The Poundland Boys are a North London comedy rap duo consisting of Ethan and Jack, both aged 16. Over the past year, they have gained popularity on social media. Their songs are of a satirical nature, usually about surprisingly ordinary topics which one would not think to rap about.
I interviewed them on video call, to try and determine the motivations behind their musical ventures. How did they meet in the first place?
“Jack and I have known each other since we were nine,” Ethan said, “After then, Jack moved out of London, but we remained good friends.”
Ethan and Jack were both originally based in Palmers Green, but only Ethan remained.
Making music isn’t exactly easy. So what motivated the duo to begin?
“You know the artist, Jimothy Lacoste?” Ethan inquired, “Basically, we were in Jack’s room a couple years ago, listening to Jimothy Lacoste, and we thought, ‘You know what? We can do that.’”
“A lot of people don’t know this,” Jack interjected, “but Ethan and I have been making music since we were in Year 6. We tried making a film together as well, but none of it was that good.”
“Yeah, the music we were making back then was really bad. Like if you look at [our early track] CDs, it’s pretty awful. But that was one of the first less-bad ones. Since then, we’ve got better and better.”
“Also, if you look at our earlier tracks like CDs, it doesn’t have any mention of the name Poundland Boys. At the time, we didn’t really know we were going to release these, or even form an official band,” Jack revealed, “Ethan just opened the music programme, and we imitated the styles of various rap artists. Then, he did a verse in Hebrew, I did a verse in Japanese, and that’s how it all started.
“At the time, there was no Big Tent Films. All we had was a small tripod, and it felt so odd—everyone was watching us when we were filming.”
“Yeah, we were quite awkward back then,” Ethan said, “I mean, I’m still kind of awkward, but a couple years ago, we were both really shy. Until [recent track] Condiment Factory, we hadn’t had a single other person in the production process. It was just us, and a camera.”
Ethan and Jack are both bilingual, and share an interest in video production, with the former being one of the founding members of Big Tent Films—a small company which has produced several award-winning short films.
Poundland Boys is a rather interesting name for a rap duo. How was it conceived?
“We were in a train, arguing about what to call it,” Jack said, “There were several comedic ideas, usually involving grocery shops, like Tesco Expression. Eventually, we decided to call it Poundland Boys.”
Sharing musical content on social media can have a wide reach. Did the Poundland Boys receive any surprising attention?
Jack answered, “I was walking down the street this one time, and this little kid just shouted at me, ‘Is that the Poundland boy?’ I felt like a celebrity.
“We’re not exactly famous,” Ethan spoke, “but it’s nice to know that people we know like it, as well as some other people.”
“Some people know all the words of our songs, which is crazy. We’re admired by some people whom we’ve never met, and we even have a fan account on Instagram.”
