Sainté teams up with Miraa May to protect his heart on "No Love"

Reigning from Leicester, 22-year-old Sainté stands apart from the raucous flows of his contemporaries. In the seven months since he dropped his debut four-track EP, Local MVP, he has quickly become synonymous with rapping with the grandeur and punctuation of a figure like Westside Gunn, whilst navigating an ascending music career alongside studying for a degree and appearing in campaigns from the likes of Louis Vuitton and Billionaire Boys Club.

With a versatile sound, Sainté’s appeal stems as much from his dripping rhythm as it does from his enigmatic demeanour. Pairing taut rap verses with a soulful appearance from Algerian-born, Tottenham-based singer-songwriter Miraa May, “No Love” studies as much as it discovers new sides to his abilities.

Part reggaeton, part rap, and part drill, “No Love” pulses with its infectious melody. Over a hazy production, Sainté captures a cautionary dichotomy of love in lines like “I never show no love because I didn’t want my heart getting stolen / Remember cold dark nights I was lonely”, distilling a self-fulfilling fear that others wrestle with throughout entire discographies.

Channelling his childhood icons like Jay Z and 50-Cent, Sainté speaks of the individuality of 90’s rap and injecting his own idiosyncrasies into his releases. “It was all about being yourself and no one else,” he comments, “originality was a MUST! That competitive spirit comes from the golden era of rap and the fact I play basketball”.

Explaining his growth as both an artist and young man, he continues, “I am taking my time to tell a three-dimensional story and show you all the angles.”

“I guess the music before was more paranoid because I grew up close to that kind of lifestyle. Now, I want to take people into a place where they can learn how to enjoy life as [the pandemic has shown] it’s so short. I’m trying to be sweet boy. I’m not interested in people thinking I’m tough, because I am only trying to be Saintly”