187
08-30-06, 11:51 PM
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/4223/1wb1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
South West England tonight welcomes the repertoire of rising MC Kano. A year or so onwards from his debut LP release “Home Sweet Home” I talk to the grime all-star about what it is to be grime, the London-specificity of the sound and Cameron’s (the politician, not Purple Byrd Gang member) invective on Tim Westwood. Grime’s rise in stock and interest has led several quarters to wage the hypothesis that grime, or whatever, is not hip-hop. Such banal formulations appear trite upon engaging with Kano, whether on-stage with the mic or off-stage in conversation. The young adult Kane Robinson (we must not forget) lets the clichés do the talking. Performing at the Exeter Respect Festival 2006, Kano is the headline feature on a bill celebrating diversity and musical ingenuity. The night is not without its hassle-points: there is an unfortunate display of off-stage banter which lulls the set midway. Kano, the ever-adept entertainer, wistfully brings back proceedings on their correct path. Mehul met Kano backstage after the set...
David Cameron some weeks back made an attack on Westwood. Westwood plays hip hop largely American and some UK. The influence of that, Cameron argues, inspires violence and crime. Some mainstream presses have labelled grime as promoting aggressive behaviour, especially at raves. How do you even begin to respond to that?
I don’t know. I wouldn’t say it’s down to the music. Obviously, it might have a slight influence but you get trouble at garage raves man, when they’re not chatting about violence. You get trouble at old school raves and all that stuff. I wouldn’t say it’s directly the music. I haven’t really got anything against Westwood. He can play what he wants to play, and they can say what they want to say on record. The radios are playing it: they can cut out a couple of words but we know what it all means.
The menial stuff: next album?
I’ve just been in the studio. I haven’t got any dates or schedule prepared.
How do you go from writing 16 bars to making a mixtape to producing a full-length album?
I was making songs from a long time ago. First time they kind of heard me was when I made this song called ‘Boys love Girls.’ I was always writing songs. Obviously I’d been writing lines in the playground but I haven’t always been another MC doing 16 bars of no content. You need the ability to write songs in the correct format. I’ve always been practising that. I’m naturally talented in that.
So are you a songwriter in the traditional sense?
Yeah. Definitely. You have to be a songwriter if you want to be an artist. I’m an artist, man. You can’t have 16 bars of nothing.
"... When the music developed from Garage, there was never a name associated with it. The media has kind of caught on with ‘Grime.’ They can call it whatever they want to call it, it’s not up to me
Was the Roll Deep album a compromise between what was expected of grime as a sound and marketable urban music?
I suppose it was. They had their songs like ‘When I’m Ere,’ the standard grime sound and then they had their songs like ‘Avenue.’ It’s just like I had my standard grime songs ‘Ps & Qs’ and ‘Mic Check’ sitting next to songs like ‘Brown Eyes’ and ‘Typical Me.’ I feel that just because you’re affiliated with one thing doesn’t mean it should stop you from experimenting with other things. You know, just because Jay-Z made ‘Reasonable Doubt’ a straight hip-hop record doesn’t mean you can’t do ’99 Problems’ with a rock guitar. It’s like he can experiment and do what he likes, he can do what he’s into, rather than what people expect.
suppose it is a compromise if you’re going to play that game, but you’ve got to have a variation and if you can make it sound good or not.
So what is grime to you? Is it Eski; is it Sublow?
[Laughs] The name just came. When the music developed from Garage, there was never a name associated with it. Wiley was a big part of it: he called it Eski. The media has kind of caught on with ‘Grime.’ They can call it whatever they want to call it, it’s not up to me. But I wouldn’t call myself a ‘Grime’ artist but if that music wants to be called ‘Grime’ then so be it.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/6718/1do4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
What have been your influences into making your sound? You name dropped Jay-Z earlier.
Jay-z is more of an influence nowadays. His lyrical content, his whole movement, the albums that he makes and how long he has been around. Getting into the game, garage has always been an influence. I listen to ragga; I listen to jungle, some early hip-hop like Dre and Snoop, Biggie: they’re the people that I look up to.
The DJ played a Wookie song in your set. How big an influence is that whole 2-step era?
When I was growing up, that’s what I was listening to. Those tunes are what we’d like to listen to when we were going out. DJ’s would play them; we’d spit over them and just to rave to them.
So what is it about grime, about you that has travelled outside of London?
You see here tonight that it has reached far.
I would just say its how people can relate. On the American stuff, not a lot of people can relate to it even though it’s played on the radios. I think someone like me, Dizzee, definitely Mike Skinner, we’re all from homes, it’s easy to relate to us, we can talk about things that they know.
