North London grime MC Skepta recently passed through the MTV HQ to speak with Graeme Day about how he thinks his latest single 'Rescue Me' will do in the charts, his future plans for Boy Better Know, how rude he thinks young grime MCs are and much, much more...
The Wrap Up: First off, what everyone wants to know is, when’s the Diddy track going to drop?
Skepta: Last time I spoke to him, he said it’ll be out in a couple of weeks, which was this Friday gone at Radio 1. It’ll probably be released just after ‘Rescue Me’.
TWU: Do you feel ‘Rescue Me’ will chart better than ‘Bad Boy’ due to the mainstream crowd now knowing more about you?
Skepta: Erm, I don’t know, you never know with the charts. Anything can happen. I heard a lot of bad things that happened to artists that were top ten this week, so I don’t know, I’m just taking it in my stride. Whatever happens happens. I want it to; it’ll be good if it does because everyone plans to get better and better.
TWU: On the subject of mainstream. How do you feel that some grime fans accuse you of being a sell-out when you still turn up regularly to dances/raves/clubs and spit on grime instrumentals? The Grime Forum Awards a few months back being one example of this…
Skepta: I used to care, but I don’t anymore, it’s a bit mad. Then I realised that nobody does it like me. There are two ends of the spectrum; nobody really meets the medium like Skepta does. No-one does it. You know what I mean? No other artist, without sounding rude and big headed to them, because they’re doing well, with the people like Chipmunk and Tinchy, we wouldn’t have probably be allowed to spit right now. When it comes to me, I’m doing what I love, so like selling out, I want to sell-out, I need to sell-out. If what I’m doing is selling out, I’m selling out more cuz! You know what I mean? I’m doing more and more and even more till I sell-out a tour.
TWU: When are we going to hear more grime from you?
Skepta: There’s new grime on my album. The first singles you heard, ‘Bad Boy’ and ‘Rescue Me,’ they’re just singles to promote, get my name a bit more out there, also to get my voice and my MC style appealing to people’s ears. I MC like I MC on grime in my other singles, just on a different beat. Once they get used to how I say, ‘She told me I talked nonsense,’ when they hear me on a grime record spitting like that, they’re not going to think, ‘Oh, what’s going on there?’ They can get used to it.
TWU: So you’re trying to draw them in first and then give them the grime…
Skepta: Yeah, I’m trying to get them used to the name, everything it comes with and that. But I’m a grime artist, I’m not a scary guy, I’m cool. So I just want them to get familiarised with my voice, familiarise with Boy Better Know. You’ve got me, the hot head, you’ve got Frisco, the mad man, you’ve got JME, the cool gadget guy, you’ve got Shorty, the laughy jokey guy and you’ve got Jammer, the crazy dread, you get what I’m saying? Once they get use to us as people.
TWU: Wiley and JME have already released instrumental CDs this year via Avalanche. Can we hear an instrumental from you this year? Surely you’ve got some classics just sitting in your hard-drive collecting dust…
Skepta: Trust, I’m coming with that. You know why? It’s so hard. I’ve got the biggest burden on my head, sometimes I realise who I am; I need to play my position. Sometimes I’m like, ‘Ahh, screw everyone, everyone leave me alone.’ But then I remember that this is the person I’ve cut myself out to be. I’ve cut myself out to be a producer, I’ve cut myself out to be a grime MC and I’ve cut myself out to be a mainstream artist. So I need to get my productions back, because at the moment yeah, I’m still a grime MC, I’m still a good grime MC. There’s no-one in grime I really care about like that. When it comes to spitting on a beat I’m nang and in the mainstream. But with the productions, I’m working on it now. I was speaking to DJ Cheeky, who puts together the Avalanche series, there’s definitely going to be a Skepta one. I don’t want it to be number three; because it’ll look all Boy Better Know (Wiley was the first, followed by JME). So if anyone does one first, I’ll do number four or something.
TWU: On the subject of releases, when exactly is the Boy Better Know album being released?
Skepta: Erm, that’s a difficult one. Like I’ve been saying, I don’t really want Boy Better Know to be some tag along crew where some people are just known because they’re in Boy Better Know. At the moment, everyone is trying to build their own foundations. Jamie’s trying to make himself J-M-E. We need to make Frisco - Frisco. We need to make Solo - Solo 45. Plus Shorty and Jammer. They’re making albums and mix CDs this year, everyone’s establishing their own. So when a Boy Better Know album comes out, everyone will know who is who.
TWU: So everyone is trying to build their own sort of fanbase first? So the public won’t buy the CD because they’re a fan of you, JME or Jammer, they’re going to buy it because they a fan of Boy Better Know?
Skepta: I think that at the end of this all, after all the work I’ve put in, I want to see Boy Better Know sell out a tour. I want some sick backdrops, so when all of us come out everyone in the crowd will be wearing t-shirts, spitting mad, some Wu-Tang Clan thing. So when everyone comes and does their thing, I want everyone else to be known too. 2010 is the year of the groundwork. 2011-2012 there will be a Boy Better Know album.
TWU: Are you keeping your ear to the underground? Who do you think the next best thing in grime is? As in the younger ones in the scene...
Skepta: If I said I was, then I’d be lying. You know what is it? I don’t get a good vibe from them. I think they’re rude, I don’t think they respect. I don’t want them to run down the shops for me, I want them to respect that I’m Skepta. I’ve put the work in; I’ve done everything they’re doing. I’ve clashed everyone, I’ve tore down Sidewinders, and I’ve smashed dubstep raves, I’ve done a lot for grime. When I was younger, if I had the chance to meet someone like Shy FX or someone else I looked up to, I wouldn’t be rude. I don’t get a good vibe from them, they’re too rude and that. If you asked me this question again, I’d probably just big up someone I knew or my friend, someone who wouldn’t disrespect me. But its grime, that’s what it is, the home of ignorance. Not the production side of it though, I find the producers are good, down to earth guys. But the MCs, I don’t know how they’re trying to talk to me like that. I don’t really care about them.
TWU: Wiley has spent a lot of time in Manchester. StayFresh from the Midlands have been exposed this year a lot due to ‘Woooo Riddim’ by S-X. What do you think of the talent outside of London personally?
Skepta: I really like Shifty from Manchester. I think Devilman’s good. I think Devilman’s probably the best MC out of London.
TWU: Who was your favourite collaboration with? Are you looking to collaborate with anyone else in the future?
Skepta: The biggest collaboration I’ve ever done was obviously with Diddy. I think N-Dubz were good to work with, because I think Dappy’s really talented. The vibes we had in there (the studio) was just jokes, it was funny init. As for grime, I’ve kind of worked with everyone.
TWU: Finally, when are you and JME actually going to make a new track?
Skepta: Initially, me and Jamie not going on a track together was by accident. But now, we’re doing it on purpose. It’s like everyone is waiting for two brothers to go on a tune together. Probably not for a long time, a couple years maybe. I text him the other day, we were talking about making an album together one day, maybe after the Boy Better Know album. A sort of brothers in arms album.
Skepta: ‘Rescue Me’ – is out now.
Stay up to date with Skepta on Twitter – www.twitter.com/Skepta
Words: Graeme Day
Online editing: Joseph ‘JP’ Patterson
