Interview: Words with Chuckie

You’ve probably heard him more than you’ve seen him and that’s no dig at his height.

If Chip can’t run out of bars, it’s safe to say Chuckie can’t run out of bookings. Sounds like absolute macaroni cheese but understand that this man of smaller stature has a lot to say about the evolution of Djing.

These days anyone can DJ, right? We can all shuffle tracks on our computer tabs, blending one YouTube video to another. On a more complex level, software and technology has advanced and this convenience has left many people wanting to pursue a serious career in music let alone DJing. But everyone has to start somewhere and Chuckie did so at the age of just 12.

All my friends used to MC so one day I thought: “I could MC.” So I just started chatting shit on the microphone. I went to the under 18’s, started chatting shit, went on stage chat shit again and at that moment I knew I wanted to be involved in music.

Yes, we can all sip a KA and talk endlessly about Grime culture vultures however Chuckie witnessed the sonic transition, the shift from Grime to Garage left the aspiring MC to reconsider his path yet his passion for music collecting remained. Then you question, we can all do that so what’s new? Well, Chuckie began to play on radio, but not like today, nah. This guy dragged his records back and forth from set to set and this authenticity, fortunately is something which a DJ today will never have to experience. Chuckie was in his element as he sat talking endlessly, answering every question with thorough explanations but what really made his eyes light up was when began to unravel the scrolls of his childhood to share who actually influenced him to DJ.

Who is Jason Speed?

Okay, so I grew up in Northolt but I had cousins that were close to my age that lived on White Flats estate in Hanwell and I used to go on that estate all of the time. I ultimately grew up there to be fair. On that estate was a guy called Jason Speed and he had a pair of decks, so I used to play with his younger brother and I just saw them and was like “what are those?! I want to learn!” He used to teach me how to play Reggae music and then I remember looking at him thinking, “this is what my dad does” because my dad was a DJ. While everyone was downstairs playing football and doing other bits and pieces or skating…I used to stay in Jason’s room all the time. He was a lot older than me and he taught me how to mix. Only then I started making tapes with my friends while mixing music and whatever. I just loved it.

When did you get your hands on some turn tables?

I bought mine late! I couldn’t afford them. At that time, my parents weren’t really making money like that so I literally depended on going to White Flats estate every weekend, couple of times during the week and just learning how to mix on them. We used to make so many tapes, these times it was Jungle and Garage so I literally used to mix like a DJ for them…and then occasionally grab the mic and chat shit.

With a father as a DJ and being around music enthusiasts, Chuckie began to learn the technicalities of Djing by the man Jason Speed himself. In this world of short cuts, people are desperate to reach a following, fans, an audience to share their passion. Let’s take you to the streets of Camden. We’re all guilty of avoiding that eager, slightly damp smelling guy who’s holding a bunch of CD’s ready to pounce when you give them a second of eye contact. However laughable this practise may be, Chuckie solely believed in getting himself heard and so off he went to the street parties of carnival one day and made a life changing move.

I remember around that time I thought ‘okay, cool, I’m gonna’ buy 3,000 blank CD’s and I’m going to burn them all myself. So I done a mix CD, I bought a CD duplicator as well; I only had one at the time. It burnt 7 in 2 minutes. Taking them to carnival was obviously hard, I had loads of bags and had some help from my friends. Then once we got there, I’d pick a spot then just gave them out and because not a lot of people was doing it at the time, literally that day or the next day my phone line would be blowing up. That was one of the first ways people started to know who I was, just by doing loads of mixed CD’s.

It’s hard to imagine that DJ Khaled’s face on a CD would look weird but upon a time this was the moistest thing you could do. But thanks to the power of those 30,000 CD’s Chuckie’s phone line was Hotline-Blingin’ and the networks could only keep growing.

Now it’s normal, people would have a mix cd with their face on it and it wouldn’t be a ‘thing’ but when I was doing it…firstly I was giving them away for free. Secondly, they were like “who do you think you are?” these were just the people that didn’t understand and thirdly I had my number on it so I tried to make a connection between me and people that didn’t know me.

Do you think DJ’s do that now?

