“Every topic on this tape should be relatable to anyone with a heart,” Mohamed Dahir—better-known as wewantwraiths—tells Apple Music. “I want everyone to realize you’re not defined by your trauma, and you can achieve whatever you set out to do, regardless of the adversities that life presents.” With free-flowing trapwave anthems, here the Leicester rapper mines the pain and peril sanctioned by the streets and straddles a troubled past with grand ambitions to reroute his fate. “A compilation of love and heartbreak that I’ve experienced, and lived through, in the last two years of my music journey,” he says of his soul-searching debut. “From a collection of 500 songs, these 20 are the most heartfelt—structured to relate to anyone, whether you’re on the roads or work from an office.”
Unobscured by his secretive, masked persona, his Auto-Tuned confessionals have propelled his yearning for escape and betterment far and wide since his 2020 breakthrough. The road to recovery explores the reaches of his psyche, encircling fellow rap crooners (“End of the Beginning” with M Huncho and “Most Wanted” with Nafe Smallz) and featuring melodic meetings with the reigning kings of drill (“Giddy Up” with Unknown T). “My heart broke twice, once from love, once from the streets,” he says. “From losing loved ones and having Feds run a cleanup in my area—this was originally a coping mechanism for me. There’s so much on my mind and so little people to talk to, and with everyone avoiding certain conversations and topics, I had to put it all down here.” Read on as ’wraiths opens up on constructing his debut mixtape with this track-by-track guide.
“No Emotions”
“I know the importance of starting this mixtape in the right way. I recorded maybe 20 different intros, so this one means everything to me. I tend to make emotional decisions at times, so I’ve decided I’m no longer going purely off emotion—I need to think things over and then follow through on that.”
“Famous”
“This track is about my time in Amsterdam, dealing with the downside of fame. I can remember [during the pandemic] being stopped three or four times a day by police. Sometimes it was the same officer. We were getting lots of attention from fans, to be fair. And there were so many [COVID] regulations and laws. We weren’t allowed to have more than two [people] in the car at a time. So, our names and faces kept popping up with the police. By the time we were ready to leave, they all knew us.”
“No Static”
“Here, I’m discussing street politics and love. And when I say, ‘Letting it rock in my city, Kasabian,’ I’m paying homage to the biggest rock band to come out of Leicester. We feel like we’re the next ones to do something big from this place.”
“Streets Don’t Love You” (feat. Trobi)
“There’s nothing but heartbreak that comes from the roads, literally. The streets don’t love you. That’s just my personal experience. We had the chance to shoot a visual to this [for Apple Music’s The Agenda Live] in an old Rolls-Royce jet-engine facility, which, given my name, resonated with me a lot.”
“Next to Me”
“Trobi produced this one and a few others on the tape. One of the biggest producers in Europe now—and it’s this 21-year-old kid that drives a [BMW] i8. His life’s sorted already. What I like about him is he can somehow let a beat run while he’s working on it. So, I can write and think up ideas while he’s doing his thing, without it disrupting my process.”
“B4 IM G1”
“The title reads ‘before I'm gone,’ and the general vibe is, ‘Don’t love me when I’m gone. Love me now.’”
“Giddy Up” (feat. Unknown T)
“I have a special relationship with Unknown T, as we’re both East African. We’ve linked up in Paris and London, but we both understand that, at some point, we need to go back to our roots and take things to the next level. We’re working towards having African artists involved on forthcoming projects and even, potentially, shooting a video in Uganda soon.”
“Most Wanted” (feat. Nafe Smallz)
“This song came from the longest studio session of my life. It was nearly home time, 6 in the morning, and Nafe [Smallz] and I looked at each other and decided to go for one more. A few hours later, we laced this down. Nafe is one of the most talented wave artists out there, and you’ve got to remember, he’s been in this game for so long—his skill on the microphone is second to none. For harmonies and melodies, I don’t think I’ve heard anyone quite like him.”
“Thousand Degrees”
“This is a little story about me and an ex-partner, and how we’ll never, ever get back together. I’ll never return to that.”
“DJ Party (Monster)”
“This was a complete accident. I’ve never intended to make a house track at any point. But I was sitting with Yam, one of my favorite producers, discussing tracks and building our connection. He shared his love for house music. At that point of my career, I couldn’t even identify the sound—it was all the same to me. So, he played this out of his ‘house’ [beat] pack. I said, ‘Load it up,’ and I don’t know how, but in that moment, I just knew how to ride the beat.”
“What’s Love”
“All of my serious relationships happened before music. So, I got to experience some things without having to deal with the clout part. I’m going back and forth with myself on this song. It’s about someone I want but just can’t commit to. It’s a true story, but I’ll let the song explain the rest.”
“Story of My Life”
“As the title says, it’s the story of my life: ‘Empty pockets, never used to have shit.’ Now, when we step out, everyone’s arm has got a different Rolex. It’s a fun song, and I think it’ll be a real people’s favorite.”
“Balenciaga Blue” (feat. GoldLink)
“GoldLink has been on my hit list since [2017 single] ‘Crew.’ It was such a vibe. On the day we recorded this, all I knew was that I had a session, somewhere, and it happened to be at GoldLink’s crib. So, I’m sitting there, listening through some beats, and my friend [British musician and producer] Joe Stanley, who sorted out the session, tells me, ‘By the way, this is GoldLink.’ He’s a young producer, so enthusiastic, and I feel like that’s what got him in that room in the first place—his willingness to work.”
“No More”
“I want to tell the world how I’ve lost so many things that I had before I started making music. I had some brothers by my side I wish were still here. But that’s life—they’re not around anymore.”
“Heart on Ice”
“I’ve been let down by so many things, whether it was love or whether it was the streets, that I know how people can bring the worst out of me.”
“The One”
“This track was originally called ‘Brazy,’ until a last-minute change. It’s about being on top of my game, bringing in all my brothers, and giving them all of the opportunities that I can provide them. I feel like Mike Tyson in his prime on this song.”
“Question Us”
“I wanna state that multiple women have inspired the lines in this song. Trust me, no one will ever be able to say, ‘Oh, he’s talking about me specifically.’”
“Dior”
“I love a Dior trainer. They’re just so clean and kinda cool to look down on. For me, they’re worth [the price tag]—and it’s not a shoe you have to throw out after five, six fucking wears. You can actually wear them 30 days in a month. This is one of the first songs I ever recorded as wewantwraiths, way before my debut [single].”
“Big Machines”
“‘Dior’ was recorded back in 2020, but this right here is a special one from my 2022 bag.”
“End of the Beginning” (feat. M Huncho)
“I’ve been trying to work with M Huncho for the longest. He’s a busy guy—I don’t blame him. Many people said to me, ‘You shouldn’t have a feature on your outro. But this is the only song that makes sense to close this—I’m in control of everything. Plus, I own all of my masters, too, so I can shut shit down at any given time. I need to have that freedom.”