“This the old Mo with new tricks up his sleeve,” MoStack tells Apple Music. “I went back to my roots for this one. Because, personally, I don’t think I changed over the lockdown. I was in the studio in the garden where I made the first mixtape and I think I found that feeling. It’s like reconnecting with myself.” His 2017 mixtape High Street Kid gave the Hornsey rapper’s flair for genre-bending rap a wild sense of freedom—something his 2019 debut album Stacko doubled down on. For mixtape two, MoStack came home to his favorite high street in Hornsey, North London. “Believe me, you’ll find everything there and meet all types of people,” he says. “From the rich to the homeless, the infamous pub, shops, and some of the nicest sandwiches in North London: It all goes down. I must get something from just being around there.” MoStack draws on his hometown’s unpredictable character with dazzling production from talent including TSB, Rxwntree, Steel Banglez, and Swifta Beater for tales of deep suspicion (“The Friend 2”), relationship dilemmas (“Real Luv”), and unrepentant rap anthems (“Ride”). “At times, even my guys tell me, ‘Are you sure you wanna say this? This could interfere with real life.’ But it’s not really a choice for me—this is my life. I just wanna be brutally real.” Read on for MoStack’s track-by-track guide to his mixtape sequel. “Would You?” “What people probably don’t know about me is I’m very particular about who I work with. When [UK producer] Rwxntree came through to the studio, the vibe was right from there. I’m just reflecting with this track...family, relationships, money.” “Righteous” “I really like my verses on this song. I won’t lie, I was feeling very righteous when I made this one.” “Readeh” (feat. Aitch) “I’ve worked with Aitch before [on 2019 single ‘Weekday’] with Steel Banglez on his project, so the time was right to call him for my one. The plan was to link up and go crazy on some back-and-forth verses—you should already know what he does.” “I Know” “I need to experience life for a while before I get back to the music, so I take breaks, always. But for a month during lockdown, I didn’t do a thing, didn’t even leave my house. But I was on YouTube looking for ‘MoStack Type Beat’ and came across this. I remember hearing those flutes for the first time and they took me right away. I matched the bounce with a smooth hook, and it all flowed from there.” “Bronson” “This track is dedicated to my guy Bronson. He’s away in prison right now, but I felt like dedicating this one to him, what he’s about, and what he means to me. I got him on the track for a quick verse, and before he got to finish it, he was arrested and eventually locked up. We’ve tried our best to put the parts together and finish up the track, but it is what it is. Free Bronson!” “The Friend 2” “On High Street Kid, one of the tracks I received the most feedback on was 'The Friend.' I guess it was just something that many people could relate to, so I came back with a sequel to continue the story and express how I feel on the topic.” “Frankenstein” (feat. MIST) “MIST is one of the artists that I consider a brother in music. I introduced him to Steel Banglez, and that began us building a strong foundation and continuing from there. He’ll usually come and check on me at any time, but for some reason we hadn’t recorded for a while, so I hit him and told him: ‘I need you in the booth for this one.’ The first track we made got a mixed response from my manager, whose opinion I value a lot, so we went straight back and cooked this up.” “Secret” “This song is all about making you feel the vibe to get up and dance—it’s the most fun I had recording a song for this project. And it’s basically a freestyle, almost like I didn’t try with this song, but I knew it would come out amazing.” “Somebody Else” “This track is what comes from a nice summer’s day. We were chilling, had the BBQ on, some girls around…and it all came from the sun, literally. I just felt it. I had Rxwntree recreate a beat that I was working on, and we put it together really quickly from there.” “Eye Candy (Sekceé)” “At this point, I had made most of the tape in the back garden, and really wanted to try something else. So I went to [West London recording studio] Metropolis and worked with a few producers. I was freestyling away and I found this crazy melody and ran with it!” “Real Luv” (feat. Phoenix Laoutaris) “I had to have [London singer-songwriter] Phoenix Laoutaris on this track, as soon as I heard her voice. I discovered her through working with [British producer] TSB, and she’s sick. I knew she was right for this one.” “Tehng Style” (feat. JustPapers & J Tehng) “This is a way of introducing my guys into the game. We’re just having fun, and it’s my guy J Tehng’s big debut on a song. There’s honestly so much talent in the hood I just had to give it a platform. This one jumpy, sounds current, I’m feeling it a lot. It’s the most amped song on the tape for sure. The ‘Tehng’ slang just came to me, and now it’s stuck, throughout the whole ends. It’s just a thing of ours.” “Only You” “This track is about a few girls, but it’s mainly based on the four I mentioned in the second verse: Lizzy, Rose, P, and T. And this is a very special tune—as you can imagine, it’s heartfelt, but it’s all facts. I felt to express my feelings, in a drilly way, though, so it’s a wave.” “Ride” “This is the song that kicked this off. I thought I had finished the tape when I made this, but I wanted something to add on—and it’s now one of my favorite tracks, and became the first single. The day I recorded this, I was driving up to Reading with the song on repeat, the whole way!”