Shack, the beat making Bakery Boy

Meshach (aka Shack Baker) was once upon a time a bedroom producer and is now part of a hip hop collective called "Bakery Boys." I had no idea who they were until my Twitter DM pinged at me. For a Twitter user getting a DM with a SoundCloud link isn't new. But he asked about my journalism so I thought… let me bag an interview with this guy!

Thanks to TFL I was late. My train decided to break 8 stops before my destination, so I did what any other impatient person would do... I ran. Lord knows where my feet were taking me but once I caught sight of a black cab I jumped in and didn't give a bollocks about the fare. 

I had arrived. I stood before this tall building on the corner, the door was twice my height and 10 times my weight.  The receptionist had flawless make-up, I avoided every shiny object that would remind me how shit my sweaty face looked.

It turned out that Shack was late too, he arrived in a navy on navy outfit with fresh white,blue,green Air Max's holding a brown leather holdall in his right hand. My immediate thoughts were, okay, he means business.

The interior was SO sexy I struggled not to drool. We went into a lift and he vented about how shit the parking was. As the doors opened I was welcomed to this huge dining space surrounded by comfy study booth type seating areas.  Brown leather sofas, oriental rugs, mahogany coffee tables; this was Antique Roadshow meets Grand Designs. A few people were jotted around, either their heads were buried in books or they were chilling on their smartphones. 

Shack was sat on this chair. Tell me that ain't a sexy chair?

So, we sat and put our bags down. Shack insisted on buying food, I politely settled with a coffee; typical me.  His eyes searched the menu and he spent ages trying to decide on what he wanted. I suggested Caesar Salad and fries and he went along with it. (Literally just became friends.) A waiter with coiffed hair took our order, it was time. As I sat to compose myself, my eyes were fixed on his silver decoupage ring and his metal snap button earring.

"Check one, check two. One two inside."

Let’s do this, how did you get into music?

"I used to work for a recording studio when I was 18…19, so that built my passion for music. I was actually a bedroom producer, I made beats in my room."

waiter arrives with our drinks

What’s it like working with your brother?

“My brother Ace had always been into music, we were quite lyrical and naturally it took off like that. I’m the eldest, Ace is number three.”

So, what is Bakery Boys?

“Bakery boys consists of me Shack Baker, my brother Ace Boogie and our good long term friend, Dirty Dre. Me and Dre have always worked together and we developed fashion brands together, it’s been over 10 years now. So, we always did fashion, music was something we did on the side.”

Our office space was called The Bakery.”

Shack smiles in nostalgia

“Some of the designs we had, one of them in particular was a character called the Dough Boy.”

Ohhhhh

“We’d throw parties and people used to go “lets go to the bakery,” I thought it was a bit cheesy but what I do like is the duality. Making dough. Stacking cheddar.”

What were you like at school?

“I’ve always been a straight creative, always, always, always.”

His Whatsapp pings and the waiter arrives with his food

“And…I’ve always been a great drawer that was my thing. My mum wanted me to go into architecture. I was like…”fuck I can’t do that?! That’s boring.” I’m naturally quite melodic, so for me they’re very linked, the musical side and the creative.”

Mary Mother of Jesus- The last thing Meshach drew! SO sick.

What were your musical influences?

“Er… we were quite musical as a family. My dad was around a lot of musicians and studios so we got a chance to see what that environment looks like. When I was young I saw the recording studios and I was like…”yeah I wanna do something like that!”

What was on your playlist?

“As a kid, I think one of my biggest influences was listening to Wu-Tang.”

His eyes began to roll into his archive of memories

“Early Jay-Z, like Reasonable Doubt, we’re talking from ’96…”

Rah in that year I was 2!

“I was a proper hip-hop head. Name any hip-hop artist, any tune…I knew it.”

You performed at Wireless right?

“We did it twice.” 

He smiles in pride

“It was the maddest jump. One man from Live Nation saw and listened to Hustlin’ behaviour and was in love with it. He said “if an opportunity came up to perform at wireless would you kill it?”

