"dreadful, R.I.P the king of grime" "Horrid music, falling off again"
Last night Skepta posted his new track "punch his face", the song is his own adaptation of D'Banj's early 2011 single 'Oliver Twist'. The single did relatively well and led to D'banj making a considerable amount of noise and subsequently joining the G.O.O.D Music roster, at this point it's fair to say that Afrobeats is quickly growing and being accepted more and more by the wide public. The success of a genre is subject to the regression of another, for a genre to flourish in popular culture another has to decline-Funky House is almost certainly being shifted from the top spot in the raves by Afrobeats.
"versatility is important"
Skepta is an artist, in the past he was exclusively a Grime artist, he has featured on rap songs and we have even seen him shake feathers in the charts with Funky House; for an artist concerned with chart success versatility is important because an unwillingness to accept what the public enjoys listening to at any given time and run with it can only bring about failure. A lot of comments on the song are negative as some die hard Grime fans insist on clinging on to the fantasy of Skepta being the flag bearer for a scene in decline, some were negative purely because the instrumental is unlike anything they've heard before. 'Punch His Face' is a good thing for music, it introduces a new audience to Afrobeats and increases its marketability which may open doors for other artists.
If a willingness to try new things is falling off, I'm glad that Skepta is on the floor right now. The video and download link for 'Punch His Face' are below, have a listen and download it if you like it; feel free to post any comments about the track or any thoughts on the article.
“Could you play me some of your black music, please?”
“That’s white music, I don’t mess with it.”
Music is too often categorized under race labels, genres are associated with particular audiences as if the colour of one’s skin determines their taste in art. The way people talk you would think that Hip Hop itself is full of melanin, that Country Western is directly descended from the Nordic settlers; segregation within music builds barriers around audiences before they even listen to what is at hand, restricting people from discovering the different sounds that define us as a people. Although music is used to document and express the various hardships that individual cultural groups undergo, it still conveys universal emotions. Music is a living, breathing entity lacking in ethnicity while fully retaining culture; music serves to educate and aid in self discovery, divulging between notes the secrets of life.
How many times has a rapper been placed on a pedestal to be judged differently solely for being white in a genre dominated by the ethnic minorities majorities? Does the caucasian community not deserve an equal footing in music? If not, will it be granted affirmative action in future? As the first to be taken seriously on a mass scale Eminem has become the archetype for the white rapper, with any emerging white rappers often being compared to him as a rite of passage and being written off if they are too far off the established mark. Similarly rock, a genre dominated by white men, is popularly seen to be no place for the ethnic minority; Jimi Hendrix has become the the archetype for the guitar toting black man, any ethnic minority breaking into rock is likely to stand in his shadow. The idea of black and white music creates a chasm between people which is seldom explored, in 1986 Run DMC bridged the chasm when they collaborated with Aerosmith to cover their song 'Walk this way' and created something both audiences somewhat enjoyed; since then crossovers such as 'Walk this way' have become rarer than unicorns which has kept the race issue in music truly alive.
Run DMC ft. Aerosmith- Walk this way
Of course subject matter and context are important factors in determining whether an audience will listen to music, for instance, it's unlikely a middle aged white man living in suburbia would have much interest in listening to Public Enemy's calls for rejection of this established social structure and social uprising or NWA's angry blasts at 'White America'; Society likes to avoid controversy, especially when it's race-focused. The nature of the society we live in means the majority of the public is culturally sensitive and so politically correct that white people generally tend to avoid music in which the word "ni**a" is used and it turns out that Hip Hop tends to squander it. One must bear in mind that music is meant to be heard the way it was recorded for a reason, the shock and reality of the lyrics received as they are must be received and one must not be intimidated by them lyrics for fear of social backlash. Hip Hop keeps such a loyal black audience because a lot of black people feel they must align with the machine that rocketed black people into the charts and into money.
It's not to say that people aren't entitled to their own preferences in the music they listen to, by all means they should have the freedom to reject any genre they please, rather it is the shunning of music for social reasons that is being condemned. Do not allow the pigment in your skin to restrict you in what music can teach you, branch out and allow yourself to enjoy what society has to offer.
