Unrestricted by style or geography, British Punjabi artist Raf Saperra has carved himself a unique positioning within the wider hip hop consensus, merging his cultural lineage with US characteristics and a South London edge to concoct a captivating sonic identity brimming with grit, retrospection and authenticity.

He’s been busy of late, following last year’s impressive full-length Ruff Around The Edges with a statement EP release in March of this year. A deep-dive five-pronged opus, “5 Deadly Vemonz” sees Saperra more concise and confident than ever atop rich, class-laden production. Flaunting a head-turning international reach, the body of work boasts features from Griselda heavy-hitter Conway the Machine and New York legend Dave East.

Wonderland connect with Saperra for an exclusive internet, discussing Asian representation in UK music, working with savants like Conway the Machine, and his recent EP release.

Listen to “5 Deadly Vemonz”…

Read the interview…

Hey Raf! How’s your year going so far? Talk us through your upbringing? How was streatham? What kind of music were you around?  
Being the youngest in the family I had the advantage of seeing what everyone else was consuming and dip in & out of those flavours. I grew up on a lot of hip hop, bhangra, Hindi film soundtracks and a shit load of UK Rap / Grime.    

In what ways has Asian representation improved in the UK scene since you began making music in the space?  
It’s slowly improving. For a long time Asian representation has been a bit of a joke. If you’re not the funny immigrant with an accent then you’re the scary terrorist. I feel a lot of the current generation has taken the representation narrative in their own hands through various mediums of art. The electronic / dance space in particular has seen a lot of dope DJ’s truly exhibit how eclectic their taste is. The fact that I’m a South London artist that will be performing at Portola Festival this September in Punjabi  and premiering an exclusive record cooked up with Skrillex is a testament to how real my momentum is!  

Why is it important to incorporate elements of your heritage into your musical sound?  
I don’t do this consciously to ensure that the sound is representing the heritage. But there is a cadence, an accent and an aura in those instruments that are so unfiltered, raw and folk and it undeniably sets the tone – whether you understand Punjabi or not. The marriage between the Folk sound and Hip-Hop is something that represents my up bringing. The operatic ecstasy of the haunting melody of the Algozey (two flutes) screaming over earthy east coast hip-hop drums creates an atmosphere that honours my roots to both Punjabi and street / hip hop culture.    

Do you think UK rap can push its sonic boundaries more to incorporate global sounds?   
Yeah they just need to get the right Punjabi vocalist involved. Me. Lol.    

Congratulations on your recent body of work, “5 Deadly Venomz”. Now that it’s been out for a few months and the dust has settled, how do you feel about the release?   
The EP is a first of its kind and creates a safe space for panjabi folk lovers and traditional hip hop lovers too. This was a passion project which PERSONALLY had no intention to please trends, radio or dance floors in any capacity. I feel amazing about the release and all the achievements linked to it. I’m a MASSIVE Griselda fan and to have Conway the Machine on the tape means the world to me along with Dave East and the undeniably NY presence of Big Body Bes!   

I sat down with Nas after the release who praised the project and said it’s the first of its kind!  

This is art. This is culture.   

I’m proud of this EP.    

What inspired the project sonically?  
Raf: I feel that the marriage of hip hop & Punjabi folk is something that has lived for decades..it was brought to the masses by producers like Panjabi MC & even the kind of sampling Timberland done with those south Asian sounds.   

I feel right now in Punjabi music everyone is leaning towards a very clean, pop and commercial sound which they think is hip hop.   

We made this project to cut all that crap out and have this swim against the tide. I’ve received a lot of love and support for this tape outsde of the Punjabi / south Asian scene too.   

This was for the purists / the “heads”.     

What are you saying on the tape, themes wise?  
Fly shit. Street shit. Check out the videos from the EP I’ve released cos they’ve got subtitles. 

You’ve gone from a London-oriented tape in “Ruff Around The Edges” to linking with some some of the most wanted rappers in the US landscape like Conway the Machine and Dave East on “5 Deadly Venomz”—a remarkable show of your resonance in the US right now. How did those connections come about and how was the experience?   
I’ve just been music that I want to make and moving as an individual how I want to move.  I remember visiting NYC for the first time and we didn’t bother going to the Empire State Building or going to see Lady Liberty. We done our rounds and checked in to the hoods across all the boroughs from Brownsville, Uptown to the Bronx. I wanted to see the real NY. I didn’t wanna do tourist time. We built genuine relationships and network off of the strength of culture. The streets recognise that shit. You can’t just be pulling up to Pink House projects and start shooting a video! I took myself and my sound and shared this with people on a grass roots level. The relationships built mean more than the success of this tape. That for me is culture.  

We’ve also seen the mad video you’ve just put out on linking up with the legendary Nas and Ghostface Killah in New York, how did it feel coming from Streatham to meeting some of the most powerful emcees in rap? Did they drop any gems in conversation?   
So I had already met Nas and this video you saw would’ve been my second rendezvous. The first time I met Nas he praised the Venomz EP and I gifted him my debut record Ruff Around the Edges on vinyl. What was surreal was seeing Ghostface walk into the studio room unannounced and then explaining to him why I’ve always loved east coast rap but in particular Wu-Tang. I played Ghostface Killah a song of mine from the EP which features Conway the Machine and he said it was the grimiest punjabi shit he’s heard in his life!    

You looked like you had a serious time Paris Fashion Week! Being played at Kid Super show and sitting front row, mingling with some serious names. How did that collab come about? How was the Fashion Week experience for you?   
Yes yes! The collab came about from my music video for the track “Hood Harvest” also from the Venomz EP. The wardrobe in that video is Kid Super & once the video released Kid saw the visuals and we connected on socials. I visited his studio, we sat and spoke for hours! His first question was “how do you sound like that!?” because my normal speaking voice & accent is London af. I expressed how big of a Giggs fan I am and how his song featuring on Paris Fashion Week in January 2024 was a moment. He expressed that he had a show in Paris coming up and would love to incorporate my sound, sent me a beat, I recorded a vocal and the rest happened on stage at Paris Fashion week. I was just with Kid Super at the NYFW show too. Got to connect with Westside Gunn and gift Joey Bada$$ the “5 Deadly Venomz” EP on wax too!  

With your profile growing here in the UK and significantly in America, what are your long term goals, in and out of music?  
I want to continue making projects that are art pieces. I’m a 90’s baby and I come from an era of ‘bodies of work’ – in a strange sense I wanna maintain that tradition whilst creating fly shit that artistically responsible too.   I fell into music accidentally (kinda) during covid but I have always been a director and a cinephile. I’ve edited and directed all my music videos till date so long term goals deffo include more film work in front of the camera and behind the camera.   

In a nut shell: more dope collabs in fashion, film & music coming up in 2025!!