Introducing: P-rallel
Since the release of his debut EP in 2016, P-rallel has become one of the most eclectic, versatile and colourful artists on the underground circuit. His diverse range of musical influences shines through every one of his releases, creating an incomparable signature sound that simultaneously progresses global club culture. Today, he speaks about his early career, the importance of community, and how London continues to inspire him.

As a kid, P-rallel — or Gio to his friends — couldn’t imagine a future that didn’t involve music. His childhood was saturated with it; his house was always full of the sound of reggae, house, jungle, disco, funk and soul. Born and raised in West London, his parents even met through music – his mother threw dance parties in London hotels and his father was a respected DJ under the name Touchtee who worked at Red Records in Brixton. That’s where Gio would spend long afternoons after school or at the weekends, sifting through records and soaking up UK garage, jungle, bassline and R&B from the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. Music ran through his veins, and it wasn’t a question of how he’d launch a career in music, but when. “I guess it was inevitable for me to become the person I am today,” Gio says, chatting from a friend’s house in London.
One look at P-rallel’s back catalogue shows that his artistry is rooted in collaboration. He didn’t study music, instead choosing to surround himself with people he found inspiring. When Gio was 14 and dancing with hip-hop troop Boy Blue, he met Louis Culture. “I used to dance, and he used to rap, so we’d always be performing at the same shows,” Gio says. “One day I went up to him and told him I want a career in music.”
After that, Gio transformed his bedroom into a studio and spent all his spare time with Louis and his friends, one of whom was rapper Lord Apex. Gio brought along his childhood friend Finn Foxell, and soon they were a community, giving one another a constant stream of encouragement and feedback, piling in on ideas and creating a culture all of their own. This crew came to be known as Elevation/Meditation, a collective of artists, rappers, producers, filmmakers and creatives. This community lay the foundation for Gio’s career in music, and became the driving force behind an artist who’s only really interested in making music if he can do it with his friends and big them up along the way. “I can’t imagine what my career would look like without that community,” he says.
He started responding to Twitter callouts, which led to sessions with Rejje Snow & Playboi Carti, and eventually a Bakar & Milkavelli session at The Bank Holiday Records studio in Kings Cross. This is where he got regular access to CDJs and began to improve his DJ skills while making important industry connections. His vibrant taste in music bubbled over into kaleidoscopic sets, first at house parties and gatherings and then at dingy London venues. He released his debut EP The Soul Trip in September 2016, which featured Lord Apex, and his first gig soon followed for a club night in Dalston called Nocturnal. “I was 16, I was DJing and I’d never seen so many rappers and models in one place,” Gio says. “From that night I got into it, met a lot of people, stuck around the crowd and the scene and kept going from there.”

P-rallel was never interested in fitting in. He had no qualms about sharing his huge range of influences and inspirations in his DJ sets and productions, despite playing for a scene that was used to artists sticking to one genre. By 2017, Gio was DJing every month in venues across London, and in 2018, he released his track “Signs” alongside Yligaa and Finn Foxell. It’s a soulful hip-hop tune, and totally different energy to his 2019 track, “Charmer” feat. Sam Wise. This track combines crisp percussion, the pace of D&B, and whip-sharp rap vocals, and those two tracks set a precedent for what’s to come – versatility, authenticity, and a thirst for collaboration. That thirst also led him to support Slowthai and Lava La Rue on tour and also landed him a slot playing Glastonbury.
P-rallel’s break-out track came along in 2020 with “Soulboy,” featuring Greentea Peng’s rich, soul-filled vocals that ooze over p-rallel’s slow-moving reggae production. The track hit that sweet spot between nostalgic and future-fresh, and that’s the moment P-rallel’s sound soared beyond the underground, and the rest of the music industry began to take notice.
His EP Forward came out in 2022, and as expected it was packed with collaborations alongside artists like Fredwave, Jeshi, Sam Wise, Kasien, Jords and Rachel Chinouriri. Gio says he made an EP that his friends would enjoy – all the best art is made that way – and it turns out the rest of the planet enjoyed it too. The EP married 2-step, garage, hip-hop, house, and a wide range of vocal styles. All of it was doused with P-rallel’s now signature sense of nostalgia, each track nodding to the golden era of ‘90s UK music while giving it a fresh spin.
The following year, he released a deep house single called "Ride or Die” with Roses Gabor. He was listed in The NME 100: essential emerging artists for 2023, and collaborated with Toddla T, JAM-BU, BXKS and Tamera. But his crown jewel for 2023 was undoubtedly “It's a Lundun Thing,” a re-fix of Scott Gracia’s 1997 UK garage classic. It took global dance music by storm, with it’s familiar warbling bassline and unapologetic rave energy.

Visuals and aesthetics have always played a crucial part in P-rallel’s artistry. “I’ve done this from the start, I’ve always loved making videos,” he says. “It’s a big part of the image of P-rallel. It’s all collaborative, we all work together.” The accompanying video to “It’s a Lundun Thing” shows Gio getting a haircut at a West London barber, drinking in the studio with friends, scenes from carnival, shots of his local market and images of ravers losing their shit at pop-up parties. It’s an airtight summary of an artist who embraces all of his inspirations, forever repping the streets, the people, the community and the culture that shaped him.
2024 kicked off with a tour of Australia followed by a headline show at KOKO for his NEVERMIND event series. Summer was equally huge, with performances at Glastonbury, Outlook, Boardmasters, Creamfields, and Notting Hill Carnival, along with his first run of shows in Ibiza at Amnesia and a forthcoming debut show at Warehouse Project. But his favourite experience was Houghton Festival. “I went for 24 hours for fun, Coast 2 Coast were my favourite set, was shazamming like crazy,” he says.
P-rallel has a packed release schedule coming up, full of collaborations that he needs to keep under wraps until the release date. “The collabs are for next year,” he says. “But I’m working with a lot of my dream artists.”
Unsurprisingly, Gio counts his parents among his biggest fans, with his mum and dad regularly coming to his shows and raving with him behind the decks. “They still love it, even in their 50s,” he laughs.
And thanks to them, his journey into music has come naturally, not as a dream to be achieved but a path that he could swagger down. “I don’t overthink it, I just take every day as it goes,” he says. “But I’m very grateful that I can do whatever I want to do, it gives me great experiences and I love it.”
And if Gio wasn’t in the music industry he’d probably be making films. “Or gardening,” he says, laughing. “I like gardens.”
