DC makes music that’s honest

After a ten minute wait for the cruise Wi-Fi to connect us, DC jumps on call from somewhere near the Caribbean, en-route to the Bahamas. His best guess is Cuba, but when he turns the camera around all you can see is blue water and bright horizons, a far cry from the grey London views that populate his music videos.

DC (short for Dock City) has been in the UK rap scene for a decade now, first creating waves with his freestyle ‘Gleamin’, before throwing himself into music full time. Throughout our chat, he often refers to the concept of “honesty”. This openness shows through his lyrics as much as through his demeanour. Speaking in a calm tone and a slow cadence, it’s immediately clear the rapper is open to having a conversation about anything: family, money, the places that shaped him. Without exception, I see an artist willing to jump from topic to topic, whether complaining about a disappointing degree or smiling in praise of his favourite football team, who DC cites as, “the only correct answer, Arsenal”.

With humble beginnings and a humble attitude, DC is riding the hype around his new tune, ‘Paper Planes’ into promising new territory, alongside long- term collaborator TSB. And if his plans come to fruition, we’ll be seeing him take on more stages in 2026, and fingers crossed “a little tour”, too.

Francesca Ionescu: What’s your elevator pitch?

DC: I make music that’s honest. I like to experiment with different sounds and push myself in terms of speaking on different life experiences. There might be some things that some might not be comfortable to speak about outside of music but it’s a real, relatable, raw. Experiment.

FI: Do you think your background has pushed you to want these harder conversations?

DC: You see, I’m an only child, so really I just grew up around adults and it definitely had an impact on how I relay information. As well, my relationship with my mom is quite honest, so from home I’ve always been able to speak my mind and speak about how I feel and I think that’s translated into my music.

“Music was definitely not the plan.”

FI: Was music always the plan, or did your experimental nature apply to your career choices?

DC: Oh, music was definitely not the plan, I didn’t even know I wanted to do it. I wanted to play football, played it most of my life and when I had opportunities to do it, it didn’t work out. I felt a bit deflated, and I went to university to buy myself some time, live away from home. In fairness, I did write music throughout college, and I listened to rap as a hobby, recording my own songs in the studio but very low quality. Then, while I was trying to figure things out in uni, I wrote a freestyle, posted it on Twitter and it kind of went viral. I thought, Cool, let me record this properly. And since that had a good response, I kept going and ever since I’ve been in it.

FI: Did you end up finishing your course?

DC: I really hated uni, so I dropped out before my final exam. I luckily got a deal with Virgin, and as soon as I signed that paper I was out of there.

FI: Looking at how you’ve grown as an artist, and with the theme of your new single ‘Paper Planes’ being, well, about paper, do you find you view money differently now?

DC: I don’t even think it’s about growth, as much as it’s about getting older — realising that you can’t do much in life without money. But I’ve never been all about it. For my future personal life, I’m focused on getting money in a righteous way. I want it to fund my experiences and how I want to live my life, but I don’t want it to be my life.

FI: With the song marking a collaboration between you and TSB, with more to come, what usually draws you to a track?

DC: I need something with a good groove, something to get my head moving. I rap about very real things and my delivery is quite monotone. I’m not shouting, so the music has to do the work. It has to be fun.

“I’ve always been able to speak my mind and speak about how I feel and I think that’s translated into my music.”