WSTRN

Formed by two cousins and a neighborhood friend, West London trio WSTRN weave a lifetime of musical camaraderie into their R&B/pop-centric rap sound. Their first single “In2,” released in 2015, was such a viral success it drew interest from labels as well as the support of Drake. This led to a record deal with the U.K. wing of Atlantic as the song climbed up the charts. Following their first hit, WSTRN issued a series of one-off singles and remixes and the more fully formed 2018 mixtape Dou3le 3ak. WSTRN was formed by cousins Akelle Charles and Haile and their longtime friend Louis Rei. All three grew up in west London and were connected through musical ties early on, as some of their fathers played together in a reggae band. All three friends pursued music on their own, but WSTRN was born out of the trio’s first collaborative jam sessions in 2015. The group originally released “In2” under their own names, but as the song quickly caught on, they rebranded themselves WSTRN and signed to Atlantic as their debut single climbed the charts, peaking at number four on the U.K. pop charts. They issued the follow-up single “Got Love” in December of that year. The group trickled out singles over the next few years, including 2016′s “A List” as well as “Trap Love,” “Social,” and “Txtin’” in 2017. In October of 2018, Dou3le 3ak materialized, a project collecting new material and interludes in a mixtape format, offering the highest volume of music from the group to date. ~ Fred Thomas