Not really. It’s different now, because it’s so over saturated. You can go outside of the club and there might be 15 people handing you a CD and half the time the CD’s are bollocks because people are not putting the time and effort into it. Me, when I do mixed CD’s it takes me ages to do it because I’m thinking of the order of the tracks, the songs I want, how I want it to sound, the effects, it takes me ages to do it! People used to approach me like, “can you do a mix CD for me?” I don’t mind it cos you’re going to burn it and sell it to loads of people but at the same time it’s going to take me a long time to do it. Not a case of, I’m just going to bang them out within 45 minutes.  I don’t work like that.

Do you think DJ’s truly understand the concept of beat juggling and the technique behind DJ’ing or is it just the case of blending songs now?

Do you know what? I don’t think they do know the concepts, well some of them. I think it’s funny, I think some of the new generation DJ’s don’t really know what they’re doing. They are beat matching but they don’t really understand exactly what’s going on. I don’t know where the fault is, I don’t know who necessarily is to blame for that but it works for some people. If it works for somebody and someone else sees it they’re going to follow that format.

Is it easier to become a DJ now compared to when you started out?

It’s harder, in a sense that you probably will find that a lot of people want to become a DJ but I think a lot of the people are doing it for the wrong reasons. So, it’s harder for you as a person who loves music, loves the idea of just playing music and you’re a music collector; it is harder for you to prosper. As opposed to a model, part of a modelling agency who wants extra bookings and the agent will then sort them out. That ultimately takes them away from the person who collects music.

How did it feel to meet Nas?

I couldn’t even believe it! So, I get there before him and when Nas came through he sat next to me and we were chatting about what we were going to do. I couldn’t believe I was sat next to Nas, I wish I had Snapchat back in those times! The biggest thing for me, was telling Nas “nah let's do this and let's do that and these are the reasons why” and he was saying “okay, let's do that.” I will never forget that. He doesn't know how amazing that was for me, of course he's not he's just Nas and he's cool.  I'm sure if I saw him he would remember me from that moment. Afterwards he invited me to the club and I didn't go, I was too in the moment. That will always be the biggest highlights of my life. I would listen to Nas before I can even remember and then to DJ for him was crazy. I told my mum but my mum didn't know the magnitude of it. It made me think I'm really out here, for them to call ‘me’ shows they respect me in a certain way, they could have rung anyone!

As a DJ how do you feel the audience’s vibe?

 This is a good question you know because I do it without thinking about it. Now that you’ve asked me that question I’m starting to think about my thought process... I kinda’ go in and I look at the crowd: the age, the types of people that are there and the time that I am playing. Let’s say, I come to a gig and it’s a student event, I’ll think “cool, it’s one o’ clock, the DJ hasn’t played the new Hip Hop so I’m going to test the crowd with that. I will play the main stuff that everybody knows and occasionally I’ll throw in the new song that’s going to be big, to see if people know it. If they do, that would be my opportunity to play extra new stuff.

Has technology changed DJ’ing for the better or the worst?

For me it’s changed for the better because I like change. I like when things evolve and I love the thought of going into a record store and buying vinyl; love that. That’s the one thing I miss about DJ’ing and music collecting, you can still do it now but it’s just more expensive. Now, people will send you an mp3 file, which is a positive because I went through the stage of going to a club with boxes of music and I was really young. I had to get a cab and get the cab man to help me take some of the boxes but now I just take my laptop. There’s a flip side to the coin because now you can just download music or someone will give you a hard drive of music and that gives a short cut to people. People think “sick, I’ve got this music, I can take it to a club and be a DJ!” Nah that’s shit. That’s proper shit. You’ve got House DJs for example, who will play a two hour set of House music and will not know the artist, the name of the song, or anything! That is bananas! That is crazy! I love having music conversations. Music can take you back to a certain time when certain things were going on. You’ll ask a DJ now what’s their favourite album and they won’t even know. That’s mental. So, for me it’s changed for the better but ultimately it has changed for the worse because if it was about going to the record store and buying vinyl, half the DJs that are around today would not be around.

So who are your DJ role models?

