Wigan musician teams up with rapper for song in support of Black Lives Matter

Tim Critchley, from Standish, wrote In This Together inspired by the international wave of protests against racial discrimination and injustice.
Tim CritchleyTim Critchley
Tim Critchley

He came up with the lyrics and music but then decided Manchester rapper TokmastiX, who he had been exchanging messages with online, was the right person to do the vocal performance.

The artists now hope their work will contribute to the discussion around the problems faced by black people, with the words calling for an end to prejudice and hatred and for more unity.

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Tim said: “I’ve been recording quite a few songs during the coronavirus pandemic and I wrote this one supporting Black Lives Matter. It’s a message that needs to get out there and this is a great time for everyone to be listening to it.

A Black Lives Matter protestA Black Lives Matter protest
A Black Lives Matter protest

“I can’t rap so I knew I wasn’t going to do that on the final song. I was talking to TokmastiX on social media and we were exchanging similar views about the protests, so I mentioned this song.

“It has been amazing to create it. When I write a song normally there are verses and choruses, so maybe 12 to 16 lines of words.

“With this there are so many words, they are delivered so fast. I think I wrote about two and a half pages of A4 just to fit it all in.

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“The lyrics are written from a very British point of view, mentioning Boris Johnson at one point. Black Lives Matter started in America but now the UK is saying we agree and we’re in this as well, so I think it works.”

Tim is known as a solo acoustic singer-songwriter and his original plan for In This Together was for it to have a vibe of artists like Gabrielle or Lionel Richie.

However, he quickly found himself writing more and more lyrics about current events and the issues they raise and eventually decided the words should be rapped.

Tim’s music has also been given a boost over lockdown as he was successful in his bid to get a copy of powerful composition tool Spitfire, which involves recordings of top-flight orchestral musicians playing notes being available as the building blocks of songs and recordings.

The track In This Together, supporting Black Lives Matter, is available now online. To find out more or download it, visit https://tokmastix.bandcamp.com/