Rasharn Powell is a true Renaissance man. His love for poetry, film, art and music allows him to explore the spectrum of emotion and fragility that trickle into his perception of everyday life. His recent mixtape ‘Dusk & Dawn’ says that multiplicity is nothing new to the London-based artist but it’s also a phrase he refers to when asked to describe his sound. After pulling himself from a heat wave-induced nap for our call, he tells me, “It doesn’t sit outside of those two points in the day - the music that I make is very intentional, very honest and very vulnerable.” Pieced together with producer Gianluca Bucelatti, the 11-track tape houses an unusual blend of woozy R&B, alternative hip hop and Powell’s velvet smooth melodies that eases listeners into a steady lull.

Powell first warmed our bellies with the stellar debut ‘Warm In These Blue Jeans’ which arrived in 2019 and makes a reappearance on the mixtape alongside other standout songs ‘Smithereens’, ‘Hiroshima’, ‘Demons’ and ‘Joyride’. This track placed Powell on the map and currently sits at over 1 million streams. Yet rather than attempting to recreate moments that listeners connected with in previous outings, he chooses to make music that is reflective of his current mind state. “I strongly believe that it’s not about making another “Warm In These Blue Jeans”, because it was made at specific point, so don’t expect the same thing from me on the next album.”

Powell grew up within a family who listened to a melting pot of genres taking in everything from reggae revival to old school R&B and neo-soul. This all played a part in solidifying his wider understanding of music. “It kind of gave me a soundboard to reference so that now it’s just innate. I want to make people understand that you can put all of those worlds into one thing and it can make sense.”

While his uncle was the first one to take him into the sudio, he credits his mother for helping to understand the nuances of mental health, and encouraging Powell to always express himself through words. “My dad suffers from bipolar disorder and as a kid I didn’t understand but my mum knew the repercussions of being stressed,” he says. “It’s not something that you can avoid so she was just like ‘I want you to be open.’” As a prerequisite to this, he began peeling back the layers of himself. “I would just ask myself those really tough questions that I would need to ask to get over a situation.” It’s these drawn-out moments of reflection that we now hear in his music.

For most artists the process of song-writing is a cathartic experience written in retrospect but Powell sometimes finds himself addressing scenarios before they’ve happened “so at any point when it does happen, I don’t question it. It’s like I’m prophesying that situation,” he explains. The themes faced on ‘Dusk & Dawn’ span from heartbreak and unrequited love to finding internal freedom and despite the sensitivity of these emotions, Powell also prides himself on his ability to write as these feelings unfurl.

Growing up, Powell balanced rugby with musical theatre but soon enough figured that these pursuits could no longer coexist. “I realised I can’t be a singer with a battered face from the injuries I’m getting in rugby so I decided to stick to singing.” An internship with the live music organisation Musicalise helped him believe that he could finally plant both feet into his craft. During this time, he had the opportunity to support Omarion at Camden’s Koko. “I just had so much fun, I didn’t even shiver seeing that many people from the stage. I was like, this is what I was born to do and I think from that point I just went full steam ahead.”

Powell says his music is for “those who don’t fit in with what society expects from them”, his own path constantly placing him in environments where he has had to face this idea for himself. From making furniture with his grandma’s spare wood to being one of the few Black students in secondary school, he has always chosen to see the beauty in his uniqueness. “It's purely about me understanding that being an individual is something powerful. I was outgrowing myself constantly, which is something that is so beautiful to see and still be in the moment.”

Fittingly, his visuals are nothing short of cinematic escapism that heightens the listening experience. Take the video to the mixtape track ‘Burning The Sky’ where he’s captured pacing through fields of lush greenery against warm sunset hues spilling across the skyline. Despite the immaculate end result, Rasharn admits to the intensity of the process. Having to sing at double the speed of the track while running at a consistent pace, all in one take, he admits, “there’s this barrier that you hit and you’re like ‘am I going to be able to get past this, my body feels like it just wants to stop right now’ but I had to keep going… It always makes for a better video.”

Powell embodies an aesthetic that doesn’t disappear in the absence of an audience but is an ever-evolving part of his human identity. Citing Robert De Niro’s turns in ‘The Heat’, ‘GoodFellas’ and ‘American Gangster’ as key performances that trigger emotion towards characters, whether it be good or bad, this is also what motivates his own convincing delivery on screen. “As long as I’m presenting a true self every time then whatever comes at the other end will be exactly what it is meant to be - that’s the main inspiration.”

Our conversation circles back around to mental health as Powell reiterates the grounding effects that music and writing has had on his own stability. He recently partnered with Black Minds Matter to host a sporting fundraiser to provide more Black and brown people with access to resources like therapy. So, what’s next for him? “Expect more growth, expect me to keep evolving and to keep pushing.”

Photography Elena Cremona
Styling Malcolm Yaeng
Words Blessing Borode

Fashion

A-Cold-Wall
AA Spectrum
Ahluwalia
Bianca Saunders
Lanvin

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Published on 13/08/2021