rise came quickly.

The East London artist first caught wider attention with his remix of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’, before ‘Bestie’ with Yungen and his own ‘Rihanna’ pushed him further into the UK mainstream. In the space of a year, Bane had gone from an emerging voice to one of the more recognisable names in the UK’s Afroswing wave with a sound that moved easily between rap, R&B and Afrobeats.

But after that early run, Bane stepped away from releasing music. Six years have passed since his last project though the studio remained a constant. He kept making music throughout the gap, even without knowing when he would share it. In that time, he also became a father and found a greater sense of clarity in how he wanted to express himself.

That perspective comes through on ‘Before I Explain’, his seven-track return. The project moves through love, vulnerability, gratitude and faith, while reflecting the person Bane has become since we last heard from him. 

The explanation, as Bane puts it, is still “loading.” ‘Before I Explain’ is simply the beginning.

CLASH caught up with Yxng Bane to discuss his return, fatherhood, faith and the story behind ‘Before I Explain’.

You stopped releasing music in 2020, but you never stopped creating. What kept you making music during those years, even though you didn’t want to put it out?

My love and passion for music. I think that’s something that’s overlooked. We live in a time where I think people understand your love and passion if you’re releasing. Whereas for me, I genuinely love being in the space of creation. I genuinely love music, even as a fan of music, not just as a creator of music. If it wasn’t for that, maybe I wouldn’t have been in the studio. I think I was in the studio as much as I usually am when I’m releasing. That just comes from my actual love and passion for music. Even now, before this call, I was just sitting here watching music and listening to music. It’s part of my DNA.

Six years is quite a gap to take away from releasing music. What made you feel like this was the period to say, “Okay, I’m ready to drop this. I’m ready to be heard again”?

I think it was a bunch of different things. Becoming a father, I didn’t really want to miss anything. I didn’t want to miss the first word. I didn’t want to miss the first step. As she is coming to three years old now, I kind of see the person that she’s becoming and the person she is, so I felt like I could be outside a bit more. Musically, I’ve just been in a space where I was happy with how I was articulating and expressing myself. I feel like I found a balance in being 100% honest and authentic while also making a good song. I didn’t want to be making music that’s authentic but isn’t good or even making music that’s good without telling a story. And I think I got to the space where on self-reflection, I felt like I found a good balance of both.

Congratulations on fatherhood. How has that changed the way you see yourself, and do you feel like it’s found its way into your music right now?

I think in terms of how I see myself, I think it’s kind of made me understand how much God loves us, if I’m honest.  There are only very few situations in life where unconditional love can be experienced. I have dogs as well, and that was my first time understanding unconditional love. You may feed them one hour later but they’ll still love you as if you had fed them.

I feel like having a daughter kind of taught me that.  I didn’t know how much patience I had until I had a daughter. I didn’t even think I knew how much I could love until I had a daughter. I don’t think I knew a lot about myself, and maybe how aware or how deep I was until she arrived.

Speaking about the project, ‘Before I Explain’, the title feels quite heavy, like there’s a lot of history behind it. Why did you feel like you needed to explain? Why that title?

I don’t even think we’ve got to the explanation yet. From the time you should know, the explanation is loading. But I felt like before I could explain, I had to say some things before actually explaining, especially even coming back after six years. I’ll be honest.  I felt a very warm welcome back and I felt the support and the genuine love. I said to myself, this must be reciprocated in some way and somehow. Because I can’t go around visiting every single person that has shown me love or personally thank them, I think the only way I can reciprocate the energy that I felt coming back is literally through doing some more music and releasing a lot more. I think that’s where we’re at.

Could you give me a quick breakdown of the seven tracks? 

‘Elaborate’ was probably one of the most vulnerable songs on there. It talks about having a conversation. It starts with, “Talk to me, talk to me.” To me, that song is about being able to find a medium with your partner and being able to have that clear communication and understanding of what you expect from each other and what you want from each other, as well as obviously the intimacy that the song includes as well.

‘X Pills, No’ was like an uplifting song. That’s one for every morning. That’s one to get your day going. I feel like even the feedback seems to be one of the people’s favourites on the project, and I think that’s just a reflection of the vibe of the studio during that day. It was just a happy day and it was a good time, and I felt like even on the song I was just reflecting and appreciating where I am today and life itself.

With ‘POTP’, that is just bae with HBK. You want to take her shopping and you want to take her on the fly. That’s what that one’s about. It’s just about enjoying those moments, making those memories and enjoying the time when you’re with your significant other. Sometimes this thing we call love, there’s no measuring scale. The best way you can show someone is literally through acts and actually doing something. I think that’s what that song was about.It doesn’t necessarily have to be anything materialistic, as much as that song sounds like it. Sometimes it could just be giving them all your time and giving them a space that they feel safe in.That’s what I kind of wanted to express in POT but obviously express it in my way and what’s true to me and through my experiences.