I said, I’d kill anything you put in front of me cuz.”

So how comes you’re not signed?

“My team, we’re all on the same wave. Too many artists work so hard right? to do their own thing, with a big following and what not. Big labels sign you when you’re about to win the race. So, as soon as you’ve done all that hard work, it’s like “yeah we’re buddies” and then you won’t hear from them no more. Then they’re gonna’ blame you cos you ain’t got that buzz no more. Nah that’s dead.”

He grinds pepper on his salad

“And I think in this date and age I don’t think you need to, sometimes your best team is yourself, cos you got the vision and you know what you want.”

What do you listen to?

“I’m so eclectic, it’s mad. Like, when I’m in my car I listen to Smooth FM and Magic FM, everyone says I’m an old man. I bang it like… I literally bang it.”

He loves the word “bang.”

“I built a playlist the other day and it was like Frank Ocean, Jennifer Hudson, there’s a guy called Mayer Hawthorne and Jessie Ware, and that’s like modern stuff but then I’ll still throw in an old school like …Dianna Ross, or the Isley brother’s. They were classic.”

What song takes you back to your childhood?

“Probably Michael Jackson, say like “Bad” or “Thriller”. If I listen to that, straight away I’ll get nostalgic. Me, Ace maybe Locks dancing around in our pyjamas trying to moonwalk and shit. If you didn’t dance to that, then something was wrong with you.”

What inspires you?

“Everything. Inspiration comes from living. When I say living I mean experience stuff, I dunno go out, travel, have relationships those things bring real experiences and they inspire me to write about stuff.”

What the biggest challenge that you've faced?

“I think one of the hardest things is, being you and contacting people, might wanna get in contact with blogs, like they don’t give a fuck about your existence until they’re either a trend, or until other people are talking about them so they jump on the bandwagon. Sometimes it’s like throwing your shit at a wall.”

Adele- "Rolling in the Deep" plays in the background

Did you go uni?

“Nope.”

Why?

“Just didn't.”

Why?

“You know what, I tried going to uni. Cos I used to work for a recording studio and they wanted to keep me there. I was like, I’m a young guy I should really go to uni to develop myself. I decided I wanted to do sound recording in uni and I went to…there’s a college called SAE. They were like cool. Then, my local authority wouldn’t pay for my tuition fees. They was chatting shit so... what the f….like…what the f?!. They was just talking shit, just chatting crap.. So it kinda threw me in the opposite way, I’m trying to do the right thing, but at the time they just pissed me off.”

There was anger in his voice

What’s your advice to aspiring artists?

“It’s keeping that intense focus. You owe it to yourself. What a lot of musicians do is focus purely on music and in this date and age that’s a myth, you can’t do that. Like getting out there is just as important.”

His Whatsapp pings but he ignores it

“The flip side is obviously I fucked around for a couple years and you think to yourself “shit” in that space of time I could have got a degree. But, I haven’t got no regrets I had fun. It was experiences that were worth doing. So this is now the embodiment of everything.”

And I won’t stop until I get what I want.”

How do you reward yourself?

He couldn't stop smiling.

“That’s a good question. Back in the day, I would have bought a pair of trainers, gone on a date, whatever. I think for me the reward is just the work. I’m quite ambitious so the reward is knowing that something’s fallen into place that’s gonna set me up for the next goal.”

What makes you proud?

“Fulfilment.”

...through what?

“Through work.”

...just your work?

“No. See what makes me proud is, I’ve got children. I come from a large family. Me doing what I’m doing and achieving stuff?!... The ripple effect it has within my family is powerful. If you say to my son “Where’d your dad get that from?” he’d say “from working hard.” That’s what makes me proud.

What do you think you’ll be doing in 5 years’ time?

“I’d definitely still do music. Like we’d be developing the label with an agency as such, creative, that’d cover like everything from acts, film, music, design so I see we’d be putting a lot of energy into that.”

What do you fear?

