The World Needs Saving… I Know a Couple of Blokes who Will Try.

Taking a forward step from doing fuck all, the two blokes (robin’s ghost & krwyn) are back for an even greater task—to save the world, or to at least try. Unlike their previous collab, tag two blokes who do fuck all !, which leaned more into outside production, bea4real* & krwyn embrace an industrial sound and put their beat-making talents at the forefront of save the world. Bea & Shaun tackle the fascist establishments that aim to suppress the voices of creatives across the world. Following a loose concept throughout the 28 minute runtime, we see the blokes taking direct action against these forces—shooting an unnamed AI mogul, having to flee this planet as wanted individuals forced to reflect on their motion of resistance. Concluding any act they do is worth it to get people talking, informed, & fighting back. The loop-heavy production is indicative of the cycles of corruption the two blokes are bringing focus to through their lyrical prowess, prominently displayed on the lead single, “thatsaloop4ya” [prod. bea4real].

*=production alias of robin’s ghost

Letting the pendulum swing, robin’s ghost & krwyn—yet again—prove their time-tested chemistry, bouncing off of each other’s energy at every turn. Tuning in live from the Moon, I had the pleasure of chatting with the infamous blokes at a secured rendezvous point about this project and where it has taken them. 

Two blokes text interview—live from the Moon:

1. CC: Who are y’all & how did you meet?

SK: I’m krwyn, a rapper, singer, and producer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. I used to drop beat tapes under the name “Sheikah”, and I came across Bea’s music through her ownership of an undisclosed meme account. From there I asked if she wanted to collaborate and we ended up making a song called Mindflayer that has since been lost to time…

BS: I’m robin’s ghost aka bea4real, i rap n make beats. Me and the author of this article used to run a meme account on instagram, and Shaun was a big big fan of that. He hit me up and we made a track that got some streams—shoutout Mexico City, truly—then I asked Shaun to join Le* and he’s been a real close homie ever since. 

*=limewire exclusive, the clique that the two blokes represent.

2. CC: After such a long friendship, full of collaboration, what makes the “two blokes” come together for their projects?

SK: Late nights (for me) in discord calls bouncing music back and forth, bonding over British TV shows and video games. I think we both have faith in each other's vision to the extent that Bea can suggest any ideas for a song and I’d probably go along with it because it’ll turn out crazy no matter what.

BS: I think when we started the first record, me n Shaun were both in a place where we were creatively fueled and frustrated by art one way or another. I know when we made the first few tracks it was shockingly seamless. Music for me can be a very heavy and arduous—yet cathartic process—I think me and Shaun just latched onto that spark and realized how well we worked together. Shaun brings out a more lackadaisical side of me as a rapper which has influenced me heavily. Shoutout the dastardly hound. 

3. CC: This album follows a concept that is told through skits & the endings of tracks. Could y’all dive deeper into the outline of this story?

SK: Our album lore is pretty shamelessly based in Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk universe, around the time we started the album I was dangerously addicted to Cyberpunk 2077, and both the story of the game, and consequently the stories and lore of other films in the  Cyberpunk sub genre, like Ghost in the Shell, were heavily influential to the short story we wanted to create throughout the album. 

BS: Honestly, what Shaun said. He definitely brought that more than me for this record, but I was just as down for it. I’ve always loved a good driving game and driving around on the Kusanagi CT-3X in cyberpunk between recording or mixing tracks really set me in the world. I’ve always appreciated the dystopian future aesthetic. I think going to Chicago really added to that as well. It’s insane how dystopian any big U.S. city can feel. Dread central. 

cyberpsycho, by krwyn x robin’s ghost

from the album save the world

limewire exclusive

4. CC: In the act of rebellion that save the world details, y’all are very nonchalant about the situations the concept takes you (in typical bloke fashion). What message & attitude do you aim for listeners to get out of this album?

SK: I want people to know and understand that the upper class are not your friends, no matter what political party they represent, and they never will be. It feels like such an obvious thing to say, but, from a British perspective, after what should’ve been a positive election result last year, we’ve only seen more of the same in terms of social policies from our new “Labour” government, hence the line on “cyberpsycho”

“I hate the tories in a blue tie or a red one.”

Rich people will always try to separate the working and middle class with culture wars, and people just keep falling for it.

BS: I think those topics kind of fell in our lap as we worked on this record. More bad shit just kept happening and we couldn’t not feel it. Me and Shaun yap a lot about it and I think that just bled into the record, but I think it would only feel natural if it came from that same “fuck all” position we have because that part of us hasn’t really changed. I definitely have a more cynical view, while I think Shaun‘s almost an optimist, but I think that brings a weirdly balanced perspective of shit going on. I think I just wanted to make people feel active in one way or another. I don’t think the title refers to us saving the world, I think it’s kind of a plea to everyone ever. It’s not the biggest act of defiance you can do, but I feel like sometimes all you can do is shout into a void. Sounds like fuck all to me. 

5. CC: The dystopian, industrial, and–at times–ethereal soundscape of save the world is fully curated by the two of you. What did the workflow in the production look like? What DAWs & hardware do you use?

SK: The workflow for this album has been so satisfying, half of it came about with me creating an 8 bar loop in Ableton, mostly using serum, getting stuck, sending the stems over to Bea, going to sleep, and waking up to find a whole beat waiting for me in our [untitled] folder that still had the exact same sound as I envisioned when I came up with the initial loop, but with this new grimey touch to it that just worked so well.

BS: I had a fuckin blast working on these beats. Some started as things for our own records—thatsaloop4ya was gonna be for mine and shell was gonna be for Shaun’s record—we’ve both got a habit of showing each other something dope, then the other instantly catching the vibe and fuckin it up. That’s what I really love about the process, I never felt any shame in having an idea. I mainly worked with FL Studio + my po-33 for some tag chops here and there. It was crazy becoming almost a co-production unit with Shaun. We really found a flow where Shaun would start something then ship it off to me and I’d absolutely demolish whatever beautiful melodies he sent. Shaun really let me feel comfortable with how nasty I like things to be. Shoutsout again to the hound. 

6. CC: What artists & existing projects (music or film) influenced the tone brought to the mic?

SK: For me, I have to say that Cyberpunk 2077 was the main influence for the general vibe of the album, But in terms of production influences, I’d credit Kumo 99’s album Body N Will, and, as embarrassing as it is to say, Grime’s 2012 album, Visions.

BS: For me, I think the works of other duos have definitely affected me. I shoutout KNEECAP directly, both the raps and their fucking amazin film that me and Shaun watched which definitely shifted the direction of the record for the better. RTJ as well, as I am a die hard for El-P. And maybe Beastie Boys’ Aglio e Olio. I think I just wanted to serve the purpose of being loud and abrasive because I thought it would really highlight Shaun's verses, but I also wanted the beats to have a more musical nature to them and I wanted the beats to really interact with the vocals—almost akin to E&A (R.I.P. Eyedea).  For film, maybe Scanners and Eraserhead. Just two films I watched during the process that really stuck with me. Scanners for its eerie sci-fi nature and grotesquerie, and Eraserhead for its insane industrial fuckin non-compliance. That movie never fucking shuts up its insane—just how noisy and uncomfortable it is—and those opening wide shots of the industrial building and everything it’s just mwah. Shaun wouldn’t know nothing about that, he fell asleep thru Eraserhead :0

7. CC: It’s clear that the two blokes have graduated from doing fuck all, now taking ownership of every aspect of their presentation. How did y’all feel confident in the isolated conception of this album? Who did y’all go to for advice & reassurance?

SK: All I really needed was Bea’s reassurance to be honest, I knew all the way through that all we really wanted to do was level up on the last album in every way we could. As long as I knew that she felt the same way, I didn’t really need anyone else's take.

BS: Yeah, for some reason this question was kinda hard 2 answer for a sec because it really didn’t feel isolated. Me and Shaun really worked side by side throughout it all and I didn’t once really feel insecure about any of it. There’s this insane level of confidence that’s formed when you’re working with someone who just constantly matches the vibe, especially when you constantly catch their vibe. It’s just this self fueling tornado that ends with a record being made. We didn’t show anyone until it was like 90% done, because I think we wanted to make something we were truly confident in. 

8. CC: Y’all met up and released multiple short videos leading up to the release of the project. How was the Chicago experience & do you think the city affected the critical subject matter of the tape?

SK: Visiting the US at such a volatile time was a real culture shock, the energy was fragile despite the fact that i didn’t see a single maga hat or encounter any of those freaks. I was hyper aware of every flaw or difference I noticed in American society. It lowkey felt like a very spiritually evil place, but I enjoyed hanging out with Bea and Zach.

BS: The weed in chicago is so good. I feel like the trip just kinda reinforced everything we were feeling at the time and still are. The dystopian nature of just these big ass towers, the trains, and the smell was insane. Constantly being like 5 miles away from a Trump tower is a bit much. Things did seem tense, but there was this really warm sense of community. We got our jumpsuits at this sweet old lady’s thrift store and they were the only two on sale, it was this crazy kismet moment. Then a week after we left that store closed. Shit like that is just crazy to me. Everything was and is volatile, but being around my friends really helped and that’s what keeps me going, and that’s what made this record. We didn’t even make much music in chicago, just kinda did fuck all. I made a few beats tho, and a few of them ended up in the interludes / skits on the record. 

9. CC: The cover art captures the energy of the album—blending the use of Photoshop & Unreal Engine to portray the dystopian scene the concept plays in was the perfect match. How did the creation of the art come about in conversations with f8restt (on Instagram)?

SK: I’m just gonna let Bea answer this one because I wasn't really involved in it like she was.

BS: Me and Forest had a lotta yapping sessions about the record, and they came up with the idea of doing the city scene in unreal and doing digital mixed media with it. I had a reference photo that looks quite similar to the final result (only shittier) that I had collaged together with images around the internet. Shaun forever ago brought me some picture of two dudes on a building and I was like, “yea that’s us,” and that was the base of the collage. I showed that to Forest, and we had talked so much about it that I just trusted them to go and they brought back what was basically the final piece. Love u Forest u crazy bastard. 

10. CC: What is next in the individual paths of the two blokes?

SK: My last solo album was my final project for University, it kinda made me hate everything about making music. But since then, through making the two blokes projects, I feel like I’ve healed and I'm so ready to tackle a solo album, I don’t know what sound I’ll be trying to achieve with it, but there are foundations in place for it and I’m very excited.

BS: I’ve been working on my next solo record since like October. It’s my first fully self produced project and I’m desperate to drop it, but I cant stop workin on it. It sounds almost nothing like this record I think it’s kinda wild, but the issue is: I keep making more dope shit I wanna throw on there and it’s probably gonna be like an hour long and so loud—just a warning. But fear not. These two blokes’ paths will cross again…

save the world by robin’s ghost & krwyn is out now everywhere. 

save the world on Bandcamp:

save the world, by krwyn x robin’s ghost

12 track album

limewire exclusive

save the world on Spotify:

Article art by: ZachJaDa

Edited by: Clementine Converse & Cinnamon Miller