With ‘Lower My Tone’, I kind of speak on the unfortunate events that have happened in my life before. But I mean, I even say, “Judas lied to Jesus, so who the hell am I for it to not happen to me?” You know what I mean? If it can happen to Jesus, of course it can happen to me too. I felt like that was that, but at the same time, I was kind of celebrating the fact that I could overcome these things and still keep pushing and still be the man I am today, and not let these things change the person who I am at the core. Sometimes you go through certain experiences and it actually changes you as a person, which may not necessarily be the best thing. I think I was kind of celebrating the fact that, at the core, I was still the same person.

With ‘Are You By Yourself?’, I was recording this project in Belgium, which is like a fun place. I was obviously going out over there and embracing their culture, and they listen to a lot of bouyon music, which comes from the French Caribbean like Guadeloupe, Martinique, Haiti as well. I was enjoying that kind of music. Then one day we were in the studio and he played a bouyon beat, and I thought, “Oh, why not? Let me just do me on this beat.” Admittedly, I’m also a big fan of the Haitian community and the Haitian culture as well, so it just felt like something natural to do.

Lastly, we have ‘Nubian Queen’, which I think is pretty self-explanatory on paper. That one was just a bit of fun. That was actually the last song we recorded for the project as well. When my little cousin produced the tracks, I thought he did a really good job with that one. He tried something new and I liked how the tempo was. I thought, “Let’s just party to this one and let’s just lay it all out.” It’s just gratitude and acknowledgement and being happy with where I am today in life, and generally happy as well.

You can sense the vulnerability on the project, which feels quite different this time. It can be hard for artists to be vulnerable. What made you want to put yourself in that position and be open?

It’s probably a conversation I had  with a friend of mine a few years ago. Because we’re all humans, we all experience the same emotions in different ways and on different days. But every single person in this life has been happy. Every single person in this life has been sad. Every single person in this life has been angry. There’s only a set amount of emotions that we all experience no matter what happens. I think with music, the more honest you are whether it’s being vulnerable or whatever it may be, obviously the more people will be able to connect. I’ve always just wanted to be honest and connect with people through my music. I think that keeps me going, even when you get a message and somebody says, “Oh, you know, I was going through a hard time and this song did this for me.” I think that’s what I do it for.

Speaking on some of the themes on the project, you have faith, gratitude and spirituality. How do you feel your relationship with those themes has evolved over the years?

Yeah, I think they’ve grown. I’d say they’ve grown a lot more. I think with that came a deeper understanding of self as well. I feel like maybe it could be age. Majority is just the experiences of life. I think I’ve been through quite a lot of hard times, a lot of downs, but I genuinely believe that nothing ever happens to you. I think it happens for you. Sometimes you have to zoom out of the picture to actually see the full picture and actually see, “Hold on, this is all actually working out in my favour.”But I think at a young age, you don’t want to zoom out. You’re just zooming in and zooming in and zooming in. Over the years, I’ve learned to zoom out.

You came into the game quite young and experienced quite a lot of success early. Looking back at that version of yourself, what do you understand about that period differently at this stage?

Looking back at myself, I understand things differently. Like I said before, things happen for you and not to you.I think during that time, when things were happening, sometimes certain situations would occur and you’d be like, “Oh, why me? Why me? Why me?” But today I look back and I’m like, “Ah, lucky me. Lucky me. Lucky me.” I think that’s a big lesson that I’ve learned through looking back.

You have quite a catalogue over the years, but coming back now, we all evolve. How do you feel like you found that sound on without feeling tied to the Yxng Bane people always remember?

I think I’ve always done that whenever I’ve been creating, I’ve always done a variety of genres. Since my first ever projects, I’ve always done different types, whether it’s trap, melodic, Afrobeats or pop music. I think the most important thing for me has always been to cling to myself, no matter what tempo I’m on. And I think that even reflects me as a person.Being British, but knowing that I’m an African boy, and experiencing different cultures where I’m from, there’s a variety of cultures and people from different origins. It’s always had a point that even in the room, there’s little words where I’m speaking in, like, almost like patois. Just being myself has kind of just helped me do that.

 Do you think we’re going to hear something soon, an upcoming project to do that explaining?

I have explaining to do now. I think we should patiently await the explanation. But like I said, the love that I felt and the welcome I felt needs to be reciprocated and reciprocated fast.

The cover art has a very distinct feel to it. What did you want people to understand through that before they pressed play? What did the art mean to you? What did it represent?

It represented  rewarding myself and being proud of myself. The boy has arrived. The boy is back and not just musically but mentally and spiritually. He’s overcome what he had to overcome. I mean, we’ve got a heart that’s got bandages around it so the heart has been healed, but the brain healed the heart, and it’s rewarding the heart. Then behind, we have the tomb with the linen, to show that through faith is how I kind of healed.

Finally, if someone were to discover you through ‘Before I Explain’, what do you want them to understand about you?

That’s a good one. If somebody was to discover me through ‘Before I Explain’, I would want them to understand the truth.

‘Before I Explain’ is out now.