"Only thing I fear is like… not do well, that’s the only thing I can think, that if it happened I'd actually be crushed like “fuck.”"

I told him how I struggle to stay focused and committed to one thing and he started laughing.

“See, when I was in the office I’d be on the phone to girls like “ah yeah yeah” cos I thought, this is my company I can do what I want. Dre was like “shack you can’t do that, fuck them girls man, its dumb.” Successful people don’t do that. They’re fucking focused.”

What’s your earliest musical memory?

“One time when I was about 17 I holler’d at Princes Trust and they gave me £500 to record at a commercial recording studio for one day. And I did it. I got there, I didn’t know what to record, then the girl I was seeing at the time, she could sing. We made a really soulful, housey kinda garage song called “I love the way.” That was dope actually."

Who would you like to work with?

“The sound that I like at the moment is quite eclectic, groovy kind of, kind of soulful bounce. So the sound is quiet grown, but it’s got that old school but modern. Definitely, I’d work with someone like Jamiroquai, he’s mad groovy. I think that’d be dope still.”

What are you doing for Valentines day?

“Working.”

What did you do for New Years?

“I worked. It depends where you are. Valentines?..tssst, I don’t really care about it. A lot of it is just materialistic, nah fuck all that. I always get my mum a card and chocolates, she doesn't give a fuck about the card but she loves the chocolates still…also my birthday is a couple days after it.”

How will you celebrate?

“Last year we worked on my birthday. You can go out and have fun but you have the whole of the year to do that. If someone rang me up for a DJ set, I'm gonna say “yeah” I never say no.”

You know what? Running after a black cab was worth it. The magnitude of insight made me respect his work even more. He proved that you don’t have to have Jay-Z’s lips to be a Jay-Z.

Note to Shack: If we ever bump into each other I won’t air you.

P.S CHECK THEM OUT

@Shack_Baker

soundcloud.com/bakeryboys

Spandex, Wigs and Fishnets

That’s right. Let’s talk drag.

The quiet Saturday nigh-in didn’t happen, instead I went clubbing to explore the antics of gay clubbing and dress up drag!

It’s unclear when drag was introduced in Britain. But definitely after the war, the clubbing culture soared as drinking and music became more accessible. The term ‘drag’ refers to clothing and drag queen means, usually a man, who impersonates a woman. It’s not just about dressing up in dresses and wearing lip stick. There’s something beneath the escapade of glamour and glitter that sparked my curiosity. So as I always do, I went exploring!!!

With a Tequila hum and lemon smacking lips I danced before latex super heroes, dominatrix princesses and a lady in a white meringue dress shouting “I am a Christmas tree!”

Seductive eye contact was exchanged between two women in cat suits as I walked over to the beer frothed bar. The ceiling cluttered with pulsating strobe lights. The DJ mixed his tracks overlooking the crowds of spirits, sweat and saliva. Rihanna ‘Pour it up’ invited some to slut drop, whilst others focused on mastering how not to spill their drink and twerk at the same time. I felt like a stiff pole in comparison to the flamboyant choreography around me. 

I began to observe trends and patterns. 

Before I got too jealous over some woman’s buoyant curls it took me a few seconds to realise it was a wig. Wigs galore, from brunette waves to sleek blonde 24 inch pony tails. Crowd surfing champagne bottles highlighted the faces of theatrical make-up.  But as I lost count of false lashes and lace fronts I began to question... there must be more to this performance right? It’s deeper than what I'm seeing before my eyes, surely?

I was being hugged by strangers and a fat reality check slapped me across my face. How the fuck am I meant to question someone about their life choice? Regardless of whether this was me researching or quenching my curiosity....nah it didn't feel right.

“I’m not exactly a girly-girl, who would have guessed?”

Failure is and was never my best friend. So...with time, I resorted to desk research.

mygendercatharsis.blogspot.co.uk. got me hooked. 

Her blog is used as a platform to express her feelings, I continued to investigate.  Her friendly tone was comforting and so she told me more about what it's like to be a ‘part time girl’.

