South London-based music collective Victory Lap‘s mission has always been to establish a space for the ever-growing UK hip-hop scene — and its distinct youth community to co-exist.
“My goal was to create a platform for my friends and the music we love. Since then, it’s snowballed into an ever-growing community,” says Victory Lap co-founder and Photographer Joseph McDermott. “It’s all about creating spaces where we can open the radio show up to the public and the audience can see it for themselves and feel apart of it.”
This past year has been exceptionally important for the community of Victory Lap. At the start of the summer, they surprised everyone with a series of freestyles by Dave, Central Cee and others from the group, including UK Cult hero Niko B. This hour-long session was the only media rollout for the surprise, chart-topping EP Split Decision.
As the EP hit number one on the UK charts and had the biggest opening weekend of 2023, it became apparent that much of the album’s buzz came through Victory Lap. For months after the release, viral moments of Dave and Cench free-styling over a range of drill, trap, and grime beats circulated TikTok, and a clip of Niko B from his “Love Island Freestyle” eventually received a Drake cosign.
Last month, fans of Victory Lap got to see all of their favorite members featured in the Supreme x Popeye lookbook. In anticipation of the upcoming collaboration with Japanese magazine Popeye, Supreme partnered with Photographer Bolade Banjo and the Victory Lap crew, among others, for a shoot that encapsulated the underground UK youth culture that Victory Lap is at the epicenter of.
Many of the members of Victory Lap have used this buzz to promote their own projects, most notably rapper Rushy, whose single “Pressure” has spent the last few months circling social media as one of the most viral tracks of the year. It’s not just rap, though. The Victory Lap team runs deep with photographers, producers, musicians and videographers — making up one of the most cohesive, passion-oriented groups of friends in the industry.
That’s part of the allure of Victory Lap: a platform that is unapologetically itself. A deep sense of community is felt while watching any of their videos. The hour-long freestyles are regularly interrupted by one-off jokes, new friends filtering in and abrupt beat switches. “It’s obvious to see exactly what Victory Lap is and what it’s about,” Joseph tells me. “There’s no ulterior motive, there’s no industry shine, it’s just friends, two decks, a mixer and a mic.”
Check out our conversation below!
Take a lap…
EH: Tell us about the inception of Victory Lap, what inspired you all to create this platform?
JM: “Victory Lap originally started during a holiday to New York with a bunch of friends, we just went out there to skate and connect with some friends / artists out there. A lot of my friends on the trip make music or produce or DJ so whilst we were there we did a lot of parties / radio sets including Half Moon Radio & The Lot. Victory Lap started here as just a name that we could put our mixes under, when we got back to London I pitched a show to independent internet radio station Balamii in Peckham and have been doing it monthly ever since. My goal was always to create a platform for my friends and the music we love, since then it’s snowballed in to an ever-growing community.“
EH: Victory Lap’s team seems to run pretty deep, how did you meet?
JM: “I met a bunch of different people involved from loads of different sources. I’ve been outside and going to shows, parties, etc for years where you naturally run into like-minded people. I was also freelancing as a film photographer for years in London working specifically around music, so a lot of the VLAP guests you see on the show now I’ve run into or met or worked with organically somehow over the years. We’re huge gamers too, a lot of the VLAP crew knew each other before but really started talking every day whilst playing FIFA or Call Of Duty, especially over lockdown.“
EH: Talk us through your relationship with Clint and the Corteiz brand.
JM: “I don’t really have a relationship with Clint but a lot of the guys know him better than me. It’s been crazy seeing his come up though, I worked at a skate shop called Bankrupt that’s in East London, Clint actually did the first ever Corteiz pop-up in the basement of the old store a few years ago where he was selling T-Shirts. To see where he’s taken it from there in such a short span is crazy, so when they wanted to work together on a special episode for Victory Lap, me and the guys were gassed.“
EH: Speaking of Corteiz, Clint has been such an integral part of this quickly emerging fashion culture in London. How is it to see this culture on the come-up?
JM: “There’s so much going on which is amazing, I think that in the age of mass collaboration and brand deals, Corteiz has made doing your own thing cool again, so it’s cool to see lots of smaller brands and creatives popping up over the city. My guys run Peak Television, which is something new that’s up and coming.“
EH: For music media channels, there seem to be so many possible paths to take. Could you ever see Victory Lap taking on the role of a label or an all-encapsulating media platform?
JM: “Yeah definitely, I’d love to be able to put money in the pocket of the next up and comers to be able to create. We may end up as a label, we may end up as a creative agency, we may end up as a clothing brand, we may end up as all of the above. We have lots of ideas for 2024 so make sure you stay tuned.”
EH: What is the importance of in-person events for Victory Lap? Are there any other ways you’re planning to bring the community together in the future?
JM: “In person events are super important for us even though we do them sporadically. We want VLAP parties to be something that you can’t miss. During COVID we lost human connection for a bit and were doing the shows pre-recorded from our homes, it was shit. So as soon as we got back our priority was filling the booth and bringing the people together again, the only issue was that it’s not open to the public. So now it’s about creating spaces where we can open the radio show format up to the public and the audience can see it for themselves and feel apart of it. This again, is something we’re prioritizing for 2024.“
EH: I was so surprised to see that you had Sito and BigSmokeChapo on the show the other week, how do you feel about expanding to more American artists?