"... You have to be a songwriter if you want to be an artist. I’m an artist, man. You can’t have 16 bars of nothing..."
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2008/1il9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Do you see yourself as a British Jay-Z?
Ah no, I don’t think so. Maybe in ten years?
Is that the ambition?
Not really. Wherever it takes me, I might go a different direction than him. I might not go there.
5 years ago the grime scene was very London-centric…
I know, that’s what I’m saying. It’s travelled a lot since then. We now go to all sorts of places. We go to Scotland, they love it. Europe: Berlin, Amsterdam, Sweden, we go to loads of places. Its spread and what’s so good about it is not just that they are familiar with the music but that they have started their own little cliques and they produce their own little beats. Hopefully it will set off in there own way. The movement will be massive, so to the music. I’m not concerned just about me getting big, but the scene as a whole, the people after me: I think they’ll be the real big ones in the future.
So do you see yourself as belonging to something, to some kind of scene?
I feel that I belong to the UK. I wouldn’t say I belong to some form of music. I just belong to the UK and that’s why I’m so loyal to them, as long as they’re loyal to me. I’m not one of those that leave the UK to go and conquer America.
How do you see grime going in the not-too-distant future?
I see it just like garage. We developed it into our own, progressed from it and grew from it. The next generation will dig into what we are doing now and start putting their own twist on it and doing their own thing. The music might change and they might do whatever under a different name. You never know what will be coming next. But I’m here for a while.
To end on a non-musical note, who do you want to win the world cup?
[Wearing a French away-shirt] I want France to win the World Cup. Zidane is too good. I don’t want Italy to win.
[Kano’s DJ fires in] Italy are racist, bruv.
France isn’t that better than Italy for racism?
I know, even England isn’t good for racism, so we shouldn’t support them
So who do we support then?
Jamaica, init? But they aren’t even in it.
[I]On that, I finish. The interview was brief but knowledgeable. Kano comes across as dextrous off the mic as he is on record. He’s not here to dispel myths, but, simply to perform. His quiet demeanour back-stage is in contrast to the firebrand he is on stage. For a primer into grime, or whatever you call it, pick up his debut LP “Home Sweet Home” or the “Beats & Bars” mixtape....
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/6348/1ad7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
South West England tonight welcomes the repertoire of rising MC Kano. A year or so onwards from his debut LP release “Home Sweet Home” I talk to the grime all-star about what it is to be grime, the London-specificity of the sound and Cameron’s (the politician, not Purple Byrd Gang member) invective on Tim Westwood. Grime’s rise in stock and interest has led several quarters to wage the hypothesis that grime, or whatever, is not hip-hop. Such banal formulations appear trite upon engaging with Kano, whether on-stage with the mic or off-stage in conversation. The young adult Kane Robinson (we must not forget) lets the clichés do the talking. Performing at the Exeter Respect Festival 2006, Kano is the headline feature on a bill celebrating diversity and musical ingenuity. The night is not without its hassle-points: there is an unfortunate display of off-stage banter which lulls the set midway. Kano, the ever-adept entertainer, wistfully brings back proceedings on their correct path. Mehul met Kano backstage after the set...
David Cameron some weeks back made an attack on Westwood. Westwood plays hip hop largely American and some UK. The influence of that, Cameron argues, inspires violence and crime. Some mainstream presses have labelled grime as promoting aggressive behaviour, especially at raves. How do you even begin to respond to that?
I don’t know. I wouldn’t say it’s down to the music. Obviously, it might have a slight influence but you get trouble at garage raves man, when they’re not chatting about violence. You get trouble at old school raves and all that stuff. I wouldn’t say it’s directly the music. I haven’t really got anything against Westwood. He can play what he wants to play, and they can say what they want to say on record. The radios are playing it: they can cut out a couple of words but we know what it all means.
The menial stuff: next album?
I’ve just been in the studio. I haven’t got any dates or schedule prepared.
How do you go from writing 16 bars to making a mixtape to producing a full-length album?
I was making songs from a long time ago. First time they kind of heard me was when I made this song called ‘Boys love Girls.’ I was always writing songs. Obviously I’d been writing lines in the playground but I haven’t always been another MC doing 16 bars of no content. You need the ability to write songs in the correct format. I’ve always been practising that. I’m naturally talented in that.
So are you a songwriter in the traditional sense?
Yeah. Definitely. You have to be a songwriter if you want to be an artist. I’m an artist, man. You can’t have 16 bars of nothing.