All of them are Jamaican. I was looking up to David Rodigan, Stone Love, Mighty Crown, these were all the selecta's really. With EZ its funny, what he was doing was so mad to me, I just knew this is something that I could do. I looked at him and thought he was sick. When I loved EZ I was MC'ing, aside from that when I was collecting music I was looking at DJ's from Mighty Crown thinking, “that is what I want to do!” He was a role model for a lot of Grime and Garage DJ's at the time and it's sick to see what he's doing now because he's been at the top of the game for years. 

What's the future of DJ'ing looking like from your perspective?

 It's looking grim. I just feel from my experiences, a lot of the people that are getting into DJ'ing are doing it for completely different reasons and it worries me about where this will end up going. if you have somebody who doesn't have that genuine interest to be a DJ and just wants to be a star and somebody looks at that and thinks “I can do that” they just have the wrong mind set. It doesn't mean that you can't be a footballer and become a DJ but I just think people think it's so glamorous. People are looking at the crowd who are throwing their hands in the air, they aren't falling in love with a song or a type of music to play at parties because it makes them feel a certain way. I want to make people feel a certain way when I play my music. If that's how people were looking at it then it would be wicked. However you're always going to get a crop of good DJ's who are out there doing their thing.

What makes you different from other UK DJ's?

The things that make me different are the things that should be normal. I feel the game is bullshit. Being able to structure my set, that is something which everybody should know how to do it because it's become such a rarity now that's what makes me different. On a more technical aspect, what makes me different from DJs now is that I am very comfortable on the microphone, I can address a room of 100 people or a stadium of 10,000 people I can make them put their hands up and while out and make them jump up and down whatever it may be. I don't think a lot of DJs have that level of confidence.  

The journey of HighDefRazjah: ASAP Ferg's top producer

Artists, artists, artists but what about the people who make the cogs turn before the beat was even a beat? What if they took the stage? I looked over at the US and caught up with one of ASAP Ferg's producers HighDefRazjah to get an insight into what he's up to and to get a real grasp of what's poppin' in their streets today!

Introduce yourself, for those who haven't come across you before...

I'm HIghDefRazjah, 23 outta' Suffolk,Virginia in The United States. Indigo child, music producer and artist. I produced ASAP Ferg's Last single "Let it Go" off his Traplord Album.

What was your starting point?

I Started doing marketing under my old boss/manager Batman Va Promoter (@BatmanVaPromotr) he is currenty the Def Jam rep for the Virginia Market. Under him I learnt the game and business of music to go along with my craft. He basically educated me on everything I know.

What genre do you associate yourself with, or is that something that isn't so important to you? 

Genre really Isn't important. Music is music. The genre is the feeling or the vibe you get for the song... I can basically create any sound from how I'm feeling at the moment. That's how I create the best music.

What's your thoughts on Lex Luger and his EP LOWPROS?

I heard the project months before it's release. Lex is venturing off, creating new sounds, having fun with music, touring Europe, so all that stuff he's soaking up, he puts into his craft and Lowpros is a different sound, EDM and Lex Luger... awww man .. thats super ill ..I've been recording for LOWPROS2 tho' ha ...

You’re asked to make a beat, what's the first thing you do?

Smoke, do drugs...Just to get in the element of focus and creativity. I become someone with the sounds to create the best vibration possible for your ears, to be addicted to my sound.

What project have you worked on that you are most proud of?

Uhhhhhhhm, my EP honestly. Producing my own records and creating songs to them, Ferg's project was dope because his first album was destined to be a classic but working on debut in general is dope because you have a chance to make a mark; creating a vibe or sound.

You’re working with Travis Scott, what’s that looking like?

Me nd Travis is cool. We haven't spoken in a while but we def have done a production. I haven't heard it yet but I sent him some files, he added to it and that was that. I met him at Trillectro fest, we were excited t meet each other and the energy was crazy. Hes a dope dude man. Talented.

Do you like staying behind the scenes as a producer or do you see yourself performing in the future?

Haha, I just did a show last night (June 30th.) Nah, I love stepping out from behind the scenes to showcase my talent...showing face is important in music, so people can get a feel for you and feel your vibe!

Who’s been the best artist to work with and why?

Has to Be Bia and Lex . They work ethic and creativy is a mirror image of myself .. and we are all young and cool with each other like fam...we have chemistry...we have something in the works for you guys.

