32 HIPHOP//RNB
THE GUESTLIST NETWORK | JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2011 Albums of Jan!
JAY-Z & KAnye WeSt
Jay-Z/Kanye West album due in a week...apparently. On New Years, a drunk Kanye West was caught on a camera phone telling a fan that the newly anticipated album from the two biggest rappers in the world will be released in a week. Although nothing has yet been confirmed. Speak- ing in October, Kanye told the press that recording the album was going to be a relatively easy proposition. That so, we are still shocked at how quickly Kanye is claiming the record has been completed. We will have to wait and see if he is telling porkies or not.
WRETCH 32
How are you? Feeling very good thank you.
I’m hearing your new song a lot, what is it about? ‘Traktor’ is kind of just about having fun. It’s about a guy on the table with a crazy lifestyle. He actually has no plan on the journey but everything is going wrong. The chorus is like ‘I miss school and I haven’t got a job yet’, ‘my girls pissed and my daughters on the way’, ‘I went club- bing till my world was revolving’. So everything is going wrong. He’s got a good talent but he knows he can write the beat like a BB Traktor. So it’s like a crazy element crammed into a song.
How would you say you have de- veloped as a songwriter since you first came out? How has your style changed? The good thing is, I was able to do my arch development in the public eye. Before I entered illegal
radio
stations, I was sort of developed but I was still a couple of years away. I think I’ve developed a lot. I’ve learnt a lot of new tunes. I’ve learnt how to construct an album. I’ve learnt how to build my stage presence in live performances. All these things are to help me carry myself as a pro- fessional. Everything is a learning
curve. You learn something new ev- ery day. Even with this interview, I’ll look back on it and think I’m speak- ing too much just to learn something from this.
Who have you worked with on your album? At the moment, I haven’t worked with anyone, only producers. As an artist, I think it’s important to get the album done and then think who you can work with. It’s like mak- ing a cake, you don’t start with the cherry or the icing, you start with the sponge then you think of putting the extras after. I write a lot of the course. When I finish them, I then think ‘oh he or she can sing it better than me’. Then I call them in to see if they want to do it.
Is there anyone you want to work with? I want to work with The Script. I think they are sick. Their lyrical ability to who ever is writing the songs, I think is incredible. It reminds me of a re- ally good rapper, but they’re singing it instead of rapping it.
Your going on tour soon, when does that start? Starts in mid-Feburary and finishes mid-March and that’s with Example. I like to thank Example for reaching
Chloe Hooton
London lad Wretch 32 is one of 2011’s most exciting prospects. TGN catches up with the Grime/Hip Hop star ahead of his release of his new song Traktor, his UK tour supporting Example and his love for Eastenders.
out and giving me the opportunity to go on tour with him, it should be good.
Are you two friends? The thing with the industry is that we all know each other or we have bumped into each other somewhere down the line. I can’t remember the first place I bumped into him but we did the whole handshake and we said we liked each other’s music and everything. As of recent, we’ve kind of spoken a bit more and he’s a very cool dude.
What have you got planned af- terwards? From now until then I’m still record- ing the album. I’m just working and working. The main thing with me is to have enough material. If I haven’t finished my album before the tour, the I’m away for a month and I have my own shows in between. I won’t have time to record.
Where do you find inspiration? From regular life. I draw emotions from films and soaps. I’m an East- enders fanatic.
You’ve steadily moved to Hip Hop from into Grime. Is that a conscious move? Its weird because I just make music
that I enjoy making and I’ve grown up listening to. I’m taking influences from everything. I’ve been listening to Reggae, Soul, RnB and Rap my whole life and Grime was new. So that’s a new element to life in gen- eral. I’ve still got my Grime element but I’ve got more elements to what I was listening to growing up. I just do what feels right, I never think ‘shit, let me do a song because it’s Grime’. I hear a beat and I think I like this beat, it doesn’t matter what it is.
What do you want to achieve in the next 5 years? I don’t think that far ahead but I do in a sense. I’m just hoping this year goes ahead, I make a great album, put on some great shows and I hope I’m known as an artist that makes great music. I’ll probably want to stay in the UK and get them onside. Then if I want to step outside and get the next road running, that will be good.
T.I.
No Mercy
To watch our full interview with Wretch 32, go to
www.guestlist. net. Traktor is available to download now.
T.I. is out of jail and has already created his seventh re- cord ‘No Mercy’, which is ready to be released in the UK on the 24th of January. With most of the lyrics influenced from his time in prison and how he is going to change his ways. With the tracks ‘Get Back Up’ featuring Chris Brown and ‘How Life Changed’ featuring Mitchelle’L & Scarface, there are clear references to see. T.I claimed he had recorded 80 tracks before making his mind up with the selected 14 being placed on the record. Other tracks are about his life experiences and love affairs. The single ‘I Can’t Help It’ featuring Rocko says a lot about the man’s life. T.I certainly brought out the big guns on this album, as Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Emimem, Drake and Pharrell all giving their input to their respective tracks and adding real purpose to T.I.’s legacy. An interesting fact about No Mercy is with the song Castle Walls fea- turing Christina Aguilera. Hip Hop legend Diddy actually owned the rights for it’s release but gave it to T.I. as it suited his style more than his own. Interesting...
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