Freelance Contributor
T&T producer and singer-songwriter Kurtis “London Future” Wells feels grateful and ecstatic after working with Korean megastars BTS. He co-wrote two songs on their latest album, ARIRANG.
The album was officially released on March 20 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. This is the seventh BTS album to achieve such a feat. Wells co-wrote “FYA”, track four, and “They Don’t Know ’Bout Us”, track 11.
The 34-year-old La Horquetta native boasts an extensive local catalogue. He has produced several hits, including “Like Ah Boss” and “E.P.I.C.” by Machel Montano, “Too Real” by Kerwin Du Bois, “Bubble On A DJ” by Swappi, “Loner” by Lyrikal, “Tingo” by Nessa Preppy, among others.
As he sought to further explore music at an international level, he moved to Los Angeles, California, in the US. He also briefly lived in Germany. “It’s very inspiring to travel,” he told Guardian Media. “I would recommend any creative travel as much as possible, because you always find new things to be inspired by and meet new people everywhere.”
He said it also brings major opportunities. He has worked with big names such as US DJs/producers Diplo and Skrillex, US rapper Lil Baby, and Canadian singer Jessie Reyez. Now, five-time Grammy-nominated BTS can be added to that list.
He said it was last year when he received a call from his label, Pulse Music Group, informing him of an opportunity to work on the album. “I was very happy because, obviously, these guys are a big deal. So last summer, they were all in LA and rented out one of the best studios for about a month. We did about six sessions in total.”
Laughing as he recalled the first session, he said, “I didn’t know they were going to be there in the room, in the flesh.” He also reunited with Diplo, who executive-produced the album.
Wells said that while he writes songs every day, he knew the group was looking for something “different”, but they were not quite sure what that was. “So it’s not like you’re following a particular script,” he said. “It was a tough one, but in the end, I was satisfied.”
When he learnt his contributions had made the final cut, he could hardly believe it. “They had to tell me about four times before it hit me. It’s life-changing stuff, you know?” The album has been receiving high praise. He added that his five-year-old daughter is a huge K-pop (Korean pop) fan, so she is also happy and excited.
He made an Instagram post to share the news and thanked the group for trusting him and the rest of the team with their vision. “It was a pleasure writing with you guys… Big up to everyone involved,” he wrote. And BTS fans—or ARMYs, as they call themselves—from T&T were quick to share their excitement. “That’s so cool, bro. As a fellow Trini ARMY, thank you so much for writing with BTS. Truly, thank you so much,” one Instagram user wrote. “Super proud Trini ARMY here,” another said.
In addition to writing for others, Wells has been building his solo catalogue as an artiste. He has released songs such as “Higher Self”, “Paramount” and “Start A Fire”. “Over time, travelling and working, I started to dive into the songwriting aspect of music. I’ve been a producer, songwriter… When you put your 10,000 hours in, you naturally progress to the next thing, and that was becoming an artiste.”
On using his real name as a performer and songwriter, rather than his sobriquet, he explained, “I think once I started to make music that was a bit more true to my heart, I felt as though I needed to stand on that.”
For this achievement, along with all others, Wells said he feels grateful, especially as he has been working consistently for years. “They always say the ones who make it are the ones who never stop. So it feels good to know that that’s actually true.”
