SeeOur7 are a Hip-Hop collective of rappers, dancers, DJs and beatboxers based in the Croydon area who are also known to host their own shows, showcasing other talent from the area. We caught up with SeeOur7 member Sly to get the latest with the collective!
SDS: How have you guys been?
SeeOur7 (Sly): It's been super hectic for us but we're all managing. It was tough at first, adjusting. There's been a lot of changes, we had so much stuff cancelled and postponed and changed. It's not been a great year for anyone creative, I think. So it's been difficult but we've adapted, you know, we're just doing our best to try and keep on top of all our own personal situations as well as still collaborating and trying to do what's best for SeeOur7 and move forward. Still grateful, still thankful and staying positive.
SDS: How do you all know each other?
SeeOur7 (Sly): I guess just through the kind of artists community. Some of us know each other through dance, some of us know each other through like appearances on radio, we've all kind of met at different times. We're all local and we all have a lot of mutual friends.
SDS: Talk us through the name SeeOur7 and what does it mean?
SeeOur7 (Sly): SeeOur7 is a play on the postcode we all live or work in - the postcode CR7, which is Thornton Heath for those who don't know. Usually that postcode is associated with a kind of bad rep as it’s known to be a bit of a problematic area sometimes. But, there's a lot of amazing people from here as well, a lot of incredibly talented people and in the borough of Croydon in general. We came up with that name just to showcase that really and found it to be an interesting play on CR7. So there we are, SeeOur7. The world will see the talent and hopefully the work will speak for itself.
SDS: What was it like performing at The Ends Festival?
SeeOur7 (Sly): It was huge honestly, I think it meant a lot to all of us. It was just an amazing day, we had like the whole collective and extended family all there together. Yeah it was a very special day. We worked really hard to pull it off in quite a short time frame as well, it was just amazing to be able to say you played at the same festival as all these huge names. We all got to enjoy all the other acts across the weekend as well. There were some crazy highlights, you know, seeing NAS, Damian Marley, discovering all these new artists. Iit was just a great reward for a lot of the hard work where sometimes it's really not very fun. It's a lot of just grinding, communicating and sometimes arguing - just trying to solve problems together. That can be really stressful sometimes, so this was a super, super great achievement I think for us! We're looking forward to more festival bookings!
SDS: You guys also put on events right? Tell us about them and why you put them on?
SeeOur7 (Sly): So we had our first SeeOur7 show because one of our members (Locks Myth) was having an EP launch and the shows kind of formed out of that idea. There just weren't any shows for artists locally, all the stuff that goes on, goes on in London. So we just really wanted to have a platform for local artists and musicians. But it's not just music, we have visual artist and we have painters too. At the end of the show, the piece that they're showing throughout the show gets sold in a raffle, we play games to the audience, it's just like a really interesting kind of format. It's just not your average gig. We put them on for that reason really, just to give people a platform. We're kind of doing more event production work now, we've worked with Timberland and Loyle Carner. We're gonna be working with Croydon Voluntary Action Centre as well, helping programme for Croydon Carnival
SDS: What else is happening next for SeeOur7?
SeeOur7 (Sly): At the moment is just readjusting and reorganising really. We've got a lot of really exciting things lined up, they've just all been pushed back. It's tough to say what's next in any chronological sense, but in a general sense we can say: really good content, a whole bunch of cool editorial/fashion collaborations, some work with the Council on kind of what to do with culture in the area - so I guess kind of like consulting and then hopefully once things clear up a bit in terms of public health, some event production again and some event work.
Can you sum up Croydon in three words?
SeeOur7 (Sly): Colourful urban jungle.
Check out SeeOur7 on instagram to keep up to date with what they're up to!