This is not an article condemning anyone, not article glorifying anyone nor is it a political article; this article merely highlights some attributes of society and suggests solutions to them. In fact, I could go as far as saying that this really isn't an article at all but rather a stream of my own thoughts which is testament to the structure of this piece of writing and its seemingly incomplete nature.
"Think global, act local" - Patrick Geddes
Black people are socially crippled, it’s no secret; society has placed labels on people of colour, but that in itself shouldn’t make anyone upset-it’s the nature of the stereotypes associated with black people that should trip that community into a spiraling rage. At the mention of an inner city black man, what is the first thing that comes to mind? An eighteen year old lying in a pool of his own blood on Oxford Street? The perpetrator running from the scene with a pocket knife tucked in the back of his baggy jeans? There are no positive stereotypes associated with black men, otherwise the first thing that would have came to mind would have been the thousands striving to achieve against the odds.
How many times have you been accused of not being a “REAL black person” because you’re not on the corner, flipping packs of cocaine and toting guns? How many times have you been accused of being a “FAKE black person” when you spoke and wrote with eloquence? Society perceives the black community to be full of second class citizens and struggles to come to terms with black excellence. Offense should taken at the assumptions thrown at black people, their youth grows into these negative stereotypes and allows society to mould them into what it thinks it means to be black.
Slavery is still very real, the black community is haunted by the clinking of the shackles that binds it to the bottom of the social totem. The difference now is that black people are their own prisoners, tethered to ignorance and poverty, the black community is trapped in the hood. The hood is not a place with a fixed geographic location, the hood is a mentality that embodies ignorance and indifference while clinging on to poverty and the black community has grown into taking pride in the hood as its background. The black community should take blame for accepting the values instilled upon on it by society, and raising its young to be a product of substandard environment.
A lot of the black on black crimes have been blamed on youth centres being closed due to budget cuts by the government, it seems to me that if anything goes wrong the black community can always find solace in blaming the government. How is it that one can lay the blame on an institution they have influence over? The black community is least likely to take part in the democratic process because it shows the most indifference when it’s crunch time but is most likely to point fingers at any conservative legislation passed.
It’s certainly true that society has placed black people at the bottom of the totem, but they cling to it and avoid the responsibility of climbing the totem. It would be ignorant to deny that it is harder for a black person to excel in society, instead of giving up and being content with the inferior cut society bestows upon them they should hunger for excellence.
Growing up as a teenager in South East London during the grime era meant I was heavily exposed to it, it was all anyone listened to at the time. Before artists stretched across the city their music wouldn’t get far unless they’d managed to get on Channel U or Westwood; people were more interested in local acts because it was that much easier to get hold of their music. I grew up on Armani Lucas (formerly Woer Kid) and got my grime fix everytime I was lucky enough to have someone send me one of his tracks to my phone during class. Eventually the age of the local grime artist dissipated and a lot of them slinked away into the background, opting instead for a nine to five or further education. Armani Lucas decided to make a career out of music and took fans by storm when he came back after a years absence with a new name and a new genre: rap.
[Me]: You’ve been doing music for a long time, personally I’d say you’re a veteran because I’ve known about you for so long. The wider industry, on the other hand, would consider you a newcomer which must be frustrating-how do you see yourself?
[Armani Lucas]: I’d say I’m a newcomer, I used to do grime but changed it up to rap like a year or two ago. There’s loads of people who still haven’t heard of me and they’re the people I’m trying to connect with right now, so I’ve got to be humble and accept that I’m a newcomer for now. Of course I started doing music in 2004 as a grime artist but back then it was all just a hobby, I only started exploring music as a career in 2010.
[Me]: Why did you make the change and how difficult was this transition from grime to rap? The fans always knew you as a 140BPM artist, how could you be sure that it’s what they wanted?
