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05.10.12 Music Week 13
show due to the fact that they can’t get a music deal over there and be famous for their music. That’s not what I want to do.
What’s your opinion on acts who come out of the X Factor and into the public eye? Simon Cowell’s a clever man but where’s Joe McElderry right now?
He’s got a new album out... Has he? You see babe! He won the X Factor. Alexandra Burke, I love her, she’s in my press team, she won the X Factor, her voice is amazing, but her career is getting raped by a mason. She hasn’t
had a No.1 in the last two years. Why do you think she hasn’t had such big success of late?
Because the people that are taking care of her are writing the wrong songs and concepts. You can’t have a hit in the charts with something that’s already been said a million times. That’s why Rihanna’s so sick! ’Brella, ’brella…that’s never been said. What’s the next one? You have to come up with something new every time.
How did the Brian May collaboration come about [May lent his vocals to No. 2 hit Rockstar]? When I released my No Regrets track, he was at an awards ceremony and said, “Oh I’ve just heard a great song today, I just want to tell you that the lyrics were absolutely amazing and it’s by someone from N-Dubz.” He was like, “[Dappy] should win an Ivor Novello for lyrics.” I saw it – oh my God! I emailed him, and said, “What a coincidence, my second single is called Rockstar, you’re the biggest rock star in the world, will you play on my song?” I sent him the song and he said, “I fucking love it.”
It seems a long time ago that you were the token ‘joke’ celebrity on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Do you feel that you
are starting to get the music industry’s respect? I won the love over from the Buzzcocks people. I had to prove it to them! It’s been a hard journey to get these people to slowly, slowly
“The Saturdays are doing a TV reality show due to the fact they can’t get a music deal in the US and be famous for their music and that’s not what I want to do” DAPPY
say, “Wow he’s actually got it in him.” You know what it is? With me being in a band with Tulisa and Fazer a lot of the time, Tulisa in interviews – if I said something out of this world – she’ll look at me with a bit of a funny face. People might look at that as, “He’s an idiot, the punk in the group.” In my brain I was thinking, “Shit man, I’ve wrote everything, I’ve struggled in the studio for decades and am not getting that credit – it’s like she’s wrote it all.”
Have you noticed any changes since your label All Around The World became involved with Universal Music? Yeah, we made them who they are! No, I’m joking. Since bands like N-Dubz and Tulisa, [AATW] have had that mainstream success. It’s gone very forward now and they’re promoting more pop commercial groups and clubby dance things, so I think we’ve both helped each other. They’ve helped us majorly, Chris [Nutall] and Matt [Cadman] at All Around The World, and I think we’ve helped them branch out to become a bigger label.
You haven’t found yourself more creatively restricted of late? No, I’ve got full creative control! They just give me the money and I deliver the CD and that’s how easy it is. They trust me and that’s why they’ve spent hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pounds on my new album because I was getting it perfect. I was like, “Give me another two weeks.” They said: “Dap! You’re wasting…”; “Bruv we’re going to make profit on the first week of sales I promise’; ‘Fuck it, go on then!” So I gave them another track and they were like, “Fuck, yes, Dap this is massive!”
Have you got any upcoming collaborations or are you writing for other people? I might be doing something with One Direction for their new album. I’ll write a great song with them, and I’ve got a song with The Wanted called Bring it Home.
Who do you want to work with? Michael Jackson! Phil Collins, Sting, George Michael, Freddie Mercury if I could. Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, One Direction... Alexandra Burke... nah, I’m playing!
What would you change about the music industry and why? I think I would have had six No.1s by now if it wasn’t for illegal downloading. That’s killing us, definitely. Because England is a very small place, if a majority of people start downloading you’re fucked. In America they’ve got 52 states, one state might illegally download and the rest might all buy it so you’re lucky.
Who’s your favourite music exec that you’ve worked with? Richard Costello from All Around The World, my A&R, because he’s just guided me in a very, very cool way. When things were down and the radio didn’t want to play me he said, “Dap, you’re powerful, your songs... you’re going in mate, trust me. It’s going to go.” Then bam! No. 8 midweek. He makes me believe in myself.
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