NOT OLD OR NEW

The Full Story

Overview

Not Old Or New is the latest project from North London grime MC, producer, recording engineer and creative Squintz.

The project marks a different point in Squintz's evolution. Following years of music shaped by conflict, pain, ambition, identity and self-reflection, Not Old Or New represents an artist who has begun to move beyond simply documenting what happened to him and towards understanding what he learned from it.

The project is rooted firmly in Grime, yet deliberately rejects the idea that Grime has to exist solely through aggression, confrontation and negativity. Across 15 tracks, Squintz explores a more nuanced version of the genre — still gritty and direct, but capable of being introspective, humorous, energetic and ultimately positive.

"I don't think this is a project of pain anymore. I guess I learned from it."

Squintz

The Story

Squintz's journey through music has been defined by constant evolution, but music was never simply a creative interest. Coming from a musical bloodline rooted in the heart of Kingston, he grew up feeling a natural connection to music, learning a great deal from his father, Q. After a disconnection from Q and other family at a young age, music became something much deeper. It became an escape, a way to process what was happening around him, and eventually a way of preserving memories.

Squintz began releasing songs on YouTube while in Year 11. His trajectory changed in 2017, when his music was discovered by someone at Mixtape Madness, which led to DJ Argue inviting him onto his show on Radar Radio. That period opened the door to a much wider grime environment — Mob Set and Squintz became part of the first ever grime Next Up on Mixtape Madness, and Squintz performed with DJ Argue and Slimzee at the BBK Takeover. From 2017 to 2019, he toured the city relentlessly, doing hundreds, if not thousands, of radio sets and mobbing events across London to build his reputation, sharpen his skills and establish himself within the grime scene. During this period he also performed at Bestival as part of Mob Set — which at the time included now-popular indie artist Master Peace and grime MC SBK — before releasing the single "Have To" featuring Renz.

Although some of the relationships from that period have since changed, Squintz still values what that time represented. It was an important formative period, one that introduced him to a wider grime audience and helped establish the foundations for everything that followed.

His first project, Nuen Ain't Gang, arrived on 8 August 2021, establishing the identity and energy that would become the foundation of his catalogue. The project captured a rawer version of Squintz, reconnecting with the directness and aggression that had originally drawn him towards grime. Tracks such as "Dem Man" featuring Jammer and Scrufizzer, "What Thugs Do" and "Cold" reflected that early identity. Uncompromising, energetic and rooted in the culture that had shaped him. Nuen Ain't Gang was not simply a collection of songs. It represented Squintz beginning to take ownership of his identity as an artist. Rather than being defined solely by the opportunities and co-signs that had come earlier in his career, he was beginning to build a catalogue that could stand on its own.

That development continued with SQ Grime in 2022. The project was a deliberate attempt to reconnect with an essence of grime that Squintz felt was becoming harder to find. One of its defining moments was "8 Bar Relay", featuring Renz, Duppy, L.Tee, Logan, Manga Saint Hilare, Kruz Leone and Jme. Bringing together multiple generations and perspectives within grime, the track was built around a format that felt representative of the culture itself — MCs showcasing individuality while contributing to something collective.

The project also included "Piece of My Pie" featuring Jme, "People Forget" and "Get Set". The Jme collaborations were particularly significant to Squintz. Rather than approaching the features as something to be obtained through repeatedly asking for recognition, he felt that he had earned the opportunity through his own work and contribution to the culture. Receiving that recognition from an artist he respected became an important personal milestone. In 2022, Squintz also performed alongside Jme at KOKO for Grime MC FM, an experience he continues to appreciate. He later performed in Bristol in 2023, further extending his connection with grime audiences outside of his immediate London environment.

However, the period surrounding SQ Grime also changed Squintz's relationship with the scene. The fallout that followed affected him personally. He had viewed certain relationships within music as genuine friendships, only to realise that some of them were more closely tied to business, circumstance and the industry itself. That realisation created a distance between Squintz and Grime as a scene. Rather than continuing to chase the same environment, he began looking elsewhere creatively.

That shift became Y Not? in 2023.

Where SQ Grime was heavily concerned with reconnecting to grime's identity, Y Not? represented a willingness to step outside of it. The project moved into a 140 BPM space, but with a more nuanced and jazzy character, produced by Yovngblake in Amsterdam. Songs such as "Sun and Moon," "Darling" and "Origin" demonstrated a different side of Squintz, featuring local artists and friends — less concerned with proving his grime credentials and more interested in exploring what else his voice could occupy.

The change was important because Squintz was no longer defining his progression purely through how well he could operate within a particular genre. He was beginning to treat genre as a starting point rather than a boundary. Y Not? became a period of experimentation and questioning: what happens when an artist who has spent years identifying with Grime allows himself to explore beyond the version of himself that other people already recognise?

That exploration eventually led into Learn From Pain in 2024. For the project, Squintz linked with Fench, who helped create a darker, more drilly interpretation of grime. Tracks such as "Shake It Off" and "Sides We Don't Show" reflected a heavier atmosphere and a more introspective period in his writing.

Unlike the projects that preceded it, Learn From Pain was not created primarily with the intention of pushing itself into the algorithm or chasing a particular audience response. It was made for Squintz himself. The project became a way of processing experiences rather than simply documenting them, and the title reflected the beginning of a different mindset: understanding what pain could teach him rather than remaining defined by it.

In that sense, Learn From Pain represented the beginning of a transition towards forgiveness. Not necessarily forgetting what had happened, and not pretending that certain experiences had not affected him, but learning how to carry them differently.

Across these projects, Squintz also became increasingly self-sufficient as a creative. What began with writing and performing developed into recording, production, mixing, mastering, filming and editing his own work, while simultaneously building SQ MOB and working with other artists. The music therefore documents not only an artistic evolution, but the development of an entire creative practice.

Not Old Or New is what comes after that.

The new project isn't an attempt to return to an older version of Squintz, nor is it an attempt to manufacture a completely new one.
It's the same artist, with more perspective.

From Conflict to Clarity

Squintz continues to fly the Mob Set flag, but Not Old Or New approaches that history from a different angle. Rather than responding to conflict with more conflict, the project reflects an evolution in the way Squintz wants to communicate. The message isn't about pretending conflict didn't happen. It's about deciding what energy to give it now. That means being able to acknowledge enemies without becoming consumed by them, recognising mistakes without living inside them, and choosing wisdom over the instinct to perpetuate negativity. The result is a project that can still sound hard without needing to be hostile.

"Better Than Me" is one of the clearest examples of that evolution. The song brings together 30 artists from over 10 cities and even Barcelona making it one of the most collaborative records in Squintz's catalogue. On the surface, the title carries the competitive language that has always existed within grime and MC culture; the idea of proving yourself, challenging another artist and establishing your position.

Within the wider context of Not Old Or New, the meaning becomes less straightforward. Being "better" is no longer necessarily about defeating somebody else. It can also mean becoming better than the version of yourself that existed before.

The record therefore sits in an interesting place within the project. It retains the competitive spirit that has always been part of Squintz's music, while existing alongside a more mature understanding of what competition, conflict and self-worth actually mean. Rather than needing to diminish somebody else to establish his own position, Squintz can acknowledge his ability without allowing somebody else's actions to dictate his identity. In that sense, "Better Than Me" represents the balance at the heart of Not Old Or New: the same competitive artist is still there, but the reason for competing has changed.

The NJ Connection