Bamalam

Bamalam is a UK MC, producer, recordist and multimedia creator who begins rapping around the age of 12, freestyling over instrumental CDs while playing PlayStation. Over time he teaches himself production, recording, mixing, filming, editing and website making, and becomes involved in a number of collectives through helping other artists and building projects with them.

Early projects and We Are Dubist

By the age of 18, Bamalam has already released several low-profile projects with different groups. One of the most notable is We Are Dubist, a crew backed by Vagabondz, Outlook and Congo Natty, also known as Rebel MC. Rebel MC takes the group under his wing and plans an EP for them on his label, but the release never comes together and the group eventually splits.

Divine Rights

After We Are Dubist ends, Bamalam returns to hip hop and reconnects with Cystic, who had previously been in a group with him before pausing music to focus on studies. When Cystic finishes college and wants to make music again, they form Divine Rights in 2010 with producer and occasional rapper Dirty Stanz. The group records and raps their own material, and releases a tester EP and a mixtape called Punchline.

Battle rap and Don’t Flop

Bamalam and his collaborators are strong fans of battle rap, and regularly attend Don’t Flop events. In 2012, Bamalam makes his debut in a Don’t Flop battle against Phest. Over the following two years, he battles 13 times and builds a record of 10 wins and 1 loss. He also joins the Don’t Flop staff team, helping with event setup, running events, video editing, filming and other tasks.

Other work

At the time described, Bamalam is working on several projects and shifting his focus back towards music.