What happens when you put the creative vision of Saiming, Finn Foxell and BexBlu into one EP? You “give thanks and breathe”. Below, the underground rap favourites exclusively chop it up.
As 2025 draws to a close, there’s plenty to be thankful for – at least as far as West London troubadour Finn Foxell, South London lyricist Saiming, and super-producer BexBlu are concerned. The trio of leading London talents have joined forces to celebrate life and make one helluva musical statement, dropping a rich and rewarding three-track EP, “give thanks and breathe”.
Across the trio of cuts, the triad of artists bring their best work, delivering introspection and innovation, cultivating chasms of joy, hopefulness and humanity. Further augmented by a slick Paul Stephan feature on “aadvark”, the effortless chemistry, natural charisma and crafty class of Sai, Finn and Bex is plain to see.
Epitomising the community and collectivity that flows throughout the work, a few days after the release of “give thanks and breathe”, the three artists welcomed guests to The Haggerston for an intimate tea workshop led by Esme of Medifolia. Aligning with the EP’s calm, meditative circumference, the event saw friends of the trio discussing the charms of chamomile, drinking plenty of tea, and celebrating the lads’ excellent new EP.
Below, Sai, Finn and Bex delve deep into UK rap’s 2025, the genesis of their collaboration, complementing each other’s sound, and how they unwind from the beautiful storm of insatiable creation.
Listen to “give thanks and breathe”…
Read the exclusive interview…
For each of you, what’s been the highlight of the year?
BexBlu: Definitely earlier in the year when I supported KiLLOWEN on tour with Paul Stephan. I had an amazing time, and it made me feel like a proper musician.
Saiming: Performing at Oyster Festival in Amsterdam was my first full international set, and doing it with Zeñel as the band was a privilege so I’d say it was my highlight this year. Having Nayana AB & J2 joining me on stage, plus a whole bunch of my loved ones, which made the trip really, the icing on the cake.
Finn Foxell: Releasing my debut album for sure, I’ve never put work into a record in that way, playing it live with a band and seeing people resonate with such a big part of me was special.
Has 2025 been a good year for UK rap? Who has stood out?
BB: This year has been incredible for the underground scene. The amount of great music that has dropped this year has been crazy. Jim Legxacy, EsDeeKid, Ceebo, Namesbliss, JXMESC, Saiming all dropped amazing projects, and this ain’t even a quarter of the people who’ve dropped great projects in my opinion. Ceebo is a standout for me, though.
SM: 2025 has been great for UK rap and for different sounds to have space to flourish that are pushing a bigger range of sounds than we’re used to hearing executed so well. I think YT, Jim Legxacy, EssDeeKid and TR Gobrazy have had the most songs stuck in my head. Loads of other rappers have had a huge year and made some amazing music, though, from Ceebo to Kasst 8 to Stacy N.K.R to Pozzy.
FF: I think 2025 will be remembered as a special year for the broader scene and culture, from Jim’s album reception in the UK to people like him, Ledbyher, fakemink and Esdeekid kickin’ down doors to new global markets. It feels like subcultures are somewhat reviving as we’re seeing multiple niche lanes existing seamlessly together in the wider genre of UK rap, which is healthy!
Congratulations on the new joint project! How did this collaboration between the three of you come about?
BB: Thank you. This came through Finn, actually creating a group chat with us both and setting up a session. The first beat I played in the session I think was the ‘lean on me’ beat, and it clicked instantly. I remember Finn writing his verse so quickly and Sai following suit after. I think we recorded a few and also got some of ‘aardvark’ recorded too. I think from then on, we saw how much chemistry everyone had and decided to make an EP from there.
SM: Thank you kindly. I’ve been working with Bex a lot more over the past year and the two of us have wanted to work with Finn so it just made sense for us to get a session in together. The songs came together without us having to force anything and once we had a few we thought why not put them out together.
