Loyle Carner confronts his identity on new track ‘Nobody Knows (Ladas Road)’

With his forthcoming album Hugo just around the corner, South London rapper Loyle Carner has come back with a vengeance on his latest single, plucked straight from the project, titled ‘Nobody Knows (Ladas Road)’, which dropped last Wednesday, 13^th September.

Serving as the third lead single to his third studio album, the song sees Loyle lay himself bare like never before. With powerful verses about his mixed-race heritage and his father, the song reveals a side to the rapper that the listener has not heard before now. Loyle is conflicted; he hates his father for his “straight biological neglect” when growing up, but at the same time wants to understand his Guyanese roots.

This feeling of alienation still affects Loyle to this day: “I reached the black man, he wouldn’t take my hand / Told the white man, he didn’t understand” Loyle feels trapped – trapped between two absolutes, and not feeling connected enough to either to ground his racial identity. It is heartbreaking and haunting and is beautifully illustrated by the accompanying visuals, which show the rapper with half a head of cornrows, and half a large afro.

Photo Credits: @loylecarner on Twitter

He delivers the entire song in one take, all while holding his baby boy to his chest. Loyle is worried, and understandably so. He wishes that his son doesn’t experience the same feelings of neglect and lack of identity as he does: “I never wanna hear the same cry / From a kid who doesn’t fit in / To the world that he live in / A half-caste just kidding”.

Long has Loyle Carner been UK rap’s ‘Mr Nice Guy’. His raps have been masterfully concocted, yet still unchallenging in a certain way. Before the first single for the upcoming project, ‘Hate’ had been unleashed, which saw him vent his frustrations on racial politics, fame, and his upbringing, Loyle had been almost completely anodyne in his verses. Not only that, but his delivery has always been somewhat nonchalant and laidback. Now, however, he wants to refute this title and go above and beyond peoples’ expectations. This next instalment in the rapper’s catalogue is sure to be plenty more polarising than anything he has done to date, and I am here for it.

Hugo arrives on streaming, CD and Vinyl on 21^st October.