[Armani Lucas]: Before I started spitting grime, I always had an ear for rap and my relationship with it was intimate; you have to bear in mind that the times when I’d started grime rapping wasn’t the cool thing to do where I’m from. The transition from grime to rap was very easy for me though because I basically grew up on rap. As for the fans, I think they’ve supported me along my musical journey. Regardless of what kind of music I’m doing I feel I have something else to bring to the table because the nature of the lyrics stay the same, right now I’m a hip hop artist but I’m versatile-if I hear a sound and I like it I’m all up for exploring the possibilities and having a feature on it.
[Me]: That’s real cool, I like that you’re versatile in your music. You know what, I know that this is something everyone wants to know...the name! Why the change from your original Woer to Armani Lucas? Surely it made it difficult to bring with you all the fans you’d already accumulated? When I discovered ‘City lights’ I didn’t clock on that it was your song until a few bars in.
[Armani Lucas]: Yeah, I thought it would cause problems, but I thought I’d been known as Woer for far too long and Woer was a grime artist. You know what, a lot of people didn’t even know how to pronounce it properly which was a drag. As for the fans, I’m sure I lost some but I’ve also gained some along the way.
[Me]: Now they know.
[Armani Lucas]: Yeah, but I do feel like I’m in contact with a lot of them and I did make a big thing of alerting people about the name change and whatnot. On my youtube videos I’ve put up a few tracks and labeled them ‘Armani Lucas, formerly known as Woer’ which I hoped would help that situation.
[Me]: That’s some fan loyalty, but before we talk about the old I want to touch on the new. I mentioned ‘City Lights’ a bit ago, there isn’t a time that it pops up on my shuffle and I don’t pull it back at least once. It certainly knocks ‘All of the lights’ off as the anthem for when my train pulls into London at night. What’s the story behind it?
[Armani Lucas]: I’m a big fan of that song too, basically I was in the studio and felt like making a different sort of track. I spoke to the studio engineer about the idea of ‘City Lights’ and he was all for it; I started writing and within the hour ‘City Lights’ was recorded and complete. During the time I was going through some issues with my ex so I think it helped me get into tune with the song and capture the raw emotions I had.
[Me]: It’s big, it’s that emotional rap that’s going to make movements; a lot of rappers out of London want to talk about guns and selling drugs and you’re moving different which is sure to produce amazing results. let’s talk a little bit about the past, you started off your career with Ride or Die which was you, Intruder and Krimzie; the last time I bumped into you guys you were pushing your ‘Introduction’ EP at a festival, what happened to your ties with them?
[Armani Lucas]: You know as we grow older situations change around us, it’s a forever cycle; you gain some new ties and you lose some old ones which makes space for the new. To be honest, I haven’t spoken to them in a long time, right now I’ve got a new team and a new mind set and it’s what I’m running with-I don’t think Intruder and Krimzie even rap anymore.
[Me]: So they aren’t on the Ride or Die team at all anymore? I notice that you still use the Ride or Die emblem, I assume you’re still on that.
[Armani Lucas]: Just to Clear it up, Ride or Die ent. was founded by me, it’s my company and the logo will be with me until I exit the rap game-in fact even after I do because I want to push it as a label and sign artists.
[Me]: That clears the mist around it all; it’s a pity though, that ‘Introduction’ tape was fire. There was a period when I didn’t hear from you, 2009-2010. What was happening and where were you?
[Armani Lucas]: That’s when i was on the verge of giving up on music because I had no studio, I was at university and my ex gave birth to my son that year. It’s also the year I discovered my new team. I guess you could say I was transforming into Armani Lucas in that period.
[Me]: Congratulations on your son. I like that, “transforming into Armani Lucas”- there’s a story behind it all.
[Armani Lucas]: Yeah, the story continues too; music has taught me a lot and humility is undoubtedly the best attribute I inherited from it.
[Me]: That’s good, humility. A lot of artists want it all straight away, but then, since the game’s changed with the advent of the internet artist it has been possible to get it all straight away if the right cards are played-we’ve seen Soulja Boy do it. So how have changes in the game affected you and how are you going about pushing yourself now? I know myspace was a massive part of your previous success, but now that myspace has almost become obsolete for new artists...