“I was struggling with depression which was caused in part by the fact I was struggling with my gender identity. I wasn’t out to anyone, and I was feeling trapped.

“Well of course my girlfriend is someone I really love! When I came out to her 9 years ago I wasn’t expecting our relationship to survive but here we are, still going strong! :) I don’t really have any celebrity crushes, but, I do love celebrities who use their image/status to try and change things in the world. Emma Watson’s recent stand for feminism comes to mind, she is an amazing individual, and too cute too!”

I didn’t expect her to mention anything about feminism. Being accepted as a woman in society is one thing, yet after reading this, it fascinated me that she has adopted what it’s like to be a woman politically as well as emotionally.

I was curious to understand her perspective on drag queen culture.

“Well this is the thing, and you’re probably not going to like me for it, but I don’t like the majority of drag queens. The impression I get is that the majority seem to be larger than life caricatures of femininity, rather than a homage of it. They reinforce stereotypes of trans-women being easy targets for amusement and harassment.”

See, from my clubbing experience it is captivating to know that clubbing isn’t the be all and end all. It’s just a leisure pattern that celebrates drag queen culture.

I was itching to get her thoughts on religion.

“What I have a problem with is religious extremists from every religion, people who try and force their view of how their religious text say you should live your life on people who do not believe. Or those who channel such a large amount of hatred to minorities (like me) in the name of their god.” 

How can we change this? Although the drag queen culture and gay clubbing culture is celebrated and advertised in British society, isn't it an issue that discrimination still exists?

“It would be nice just to be accepted at face value as the gender I present as. If I'm dressed as a woman, treat me like one. No glances, stares, "is that a man?" comments behind me, shouts across the room, fear of using toilets, or so on. We do no harm. A lot of people do accept us, but there is a minority that makes things difficult.”

The reality is, discussing the Transgender community is a taboo subject. Even after absorbing more about her I will never understand what it’s truly like. I went into a restaurant yesterday and my waiter had better contouring than Kim K. Could I compliment his HD brows? Would that be offensive? It’s simply an ongoing controversy. Will this change for the better? We can only hope.

“I think strong women are greater role models for women of all ages. I don’t know many superheroes but I would probably be Jean Grey from the X-Men.”

M.I.A Governs Speech, Knowledge, Music and the Arts

“…the last time I read on their government website it said If I ever came back to Sri-Lanka there’s a grave waiting for me” -proclaims the enigma rapper M.I.A.

Sri Lankan born, Maya Mathangi Arulpragasm, widely known as M.I.A. Brought up in LDN and raised in the shadows of Sri Lankan civil war, a female rapper and multi-talented artist communicates political messages through a mash up of global sounds. Recognised and praised by rap icons such as Nas: “M.I.A’s sound is the future.”
Ayeeee

She also speaks through her art and so I did a quick edit inspired by her loud style.

This is how it began. Maya produced a demo tape “Galang” which gave her an online presence before getting a record deal. Once signed to XL Recordings in 2003, “Galang” was released which acclaimed No. 8 on the US dance charts!

Soon after in 2005, she released her first album “Arular” named after her father.  Regardless of her success, she gained much attention from critics who closely analysed her revolutionary narrative sandwiched by club beats, hints of electronica iced with radical rap. Like,“Bucky Done Gone”which signifies Maya’s visit to Brazil. After noticing a massive class divide, she decided to encompass Favela funk and sounds of the ghetto to break the mould on commercial radio.
WARNING: Heavy dose of libido  

Her second album “Kala” (2007) was named after her mother. And my all time FAV is  “Bird Flu”. Maya resurrects beatbox rhythms in her DIY music video; delivering gunshots with remnants of punk and political lyrics:

“Ghetto pops, food drops, stored up in my stable” illustrating one of her profound themes; governments in third world countries.
Yasssssss

This was shortly followed by her third album “Matangi” released in 2013 which shows a transition from politically inspired lyrics to blends of Middle Eastern drums. I lurrrve her song "Y.A.L.A” where it's all about, you always live again! A spin on rapper Drake’s “Y.O.L.O”
HOMEWORK: Watch the video when you're high then drop me a DM.

