S Poddar
For Jordan Stephens and Harley Alexander-Sule, known collectively as Rizzle Kicks, the jump from bedroom rhyming into selling out tours and achieving a platinum album was really little more than a whirlwind. Following close to ten years of radio silence, the pop/hip-hop duo returns with a new single, entitled “Javelin,” this Friday, and an album in tow.
As a nod to their past, Harley says, “I think our music reminds people of a time where everyone was generally happy. The [London 2012] Olympics, summer.” The duo made names for themselves in 2011 with hits including “Down with the Trumpets” and “Mama Do The Hump,” then managed a UK Number 1 in 2013 alongside Olly Murs on the song “Heart Skips a Beat.”
But despite the round of nostalgia that their return signals, Rizzle Kicks is ready for the world to give in to their new material. “I love that this return is making people feel nostalgic, but also hope people will catch on and feel the same way about our new stuff,” says Jordan, who adds, “We’re shocked that so many people were buzzing about it. It’s overwhelming and exciting. I remember one tweet saying, ‘I didn’t know Rizzle Kicks had fans like this’ – and we were like: ‘Neither did I!
Their debut album, *Stereo Typical*, reached number 5 on the UK charts, and its follow-up *Roaring 20s* reached even higher at number 3. But personal demons with addiction and mental health eventually put a stop to the pair’s career in 2016. Harley reflects, “We started when we were 18, 19, thrown into this crazy world.” Jordan adds, “We made an attempt to do another album, which never came out. A tour was booked, which never happened.” He recalls the particularly troublesome part of the experience in that, “Harley was trying to prevent a panic attack after a show. Lying on the floor doing deep-breathing.
I had come to the point where I accepted that I had addictive behaviors.” This time was a turning point for them both.”
With their record labels and the music industry in general, the pressure was on, and that feeling of being trapped was all too real. “We were put on a hamster wheel. I wish we had the time to appreciate what we’d done and taken the time with no pressure to get back in and write, write, write,” Jordan reflects. Certainly, the band knew they needed to take a step back and grow up outside of the confines of their early fame. In fact, “Maybe we should grow up?” they asked themselves.
In the meantime, the members of the duo pursued some solo work while apart. However, they say they feel it’s time now to come back together and speak on what they have been through. “I don’t hide away from my own battles with addiction, and we talk about that,” Jordan says, adding their new work discusses instances both stressful and casual in nature, focusing on enjoying life. “I literally rap about drinking water now – that’s my flex,” he kids.
The new album is a reflection of the mindset they are in at the moment: love and enjoyment. Jordan says their take on making it big in 2024 is unlike the success they had earlier. “We’re not trying to be global megastars, or working off nostalgia, we’re working on what we love right now,” Jordan says. And Harley adds, “As long as this return allows us to continue for the next five, 10 years – that’s success. “The return of Rizzle Kicks isn’t about a reclamation of past glories; it’s about being themselves today, in the very now. They’re very focused on writing music that really feels right for where they’re at and that the journey there’s fun too.”.
