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: https://read.uberflip.com/i/357932
me forever because i don't plan on changing, you know. I find it easier to be like that rather than be like oh what's hot at the mo- ment i need to dress like these guys or i need to record like this, so i find it easier to be myself and invite people into my world and hopefully they like it. DO YOU HAVE AN IDOL, A PER- SON YOU ADMIRE WHEN YOU DO YOUR MUSIC? I don't really try to emulate any- one, but there's people whose music I find inspiring, like I re- ally like Swizz Beats, everything he does, like he can do the most simplest of thing and it just hits home and gets straight to the point. I find him an amazing artist, producer, entertainer, he's just a wavey guy! AS WELL AS GOING AHEAD IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY YOU'RE TRYING THINGS OUT AS AN AC- TOR IN YOUR FILM OFFENDER AND TOP BOY AS WELL, CAN YOU DRAW A PARALLEL BE- TWEEN YOUR LIFE GROWING UP IN NORTH LONDON AND YOUR CHARACTER IN TOP BOY AT ALL? I wouldn't like to say so, partially Top Boy is just a reflection of like stuff that loads of us have been through or around but i wouldn't like to say 'yeah man i'm like that guy'. MAYBE NOT YOUR CHARACTER, BUT WOULD YOU SAY THAT IT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU'VE WIT- NESSED? Yeah definitely, I think one of the things that made Top Boy con- nect with the people is that it had so many characters that ev- ery area has, every area that you live in has that person that's a bit of a live wire, you know that you don't quite know what they're gonna do next, also every area has family and friends and units of people that stick together, and often might feel like it's them against the outsiders, in all dif- ferent walks of life. I think that's what made top boy connect with the people is characters that ev- eryone can connect with on that level of life that you're living. WHAT DO YOU LIKE, ROAD BARS OR COMMERCIAL MUSIC? Me, if I had a choice, probably road bars, don't know what the definition of road bars is but probably road bars. HAVE YOU BEEN TO NEW YORK? Yeah yeah yeah, New York's wavey like it wasn't how i thought it would be… NY is one of them major cities, so it's just like di- verse, NY can be anything you want it to be just like London can, like Barcelona. These main cities in the world they all tend to be as diverse as they can be which is what you need I reckon. WHAT DO YOU SEE YOUR- SELF DOING IN THE FUTURE IN TERMS OF BROADENING YOUR HORIZONS, DO YOU HAVE YOUR SIGHTS SET ON ANY OTH- ER THINGS LIKE MORE ACTING? I'm just about to start filming for a new film this month, got my first lead role so yeah. I haven't shot it yet so i can't tell you too much! I enjoyed the whole Top Boy experience, and then Offender, I did some other stuff before that like i shot some pilots for some other stuff and I actually really enjoyed it. At the same time i realised i've got a lot to learn as well in terms of the business. IT'S A WHOLE NOTHER WORLD TO MUSIC ISN'T IT! It's a complete different thing, and I respect all the actors out there hustling and doing their thing and moving and shaking. It's just like taking the baby steps and getting an understanding. Some people are so naive, they think 'oh yeah i can act' but aside from the acting you've got to un- derstand the business that you're in and what you're doing and I need to get my acting, not even the acting itself but my business, to be a parallel with my music and the two can keep pushing each other on. I intend on being in the studio at the same time as film- ing, so… YOU'RE GOING TO BE SO BUSY! Busy's good! I love being busy man. People don't really realise, when you have a quiet week, it's… when you're busy, you think yeah i'd love a second but then in re- ality when you've got an hour in- stead of a second you think yeah actually maybe that would be more fun... YOUR FRIENDSHIP WITH WRETCH 32. WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP, BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN FRIENDS FOR A LONG TIME, HOW DID YOUR FRIENDSHIP AFFECT YOUR MU- SIC, WAS IT A CASE OF SUP- PORTING AND ENCOURAGING EACH OTHER AND WATCHING EACH OTHER FLOURISH OR DID YOU GET DIRECTLY INVOLVED