[Armani Lucas]: Props to Soulja Boy, he came hard. Once you’ve got your marketing strategy right the world is your oyster, that’s what I’m trying to get hold of right now, marketing. I want to be able to push my music far out and be sure that it’s being heard. I’m using Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and Soundcloud to push my sound though.
[Me]: It’s not like the old days, huh? Back then it was all mobile phone music, I remember when I first heard your ‘havana’ was when someone in my school sent it to my phone via bluetooth!
[Armani Lucas]: Yeah, I miss those days, it was harder to progress but easier at the same time, if you get me; these days everybody is rapping so it’s harder to be heard, if I knew back then what I know now...Boy!
[Me]: Speaking of the old days, what about your affiliations with Top Boy Movements? are you the only one out of that collective to come out still making music?
[Armani Lucas]: TBM? I guess I’m the only surviving artist, the rest went to jail which threw me off because they were more like my brothers.
[Me]: That’s unfortunate, they were some amazing artists. What future projects should the folks be listening out for?
[Armani Lucas]: We’ve been in the studio consistently for the last eight months and in that time we’ve recorded over fifty bangers, I’m looking to release a mixtape in early 2012 and bring out more videos. There’s a lot to look out for R.O.D.E 2012.
[Me]: Thanks for giving up your time, I really appreciate it and wish you the best with Ride or Die.
[Armani Lucas]: Thanks man, thanks for yours!
There you have it, a tale of his intimacy with music and the changes he's seen in and around it; watch out for for Armani Lucas and Ride or Die!
Armani Lucas' 'City Lights'
Follow Armani Lucas on twitter @ArmaniLucas for news and updates on future projects.
The internet has birthed a lot of careers, some have skyrocketed to recognition over the years whilst others have laid dormant and in the shadows. New groups are still managing to make themselves through the internet as opposed to waiting for a label to discover and own them. The MOtiVe boys are one of the biggest presences coming out of London through your computer screen, marketing themselves through twitter and broadcasting to the millions through Youtube- they are on fire at the moment. From the grainy ‘Ultimate Otis’ to the high definition ‘Booties‘ they’ve managed to produce some astounding numbers on Youtube. They’ve gone on to perform at the Hackney Empire and Biggafish, among other venues and done it all on their own through the internet. I decided that it was time to get to know more about MOtiVe as a collective, YSK was kind enough to give up some of his time to give me the first interview and answer some of the questions I had for him.
[Me]: Obviously you guys have been doing your thing, you’ve picked up a massive following and the fans’ll want to know more about the group itself- where do you guys know eachother from and how did you get together as a group?
[YSK]: We’re literally childhood friends, Marky Weapz, Mikez and I went to the same primary school and live in the same area- Mikez and I went to the same secondary school as Valence. Mikez and I were on a comedy wave since about 2009 and Valence was already in a musical group, we joined forces to do something different in 2010 and Marky Weapz would join us later.
[Me]: I remember you guys marketed one joint around the big topic on twitter last month, building a hype around it being a ‘Topboy’ spoof. You guys threw the fanbase off when you span around and whacked out something completely different, when I asked about this you told me “We don’t do spoofs, it’s not our thing”, what is your “thing”?
[YSK]: Simply musical comedy, a mix of music and comedy- and we actually call ourselves musicedians!
[Me]: You think this will flourish as a genre on its own?
[YSK]: That’s what we’re pushing hard to do, and by God’s grace we will. A couple other groups are doing it, Outkast (mildly), LMFAO and Lonely Island have been doing it for a while and are selling with it- we’re trying to put it in a box and label it. WHEN we blow it will become a genre associated to us because it’s our name.
[Me]: That’s big, you guys have your plans together and whatnot.
[YSK]: Thanks brother, a lot of people don’t realise that we do have vision, they reckon we just think of it and say “yeah, let’s film it”!
[Me]: You guys have been doing it all on your own?
[YSK]: Yeah, we have
[Me]: How much of a tool has the internet been? I’ve seen you all over twitter publicizing.