Is life in the studio all about sippin lean, getting high and vibing or is there more to it?

It's not what it seems, drugs just put you in the vibe to work and be more creative and in tune with sound and yourself...to create the best sound.

Where do you see yourself going with your music, would you ever come to the UK?

I Wanna be the Next Kanye West. Point Blank and of course! I need some shows there hahaha!!!

Do you feel like your work gets the recognition it deserves, in terms of making a hit record, or is that something that you don’t pay mind to?

I rarely don't pay attention, the music will speak for itself. Recognition is perception, we are recognized everyday, just in different ways.The people decide a hit records.  

Who in your opinion, is killing it right now?

Future, Travis Scott are 2 of my favourite artist right now. They have the Youth and the Streets.

If you could see yourself working with anyone, who would it be and why?

I would like to sit down and work with Rihanna on a project. She has the sound, the brand and the image. She's Talented and I would love to build with her.

Damn right about that. 

What can we look forward to see from you in 2015?

In 2015, expect the unexpected. I'm coming full steam ahead, artist wise and production wise.

What has been your biggest accomplishment?

Being a father to my daughter and focusing on music.

Was a pleasure to talk to a producer wanting to venture out as an artist, that transition isn't discussed these days so it was dope to discuss his vision. I hope to see the future Kanye West take the lime light in the near future. Ch-ch-check him out gawdddddd!

Twitter: @HighDefRazjah

Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/taeguxxi  & soundcloud.com/drughabitrazjah

4i, the North London Rich Soul Rapper

Getting lost in Kings Cross station isn't funny… because whether you say ‘take a left’ or ‘take a right’ you're benefiting no one but your Walkometer.

I’m stood outside Costa. A man plays the piano providing an element of tranquillity as the cleaners chase people, who were ignorantly walking over the freshly mopped floor. A Michael Kors bag whacks my breasts as I try to peer over the crowds of people, in search for a dreadlock pineapple.

Well, after several phone calls, we came to realise that we were BOTH lost. It was like an unintentional game of hide and seek but I eventually met 4i. I arrived with that glamorous natural hair-blowing-in-the-wind and something-in-my-eye-but-I'll-keep-smiling look, but he was really cool about it and so we proceeded to sit in a nearby Starbucks.

Hot coffee air, walls covered in coffee bean timelines, people hypnotized by their screens and then there was us engaging in a conversation deeper than Starbuck’s pockets.

Yes, he goes by “4i”. Dominic began to laugh upon reflection of his past regretful tag-names. A North London rapper, who refuses to confine himself in a specific genre, as his music shuffles from poetry to Soul, sometimes dipping into Drum and Base but is also influenced by Reggae rhythms and Hip-hop. His recent mixtape “Soul Rich” dropped in December 2014 and was launched through his Paradime Collective, a group of equally artistic talented minds that helped to celebrate Dominic’s body of work.

But, it’s 4i’s music videos that put the rapper’s journey into context. From the very first video “Headhunters” when his hair was in the brushed-out pony tail stage, the lyrics speak on the grind as he reflects on his pride, which is visually depicted in a rush of time-lapses, showing Barnet crowds, his gym flow and a few faces from the Paradime crew. Now, “Soul Rich” includes ear pricking vocals and optimism but lyrics that relate, delivering his progression as an artist and the professionalism of his team.

I’ve done a bit of working in my life and my soul just tells me: ‘that is not where you were supposed to be.'

Did this stem from school do you think?

I wasn’t so anti-system it was more like ‘why?’ Like one plus one equals two…why? Do you know what I mean? ‘Oh cos that plus sign means you’ve got to add it together’…but WHY?

I was always that guy, it just didn’t make sense to me, but obviously that led me to getting into trouble d’d’d’d’duh, before you know it I was that little rebel at school.

Not even a whole minute went by and I had already dived into the ocean of 4i’s philosophical brain waves.  

How did it all start then?

The story of how I wrote my first verse…I was going through my dad’s CD collection…I don’t know if you know of KRS-One? 90’s Bronx, its proper old school! I heard one track called ‘Criminal Minded’ I must have been 13, 14 at that time… I was like ‘this just sounds so sick.’ And then literally from there, I began chopping up a beat, then wrote my first verse and that’s just how it started.

