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Issue 49 - March

Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.

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REGGAE / DANCE HALL 43 7 www.guestlist.net IN TE RV IEW Issue 49 / 2013 STYLO G If you know about that summer tune last year ���Call Mi A Yardie��� then you will know about one of the UK���s hottest dancehall artists right? Having just been signed to 3Beats Records and dropping his new tune next month ���Soundbwoy��� we caught up on playing with Major Lazor, British swag and his new music. TAB | guestlist.net So, let���s start from the beginning, you were born and raised in Jamaica, how was life growing up for you? Life growing up in Jamaica it makes me the man that I am now. Growing up in a country like Jamaica you have to learn a lot from your mistakes. It makes me appreciate life more because of what it���s like living there. Yeah coming from there to here in the U.K. is a crazy experience and moving on and being successful, it���s really a crazy experience. You���ve been in London for 10 years now, how do you think British culture has influenced you and your music? British culture has definitely influenced my music y���know, if I weren���t in the U.K. for such a long time I wouldn���t of learnt about Air Force 1s, and stuff like that! Haha, have you got a pair? Yeah I got loads! I make sure that if I sing about something I got them you get me? I wanna know about fish and chips, I wanna know about a lot of stuff y���know... Haha, you like fish and chips? Sometimes! Not on a daily basis... haha it���s like student food y���know? Like chicken ���n��� chips, stuff like that. So y���know coming to London is a different culture and it kind of opened up my mind and my writing skills. If I was in Jamaica I���d probably be limited to certain things when it comes to writing. So yeah it definitely had an impact on my music, just the way I grew up and the way I express myself as a I wanted to eliminate that ���Yardie��� thing. It���s such a powerful word, y���know how some words can be so powerful. So then I was making a track in the studio about 10 years after my mum was warning me, and the hook just came to me ���Call mi a yardie, call mi a yardie���. Then my brother made a beat and I was like that���s the track. I kinda just took the bad stuff and was like y���know what, a ���Yardie��� is not about the bad stuff, this is the good side. So yeah that was how I came up with the song, and big up to the fans and people ���Soundbwoy���, tell us about that? Soundboy is just a track where it���s not a risk, it���s just a track. We went into the studio and they were like what do you want to do Stylo? And I said, I wanna make music, then by two hours the track was done. So ���Soundbwoy��� is a mix of reggae, hip hop and bit of hardcore bass. The bass definitely plays a part, the thing with the U.K. is that they love bass, all of Europe does. If I���m gonna be here making music I���ve got to get the bass right, so yeah that track is out on the 13th April, I ���British culture has definitely influenced my music y���know, if I weren���t in the U.K. for such a long time I wouldn���t of learnt about Air Force 1s, and stuff like that!��� Jamaican, migrating to the U.K. So we���ve gotta talk about ���Call Mi A Yardie���, that tune got absolutely rinsed last year, what does the term mean to you? ���Yardie��� comes from New York. A ���Yardie��� is a bad Jamaican, the unruly Jamaicans that don���t listen. So y���know when I first came here, the British would called me a ���Yardie���. So I said to my mum ���Why do they call me a Yardie?���, and she said ���Don���t let them call you no Yardie!���. So the next time someone called me a ���Yardie��� I said, don���t call me no ���Yardie���. It���s a bad thing y���know. But after growing up and getting used to the culture, you realise that you can���t take things so seriously, and that pushed it, you���re the ones who made it. can���t wait, it���s my first release with this label. So what do you think of the British swag? Oh yeah, because now you���ve been signed to 3Beat Records? British swag is the best. Y���know when I was in Jamaica, my cousin used to come down and he had these Moschino jeans with the pattern y���know? And everyone wanted his jeans, I don���t know if you remember them from the time in the 90s, but everyone wanted those jeans. Everything from England is normally on point, America has the swag, but from my point of view English swag is crazy. I love English clothes. Yeah I���m with 3Beats now, Universal, so I���m very happy. As a dancehall and reggae artist, I���m very happy to be signed at the moment. It���s more work, but I���m prepared to take that on, I���m a workaholic, I sleep in the studio and wake up in the studio. My girlfriend may get angry at me sometimes! But it���s about the sacrifices when you���re doing this, my priority is to make music. You���ve got your new track out You���ve been getting a lot of love and support, especially radio play from the likes of Mistajam and Robbo Ranxs. You know I always have to say big up to the DJs supporting the record, and I don���t think they���re only supporting the record, they���re supporting Stylo, y���know Mistajam���s been playing my stuff since 2006. I���ve built a relationship with the DJs, my priority is to make music so that they can play it. So I wanna just say, big up to them for playing my music. You played at The Red Bull Culture Clash, Major Lazer brought you out as a special guest, that must have been pretty nuts? I still can���t get over that day, my manager just told me that I had a show at Wembley Arena, so I was excited by that. When I arrived I saw that Usher, Rita Ora, Wiley were all there so I was like, wow what���s going on?! Shouts to all the Major Lazer team. We didn���t win, we came second. But I won my round so that���s alright! Well thanks for talking to us today. Thanks for having me on your Guestlist, can I add more people to the Guestlist? You can add as many people as you like to the Guestlist! So yeah you dun know Stylo G, The Guestlist. For more info check out www. stylog.co.uk or follow @StyloGee

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