Lethal Bizzle started charting hits in 2001, but he’s a brand new artist
16 years after his first hit, grime pioneer Lethal Bizzle finds help in social media interaction to reach for a new audience.
In the heads of some, the UK rap scene was birthed somewhere in early 2015. Was it Kanye West’s BRIT Awards performance providing a worldwide light onto this scene? Or was it Drake’s Instagram spree sharing pictures of Skepta & Wiley? Whichever came first, helped the world of music to remember England not only had mad singers like Adele, gobsmacking songwriters like Ed Sheeran and blinding labels like XL Recordings. Their rap scene was ace as well. As I entered grime sensation Stormzy’s tour bus, I was introduced to Lethal Bizzle, his show opener for the Paris date of his tour. You could swear he was one of these new artists coming up with this amazing grime wave, benefiting from Stormzy’s current platform.
But Lethal Bizzle is far from being a newcomer. He charted his first hit Oi with his band More Life Crew in 2001, and one of the grime scene’s defining tune Pow in 2004. The track, unofficial song of English student protests in 2011, was requested by Jay Z on his 2006 tour for him to record a verse. 3 solo albums and multiple hit singles later, Bizzle released a 7-tracks EP, You’ll Never Make A Million From Grime — a collection of solid bangers serving as exquisite appetisers announcing his coming fourth album, Lennox Rd. We talked about the evolving world of music, and how the renaissance of grime and a smart use of social medias interactions made Lethal Bizzle, a rapper who’s been active for 15 years in the business, a brand new artist.
When I was younger, I loved everything coming from England, from Arsenal to Franz Ferdinand. My friends were mostly into English rock, so, to try to be the outcast, I decided to get into UK rap. The first English rap album I ever bought was your Against All Oddz — I had no idea who you were, but I picked it because I liked the cover art.
Yeah, that cover art was dope, man! With those speakers and the mad shit behind me.
That was 12 years ago, in 2005. To quote a line from your latest single I Win, what keeps you “still hungry like it was the first year”?
You know what? I feel like the Internet has made me more connected to the fans. When I see the fans getting excited for the music, for the product, showing me the energy… I feel like, as a brand, I’m bigger than I was than the first year — and the first year was very successful: top 10 record with More Fire Crew. It’s all about the fans. I feel like when you retire from the game, you don’t retire from the fans: they retire from you. To see the fans go crazy to the music, sing-a-long, engage online… That gives me fuel. The immediate conversations in social medias make me see that it’s working.
“Fans are the one making hit records”. — Lethal Bizzle
In an interview with Urban World UK, you mention the making of your song Fester Skank, and how it all started from you having fun on a beat on Instagram to following the advice of fans commenting to turn the moment into a song. Is it important for your interaction strategy to make your fans feel like they’re a part of your creative process?
100%. I think it’s the best indication you can ever get, because fans are the ones who’ll buy, listen, make the record what it will become. For Fester Skank, that was so funny. What you just said was spot on. I was just dancing — and that’s how I dance. And literally, someone said “You did that Uncle Fester!”. And the producer was like “Bro, we got something here, we got to do something with this”. When you see a response online so crazy just for a beat and there’s no buzz… It was certified we knew had something, from the beat alone. I made that song simultaneously with the fans. I’ll write the first verse, put it on my Instagram, ask “What do you think”? People got crazy, people were commenting, quoting the lyrics on Twitter… I was like “yeah, that shit is working”.
Fans are the people that make the hit records. It’s amazing to have that connexion. Because I’m from an era where the fan and the artist had no relationship. The label was the label and was making the e-mails and mailing lists — whatever they were doing back then when the Internet wasn’t popping, when there wasn’t any social media. So, for me to forget the middle-man and speak directly to the fan… I take that on board. I think that’s the key to stay winning. Your fans are your consumers, you need to give them what they like.
You just released an EP You’ll Never Make A Million From Grime. Why did you decide to release an EP before the album, and do you believe formats like these still matter in this streaming and single-based generation?
That’s a good question. My last album came out in 2009. From 2011, it became very single-market based. Everyone was putting out single. So I had to evolve. I kept putting out singles that were connecting, scoring Top 10’s, Top 20’s hits. Then, in 2015, I dropped Fester Skank. I saw the way that really touched people, and I saw I was catching a lot of people’s attention that I wasn’t necessarily catching before.
I think albums or EP’s are opportunities to show your versatility, show different parts of your art, which you don’t necessarily do in singles. Predominantly, singles are meant to be hype, big, everyone having a good time, cool message… I have a track called Million Pound Dream on my EP, where I talk about chasing money, and it has a deeper message, about how what’s really important is moments with your family & friends. If I dropped it as a single, people might like it, but it’s about understanding what the music business wants to hear from you. Albums give you that freedom for you to touch different subjects that will be more related to your fans, as well as having the big singles.
