The making of Fintech Rap Battle: Monzo v Starling

Fintech’s legendary spat between the UK’s Monzo and Starling banks, led by former colleagues, now rivals, Tom Blomfield and Anne Boden, has stoked gossip, insider commentary… and a book. Now it’s a rap. Conceived and created by Fintech Finance’s home-grown hip-hop legends – with guest support from (the real) US artist Coolio – it features guest ‘appearances’ from a stellar line-up of fintech founders… and the odd unicorn (of course). This is the true story of how it was made

The hero of the hour was undoubtedly rapper extraordinaire, Lewis Averillo-Singh, who not only wrote the rap, but also performed it, filmed the scenes, and even made a cameo appearance.

He’s been writing and presenting The Fundraising Rap Up on the Fintech Finance YouTube channel since last year, putting big tunes to a roundup of big money raises.

I’ve a degree in film making and my job usually entails travelling the world behind a camera. But I loved hip-hop and rap as soon as I heard it from my older cousins. I’ve been writing rap since I was about eight years old. It’s only recently, though, that I’ve started to record, put the songs out there and share them. I never imagined I’d be able to do this. But it’s very, very cool.

Coolio feature in your video? Surreal! We thought he was going to say a 10-second intro, but he went and gave us way more.

level of banter? Ali and I had lots of meetings about specific lyrics. There have been hard times for everyone and we didn’t want it to be mean – it was made in the spirit of good fun, which is how we hoped the founders would view it.

Emily from emilyleaffpond.com had the task coming up with a trademark ‘look’ for the featured founder – and it wasn’t all jeans and sneakers (well, with the exception of Nik).

I picked a key piece of clothing for some, for instance Kristo (Käärmann, CEO, of Wise) always wears this brown cord jacket. Others have recurring themes in their looks.

Anne Boden definitely. If you want to recreate Anne’s look grab a big, patterned silk scarf and a shapeless navy dress and flaunt your stuff. I think she quite likes a Hermes scarf, but I found some good ones on Amazon. For Tom Blomfield, it’s a comfy pair of chinos and a grey shirt. Very easy!

There was a constant flow of people, so all the actors were only in for a few hours, but I think the teddy bear costume was the best moment. Especially as it had Lewis inside!

Louise Collins of Collins Casting walks us through the process of finding blooming brilliant Blomfields and beautifully bodacious Bodens.

The most important thing was to ensure a physical likeness. Secondly, we had to check that the actors had good performing, comedy, and rap skills. We researched comedy groups and comedy awards to look for the best. Actors trained in musical theatre were naturally very good at this, too. Thirdly, it was important for us to cast some people who had a good social media following as it was going to be shared online. Did you enjoy being involved? It was a really fun experience, and the rap is hilarious. Watching the audition tapes and offering feedback to our performers was really enjoyable.

Anto Sharp is no stranger to comedy videos online, and he did a stellar job portraying Monzo’s famously confident founder.

How did you approach the role? With comedic flare and high energy!

He puts his shoulders back and his hands together quite a lot. And he’s very sure of his stuff.

There were a lot of shots with the green screen where things [in the edit] are falling on me, including a massive book – so I needed to act like I was being squashed by one! I like the scene where I’m a barman and I have to turn around and act shocked when he gets out his Monzo card.

I like the scene where I'm a barman and act shocked when he gets out his Monzo card!

Where I make it rain with money, it was fun to stand up on a box and shower fake money all over – which I think he must be doing in real life with all of his wealth and confidence.

Gilda's no stranger to impersonating bad-asses: she’s played Angela Merkel and Mary Berry in the past.

How did you nail the audition? I did a bit of homework before the Zoom call. I put on an outfit that resembles what Anne wears – a shawl over a dress – and put my hair on one side. When the others joined and asked if I’d researched the look, I said [in a Welsh accent], “Oh, no, no, I don’t know what she does or what she’s like at all!” with all the hand gestures.

Boden at the same time? I’ve done Shakespeare and I found it more challenging than that! I worked at the lines for a good few weeks – I was practising them in fields at the top of my voice. I thought, I’ve got to get these lines in my head, because I’ve never rapped in my life. At first, I wasn’t sure what I was going on about. As the days went by I started to understand. I was glad that I could ‘get it’ – that’s another box I can tick!

characteristics? She makes fists with her hands quite a bit, and then she holds them quite flat. She’s an animated person. Quite a lively sort of woman. And she looks like a good laugh as well… I’d like to read her book. She’s one of those people who I think are always very inspiring.

How do you think Anne Boden will have reacted? She’d have laughed her head off!

Writing on Crunchbase in March this year, columnist Joanna Glasner drew a parallel between rap and start-up entrepreneurship. Both, she said, are ‘longshot career tracks that celebrate raw ambition and unabashed self-promotion. To make it, both also require an excellent grasp of what sells in the real world’. Drake WealthSimple

Toronto’s Drake is invested in the online brokerage, which more than doubled in value to $5billion this year. will.i.am Atom Bank

The Black Eyed Peas singer and tech entrepreneur completed a two-year stint as board advisor to the UK challenger in December. His Californian start-up I. am+ just launched a Bluetooth-enabled face mask for our time – the Xupermask.

Klarna and Robinhood

The prince of business diversification and one of the most financially successful hip-hop artists in the US. Both the buy now, pay later platform and the fee-free stock trading app in which he’s invested have struck gold. Nas Coinbase

Nas’ co-founded investment fund Queensbridge Venture Partners took an early position in Coinbase. The NY rapper recently featured in a track from DJ Khaled, Sorry, Not Sorry, in which he references the platform and dubs himself ‘cryptocurrency scarface’. Killer Mike Greenwood

AKA Michael Render, he co-founded

Greenwood bank in 2020 to address lack of fairness in the financial system for black and Latin American users. 'You can find Fintech Rap Battle on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG0JTbzMnd4