. Acts like Ciel, TRGoBrazy, afrosurrealist and the unofficial duo of Rome and Floetic were early standouts: sparking a surge in crowd energy and attendance that spread like live culture in a petri dish, performing tracks from their then-unreleased collaboration EP, blaccboibrit.
Despite Rome and Floetic's behind-the-scenes tumult (with Rome jokingly stating he "found" their hard drive after a staggered wait between their single "twoblaccbois" and the full project), it didn't show on the stage. The two emcees exuded confidence and crowd control as calculated rap tacticians exercising grime-washed, battle-tested finesse with every track.
If you ask them, their creative alchemy is rooted in similarity and difference. Both rhymers are still in their mid-20s, but Floetic (whose namesake pulls from Floetry's 2002 debut Floetic) has been making music since childhood. His mum's own artistry first shaped his path, which was then carried forward by his younger brother TayoLoxs. "I was like a bedroom artist," Floetic recalls. "I used to write a lot of lyrics at home… just journal a lot and make it sound good. I've always had a knack for rhyming, but I'd say I started taking it seriously around lockdown in 2020. I invested in a little setup at home, started recording songs myself."
On the other hand, Rome's creative tenure is on the blunter side, only really stepping into things officially around 2022–23. Make no mistake, though, Rome's foundation is no less rich. With production skills as well as microphone champ tenacity, his musical lore is just as deep as Flo's.
Rome's dad ran a sound system, filling his childhood homestead with lovers' rock, hip-hop and soul. He dabbled in piano, performing arts and stage school before moving into production, a curiosity sparked by Section Boyz's 2015 anthem "Trapping Ain't Dead". "I remember hearing that beat and thinking, 'yo, how the hell did they make this?'" he laughs. "That's when I wanted to figure it out for myself."
Cartoon Network's Gumball and Darwin are an iconic duo, sure. But can they spit a 16 over a reworked sample of Wiley's "Wot Do U Call It?" and "Igloo" beat? Rome and Flo don't think so. If you ask them, their push-pull relationship and creative harmony have much to do with their postcode powers, gifted to them by CR0.
East Croydon is wild elegance to many. Step outside the pearly-white station, and your eye meets a discordant, greying dystopia, with bursts of colour flowering from independent stores, community pop-ups, and food spots—each elbowed aside by hollow high-rises and milquetoast high-street chains. It's got so many chains, you'd think Slick Rick emigrated from New York and moved back to South London.
Beneath the jagged, metallic skyline, Croydon feels like a pressure cooker ready to blow. Whether it erupts in culture or chaos depends on the eye of the beholder—many within the M25 see Croydon as a world apart from London itself. Rome adores his home. He says: "I feel like your area defines who you are. It's deeper than postcode wars. Everybody has something to prove, wherever they're from. Coming from these places, maybe as the underdog, it helps you show people who you are, how you sound and how you move."
Rome continues: "Croydon connects like a Wi-Fi code. People say it's far [away], but it is London. Your back's against the wall, so you wanna show what Croydon really looks like. Dubstep was born here. We've got superstars like RAYE and Stormzy to underground stars like Feng—the borough is bursting with talent."
“Underground rap has so many different branches. Some people have different interpretations of what an underground rapper is. For some, it’s an aesthetic—the way you dress, edit your videos and present yourself. But for me, the term means someone who isn’t mainstream, who’s making music on their own accord. An independent artist trying to build a career. Whether that’s grime, trap, drill or hip-hop. If you’re not mainstream, you’re underground. That’s how I see it.”
The camaraderie between Rome and Floetic is clear across their EP. Floetic explains: "From my perspective, I'd say me and Rome bounce off each other. There'll be times where Rome calls me with a crazy idea at 1AM or something and I hear it and add onto it. Rome cooks up the big ideas, and I'm good at saying, 'This is the way we can execute it,' you get me?" Rome adds: "Yeah, I set up. You finish creatively."
The EP's seeds were planted long before release day. "We started recording back in late 2024. We did 'twoblaccbois' around November of last year, because we also did 'endz' in October," Rome says.
What started as a casual suggestion quickly developed into something concrete. Rome adds: "In August, I spoke with one of my friends, a mix engineer, who said, 'Yeah, you guys should do a collaborative project.' From then on, we began tossing ideas and discussing possible themes. I even considered calling it something like 'The Ends' or 'Journey', starting at a destination and finishing at a destination, like a C2C train ride. That one didn't really materialise, but it set the tone for us just bouncing ideas back and forth."
"dpmo" nods to the 2010s RAW VYBES gem, with Rome and Flo gliding over a spacey beat exuding chemistry. The duo flip the nostalgia from their creative conical flask and use the fumes to remould it into something fresh. It's mellow, confident and arguably for the ladies—a great calling card for the duo's harmony.
If the Whitgift Centre is at the heart of Croydon, then blaccboibrit feels like Rome and Flo's personal plaza, sandwiched between the static. As Rome imagines, he'll be able to tell his son, "Hey, this is what your uncle and I created. And this is what it sounds like." That sentiment lingers heavier than streams or festival slots—it's about making something that lasts.
Across the rapper's dual iconography, the Union Jack is fractured and spliced with the typography from Boy Better Know's logo. For some, the flag is unshakably tied to colonialism (and more recently, the far right). But in the hands of Rome and Flo, it's something else entirely. It's a booming brew of Croydon, grime, hip-hop, belonging and brotherhood.
Flo puts it plainly when asked what he'd tell his younger self: "Whatever you are making now, keep making it. Don't change it and conform to anything that's more popular… keep releasing consistently." Rome, meanwhile, circles back to gratitude: "I would say to my younger self, thank you. He was the one who dreamed. I think sometimes our younger selves are more fearless than we are now today."
Stream blaccboibrit below:
