Sixteen-year-old South London rapper LeoStayTrill stops by to let VIPER know all about his best moment on stage and other highlights from his career so far…

What five words define your sound? 

Creative, free, fun, experimental and unorthodox. 

Tell me something unique about your creative process.

I like to be experimental with the pockets I hit with my voice, regardless how weird or different it sounds. Some things I do can be an ear worm, but the more creative the better if you can pull it off correctly. 

Which song of yours would you like people to hear first? 

‘Honeybun’ or ‘8AM freestyle’.

What inspired you to make that song? 

‘Honeybun’ didn’t really have much inspiration, it just happened to be another song I made where I was just being myself and I wrote it without caring what other people would think about it. 

What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?

To be honest I haven’t been that vulnerable when making music, I’ve just allowed myself to make music that relates to everybody. 

What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage? 

My best experience was performing with loads of people on stage and my was mum in the crowd. My worst experience on stage is whenever I’m not on stage. 

What is your favourite song to perform?

‘Honeybun’.

Which artist/song/album made you want to make music? 

I had a lot of different artist phases that made me want to make music and to name a few were: Fetty Wap, Drake, Migos, Dave and Young Thug.

What’s the meaning behind your name? 

Leo is my middle name and staying “Trill” is staying true to yourself and real to others. 

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead? 

Probably trying to get into real estate, anything except the education system to be honest. 

What’s success to you? 

Success to me is taking the necessary steps to get closer towards your goals. Success is never just the end result.

What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction? 

When I saw that nobody was taking me in or answering my messages when I was looking for opportunities, I had to go ten times harder. I never changed direction, I just found it and stuck to it. 

Where can people keep in touch with you?

Instagram – @leostaytrill

TikTok – @leostaytrill