"... When the music developed from Garage, there was never a name associated with it. The media has kind of caught on with ‘Grime.’ They can call it whatever they want to call it, it’s not up to me
Was the Roll Deep album a compromise between what was expected of grime as a sound and marketable urban music?
I suppose it was. They had their songs like ‘When I’m Ere,’ the standard grime sound and then they had their songs like ‘Avenue.’ It’s just like I had my standard grime songs ‘Ps & Qs’ and ‘Mic Check’ sitting next to songs like ‘Brown Eyes’ and ‘Typical Me.’ I feel that just because you’re affiliated with one thing doesn’t mean it should stop you from experimenting with other things. You know, just because Jay-Z made ‘Reasonable Doubt’ a straight hip-hop record doesn’t mean you can’t do ’99 Problems’ with a rock guitar. It’s like he can experiment and do what he likes, he can do what he’s into, rather than what people expect.
suppose it is a compromise if you’re going to play that game, but you’ve got to have a variation and if you can make it sound good or not.
So what is grime to you? Is it Eski; is it Sublow?
[Laughs] The name just came. When the music developed from Garage, there was never a name associated with it. Wiley was a big part of it: he called it Eski. The media has kind of caught on with ‘Grime.’ They can call it whatever they want to call it, it’s not up to me. But I wouldn’t call myself a ‘Grime’ artist but if that music wants to be called ‘Grime’ then so be it.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/6718/1do4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
What have been your influences into making your sound? You name dropped Jay-Z earlier.
Jay-z is more of an influence nowadays. His lyrical content, his whole movement, the albums that he makes and how long he has been around. Getting into the game, garage has always been an influence. I listen to ragga; I listen to jungle, some early hip-hop like Dre and Snoop, Biggie: they’re the people that I look up to.
The DJ played a Wookie song in your set. How big an influence is that whole 2-step era?
When I was growing up, that’s what I was listening to. Those tunes are what we’d like to listen to when we were going out. DJ’s would play them; we’d spit over them and just to rave to them.
So what is it about grime, about you that has travelled outside of London?
You see here tonight that it has reached far.
I would just say its how people can relate. On the American stuff, not a lot of people can relate to it even though it’s played on the radios. I think someone like me, Dizzee, definitely Mike Skinner, we’re all from homes, it’s easy to relate to us, we can talk about things that they know.
"... You have to be a songwriter if you want to be an artist. I’m an artist, man. You can’t have 16 bars of nothing..."
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2008/1il9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Do you see yourself as a British Jay-Z?
Ah no, I don’t think so. Maybe in ten years?
Is that the ambition?
Not really. Wherever it takes me, I might go a different direction than him. I might not go there.
5 years ago the grime scene was very London-centric…
I know, that’s what I’m saying. It’s travelled a lot since then. We now go to all sorts of places. We go to Scotland, they love it. Europe: Berlin, Amsterdam, Sweden, we go to loads of places. Its spread and what’s so good about it is not just that they are familiar with the music but that they have started their own little cliques and they produce their own little beats. Hopefully it will set off in there own way. The movement will be massive, so to the music. I’m not concerned just about me getting big, but the scene as a whole, the people after me: I think they’ll be the real big ones in the future.
So do you see yourself as belonging to something, to some kind of scene?
I feel that I belong to the UK. I wouldn’t say I belong to some form of music. I just belong to the UK and that’s why I’m so loyal to them, as long as they’re loyal to me. I’m not one of those that leave the UK to go and conquer America.
How do you see grime going in the not-too-distant future?
I see it just like garage. We developed it into our own, progressed from it and grew from it. The next generation will dig into what we are doing now and start putting their own twist on it and doing their own thing. The music might change and they might do whatever under a different name. You never know what will be coming next. But I’m here for a while.
To end on a non-musical note, who do you want to win the world cup?
[Wearing a French away-shirt] I want France to win the World Cup. Zidane is too good. I don’t want Italy to win.
[Kano’s DJ fires in] Italy are racist, bruv.
France isn’t that better than Italy for racism?
I know, even England isn’t good for racism, so we shouldn’t support them
So who do we support then?
Jamaica, init? But they aren’t even in it.
[I]On that, I finish. The interview was brief but knowledgeable. Kano comes across as dextrous off the mic as he is on record. He’s not here to dispel myths, but, simply to perform. His quiet demeanour back-stage is in contrast to the firebrand he is on stage. For a primer into grime, or whatever you call it, pick up his debut LP “Home Sweet Home” or the “Beats & Bars” mixtape....
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/6348/1ad7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)