says Labrinth of making Imagination. Since
breaking out in 2010, the artist born Timothy
Lee McKenzie has established himself as
something of a household name in the United
Kingdom. His BRIT Award-winning work
with Tinie Tempah, along with a slate of U.K.
chart-topping singles from his debut, brought
Labrinth fast success, but he was put off by
the touring and marketing demands that came
with it. Instead, he focused on crafting hits for
others. A greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts
production style straddling electronica, hip-
hop and R&B earned him a reputation as an
artist’s artist and pop secret weapon, leading
to collaborations with the likes of The Weeknd,
Noah Cyrus, Kygo, Eminem and Nicki Minaj.
“Producers, writers, anyone that has worked
with him thinks he’s one of the biggest
innovators in the industry,” says Syco Music
managing director Tyler Brown, who has worked
with Labrinth for the past nine years. “Now the
general public is starting to realize that.” So,
too, is Labrinth himself. On Imagination, he’s
channeling his talents toward bottling the very
pop lightning he long helped forge for other
artists. Employing a sound he describes as
“Nina Simone and Ray Charles on Kraftwerk,
with trap,” it’s also a concept album of sorts,
relating the semiautobiographical journey of a
kid selling his imagination to a businessman.
That such a record, which includes three of
the songs featured in Euphoria, could finally
position him for mainstream success is a
possibility he’s ready to embrace.
“The biggest challenge for me is to not get
distracted by success,” says Labrinth. “Every
pothole that I’ve put a seed in, it’s moving into
its own experience, and somehow they’re all
growing into one garden that’s eventually
looking beautiful to me.” —ANDREA DOMANICKPREVIEW 2019
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