FF: Appreciate it! It felt very natural as we’ve all been fans of each other for a while, and both me an Sai had been working with Bex and figured we all lock in to have fun with it an see if some good music comes, we all clicked first session, quickly it started with a song and built into this mini EP.
You’ve all got a unique sound and vision of what artistry is; how did you merge those individual ideas into this one cohesive project?
BB: When the session was getting set up, I thought it was really interesting how Finn and Sai have quite similar sounds, yet their paths never crossed musically. Up until this point, I had worked with Sai extensively, and Finn, I had one or two sessions with before, but when we finally linked up, I think we all knew we wanted a heavy hip-hop sound within the EP, and just make something quite raw.
FF: I think there are natural crosshairs that gave us some direction, me and Sai both can write quite introspectively, and both sit right at home on hip hop and 130ish bpm, so we wanted to find a sweet spot that would let us bar off. Bex, as well as being an absolute wizard, is one of both Sai’s and mine favourite producers, so it wasn’t hard to meet in the middle and have fun with the pen.
SM: Bex has a way of capturing the feelings from the lyrics in his production, and I think me and Finn both had a lot of thoughts to get off our chests when we went into the first session. From having conversations, it became clearer what sounds were like the middle of the Bex: Finn: Sai venn-diagram, and we got to work.
Talk us through the thought behind the EP’s name, “give thanks and breathe”?
FF: There’s a lyric I’ve got on track 3 at the end of my verse, which felt like an overall theme of the project, in summary about doing what you gotta do, to then, at the end of the day, give thanks and breathe. SAI suggested it when we were considering names and it stuck straight away,
BB: We all like to give thanks.
SM: We all like to breathe.
What are you all giving thanks for in your life right now?
FF: LIFE! My family, friends, peers, all give me gratitude, alongside the chance to make cool things manifest
SM: Definitely my family, chosen family, my partner & the privilege of being able to make music.
BB: My family and friends, I have such a great surrounding of people around me at the moment and I’m forever grateful for them. Also, Arsenal Football Club.
Paul Stephan jumps on a track, “aardvark”. Why did you get him involved?
BB: When we made “aardvark”, we knew we needed a CRAZY verse to close the EP out. We instantly thought of Paul. Me and him are in the studio all the time working on music, so i played him the track and he was down. Recorded his verse the week after and that was that.
SM: The project’s nearly finished by the time Paul jumps on so we just wanted to leave the people with the message that we’re ALWAYS MOVING.
FF: We’d been brewing about who should join on a track for the project; we know we wanted a real barsmith, and Paul quickly became the perfect option! Shoutout the guy.
Describe the project as an emotion, a colour, and a dish?
BB: Grateful, carrot orange and chicken ramen.
SM: Gratitude, forest green, and beans on toast. bosh.
FF: GRATITUDE, olive green and beef stew
From your respective previous experiences in releasing, what are the overarching lessons that you’ve learnt that you’ve brought into this project?
BB: Keep it simple.
SM: Many hands make light work
FF: don’t overcook it, if it feels good then run with it
What do you guys do to unwind from creating?
BB: I watch a lot of football, go for runs and spend time with the boys.
SM: Spend time with my people, watch youtube, watch football. I need to touch grass more.
FF: Historical and sci-fi movies/shows, slow cooking meats, hiking and jujutsu
Is there more collaborative music in the works? What’s 2026 looking like for you all?
BB: Hundred percent, 2026 is gonna be a hefty year. I’m dropping an album with Paul Stephan and going on tour with him. Also, going to be collaborating a lot with different artists and hopefully getting some placements. Big stuff coming.
SM: Every song I’ve ever dropped is a collaboration, and I’m tryna drop a lot more going forward. 2026 I’m dropping some more projects and dishing out singles, but the mission is to keep pushing and take it out of London & the UK. That’s gonna take a village.
FF: For sure, this next year, alongside some solo music, I want to just have fun with it an collab with people whose music I like.