Your lyricism reminds me of Akala, obviously it’s not that political, but it’s that intelligent…

I was actually at a show with him the other day.

Whaaat, really?

Yeah, he’s a sick performer. But, no it’s funny you say that cos I’m tryna’ find that balance to make music where people can vibe to it, move to it, but there’s still some substance there as well. I feel Akala is very political, he really wants to put a message across and there’s nothing wrong with that, I really rate people who do that cos we need that.

So how did you go from writing your first verse to becoming 4i?

I was sat at the back of the bus and I was writing down notes on my phone and I just came across 4i, like the number four with the letter I, it looked really cool…Something just resonated. Basically like, the number four in numerology has real characteristics that represent me as a person and I was like ‘that sounds like me, that genuinely sounds like me!’ And the ‘I’ is that level of being aware of everything around you, and I’ve got like a little phrase which basically goes ‘4 is the vibe and I is the vision.’

Not going to lie, when I googled ‘4i’ I couldn’t find much, why is that?

It’s just part of the growth of an independent artist. You gotta’ do everything yourself, I’ve been kind of on-the-low doing my thing, but now we’re really pushing. Before it was the case of finding the music, finding ourselves. But, you’ve definitely found me at a very early time.

Are you into spoken word as well?

In certain songs … I’ll listen to and I’ll be like ‘hmmm, you can’t put a hook here, you can’t really go hard with the bars here, what can you put here? Ah let’s open it up to some spoken word.’ ... it makes you realise what you are ACTUALLY saying, cos lots of people rap in front of a beat, but you take away those beats. People get to hear what the lyrics are about and the substance and the concept rather than just the music and someone bopping their head to it.

I listened to “One Song Away” and you mention using a YouTube beat….

Ah, yeah! Give me a second, I have to remember this! Errr…’You hear this beat I didn’t even lease it, downloaded it off YouTube cos that’s what you do when producers give you stupid quotes like ‘who are you though?’ can’t you see I’m numero uno’ yeah yeah!...

How did you progress from a YouTube beat in ‘One Song Away’ to ‘Soul Rich’?

Shout out to DA, like a really close friend of mine, he does all the production. And it works so well with where my mind is at, where I’m trying to go with my music. That’s why I act funny working with any other producer because I’ve created such a chemistry…they don’t have that spark of inspiration and creativity.

I’m working within a team of close friends, it’s called ‘Paradime.’ So we’ve got my brother Karl who does production, design, he’s also an actor as well, we have DA who does producing, there’s a rapper called Patch he’s about to drop his Pirate E.P that’s coming out, we have Xon who does all the video-graphing, Jonathan again, cameras, editing… Shout out to the whole team. Bobby, Levi, who else is there man?

If it was possible… Dominic would be combing through his dreads to find every single person he’s missed off the list.

A woman’s hand, thick with dead skin, poverty and hopelessness waved around in front of us.

“Sorry, I’m just tryna’ get enough for a coffee,” she said as she revealed her unkempt teeth.

“Nah I haven’t got anything sorry.”

And she left in time to ask a business man who was busy brushing his shoulder off. (No Jay-Z). 

...Erm, why do I feel like I’ve missed someone so important from the team? We want to be the pioneers of our field together.

What’s the one song, which you’ve written that really hit you?

The one that I had a real connection with is ‘Live to Love’ which is the last one because I think it’s so relevant for our time right now. Like just scrap the skill, scrap the metaphors, scrap everything just listen to the message, you know what I mean. That really came from a pure place. But yeah, they all come from an honest place!

Why are your lyrics so clean?

I was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, so swearing was already forbidden in my household and as a child if I swore that was like…the wooden spoon would come straight out you know.

It’s incredibly degrading. I’ve come across more women hence why I don’t really talk about hoes. Because I’ve never really experienced that sort of element of a woman, well I have but…

And on the n word, for me it’s the history of where it comes from. As much as people like to sugar coat it and say ‘we’ve changed it now’, it’s really not cool.

What’s ‘Deep Space’ about?

