Name: Tom Did It
Nationality: British
Occupation: Rapper, producer
Current release: Tom Did It's new single "Madison Beer" is out now via Since 93. It is the fourth single taken off his upcoming full-length album Did It, slated for release August 21st 2025.
Shoutouts: My guy tmdistant. He was the first guy I made a song with in college and we’ve kinda just both seen each other on parallel paths growing in music, even though he’s in a completely different space musically than I am now. We are both still at the same place and it’s crazy to think we’re both now doing the stuff we spoke about in colly. Big ups to T.

If you enjoyed this Tom Did It interview and would like to know more about his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, and Soundcloud.



What were some of the musical experiences which planted a seed for your interest in hip hop?

There’s a lot to choose from but the main ones would be my dad playing early Kanye and Jay-Z albums around the house when I was a kid, Listening to Biggie, Nas, Wu Tang and MF Doom as I got into college with my mates while we smoked or played xbox etc.

I went to see Drake's ‘Views’ tour when it came to London and I was about 14 I think. I went with a guy from my year and my mate Omari who’s a few years older than me because I was actually too young for the show.

What does the term hip hop mean and stand for today, would you say?

To me hip hop is a movement now more than a genre.

There are so many different sounds and interpolations of hip hop, it’s such a wide umbrella of sounds.

Hip hop has always been about a lot more than just music. For you personally, is hip hop a way of life – and if so, in which way?  

Hip hop has always taught me creativity and authenticity.

It has influenced a lot of aspects of my life since I've surrounded myself with it; the way I dress, the way I speak, and even how I approach things in life.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to creativity?

For me creativity has always been about emotion and feeling.

I sit at the mic whenever I have something to get off my chest. Or if I’m in a certain mood that’ll always reflect in the music.

Where do most of your inspirations to create come from – rather from internal  impulses or external ones? Which current social / political / ecological or other developments make you feel like you need to respond as an artist?  

Early on, when I started making music, I had very few influences. So most of what I was coming up with came from inside myself.

But since being in London more and within the scene, my peers and friends have inspired me a lot.

Hip hop has always had an interesting relationship between honouring its roots and pushing the music forward. What does the balance between these two poles look like in your music?

I have a huge blend of sounds and am always trying to push the boundaries of my sound and hip hop music whilst also paying homage to the culture - and in my case UK hip hop, whether that be linking up with Devlin for a grime record or Cypher and in my latest single with legendary MC Chip.

I’m taking more of a fresh approach with the song with raspy Post Malone-like flows on a jumpy futuristic drill beat produced by Outlaw who is known for making that sound popular with Kairo Keyz' “Gang”.



What role do electronic tools and instruments, including AI, play for your creative process?

My laptop is for sure my best friend in this game.

I do all my own engineering so my plugins and vocal presets are what makes my sound my sound whether that be how I use the auto tune stylistically or using crazy vocoders and stuff like that.

Tell me a bit about the sounds & creative directions, artists & communities, as well as the colleagues & creative hotspots of your current hometown, please. How do they influence your music?

There are none haha.

I grew up in a town just outside Luton and there’s really no creative or music scene. 99% of people I know from school just did their A levels, went to uni and then into London for an office job.

Which is I guess all people now out here but that was never my plan.

How do you see the role of sampling in hip hop today?

I feel like we went through a rough patch in the UK with samples lol.

But for the most part sampling is really one of the best tools in hip hop to create a new sound but still keep the music heads and older fans in the loop.

There has always been a close connection between hip hop and jazz. What role does improvisation play in your current creative process?

When making melodic music whether that be the wave rap or something more commercial I'll always improvise melody first.

I’ll make a full song out of that improvised melody and then write lyrics to that to create the song.

It can sometimes seem as though, in hip hop, production is the main force of progress. Do you feel like there is still space for genuinely new ideas for lyrics and vocals as well? If so, what could these look like?

With the introduction of new tech and new software in production I think the possibilities are endless.

If you’re running out of ideas I think that’s probably user error as opposed to there being no space for new ideas.

For many artists, life-changing musical experiences take place live. How do you see that yourself?

For me music festivals are where my life got changed in music.

I feel like going to a place for 1 weekend and seeing all your favourite artists on stage doing what you want to do is the most inspiring thing for a young artist.