In the past few years the uniquely wonderful BABii has radically changed the way she writes her captivating, boundary-pushing songs. Her new album ‘Daredevil 2000’ which dropped on 11th October is a continuation of the writing style she began with 2022 collaborative mixtape Screamer, which saw the producer and vocalist writing from the perspective of her younger sister and their struggle with BPD. On ‘Daredevil 2000’ she pushes that conceptual approach even further, taking an abstract look at the idea of evil and projecting it into her own imagined idea of hell. Through this creative exercise, BABii asks challenging questions about what pushes people to transgress while also exploring her personal relationships with those who society deems unwanted or unacceptable.
Across the album, BABii enters something akin to Dante’s Inferno, exploring the origins of violence and criminality and how hell relates to the real world. Each song corresponds to a separate sin and comes with a villainous criminal attached. These include hooligans, gargoyles, goblins, and a Trash Spirit Clown named Tito Von Bricabrac. All exist in the fantastical Nevaworld, a futuristic hellscape that the album exists in.
Hell, BABii reasons, is not somewhere you come from but somewhere you end up. Her world building instincts are on full display alongside her humane approach to life as she explores what happens before that final destination is reached.
There is an escapist element that runs throughout the album as BABii disassociates from reality and imagines her own fictional life on the wrong side of the tracks. Take ‘Viper’, for example, an identity fraud fantasy filled with scam rap gibberish. This kind of villainy is a mainstay in fictional storytelling. The idea of the bad guy or the anti-hero is a deeply alluring one; a portal to which the well-intentioned can live out a transgressive fantasy. For BABii, it also allowed her to take a step back from laying herself bare as she has done in the past. “Other records I have made have been really painful,” she says. “I prefer to disassociate and tell the story of others, it gives me a lot more freedom to explore than when I’m writing from a personal perspective.”
‘XL Bully’ uses the image of the much-maligned dog, banned by the British government in 2023, as a metaphor for the external factors that lead to criminality. ‘JOYR1DE’, meanwhile, explores the murky ethics of deep fake porn, both those who create it and its consumers.
Though the album began with a degree of artistic license, BABii soon found herself writing from a more personal perspective. Growing up she was used to seeing her father be violent towards other people, fighting in public and using aggression as a defense mechanism. Watching someone whose job it is to protect and nurture you but cause harm to others gives a unique insight into the multi-faceted ways a person can be. “I’m catching a vibe of all the lawless guardians in my life,” she says. “Then I found things about myself almost by accident.”
If BABii found herself accidentally writing about her father in the early stages of ‘Daredevil 2000’, things became more explicit when he sadly passed away mid-way through the making of the album. She struggled with writer’s block for the first time and found the words impossible to come by. “My dad is one of the reasons I make music and I just thought, “Why am I doing this?” she says, looking back.
Friends advised her to take a step back and wait. The contrarian side of her knew to push through and make the struggle work somehow. She gathered producers Warpstr, Samuel Organ, Mun Sing, Iglooghost, and Pholo at Prah Studios in Margate, Kent and began working her way out of her grief. Reference points in the recording process for ‘Daredevil 2000’’s punchy and abrasive sound included Kanye West’s dark masterpiece Yeezus, as well as Jam City and Mumdance. “It would never have got finished if it wasn’t for that writers camp,” she says looking back on an album that touches on classic grime instrumentals, fluorescent bassline, UKG, R&B, and Detroit cybercrime scam rap for influence while sounding utterly unique.
An obsession with ice hockey informs two songs on the album, ‘Scarface’ and ‘TRA$$$her’. She had been watching a documentary on The Danbury Trashers, a team noted for their aggressive displays on the ice and rampant criminality behind the scenes. The notoriety captured her attention before she realized the personal connection; her father had been a promising hockey player himself as a teenager in Canada. but, uninspired by the sport and uncomfortable with the pressure, quit and made his way to the U.K. “He was under a lot of pressure and couldn’t do it any more. He went into absolute rebel mode,” she says. “There is a lot of betrayal in that song, betraying what people thought he was going to be.”
Across ‘Daredevil 2000’, BABii sidesteps the ease of simple narratives, instead exploring what it means to rebel and go against expectations. It’s this readiness to understand that makes the songwriting so humane. It’s an album that innately understands the outcast and how existing outside of societal norms can lead to an alienation that turns “bad.” In a world quick to take sides, BABii seeks to understand those around her. The result is an album that humanizes the people behind these mistakes and errors and asks for greater understanding. It’s a radical step forwards. ‘Daredevil 2000’ can be purchased HERE.
In support of this new album, BABii is heading out on tour. This consists of six UK dates and nine European dates. Thankfully there is a Brighton concert, which has been organised by Love Thy Neighbour promoters, and this will be happening at the popular Green Door Store on Thursday 20th February. Tickets for this performance are available HERE and HERE.
BABii UK tour dates:
13th December 2024 – Thekla, Bristol
6th February 2025 – Headrow House, Leeds
7th February 2025 – Sidney & Matilda, Sheffield
11th February 2025 – The Hug and Pint, Glasgow
12th February 2025 – Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh
20th February 2025 – Green Door Store, Brighton