When you’re in a relationship there’s this constant ‘ah what you doing?’, ‘come see me’ and there’s times where it’s just like ah you just wanna’ be by yourself. It was inspired by a true experience and I wasn’t even with the person, that’s what killed it. I was just like *kmt* I’m just not on it man, ‘I’m in deep space right now and I’ll get at you when I can.’ I think it’s something that everyone experiences it, everyone talks about it but I’ve never heard it in a song before.

What are some U.K artists that inspire you?

I don’t really listen to U.K artists.

Why?

I have no real reason. I listen to a lot of music from the U.S and I listen to a lot of Reggae. I mean I think who really inspires me right now is Wretch 32, I’m a big fan of Wretch 32 and have been for years.

Why does he stand out?

I feel that there’s loads of lyricists in the UK but few of them who are making moves right now… he’s one of the very few artists that I’d love to work with. I definitely don’t listen to UK rap apart from Wretch 32, nah like all this trap stuff nah not for me.

I stay away from this ‘UK scene’ I feel there’s so much pollution within it. There’s a lot of talent but there’s a lot of monsters as well…just dead music, rappers rapping the same words, the same flows on the same deep voices…

What about female artists?

I don’t know how to pronounce her name, it’s like scissor or…S, Z, A? She is dope. Her sound is wicked! There’s another artists who I’ve been listening to her a lot, it’s Rapsody, she’s from the states and she’s got a dope flow.

Have you ever diverted?

From, music? Nah. Music is in me. I can’t run away from music like I can’t run away from my hands. There have been times, where I’ve thought ‘is the music industry, like what comes with it, is that what I wanna do?’ Nah, I’ve never thought twice, if I blow up or if I don’t blow up.

Who inspires you, musically?

I mean, I’m a big fan of Kendrick Lamar cos I just think what he’s able to do with his music, the concepts that he puts forward, it just sounds so sick. The things he talks about, it’s just so relevant. J. Cole is another artist that I’m a big fan of.

Artists like Lauryn Hill, The Fugees, big fan of Bob Marley, Tu-Pac, Nas, KRS-One. I think Common is sick his album ‘The Dreamer, The Believer’ is one of the best Hip-hop albums, no one really spoke about it but when I heard it I was like ‘Oh my days!!!’ Easily one of my best Hip-hop albums, alongside Illmatic, alongside ‘good Kid M.A.A.D City.’

What have you been up to?

I want to create visuals for 80% 70% of the tape. I put a freestyle out in January. Performing wherever I can. Just as an individual artist, you gotta’ be your own everything you know. I got a few shows lined up coming up to summer and it’s just staying active. 

Me and DA got two projects already; they are there it’s just a matter of timing.

Do you make time to write?

I do make time to write…Sometimes, I’ll sit down to write, I’ll have my pad and my pen and I’ll be playing beats, like three hours of them and I haven’t written anything so…I try to make it a natural process rather than too much thought behind it, I just let it come out.

Did you watch the Grammy awards?

No I didn’t watch them.

Have you seen any award shows recently?

I don’t… watch TV.

Well there’s a debate about the under representation of POC in recent award shows, what’s your view on that?

This is very complex, it’s quite deep. I mean …Why do you feel that you need that, in order for you to feel like your work has been appreciated?

There’s a lot of discrimination involved, I don’t know the ins and outs, but these events are predominantly white events founders, chairman’s you know. So, it doesn’t surprise me at all.

You’ve got all these people now like ‘ahhh how can Macklemore beat Kendrick?!’ I completely agree. But ask them if they ever bought Kendrick’s album? The people who run this, they don’t care who’s a better rapper, they care about statistics… And that’s all they can look at because they’re so disconnected with what’s current right now.

There’s so much, corruption, deception and lies that people drive themselves mad to find the truth.

So how do you find gratification in music?

I had this girl from Botswana who messaged me saying ‘ah you’re music is so great for us, it means so much to us!’ For me, that’s like *dusts hands* job done. Some guy from America…was like, ‘Soul Rich,’ it made every day so much easier for him. And, yeah man that’s SO much more important than some piece of material they’ve put together and carved your name into, you know?

Are you a spiritual person?

It’s very personal, it’s just for ‘you.’ But, it’s funny cos I was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness when I was younger. My parents are still Jehovah’s Witness now and me, I’ve kind of gone on my own little journey. Just being like, okay that’s one molecule of the bigger picture, let me go out there and explore for myself and see what else is out there. And that’s the journey I’m on right now.

