BRASS MEETS BARS: AMY TRUE AND SHE’S GOT BRASS BRING A BOLD NEW SOUND FOR LONDON’S JAZZ-HIP-HOP MOVEMENT

By Rishma • On Interviews

In the ever-evolving sound­scape of London’s under­ground music scene, col­lab­or­a­tion often leads to the most excit­ing artist­ic break­throughs. That’s exactly what happened when sharp-tongued lyr­i­cist Amy True joined forces with all-female brass col­lect­ive She’s Got Brass (SGB). The res­ult? A bold, brass-laced reima­gin­ing inspired by Butcher Brown’s Triple Trey / How Much a Dol­lar Cost, blend­ing live instru­ment­a­tion, jazz-infused rhythms, and poet­ic, power­ful lyricism.

This isn’t just a one-off col­lab, it’s the start of some­thing deep­er, rooted in mutu­al respect, shared val­ues, and a love for genre-bend­ing creation.

Although this is their first recor­ded col­lab­or­a­tion, the con­nec­tion between Amy True and SGB’s founder Deanna goes back years.

“We’d crossed paths loads of times on the grass­roots music cir­cuit,” Amy shares. “I met Deanna through Desta French, and I’ve always rated what she does. She’s Got Brass felt like such a power­ful force—so when the oppor­tun­ity came up, it was just the right time.”

For Deanna, this was more than just a cre­at­ive decision, it was a mission.

“I’ve always looked up to Amy, not just as a rap­per but as a per­son. Her energy, her pres­ence, it’s some­thing I’ve admired for ages. When I star­ted SGB, I knew it was about build­ing bridges between women who’ve been doing dope things but maybe haven’t had the plat­form to con­nect. Amy was top of my list.”

Their first real link-up came dur­ing a Grime & Grind gig at Hop King­dom, an indoor skate­park in South Lon­don. SGB per­formed grime clas­sics arranged for a live brass band, while MCs spit fire over the top. Deanna invited Amy to jump in and hold the mic, and in return, prom­ised a col­lab­or­a­tion. That prom­ise became real­ity in Decem­ber 2024.

When it came time to craft the song, Amy chose a reima­gin­ing of Butcher Brown’s take on How Much a Dol­lar Cost, bring­ing soul, jazz, and hip-hop into one shared orbit. “I picked the instru­ment­al based on how it made me feel,” Amy says. “When a beat unlocks some­thing in my mind, I just roll with it. And I knew the band would kill it.”

Deanna ran with the idea, arran­ging the parts for SGB’s ten-piece lineup. “Amy gave me the free­dom to do what I needed with the horns. That trust made the pro­cess flow so smoothly. Organ­ising ten musi­cians isn’t easy, but we were effi­cient and focused.”

The track was recor­ded in true DIY fash­ion: at a band member’s house, with SGB lay­ing down the instru­ment­a­tion live before Amy added her vocals. “The vibe was just right,” Amy recalls. “I came in, plugged into the energy they’d built, and it all came together.”

Amy’s lyr­ic­al approach is as intro­spect­ive as it is polit­ic­al. Draw­ing from her upbring­ing in Craw­ley and the wider pres­sures of mod­ern soci­ety, she explores themes of sur­veil­lance, over­con­sump­tion, and iden­tity. “This one’s about being aware of your sur­round­ings and even more, being aware of your­self. What we put into our bod­ies, what we accept from the world, and how we define who we are.”

The res­ult is a track that feels raw and hon­est, elev­ated by the grandeur of SGB’s brass arrange­ments. “Amy’s flow is crazy,” says Deanna. “She knew exactly when to pause, when to ride the beat, and how to bring out mean­ing in the smal­lest details. Zaz and Car­my Love came in to emphas­ize some of her lines, and it just clicked.”

The live feel of the record­ing adds to its impact. “You can feel the push and pull of human energy in it,” Amy adds. “It’s not over­pro­duced or pol­ished, it’s real.”

The track sits with­in a wider renais­sance in London’s jazz scene, where genre bound­ar­ies are dis­solv­ing and exper­i­ment­a­tion reigns. Acts like Ezra Col­lect­ive, Kokoroko, and TC & The Groove Fam­ily are carving out space for bold, brass-driv­en com­pos­i­tions and SGB are proudly car­ry­ing that torch forward.

“There’s so much going on right now in Lon­don,” says Deanna. “It feels like we’re on the edge of some­thing massive. And being horn-led in a scene that’s finally giv­ing space to instru­ment­al­ists again? That’s power­ful. Espe­cially as a female col­lect­ive, we’re not just par­ti­cip­at­ing in the scene, we’re help­ing shape it.”

Amy agrees: “We’re evolving, but the roots stay the same. It’s about hon­our­ing the found­a­tion — jazz, soul, hip-hop and fus­ing that with the present. With your lived experience.”

The accom­pa­ny­ing music video, shot dur­ing the record­ing ses­sion, cap­tures more than just a performance—it doc­u­ments the pro­cess of cre­ation, the camarader­ie, and the unspoken chem­istry between collaborators.

“We didn’t plan much,” Deanna explains. “We just filmed the day. But when we looked back at the foot­age, it told a story, of unity, growth, and shared pur­pose. Every­one put their heart into it. No egos, no hier­archy. Just a bunch of people tun­ing into each other.”

That organ­ic feel is what makes the video res­on­ate so deeply. “You see us tired, laugh­ing, cre­at­ing, vibing,” says Amy. “It’s more than a music video, it’s a doc­u­ment of some­thing real.”

Both Amy and SGB are clear: this isn’t a one-and-done. “Oh, there’ll be more,” Deanna says.

“We want to do more tracks with Amy, recre­ate more hip-hop moments, or maybe just build some­thing totally ori­gin­al from scratch. There might even be mul­tiple col­labs on one track, who knows!”

Amy is equally enthu­si­ast­ic: “I love what SGB stand for — com­munity, col­lab­or­a­tion, strength. So yeah, more will come.”

In a city brim­ming with son­ic innov­a­tion, this col­lab­or­a­tion is a shin­ing example of what hap­pens when artists lead with trust, respect, and a shared hun­ger to push the cul­ture forward.

This isn’t just a song. It’s a move­ment in motion.

 

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Rishma

Edit­or / PR Con­sult­ant at No Bounds
Rishma Dhali­w­al has extens­ive exper­i­ence study­ing and work­ing in the music and media industry. Hav­ing writ­ten a thes­is on how Hip Hop acts as a social move­ment, she has spent years research­ing and con­nect­ing with artists who use the art form as a tool for bring­ing a voice to the voiceless.

About Rishma

Rishma Dhaliwal has extensive experience studying and working in the music and media industry. Having written a thesis on how Hip Hop acts as a social movement, she has spent years researching and connecting with artists who use the art form as a tool for bringing a voice to the voiceless.