Having dropped an incredible new album, rapper TrueMendous reveals the process behind it
Last updated: 26 June 2026
TrueMendous is a hip-hop head’s rapper, with a gift for lifting listeners into a space of indomitable writing. Her practice, built within a strata of varying styles, offers fans a way to engage with a creative channel of rap that, perhaps, isn’t as pervasive as it should be. However, thanks to the lyricist’s immaculate wordplay, cadence, and fluctuating rhythms and flows, Birmingham‘s secret weapon of musical art is happily unleashing an atelier for the ages.
Stanisland Magazine speaks to one of our favourite rappers to discuss and digest the process behind her workflow; and boy, do we find out just how dedicated she is. Her new album with Bear is one of the best hip-hop drops of 2026. One you must hear.
Your new album with Bear is titled Break Offline, Before I Have A Breakdown Online. How long was it in the making, and how did you guys connect?
TrueMendous: “My new album has to be the longest project I’ve ever worked on, honestly. I’d say it took three years to complete.
I met Bear through High Focus. When I was a part of the label, I needed production for a different project called Great. On Purpose and Fliptrix sent me the names of different producers to hit up for beats. Bear was one of them.
I DM’d him on Instagram and from the first conversation we had we instantly connected and built a friendship which we have maintained to this day. He’s an exceptionally talented and reliable beat maker and provided me with a few beats for my previous album.
I’ve always wanted to create a project with one producer start to finish and with Break Offline I wanted it to be very cohesive. I find it’s a lot easier to build one sound when there’s not a bunch of different people and opinions involved. I feel like having too many people sometimes takes each song in a completely different direction, which I wasn’t trying to do. I wanted the project to have a thread running all the way through and Bear is who I believed would do it justice. When I asked him, he was up for the challenge and we started cooking.”
What was the biggest influence and motivation to record Break Offline?
TrueMendous: “In 2023, I went on a hiatus after the last music video was released for Great. On Purpose and the promo run had successfully been completed due to not having anything fresh to write about. I needed to live my life so stories could be created in my head. That was the first time in my career I had ever experienced writer’s block.
In doing so I noticed patterns of my closest friends, family members and people all over social media going through similarities. Those were things such as grief, financial struggle, mental health issues, stress and so forth. A lot of negativity was circulating and I wanted to curate a body of work that encompassed these themes.
I wanted to build something that the world could relate to on a more personal level and find some type of comfort and solace in. The world felt quite heavy at the time and still does now, to be fair.
The album definitely turned out to be a lot harder and took a lot longer to complete for that reason. By taking on the weight of those themes, in the end I was writing for everyone, so it had to be right.”
The entire album is a spread of intimate expression. Were you learning more about yourself with each track you recorded?
TrueMendous: “The older I’m getting, the less I care about the things I used to care about. I’ve been practicing detachment and minimalism for quite a while now and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made as it’s allowing me to unlearn and let go of what I thought was making me happy.
Looking back, it wasn’t. I reckon it was just temporary satisfaction, which honestly never lasted long.
I feel like with each track I wrote, the more I tapped into Chyvonne Johnson, not TrueMendous. Sometimes, when you quiet down the outside noise, you find out who you really are and your own internal thoughts come to the forefront.
I feel like a lot of us walk around with other people’s opinions disguised as our own. With my new album, I didn’t want to be as ‘clever’ as I usually am; I just wanted it to hit. Simple and straight to the point. I didn’t care about it being super complex or wanting people to dissect the lyrics and figure out how genius it was written. I just wanted the rawness of it to hit.”
Was there anything you struggled to vocalise due to this?
TrueMendous: “This is definitely my most transparent and vulnerable album so far. I experienced my first close death during my hiatus, and that was the passing of my grandad.
I dedicated Last Penny to him and knew by how difficult it was to complete the song that it was special. It made me exceptionally uncomfortable, and it was an emotional rollercoaster when writing every lyric.
I was going to scrap it as I thought about having to perform it live, but I knew that chapter had to be addressed and shared publicly for my own peace of mind. I find my songs quite therapeutic, almost like my diary. Once it’s out, I can move on.”
On Diapers and Cribs you drop: “I want to go back to not knowing what money was, I want to go back to not knowing what money does.” It lands hard and resonates; it sounds personal — can you break it down for us?
TrueMendous: “The lyric is referring to seeing the world through the eyes of a child. An innocent lens.
I never knew what money was because my parents used to provide everything for me, so it was never a worry in my head. I didn’t overthink anything.
The older we get, the more we learn about the depths of what people will do solely to make more money, regardless of how horrible the act. Also, the effects of not having enough and the mental strain it can cause.
I miss not knowing things. I miss my innocence. I miss being convinced that nothing was ever wrong.”
You’re a frequent busker; how would you say it has shaped your style and rhyme schemes, if at all?
TrueMendous: “Busking has definitely helped me with live performances. Hands down, it’s improved my stamina, clarity, breath control and overall vocal delivery. It’s basically like rehearsing for four to eight hours a day. Naturally, you’re going to improve over time.
I find that a lot of rappers aren’t the best live performers due to poor vocal delivery or poor fitness, so it’s definitely something more people should consider doing.
It’s also helped to build my fan base as I have a TrueMendous social media sign on display every time, so people tag me in their stories, check out my back catalogue of music and follow me on socials.
There are way more pros than cons, and even the cons are beneficial as they build your resilience and backbone. Cons would be things such as people heckling, telling you you’re rubbish or trying to grab the mic, but after a while you get used to it and it doesn’t happen often.”
When thinking about production, what kind of genres or subgenres do you gravitate towards?
TrueMendous: “I prefer chill beats the most. I think it’s because I’m a heavy R&B head, so naturally, the softer, more melodic soulful hip-hop beats producers send are my preference, or even lo-fi.
Funnily enough, though, I’ve actually started to like UKG and drum & bass lately, so who knows, at some point I might step into the electronic world for a bit just to see what I can create.”
Your writing is both technically and stylistically appealing; what helped shape your pen game and delivery?
TrueMendous: “My undiagnosed autism, ha.
I didn’t grow up listening to any UK hip-hop rappers which has helped me to develop my own unique sound, style and approach to writing and rapping. Sometimes I feel like when you listen to a lot of people in your genre you can subconsciously start to mimic each other without realising it.
I grew up predominantly on 90s and early 2000s R&B and even then it was 95% US artists.
Back in the day, some of the rappers I really liked and listened to were people like Lauryn Hill, Andre 3000, Papoose, Biggie, Big L and Nas. Those guys are very different from each other, and I’d categorise them as the rapper’s rapper.
When I write, it’s kind of like cracking a puzzle in my head. When it’s right, it’s right.”
You’ve got a lot of shows coming up. You’re quite the performer. It’s safe to say you enjoy that side of the game. Do you consider that when writing music?
TrueMendous: “I do enjoy being face-to-face with a live audience, especially when they know my lyrics.
The best audience I’ve had so far was the London date of my tour earlier this year. I felt like I had made it, ha. I’ve never heard so many people recite my lyrics back to me. It felt like a karaoke night.
I do have to think about set list order, though, as it’s quite tiring doing some of the skippy double-time songs back to back, so I’ll strategically break it up with a slower song in between, secretly to pace myself.
Performing to a live audience also reminds me that people do care. Sometimes it’s discouraging putting so much time, effort and money into a single or project to only see a handful of streams on Spotify or views on a music video once it’s been released.
Seeing people sing or rap it word for word reassures you that your audience is growing and more people have taken the time out to listen to it than you think.”
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