Why did you choose to grow dreads?

What dreads represent to me, is honesty its truth, it stands for….I don’t wanna say ‘individuality’ but it says so much about a person in terms of patience that someone will have in order to grow dreadlocks. When Samson’s hair was cut off he lost his strength, it took away his manhood and dreads are associated with lions, being strong being fierce but at the same time protecting your family. Hence why I thought ‘let me get them,’ once you lock them up *kisses his teeth* I don’t have to touch them.

Where do you see yourself in the near future?

…in my mind I don’t know where I’ll be. Where I would like to be in the future, is touring the world with my music.

How do you escape from music?

Gym. Back in the day I used to run for Great Britain, a couple of times. What it was, I kind of got a bit injured then lost motivation, desire. I wanted to do some natural body building as well, we’ll see where that goes…  when I kinda re-evaluate myself I must sound so boring, cos I don’t watch TV, I don’t like fashion, I’m just so like…oooh *face palms his sentences in the air* stay away from all that stuff.

So do you not listen to the news?

Nahh.

Do you not think it’s important?

I believe ‘news’ is important, I don’t believe what we’re being fed is true. I do watch news, but it’s from outside sources …There’s no “okay we have this crisis people, these are our alternatives of what we can do, these are our solutions d-d-d-d-duh this is the problem, and this is what the government is going to … a lot of it is negative so it has a subconscious effect on people and they’re not realising it.

Do you vote?

No.

Why?

Because, I don’t believe that you can change this world by putting someone’s name in a ballet. It doesn’t make any sense to me. They never stick to their word, and there’s a saying…they’re like 

‘different sheets on the same bum.’

But some people truly believe that your vote does count…

If you look at politics throughout history, there’s always been an agenda already set. Its making people think there is a democracy but there isn’t. Well, I don’t believe there is. It’s divide and conquer, going back to Alexander the Great, they divide you through religion, class, whatever it may be cos it’s easier to control. They know that when people come together they are powerless.

What was it like when you met Justin Timberlake?

Ah you saw that! Yeah, that was surreal man. Okay, not surreal but VERY real.

What were you talking about?

…one of his managers came out and we were just talking about music and I told him I’m an artist as well. And he went ‘yo, spit some bars man’ and I rapped some bars and then he goes ‘I need to get JT out here’ then Justin Timberlake came out… he was like ‘yo man, waddup?’ We were just talking about music and like being at that level where, where else is there to go? He’s just one of the best musicians in our era, in terms of dancing and music…he’s so so talented.

Do you think there’ll be a time where you’ll be rewarded financially with your music?

I want to be able to live off my music. Where I want to wake up, go to the studio and know I’m being paid for it, you know and provide for people around me. I also want to open up schools and colleges and youth clubs, I’d love that.

Two hours with 4i provided a spectacle of a spiritual and intellectual reality of the inquisitive rapper who lies behind the Paradime masquerade.

What do you fear?

"The one thing that I fear is going deep in water cos that’s when I would feel completely powerless, water have never been on my good side, on top of that you got BEASTS! But then there’s the beauty of it. If you knew everything, what you living for? It keeps me searching."

If you're into lyrical orgasms too, check him out!!!

YouTube: 4iofficial

SoundCloud: 4ioffical

Twitter: @4ioffical

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

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.”

Notes

Imma shake the Can you open the seal and lip read?

Cos your track puts me on track as we race to the line

Open up the fastener promise you I'm fast enough

Marathon man can you pass me the baton?

Handle the pace of your heart that's a trip

Of Course and the rhythm got me lost

It's so a-Maze ing

Almost skating, no half pipe cos this is the full course

Of course, I have a sweet tooth, pass me the menu...

Man what am I doing?! When I have U

And be assured I'm not playing, this ain't no footsie

saying "you ain't my Man" U best believe in my words

And the feeling that was felt from the first time

Like a dear walks for the first time

Pain at pleasure was the procedure of our Rhyme 

Preparing for the passion in my imagination for next time

But don't get it twisted cos I'd dread to lose... you're mine.