Leeds-based and of British-Ghanaian-Danish descent, rising rapper ATO (pronounced: atu) follows his recent Flohio remix of 2021 Side A’s introspective banger ‘no caroline’ with his latest offering ‘COLD’ via MCMXCV. Putting his identity as a northern rapper from Leeds front and centre, over an emotive yet ominous stevexcooper produced beat, ATO muses about the exclusive nature of the London scene and his everyday frustrations.
Dropping alongside the single today is an Untold Studios Production, Eve Mahoney directed video that compliments the fast pace energy of the song. Sporadic moments of luminar mish mash interspersed with performance shots of ATO mirror his stream of consciousness and according to ATO “gives weight to the feeling behind the bars”.
Speaking on the single, ATO says: “COLD is a stream of consciousness that addresses my everyday vexations. As an outsider from Leeds, I find the industry politics and exclusive nature of the London scene a bit weird. I wanted to express who I am against the backdrop of these frustrations.
I was working on some other music at the time but was feeling to get a few of these things off my chest, so I hit stevexcooper for something I could rap over… He sent a beat titled ‘reflections’ and the energy was perfect. I wrote the verses that night intended for a freestyle and then ended up adding the COLD hook later.”
Check out ATO’s video for ‘Cold’ below…
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