MM Exclusive: Window Kid Interviewed

Rooted in UK rave culture and driven by sharp lyricism and off-the-cuff humour, Nottingham-born MC Window Kid is steadily accelerating his way to the very pinnacles of the music industry across the world. A product of the UK underground and drum and bass scene and rising through the Midlands circuit with clashes, radio sets and a series of standout tracks, he has carved a distinctive lane that fuses grime, bassline, garage and rave-infused hip-hop into something uniquely his own.

Rather than chasing trends, Window Kid’s music reflects the lived realities and spirited chaos of UK youth culture, making him unpredictable, compelling, and intergenerationally relatable. Over the past year, he’s taken that momentum to new heights with a run of buzzworthy releases. In June, he linked with producer Toddla T on ‘Rambling Bars‘, a playful, tongue-in-cheek banger that racked up hundreds of thousands of streams and reignited conversation about his versatile pen game. More recently, he dropped ‘Folklore‘, a high-energy single crafted with multi-platinum producer Shapes that riffs on rave culture with infectious hooks and bold production.

Beyond the music, 2025 has been a milestone year for Window Kid both on and off the mic. He’s been nominated (and won) recognition from DJ Mag in the Best MC/Vocalist category, spotlighting his impact on the UK scene as he sells out headline shows and a major UK tour. Today further marks the announcement of Window Kid’s Australia & New Zealand tour, where he will be performing seven shows in February 2026.

In this Mixtape Madness interview, we sit down with Window Kid to unpack his latest thirteen-date sold-out tour, the evolution of his sound, and how he’s balancing creative ambition with the wider realities of life in music, continuing to solidify his position as one of British rap’s most distinctive and entertaining voices.

How was the thirteen-date tour you’ve just wrapped up? 

Ahh man, it was the best three weeks of my life. It was so much fun. It was so good to meet everyone, and I’ve never had so much energy from a crowd before in my life. It felt like I had a full-on following coming around the country with me. It was amazing.

What City was the best/your favourite from the tour? 

It’s going to have to be Nottingham. It was so big, there were about 1300 people. Obviously, it’s my hometown and my biggest ever solo show. It’s what I had always dreamt of. I’ve got to give it to Leeds and Manchester cause they were absolutely nuts, but the hometown show was just so special.

What was the biggest challenge you faced while touring (if any), and did this shape your performances in any way?

The most difficult part was keeping my voice. The first week I lost it about two to three days in. I came down to do the show in London and it really put me off. I was on stage and I just felt really down… I was almost in a bad mood on stage because I could feel my voice going. We still smashed the show, and got to meet everyone after which was great. But after that, I knew I had to go to a private doctor and figure out what to do. They had me on medication and a vocal steamer. I had to stay super hydrated and do loads of vocal exercises as well – but once I did all of this, I kept it perfect for every other show.

Has this tour inspired any new music or ideas that weren’t there before? 

I think it’s weirdly inspired me to make way more YouTube videos. After meeting all the fans, it’s made me realise that people really love the YouTube videos so much. It’s actually inspired me to take a short time off from music and put some time into making some content. Musically, though, it made me realise that people really like my more chilled out garage songs, more lyrical and more storytelling – I’m definitely inspired to make more tracks like that now.

You dropped a new track a few weeks ago with Shapes… how has the reaction to that been so far and was it what you expected? Did it go off on the tour? 

Getting the reaction off Basement Jaxx originally, who let us use the sample and told us they really liked it, that blew me away straight away. I wasn’t sure how it was going to connect after Rambling Bars and Cardigan did so well – I thought to myself, “surely I can’t bang out three in a row?” Shapes has done such a good production that it completely blows your head off when it drops… I’ve let the beat speak and chucked some bars on it. No mad storyline, grime bars mainly… and everyone was screaming the lyrics back to me on tour.

I mean you’ve been doing your thing for a hot minute now, with your discography stretching back to 2017. How do you reflect on your 2025 as a whole musically? 

You know what I’m like… I don’t really drop that much music. To be doing so well and selling out a UK tour is great to me. I’m in the middle of writing an album, so I’m working, of course, I just haven’t released too much – I’ve always been a quality over quantity guy.

You’ve just won Best MC at the DJ Mag Awards – how does it feel to receive such an accolade and recognition for your hard work? 

It doesn’t feel really, especially when I’m up against Sox, who is one of my best friends and, as far as I’m concerned, one of the best MCs in the world. To be on a lineup with him and the other names, like Micofcourse and the others, to actually win it proves my following really have my back and are helping to push me forward. I’ve never won an award, never won anything like that, my whole life. I’m more excited about the award than I was about the tour, probably.

You’ve been very open about your health issues and your journey in sobriety. Coming off tour as well, there are often links drawn between alcohol and the adrenaline from live performances and crowd interaction, transitionally relative to the moment you are on the stage to the moment you walk off. I wondered how challenging it was to transition to performing sober and whether you still find it challenging in any aspect? 

I actually prefer performing sober. I get to embrace it, feel it more, remember it. I get to put on a better performance. All in all, I get along with doing shows sober way more than I thought I would. For about ten years, I was getting absolutely bladdered and off my nut at every show. That transition was actually fine, and it’s something that I enjoy performing sober now. It’s the day-to-day drinking I struggle with, not doing – going to the pub with your mates and festive activities. It’s that stuff that I’ve struggled with a lot more.

Your TikTok caption from your post yesterday was really quite moving… “Anything’s possible. I was on my deathbed bed addicted to drugs and alcohol a year ago. Now I have just sold out 2 UK tours in 1 year whilst still in recovery”. Can you just reflect on that for a minute – it must be largely overwhelming at times, but something you are incredibly proud of? 

Yeah – I’m very proud of myself, and it gets me very emotional now as it’s still such a tender subject. I’m genuinely just so happy to be alive, and I am technically still in recovery, so I do have urges, and I do struggle a bit with it. A lot of people in this life have struggles, albeit different or similar, it’s all relative. I’m just trying to put one foot in front of another each day, and do what I can to make everyone and my family proud and try and stick around for as long as possible.

When you think about 2026, what excites you most about where your music could go next?

Hopefully, there might be an album ready for 2026. I’ve been in the studio with a lot of huge names that I can’t really say right now, but some of the collaborations are going to surprise everyone a lot. I’ve already gone past the stage of what I feel is successful to me – everything else from now is a bonus. I’m embracing every day, not planning everything too much – make music and entertain people.

And, would it be wrong to assume you feel like you are now making the best music you have ever made?

Yeah, there’s a lot more clarity in my mind, my voice and my art. It’s made me a lot more of an open book. Before, I felt like I was going to the studio and forcing songs that were about getting fucked. Songs that were just made for the raves. Now, I want to make songs for the cars, the back of the bus headphones. I want to talk about everything. I knew I could lyrically write about these things, but I didn’t know that people would want to hear it. Now, I look forward to expressing this side more.

I close off my interviews asking everyone a deep, philosophical and personally meaningful question to try and evoke some real thought. I wondered if you may share, what is the meaning of life to you right now, and has it changed over the years? 

The meaning of life for me is to try and make everyone else happy, and that then reflect’s back to you. I like knowing that I’m going round making people laugh, dance, and entertain. I get good Karma and everything seems to reflect back in my direction. I get to earn a living from it too.

Now I’m off the drink and off the drugs, I’m a lot better company. A lot less of a nightmare. I can be there for everyone. That makes everyone else happy, and in turn, that makes me happy. It’s all about spreading happiness.

Over the years, my happiness was always just getting off my nut, but now I’ve had to find something more within. And I’m nearly there…