JM: :”Man, I love Slimesito and Chapo — I love being able to get artists on that we all love regardless of background or genre. I think it’s important getting American guys on and also other genres to show that the principals our show is built on spans across the world and across multiple genres. Victory Lap is about celebrating good music and culture at his heart wether that be UK Grime, Drill, R&B, Dance Music or US Atlanta Trap – I think it can be all of the above. Earlier this year we did a special one off set in a skate shop with NY Drill legend Shawny Bin Laden. We’ve also had RealYungPhil and 1600j on the show a few years ago as well as good friends from the alt-rap world Mike & Sideshow. So it’s something we’ll be continue to be doing, keep an eye out we have some special American guests planned for the near future.“
EH: You released a mix a few weeks ago in collaboration with OVO Sound for the release of the New Season of Top Boy. How did that come about and are we going to be seeing Drake on the show anytime soon?
JM: “Yeah OVO Sound reached out and I think have been keeping a little eye on what’s going on. Drake actually posted a clip from our show on his feed before and Zack Bia came out with Lil Yachty on the Drake tour in a Victory Lap t-shirt the other day which is incredibly surreal and humbling to know what me and my friends are doing in a small box at Balamii Peckham is reaching these guys. Drake on Victory Lap? I wouldn’t rule it out haha, we’re ready whenever we get the call.“
EH: I think many people, especially US viewers, found out about Victory Lap from the Dave and Central Cee freestyle. Why do you think they trusted you to roll out their new album with that freestyle?
JM: “I had been told they were fans of the show and what was going on and that they only wanted to do a VLAP episode as part of their rollout. I think they trusted us because it’s obvious to see exactly what Victory Lap is and what it’s about. There’s no ulterior motive, there’s no industry shine, it’s just friends, 2 decks, a mixer & a mic. I also think it worked as a great 2-way street they managed to shine a light on something authentic happening in the underground and it also helped to re-humanize these superstars and bring them back to their roots. The best part for me and VLAP was being able to put artists like Rushy, Kirbs, JayG, Kibo, and BXKS in the same room as these guys and shine a light on what’s happening in the underground. If Victory Lap can continue to connect the dots between the overground and underground then we’ll continue to do that.“
EH: What artists are leading the underground right now?
JM: “There are so many artists leading the underground here at the moment but just to name a few people should check out (sorry if anyone is missed I could name a lot): Kirbs, Jim Legxacy, Joe James, Ashbeck, Rushy, ayrtn, Len, Fimiguerrero, Sainté, Nemzzz & many many more. Len is my favourite at the moment his latest mixtape Lehgoland has been on rotation daily for months, he’s really experimenting and creating lots of different unique sounds at the moment that all sound like him. Highly recommended.“
EH: Victory Lap has quickly become a platform that can shine a light on new artists, what’s your plan to expand this role?
JM: “Yeah as I mentioned before we always want to continue to do that and put new artists on that we genuinely rate. We don’t want to get lost in having huge mega guests all the time and if we can balance it and be platform that can connect dots between overground and underground then we will do that. We want to have your favorite rapper on but in the same episode maybe introduce you to somebody new at the same time.“
EH: I missed the last merch drop, are we going to be seeing more drops soon?
JM: “Yeah lots of new merch — we get asked all the time. In 2024 we hope to have consistent drops and lots of different products coming. We have lots of friends in the city doing cool stuff so being able to collaborate with them and create stuff together continues the ethos of Victory Lap but not just in the form of music. We hope to have Victory Lap merch running alongside the music content – the worlds of underground fashion and music are so intertwined that I think they feed into each other.“
EH: While listening to or watching any of your episodes, it is quickly apparent how unserious Victory Lap is. It feels like a group of friends hanging out. Why do you think this atmosphere has worked so well for your audience?
JM: “It was super natural to have the show this way – we didn’t want to take ourselves. too seriously and we just leant in to what was the truth of the situation. A bunch of friends having fun and enjoying music together. I think this is kind of infectious and makes artists also want to come and be a part of it and from a consumers point of view I think it helps the audience feel like they’re in the room and a part of the fun. Some of people’s favourite moments from Dave & Cench episode was just seeing these guys with their guard down cracking jokes between beats or laughing at Niko B as he raps about tears falling on his Prada coat after being offered to smoke a zoot. I was heavily inspired and grew up on UK Grime sets that featured loads of MC’s passing a mic around but grime was inherently super competitive and aggressive which was infectious and super entertaining, but I think what we’re doing is taking that and making it accessible and fun. The UK Rap wave is a lot less aggressive and we’re genuinely all friends so it’s just happened super organically, our friendships is now just being recorded and I think people enjoy seeing that.“
EH: Who are some of your dream artists to have in the studio for a cypher?
JM: “Dream guests is super difficult because there’s so many. From the UK we need a legend like Skepta to come through or a cult hero like Dean Blunt. From America we need Chief Keef or Young Thug (Free Thugger) or a modern legend to come through.“
EH: What can Victory Lap fans look forward to for the rest of the year?
JM: “For the rest of 2023 we have a couple special shows left – a few UK based artists that I know a lot of people are super excited for and maybe a surprise American show at the end of the year but we’ll see what happens. 2024 though it’s foot on neck, we got a lot of stuff in the works so expect a lot from us.”