BUT she didn't sell as well as her last two albums and soon her career became challenged by critical acclaim.

Her alternative outlook on being a musician sets her apart from commercial artists in the present time. After being approached by big names like Timbaland, she began to refuse opportunities that would have heightened her career -as the first Sri Lankan, female rapper in the twenty first century. This makes her badass.

She focuses on her own vision and created her own label “Neet” on which she released her latest album “/\/\ /\ Y /\” (2010). Having said that, her image began to shine bright like a diamond when Jay-Z and T.I sampled her single “Paper Planes” for their track “Swagga Like Us.” This lead to an iconic Grammy performance in 2009, where Lil Wayne, T.I, Jay-Z AND rapper Kanye West performed their remix alongside Maya who rocked, despite being eight months pregnant and receiving contractions on stage. If I was her... my water would have broken ...twice.

Adele once did it and so did Maya at the Super Bowl halftime performance in 2012. (Edited by moi.)

Shit went down when Maya was given the opportunity to perform at the Super Bowl halftime
performance in 2012, alongside Nicki Minaj and Madonna. The trio performed “Give Me All Your Luvin” in ornate roman costume and swept the audience... until Maya rapped her verse and stuck her middle finger up. She was scrutinized and victimized by many celebrities, NBC and NFL yet her response was:

“I don’t give a shit.”
At least she's honest.

Her bravado may not be to some people’s taste but she stands by that.

“I’m exactly the person that kind of, needs to be eradicated” she admitted in an interview with Q host, Jian Ghomeshi on CBC radio. She sits holding her head, then plays with the radio leads every five minutes, unravelling them as she processes her answers. Jian patiently waits a lengthy five seconds before she answers every question, as if she was biting her tongue.

After being asked whether her career relies on causing a stir, she quickly responded:

“The only reason you think I'm doing this to cause a stir is because no one else is doing it

That’s why you think I stick out like a sore thumb; ‘somebody who is obviously so wrong’…and it’s like…no.”

A journalist took-the-piss as Maya met New York Times journalist, Lynn Hirschberg who published an article titled “M.I.A’s Agitprop Pop”. Here, Hirschberg presented her as naïve and hypocritical; overseeing her political stand for supposed personal gain. Without hesitation... Maya backfired by tweeting “CALL ME IF YOU WANNA TALK TO ME ABOUT THE N Y T TRUTH ISSUE, ill b taking calls all day bitches ;)" alongside Hirschberg’s phone number.

If you look carefully you can see me. "Bad Girls" (2013).

Indefinitely, Maya raises awareness through her music, words and her actions about issues which aren’t tackled by artists in the way that she does.

In 2010 her stay in America was questioned again, when she released a music video supporting her single “Born Free”. The video reveals a merciless truth depicting a group of red-haired youths who are gathered into a military van, taken to a derelict land where they are killed one by one. You also see, a man smoking crack, a naked couple having sex and a kid shot in the head. Ultimately, it expresses the extra-judicial murders of Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan army.

But no, the video was under scrutiny and her political message was overlooked. The Guardian commented “…it also contravenes terms and conditions about levels of violence in user-uploaded content.”

Yet, a whole documentary was broadcasted by Channel 4 called “No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka” and that was OK’d LOL. And YouTube immediately banned the video. It’s clear that her expression challenges the conventions of a celebrity but that is what makes her different!!!

A South-Asian woman has never reached to this level of publicity in the music industry in the UK. The last time I remember a South Asian woman making POSITIVE news, is Sayeeda Warsi. The first female Pakistani Muslim to attend cabinet and news anchors gasped as she put her foot down and resigned over her disagreement with the government’s views on the Gaza conflict in 2014.
Shame Dawud Kamran.

