BEMZ will drop his latest EP this month in the form of Saint of Lost Causes.

The rapper has laid down six tracks, featuring collaborations with Cold North, Paque, Kobi Onyame, Oyakhire and Hamz.

Three of the songs – Bando 2 Studio, Flex and Suddenly – were released earlier on in 2020 as singles.

The EP has been a labour of love for Bemz who had been toiling for the best part of two years to complete the release.

"It was long overdue," he tells The Weekender. "It took me two years to bring together six that I am extremely proud of and feel it explains who I am and gives a small insight of the journey I've been on the last two years.

"I was kind of nervous about releasing music," he adds. "I hid behind my insecurities and masked it as being a perfectionist. But once I realised that, I knew I had to drop something.

"My last tape was met with good reception, but it wasn't where I thought it should be and where I could be, so I really took my time with this.

"The reception for each song [this year] has been amazing, better than anything I had received in all my previous years.

"A win for me with the tape is to get as much attention to myself and a lot of the artists and producers on it. If I can gain even one new fan, that to me is a win. If the other guys gain a fan or even more work, then that's a win for me."

Bemz is based out of Glasgow now but carved a named for himself in Ayrshire where he really began his musical journey in his teens and into his early 20s.

He continues: "Music is something that I grew up around and has always been part of who I am. But to create it was more experimental – like, let's see if I can do it.

"I used to rap with my older brother when I was little, but it was for laughs.

"At first it was the beats that got to me so would always try go over my best ones and work on my flow then it was the rhymes. Once the flow was mastered, I had to master my word play, etc.

"Storytelling was important, too, as I was able to convey a lot of my emotions through music. It was therapeutic. It was also a way to paint a picture for people to try see things from my perspective."

The UK rap scene is, unsurprisingly, centred around London. Efforts have been made to promote the talent north of the border – with Ransom among those trying to grow the Aberdeen scene – but it has been difficult for Scottish artists to attract interest from down south.

Bemz adds: "Unfortunately, it's a tough situation to be in… My vision is to make me a known name within Scotland and also network with Scottish artists.

"For there to be attention on Glasgow, there needs to be a scene where there isn't any jealousy or anything like that but a scene where everyone wants to win together. With that, Scotland will be able to move forward.

"As a scene if we keep making good music, make enough noise and support each other, then everywhere else won't have a choice but to show love to the talent that is here."

"My next step is to release the video for Flex then quarantine freestyle, so that should see me off for the year.

"I've got a few featured tracks to come out but I'm already working on the follow-up EP.

"I have set a standard and I have to do better than that for the next one. But I hope I can release it some point next year."

Saint of Lost Causes will be available from October 28.