Take a Daytrip is the present and Octavian is the future or, at least, he should be. On their new collaboration, the two meet: Take a Daytrip, the producing duo responsible for the chart hurricane known as Sheck Wess Mo Bamba, as well as Vince Stapless Home from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack, have put their talents behind the U.K.s favored son. The results show right away what a good idea that was.
Mesmerizing, intense and airless, Stressed is what happens when the unmovable force of Octavians repetitive spirit meets the sinister beats of Take a Daytrip. Octavian raps, Why you so upset/Why you so vexed/Why you upset/Why you so flex like an incantation. Each bar is a small punch that adds to a momentum that keeps pushing forward, even if its not clear where its going. To their credit, Take a Daytrip dont strive to overwhelm Octavians gruff voice. Instead, Stressed operates on a laid-back frequency where the drums and piercing synth underline the question the song sets out to answer: Why you so stressed?
Earlier this month, Octavian won BBC Musics Sound of 2019 award. Its been 16 years since a rapper won this honor last time, it was 50 Cent in 2003. A year ago I was poor, I had no money. But I was never depressed, Octavian said in an interview with BBC. I was never in the mode to give up. Around me it was bad, but I kept motivated. You can hear that determination, steady and unstressed, on a song like this.