So, no we’re not just about constantly being a victim aka Shilpa Shetty’s five minute screen time on Big Brother in 2007 in which she was called “Shilpa poppadum” and was told to “f*** off home”. Malala is another example of an iconic South Asian who smashed the glass ceiling and spoke for women’s educative rights in Pakistan…yet people still questioned why she received the Nobel Peace Prize award in 2014.
*SIGH*

Therefore as Maya continues to do what she does, perhaps it would invite more South Asian women to the public eye and be vocal instead of...sweating your tits off in A-level then buying a one way ticket to marriage/henna apprenticeships/Asda.

All I'm saying is, I'd do anything to have a kebab with her and just listen to what she has to say because it feels fucking great to be able to empathise with a warrior!!!

There was ‘Too Many Man’

On the 21st of November...2014.

Stairs lead me underground to a dungeon of bucket hats, Adidas and hoodie strings.

No way did I just enter a venue for free, and I’m about to see big Grime artists before my eyes?! All I knew is that my shoes were going to get ruined!

Why did I choose to stand right at the front? The stage displayed three microphone stands, the floor clothed in a mustard Turkish rug. Thick black leads followed to the DJ’s station and my ear drums were not safe. Gigantic 10ft speakers stood on either side of the stage blasting garage beats that you’re hypnotised to bop your head.

Groups of people dressed in all fashions, the Asap Rocky’s stood next to the School Boy Q’s and ironically this wasn’t a hip hop event at all. I started to notice the air was getting heavier with a trace of sweat and weed. Yes, weed.

I was at a Grime Karaoke event.

You wouldn't put those two words together would you? Yeah, neither would I. To clarify, random people put their names down to rap along to a Grime song of their choice. The first group of three girls were so intoxicated that they lasted three minutes on stage and couldn't find their fourth friend. 

The next act was someone who goes by ‘Penguin’. Fluently rapped to every word, the crowd went ballistic! I am dreading to see myself in any photography as I was starting to lose my balance.

People started filming, pushing, shoving, shouting, screaming. This is when it hit me that standing at the front was the worst decision I could make. My ear was glued to the pulsing speaker. My chest was possessed by this monotonous beat.

Why, you ask? Well, because an artist called Ghetts parted the crowd like Moses and took the stage. 

Wearing a black, bear mink scarf with a leather jacket, a leopard print snap back on backwards and navy Nike trainers. It was definitely his definition of swag.

Outside I walked into the newsagents and bought a ten pack of Marlboro Red just so I could walk past his Mercedes (his friend’s Mercedes).

(Yes, that's me checking out his legit mink "sweg")

As I approached him I began to chat about Grime on a level. He smiled showing perfect teeth and put his hands into the right pocket of his jeans; he folded his arms to listen.

“There’s this kid called Wiley, basically he tried his thing at jungle, garage, they never liked him much, they tried push him out because his sound was a little different.”

“You will never be able to understand the present unless you know the history of grime, so when you get home look at things like Crazy Titch, Escobar, Kano when he first started.”

Grime is sourced at home, its authenticity stems from the struggle and conveys the true meaning behind a particular lifestyle. It raised a new platform to talk about the reality of what was happening in that present time.

“The area was changing. More stabbings were happening, people were getting robbed and the music kinda reflected that. It breeded a new type of MC to talk about the reality of what was going on, instead of just talking about “Ollie Ollie Ollie”.”

Perhaps the genre of Grime will continue as a niche and avoid the mainstream chart music but it’s evident that this year it had gained commercial recognition.

“Recently, for me this year has been the most successful, MOBO, BET awards, tours sold out.”

“I dislike that there’s lots of culture vultures that don’t really know much about the scene- f*** all of them.”

He made a habit of looking left and adjusting his black mink scarf. He checked his I-phone 6 then shook his head after realising I’m still there.

“When I die no one cares about chart cred, they’ll care about what I done for the genre.”

"What’s your advice for future grime artists?"

After a momentary pause with police sirens blaring in the background, he answered…

“Don’t send for me.”