Brighton-born British rapper ArrDee — Riley Davies — has released a new single Hello Mate, in which he features his compatriot Kyla Reid. It is Arrdee’s first single since his debut mixtape Pier Pressure was released in March this year.
In Hello Mate, ArrDee samples Kyla’s Do You Mind, in which she collaborated with Crazy Cousinz back in 2008. It wasn’t until 2016 that Do You Mind attained global recognition after the Canadian rapper Drake sampled it in his international hit One Dance, featuring Nigeria’s Wizkid.
In Hello Mate, ArrDee delivers upbeat rap verses, a fine counterbalance to Kyla’s silky melodies. His message is clear: life is one snaky highway and he doesn’t plan on taking his feet off the gas. You see this in the music video accompanying the song: ArrDee takes a road trip with a moll dressed up and wielding a baseball bat like Harley Quinn of the DC Comics. The road trip is rich in capers and playful mayhem. Nigerians will see a similarity in the video and the one Meji Alabi shot for Davido’s Nwa Baby in 2018.
Directed by Arrdee’s close friend Alfie Cauty, the Hello Mate video is minimalist: little bling-bling, its only grandeur being the setting it chooses: sun-spangled Ibiza, one of Spain’s archipelagos known for its bubbly nightlife and electronic dance music. The choice fits nicely with Hello Mate’s temperament: a happy location for a happy song.
ArrDee, now 19 and currently signed to Island Records, released his first single Oliver Twist in 2021. His first major breakthrough came in the same year after he landed a feature in the remix of the song Body by Russ Millions and Tion Wayne.