[YSK]: Very, Very useful. Being myself on twitter generated a few followers and the right video came at the right time for us because everyone that follows us generated a great hype about it which was an incredible factor in the success of ‘Ultimate Otis’
[Me]: Congratulations on that, by the way
[YSK]: Thank you, brother.
[Me]: So you’ve recognised how important the internet is in this day and age for young and unsigned acts, you’d push it on others trying to come up?
[YSK]: Yeah, I would, but more importantly I’d have them be themselves in what they are doing, there are masses of wannabes on the net that make it hard for anyone with actual talent to get noticed.
[Me]: Thats respectable. You’ve mentioned that being yourself has been a massive part of your success through twitter-hasn’t this been a problem? I know you’ve been quite open about your own personal life on the internet, didn’t the fans try to instigate at times?
[YSK]: Not really, as I said it generated a lot of followers before people started getting wised up to the videos. I had the following because I joined in on the topics being discussed, usually. I think people were expecting us to start behaving like celebrities on twitter after things started getting fast paced!
[Me]: That’s cool. You guys make a point of typing your groups name in a certain way, what’s that all about?
[YSK]: It’s cheesy! In ‘MOtiVe’ the first letters of our individual names are highlighted! M=Michael (Mikez), Marcus (Marky Weapz), O=Ola (YSK), V=Valence. Which is important for us as a collective, it merges the individual with the group making it one in the same.
[Me]: Thanks for your time, give my best to your MOtiVe brothers!
[YSK]: You’re welcome, safe brother- I will.
I’m sure the boys are going to do bigger things in the near future, it’s important that other acts learn from their success; If you have a resource at your disposal it would be stupid not to utilise it to its fullest extent as the MOtiVe boys did with the internet. Watch out for them!
"OHMYGODYALL Wayne is gaying up the rap game, hammering the the last few nails into Hip Hop's coffin- did you see his elf looking green ski boots in the video for The Motto?"
Twitter went insane at the sight of Lil Wayne's attire in the video, Youtube comments are as opinionated as tweeple were when the video was released last week. Critics are oblivious to the fact that outrageous clothing has always been a big part of Hip Hop, Afrika Bambaataa was a pioneer in his own brand of Hip Hop and he himself favoured costumes that the wider public thought to be obscene; initially Hip Hop was a middle finger to traditional society, a declaration that it is more than okay to stand out and adhere to your own principles and values- modern hypebeasts want the opposite and are content with conformism in our artists. Celebrate all that Hip Hop has to offer now because it's only going to be hot for a period, something else will ignite tomorrow.
There isn't anything wrong with modern Hip Hop, it's the criticism that's off; Hip Hop is ever changing and it will never stay the same, critics want A Tribe Called Quest but what the game has to offer now is MMG. To live in the past limits you in that you'll struggle to appreciate what the game evolves into next, stop asking for 'Graduation', live in 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'. With Youtube and Soundcloud making it possible for unsigned acts to broadcast their music to the millions for next to nothing we've seen acts like Lil B acquire a massive following, opinions about the quality of his music are certainly varied but he does undoubtedly represent what Hip Hop is about in his outrageous composition.
Close minded critics will tell you Hip Hop is dead, the illuminated will tell you it is immortal.
The headlines flew across phone, computer and television screens, the media's frenzy spun outsiders into a whirlwind of chattering and sent parents into a spiral of worry as their sons and daughters insisted on leaving to seek out the reduced labels. Another killing in the capital and another youth fallen victim to knife crime, the only industry in London that isn't feeling the pressures of the economic climate; rumours of motives and knife men circulated twitter and facebook, everyone seemed to know someone who knew someone who knew someone. Regardless of how close to home it all feels, none of the youth expressed any shock; In a video taken at the scene the crowds gathered around the life that was slipping through the paramedics' hands showed a mild curiosity, but not long after did the Londoners continue about their business in giggles and indifference. Why has it come to the point to which those living in this metropolis aren't shaken by events like these, has it become a norm within the M25?
