After the huge reaction to previous singles ‘Eat The Rich’, ‘Move The World’ and ‘Little Brother’, at BBC Radio 1, Kerrang! Radio and across the media, PENGSHUi have released yet another absolute banger, “Break The Law’, this time with a very special guest in the form of UK Grime Legend P Money.
Speaking of the track, PENGSHUi MC Illaman said, “When I first heard the instrumental of ‘Break The Law’ at Greenmount Studios after Fatty and Prav had tracked it, I got goosebumps. It was one of the first tracks I remember hearing back and thinking “fuck, this one is going to pop off live”. The end section still gives me goosebumps and I’m gonna be hard-pressed not to use all my energy up in that section alone!
Having P Money on this track is a massive deal for us. P is a legend and in my top 3 of all UK MC’s. A powerful voice in UK music that sends cannonball size shells at beats and anyone coming against him. Not gonna lie, I was a little nervous but I think we have created an absolute monster that is going to do some damage live. I feel sorry for the people in the pit already.
When asked about what the track means, Illaman said “ ‘Break The Law’ is about breaking the rules and breaking down the walls we sometimes confine ourselves to. It feels like an anthem for the people that have had enough, enough of being lied to by those in power. Those that have had enough of holding themselves back. The energy feels punk but still has that grime edge. I can’t wait for people to hear this one. It feels anthemic to me.”
“We want your fucking chest to rattle,” says PENGSHUi drummer Pravvy Prav. “If your chest isn’t rattling, then it’s not good enough.” There couldn’t be much more of a perfect manifesto for PENGSHUi than that. Their self-titled 2020 debut was a riveting soundclash of punk, grime, dub and drum ‘n’ bass – with a DIY attitude of no-fucks-given while bringing rage to the rave. Since their first single ‘Control’ in 2018, they’ve won fans across genres, from JME to Enter Shikari, and were even invited to remix fellow firestarters The Prodigy.
Gathering major support from the likes of BBC Radio 1, Kerrang! Radio, Metal Hammer, Kerrang! Magazine and more, PENGSHUi are on the rise. The trio’s molotov cocktail of sound is born of the different cultures the trio hail from. Prav originally grew up as a heavy metal kid in Dubai before mixing it up by DJing jungle and drum ‘n’ bass in his teens. Guitarist Fatty grew up in Blackpool before studying jazz in Leeds and forming the Ninja Tune-signed Submotion Orchestra and going on to play with the likes of grime duo Newham Generals and P Money. Frontman and MC Illaman meanwhile, had his tastes formed while surrounded by the reggae music his Jamaican grandfather would play on his council estate in West London, before finding himself surrounded by the worlds of pirate radio, rap, rude boys and skaters. His genre-smashing first band Flict would support Skindred and work with members of Cypress Hill during their nine years together, before meeting his PENGSHUi bandmates when all three were working as session musicians and their twisted alchemy would come together on Fatty’s boat on the River Lea. That was where they became who they were always meant to be.
“We grew out of the dubstep scene and we were all playing in those raves, we knew what worked,” says Fatty. “We knew how to recreate those sounds but had also grown up playing in metal bands so we could merge things in a way that was authentic to both sides of the spectrum.”
Illaman agrees: “We’ve all been around the block. Now it’s about doing what we love. It’s this combination of everything that we genuinely love. The thing I’ve been told a lot was, ‘You found your home’. I like shouting. When I’m hosting for Flux Pavillion or working with Goldie, I take a different approach as it’s someone else set. These tunes rile me in another way, I can’t do what I do with PENGSHUi with those guys, PENGSHUi is 100% me.”
That desire is written all over the group’s sound, a feisty combination of genres that’s attracting a fast-growing fanbase. Since forming in 2018, PENGSHUi have dropped a critically acclaimed debut album, the trio have released multiple cult singles, and won a Kerrang! Radio Fresh Blood competition for a slot at Download Festival and bagged appearances at Glastonbury and Boomtown festivals.
The band are currently putting the final touches on their forthcoming sophomore album… more on that very soon.