FelixThe1st is all about purpose

FelixThe1st is wholly about the art. TikTok views, impressing label execs, and quick passing trends are not something he concerns himself with. He just wants his music to find the right people. “I would rather there be six people [listening] in their bedroom that are dealing with some hard shit in their life like, ‘Yo, this song saved me, this song has helped me express things I didn’t know I had,’” he begins, pacing around his home.

“Everything I do now, I’m thinking of the purpose. Is there a possibility for this to matter in five years? That’s the main thing for me: longevity and creating a legacy… God willing, in a couple of years, this will mean something.”

You may have already heard Felix on the viral hit Own Brand Freestyle, but if that’s where you stopped listening then you’re missing out on a whole lot more. His debut project, I Hope You Never Fit In, goes to a much deeper place. Slurring together grunge, bedroom pop and shoegaze, it delves into love, heartache, the tumultuous push and pull of figuring out life in your 20s, and being a work in progress.

“There are lessons in this tape,” he declares. “Lessons of sitting on things for too long, not knowing what you’ve got when it’s there. Also just realising your own worth and knowing that you don’t need anybody else to validate your feelings. We’re human, and you might say one thing tomorrow, but it’s not impossible for you to contradict yourself the next day.”

Felix got his start in the industry by earning a scholarship for a performing arts school, where he went on to become a dancer. He was already touring with artists and working in his field as soon as he left at just 16, and with such an early start in the performance industry, he says he began to feel “complacent”. He wanted to feel a little out of his depth, so he took to making music of his own.

Although this project acts as an introductory snapshot into the mind of Felix, he’s certainly taken charge of the visual aspects of his music so far. The cover art for this project sees him hanging upside down from a bridge over a busy road in Paris, a concept pulled off with help from visual designer Neptunes. “The cover itself really just feels timeless. Not to pat my own back!” he laughs.

Visuals are important to Felix. A key part of his live persona is stage make-up, inspired by both wrestlers and music icons such as David Bowie, KISS and even Slipknot, “[I thought], ‘What can I do so when it’s time for a show, I don’t feel like me anymore?’ It wasn’t even, ‘I need to do something to stand out or be different,’ it was, ‘What can I do to help myself believe that I’m not that same dancer trying to make music?’”

Now is the time to get to know Felix. It’s clear to see the creative cogs are perpetually whirring behind his eyes, and there’s many more layers to his artistry to come. “I’m letting people know from the beginning that I’m not trying to be put in any boxes,” he says. “Which is corny as fuck, but I want people to know that I’m kind of going to do whatever I feel.”

I Hope You Never Fit In is out now. You can catch Felix in Leeds at Headrow House on March 22, and the Blues Kitchen in Manchester on April 25.

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