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.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/366706
'M HERE WITH A MAN WHO EARNED A SCHOLARSHIP TO PRIVATE SCHOOL, STUDIED FOR AN ECONOMIC DEGREE AT UCL, HAS HIS OWN VIDEO PRO- DUCTION COMPANY, HE'S GOT EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT HOW MUCH THEY'D SELL THEIR PARTNER FOR HIM RIGHT NOW. HE'S GOT MILLIONS OF VIEWS ON YOUTUBE, HE'S MINI MAN FAVORITE RAPPER, I'M HERE WITH THE MAN G FRSH. SO YOU'VE BEEN BUSY RIGHT? Yeah I've been trying, just try- ing, of course I'm working.I can't complain really, I'm one of the lucky ones, times are lean out there for a lot of DJS but fortu- nately I seem to be on a role at the moment. HOW IS LIFE FOR YOU RIGHT NOW? It's interesting, I think it's an inter- esting place to be. I'm just getting old I suppose, and learning and changing, so it's interesting. YOU SOUND DIFFERENT FROM A LOT OF OTHER RAPPERS THAT ARE OUT THERE, CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT? I think we all have an ideal se- crecy and things that make ev- erybody unique. I think the im- age that we project to ourselves is not necessarily a true one. So I wouldn't say I'm practically dif- ferent, I'm just me that's all a can be. I'm just made up from a bunch of weird stuff, I can see how came together, in a sense obviously, as you mentioned, going to private school, and growing up in my es- tate and all that kind of stuff. Be- ing around some people one min- ute and around people another, I think made me just a bit different. Well I think everybody probably got things unique to them, that you wouldn't expect them to do, like me meditating it's unexpect- ed because I talked about money and women, or fast cars, but I meditate. BUT WHAT ABOUT YOUR ACTU- AL RAPPING STYLE? I think with me, I would say I take pride in the technical aspect and the poetic aspect, I'd say. In the sense of like things with double meanings in it and it being more complicated than it first put on the surface of just listening to something. Maybe I'm different in that sense, some people call it just punchlines rapper, I'd like to think of it as more than that. As long as you do your thing, you al- ways stand out. HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN THEY DISCOVERED YOUR LYRI- CAL ABILITY? I was twenty, twenty-one. Yeah it 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 SUC- CESS, WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I actually meant I paid my dues to just at least have some credit. Like give me something. And that was like talking to the scene, the fans everybody, because I think just as human being we need that response, that feedback, just to know that it's worth your time. And that was me saying like surely I've done enough now for you to put me somewhere, just respect me please. Sometime they were loads of people that do, a lot of time you just feel like there's all these people that don't and that's what slowing you down. In terms of paying my dues, I released a mix tape 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 want- ed to be a successful is a bad thing, sometimes. WHAT IS IT THAT YOU REALLY WANT? I have high expectations for my- self. 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. WHAT IS A "FLYGERIAN" ? It's a Nigerian who dresses well and he's fly. DO YOU FEEL A CONNECTION TO YOUR HERITAGE? Most definitely, I love Nigeria and I love being a Nigerian I was there last year, I'm hoping to go this year for a good couple of months. One of my ideals is to live between here and Nigeria to be honest. In Lagos probably or on an island somewhere chilling. 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 opinion. So your opinion is only one voice at the end of the day, so I wouldn't say that I'm way better or whatever else. In my own humble opinion, I would like to say I'm way better than everybody but it's just my voice, I mean who cares what I've got to say. YOU SAID THAT YOU COULD HAVE BEEN A STOCKBROKER, IF IT WAS LIKE THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR MOTIVATION MES- SAGE TO PEOPLE? Maybe it's more an advice than a message but it would be: to make whatever you're doing your life. You kind have to be obsessed with whatever you're doing. And it sounds crazy because it's un- healthy but I think it's the only way to get where you really want to get to. DO YOU HAVE LIKE A MANTRA OR WHAT SORT THAT YOU LIVE BY RIGHT NOW? When you're working so hard that's all you're doing. There's no that much time in a day, to even get that reflection time. So as long as I know that I'm active and chasing my dreams then that's pretty much it to be honest. HAVE YOU HAD THAT WORK ETHIC SINCE THE BEGINNING? Yeah, because when I was in pri- mary 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 stole math books take them home and been working through them on my own time. It's just the way I am, I don't know what's wrong with me. It's not even competitively 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 YOU MASTERED THE ART? I don't think I mastered it, cause I think there's so much more learning to do and you can al- ways learn. That's what I still do now. Just to rap a rare of sixteen, I read books about speeches, I read about oratory, about po- etry, about English, about writ- ing, form, structure, everything. That's just what I'm like. 7 19 Issue 64 / 2014 HIPHOP / RNB guestlist.net Still unanimously revered as one of the most eclectic and diverse DJs out there, his influence over the years has been monu- mental but consistently in keeping with his humble and profound philosophy of good music and genuine feeling. Just before he laid down an unforgettable set at Brooklyn Bowl, we were lucky enough to catch up with the king of the good time. "I like things on the edge; I appreciate music, fashion and all creative art forms" Oshi | guestlist.net More at Guestlist.net