WITH EACH OTHER'S STUFF? Kind of got hands on in each oth- ers music, both of us would be together making music for his project and i'd be doing mine and we'd just kind of help each other like you're networking, doing the same thing and you're helping one another, you respect one an- other as artists. It's like imagine your football team, you've got 11 different people playing 11 dif- ferent positions, like they train together every day, so they're obviously going to help each oth- er's game improve just by being around each other, it's the only way i could compare it. WE WANT YOU TO DO A FREE- STYLE CUSSING OF SOMETHING OR SOMEONE YOU DON'T LIKE RIGHT NOW… Errr nahhh, I don't like Luis Su- arez though. You can't go around just biting people. He's about the only person I don't like right now. Not feeling it. MAYBE YOU SHOULD BITE HIM BACK? Na, cause i'd get in big big trou- ble if i bit Luis Suarez so... FAIR ENOUGH. DO YOU HAVE A GUILTY MUSIC PLEASURE? Spice girls are wavey, Take That are wavey. Probably Take That, they're sick. Gary Barlow, that's my brother. WOULD YOU COLLABORATE WITH HIM? WHAT WOULD YOUR MUSIC VIDEO BE LIKE? GB? Anyday, anyday, me and GB doing Galdem Ting. The video would be like rain and shit. Trust me, puddles. DO YOU LIKE HOUSE MUSIC AND DEEP HOUSE AS WELL? Some of it, like i'm not one those shape guys, but my music taste - I like anything that sounds good, I don't specifically follow one genre but i'll pick and choose i'm a bit of a nerd like that, i'll take anything that's nice. DO YOU THINK YOU'LL EVER BRANCH OUT INTO DIFFERENT GENRES? If i ended up doing a record with Calvin Harris people would be surprised but I wouldn't be sur- prised at all because he makes good music so i'd wanna do that. People assume because you're not on stuff because it's not your field but i'd be happy to do some- thing with Calvin Harris or Daft Punk. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR DOWNTIME? Football, family, that's it. Cinema as well. I'm not one of these rav- ers who likes shopping. I'm cool man, that's just me. Every spare second I get it's football. They should have a World Cup every week. WOULD YOU BE PLAYING? Nah nah, pressure. I might not do my ting. I might let my country down. I THINK THEY'VE LET US DOWN ALREADY… WHAT'S YOUR FA- VOURITE HANGOUT SPOT IN LONDON? Shake Shack's nice. I don't get the fancy one though just basic cheeseburger. I'm not really a bar guy, I like to just chill in my house and be with my family to be hon- est. TELL US ABOUT THE ORIGINS BEHIND YOUR TATTOO. IT RE- MINDS ME A BIT OF HARRY POTTER... Harry Potter had a good run, if we're honest. He did a few good numbers, I wouldn't mind getting on a run like Harry. We should collaborate. Daniel Radcliffe's got a little flow I reckon you know with those rhyming spells. WHAT MAKES YOU SPECIAL? There's only one of me, I haven't got a twin. People think there needs to be this crazy reason why someone's special but in reality if you be yourself, every single one of us is special. We might not have some outlandish thing that makes us special, but how do you decide if someone's special? Can any of us fly? No. So we're all spe- cial in our own way. I'm very spe- cial. So's she, so's he. WHAT OPPORTUNITIES DID YOU WORK FOR? Loads. I find that you get luck and opportunities but sometimes they come off the back of hard work in other areas, like the op- portunity to be in Top Boy was from the casting director who saw some of my music videos that he liked the look of, so the music video gave me a lucky chance in an acting role. It's luck, but on the other hand, we had to make those music videos. So you make your own luck as well. Op- portunities arise in a field that you wouldn't expect and you have to take them. WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOK- ING FORWARD TO IN YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW? Going swimming with my son. Highlight of my week. We go in the baby pool and just swim… The baby pool's better than the adult pool. He gets me to spin around, it's pretty tiring. 7 19 Issue 65 / 2014 HIPHOP / RNB guestlist.net "How do you decide if someone's special? Can any of us fly? No. So we're all special in our own way." More at Guestlist.net