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ISSUE63

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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was quite late to be honest, I wasn't really interesting in music before. AND YOU SAY YOU PAID YOUR DUES THOUGH, TO BE A SUCCESS, WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I actually meant I paid my dues to at least have some credit. Like give me something. That was talking to the scene, the fans, everybody. I think just as human beings we need that response, that feedback, just so you know that it's worth your time. That was me saying like surely I've done enough now for you to put me somewhere, just respect me please. I released a mixtape of consistent quality and quantity in my opinion. And I just thought, this is my time, like pleases just let me have my time, if you know what I'm saying. BUT YOU WANT MORE RIGHT? Yeah I describe myself as greedy because people think that wanting to be successful is a bad thing sometimes. WHAT IS IT THAT YOU REALLY WANT? I have high expectations for myself. To the point that I would never achieve what I really want to, because they are too hard. I don't know why it's always have been like that, I always wanted to be the best, the biggest, just the top. So that's what I want, I want the top and I know that 20 000 is not the top. ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10, WITH TEN BEING WAY BETTER, HOW MUCH BETTER ARE YOU THAN THE BEST RAPPER IN LONDON RIGHT NOW? I can't even answer that. I was saying in another interview that there's so many aspects to what makes a good rapper. You would be a fool to say, you're the best because it's also based so much on other people's opinions. So your opinion is only one voice at the end of the day. I would like to say I'm way better than everybody but it's just my humble opinion, my voice. YOU SAID THAT YOU COULD HAVE BEEN A STOCKBROKER. IF YOU WERE THE UK'S WOLF OF WALL STREET, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE TO PEOPLE? Maybe it's more an advice than a message but it would be: to make whatever you're doing your life. You have to be obsessed with whatever you're doing. And it sounds crazy because it's unhealthy but I think it's the only way to get where you really want to get to. HAVE YOU HAD THAT WORK ETHIC SINCE THE BEGINNING? Yeah, because when I was in primary school, and that's how I got my scholarship in the first place, I knew I just wanted to be smart. There was another girl in my class, she would put out her hand, she'd know the answer, and I was like I can't have her being the top of the class. So I used to steal math books, take them home and work through them in my own time. It's just the way I am. It's not even competitive all the time. It's more just, knowing. You just have to work, you just have to do it. Now I can see how much better I am than when I first started just through those hours of practice. NOW HAVE YOU MASTERED THE ART? I don't think I've mastered it, cause I think there's so much more learning to do and you can always learn. That's what I still do now. Just to rap a bar of sixteen, I read books about speeches, I read about oratory, about poetry, about English, about writing, form, structure, everything. That's just what I'm like. WHO'S THAT GIRL TO YOU RIGHT NOW? WHICH RAPPERS OUT THERE ARE YOU COMPETING WITH? You know what's even harder now, it's to compete with people that don't do what you do. If it was more like "Oh these like technically sick rappers are up there" it would be like "okay we just need to think of better lines and ways to put stuff." But it's actually me competing with how to get my message across, in the most simple and universal way. There's people up there that reached more of the masses than I have so technically they are better public speakers or communicators than myself. I think I have to learn from them, so that's where I'm right now. HOW DO YOUR CLOSEST FRIENDS DESCRIBE YOU? I think weird. And I've come to accept that, cause too many people have said it. I just came out with my own value system and all the rest of it, I just do what I want. WHO ARE YOU LEARNING FROM RIGHT NOW? Everybody, everything, everywhere. I think if you don't take in any new information during the day, then I don't understand what you're doing. BUT WHO'S ACTUALLY INSPIRED YOU? A SPECIFIC PERSON? Maybe actually Michael Jordan, because I was watching something where he basically did a whole tour of his home and he was talking about himself and how he would have breakfast with the team before training and his mentality was different. More than just his skills and ability to play, it was his mental strength. So maybe that was an inspiration and that made me just watch his best dunks and interviews of him and just understand him and his mind set in competing and achieving. And also not getting too lost in what comes along with success I suppose. Just keeping your head down and focus and knowing that you're never at the top even when you feel like it. IF YOU COULD CHANGE SOMETHING IN THE WORLD, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE? I think in life we strive for balance. I think if there was a better distribution of income and balance in everything in life, so nothing in excess, the world would be a better place. SO WOULD YOU BE READY TO SACRIFICE YOUR SUPER SUCCESS FOR MORE BALANCE IN THE WORLD? Yeah I would definitely sacrifice for balance, and I don't believe in communism, cause that doesn't work either. But I'd sacrifice my success if I could, for balance, 100%. BUT IF THERE WAS BALANCE EVERYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GET YOUR SWAG? But you know in balance all these things that we think of as important, they just wouldn't be anymore. Because nothing would supercedes, smothering everything else. It's always equal. IF YOU COULD FILL A SWIMMING POOL WITH ANYTHING IN THE WORLD WHAT WOULD IT BE? Right now, today? Money today. IF MONEY WASN'T AN OBJECT? Women. SO WHAT NEW MUSIC IS THERE TO LOOK OUT FOR RIGHT NOW? There's the "Alfie" EP which "Falling High" is taken from, so that's gonna be out on iTunes, soon. It's an interesting project, it's insightful in depth and it's definitely something you should listen to. SO WHEN ARE YOU GONNA BE SELLING OUT O2? You know what? Fuck knows what the future holds. YOU'RE ON THE ROAD NOW, BUT YOU PERFORMED IN FRONT OF 20 000 PEOPLE LAST WEEK, HOW WAS IT? That was a sick feeling and that's something I want to experience again, especially on my own terms. That's one of those dreams that I'm here fighting for, and let's just hope that I can make it happen. THANK YOU. 7 23 Issue 63 / 2014 HIPHOP / RNB guestlist.net " Make whatever you're doing your life. You have to be obsessed with whatever you're doing. And it sounds crazy because it's unhealthy but I think it's the only way to get where you really want to get to. " follow @ Gfrsh

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