I feel like I’ve tapped into a new generation. When I go to my shows, my audience is getting younger and younger. I’ve done 3 albums, plus the More Fire Crew album so that’s 4 albums. They probably haven’t even heard those. Prime example: a guy on Twitter. I done a festival, and someone tweeted “Bizzle, man, your set was too short, it should have been longer!”. I had played for like half an hour. And someone tweeted and said “What did you expect? He’s only got like, 5 songs” 😂 so I tweeted back “Ha ha, new school fan! It’s all good”. And then my fans saw it and started killing him. Then he was like “Bruh, honestly, I thought your first single was Rari Workout 😩”.
And I can’t be mad at him! He’s probably a 14 year-old kid. When Pow came out, he was 2 years old. I realised I have a new generation now, they probably don’t know me as an album artist. So you know what? I‘m giving you 7 new fresh songs, and kind of re-introducing myself if you only know me for the crazy club stuff.
After the EP, I wanna go into the album. But I feel like EPs are more accessible for fans. Now, people just want to hear their favorite songs and make their own album songs. They’ll take their favorite Bizzle song, their favorite Skepta song, their favorite Drake song, their favorite Kendrick Lamar song… and make their own album. So EP might be the way forward. Maybe, as time goes on, albums might get shorter, to 10 tracks. A lot of tracks might get wasted if not, why give them so much records? Just give them what they wanna hear, and let them pick.
It’s great that you have this opportunity to look like if you were a new artist. Kind of like when Pusha T signed to GOOD Music. I think the greatest “older” artists are those who are smart enough to know how to rebrand themselves, embrace it and go with the flow.
Exactly. That’s exactly where I feel I am now. I’m 15 years deep, Skepta’s 15 years deep as well in the business. It’s OK to not understand. If you’ve just arrived and you’re into it now: cool, welcome aboard. We’re going to show you what we can do, we’ve been doing it for so long. The reason why Kanye and Drake are on it, is because they understand the fact that the world watches them. They’re like “you fuck with me? but, I fuck with this guy called Skepta, the UK scene, they’re fucking killing it”. Now everybody likes Skepta. Thank you for finally waking up. The world is watching, the quality of music is there.
How did I Win come together?
Skepta and I had been talking for like 11 months. “Bizzle, we need to go to the studio, we need to do something”. Skepta was on the road. These days, a lot of people who make records, collaborations, you send the beat by e-mail, they do their verse… I wanted to find a day when we’re both free, go to the studio, doing it together. We found a day in October last year, just after he won the Mercury Prize Award. I hadn’t seen him since, so I was like “yes, Mercury boyz! winners!”. Skepta’s on his laptop, he’s making a beat. I was talking to a mandem. He tells me to keep talking to the mandem, so he can process my voice to see how it’ll fit on the beat. Next thing, I’m hearing the horns. I stopped talking. He made the beat, half an hour later. Skepta kept saying “I win! I win!”. I was like, yeah, that’s it! And we started thinking about things that people could relate to, to create the hook. It was a fun session. That was in October. Skepta wanted the track to be released right after we recorded. But I figured it was more a summer banger, so I wanted for the right time, because we knew in the back of our minds this track was special. Also, it’s the first time Skepta & I were ever worked together. We’ve been big names in the grime scenes for years, so this collaboration couldn’t be disappointing. It had to be playable for years.
Your next album, Lennox Rd, is due this year. What will it be about?
To be honest with you, the response with the EP I just dropped was so crazy. I thought it was going to be a quick thing, people would react to I Win, and get ready for the album. But there’s 3 to 4 four songs that are really connecting — even without videos. I’m looking at the stats on Spotify and everything and I’m like… Maybe I need to concentrate on this a bit longer.
For the album, probably early to end of the year. In terms of content, I feel like I need to re-introduce myself to this new generation. Lennox Rd is where I’m from, it’s on East London. I want to paint a picture that I haven’t painted before, and re-introduce who I am and where I’m from. If someone thinks Rari Workout is my first single, there’s a big chapter you’re missing. I want to fill that gap. I made those singles, Pow, I Win, Fester Skank… But I’m from a real place, I’ve been through real situations. And as well as that, showing the progression of coming from areas that are not the best, and turning your knowledge into something positive. I want it to be inspiration, not just jump up and having a good time. The EP is very jump up and having a good time, there’s a few messages on there you can take. The album — it won’t be boring or educational — I want people to realise that what I do is an opportunity for you. When I went to school, being a musician wasn’t an option. People were like “you’ll never make it, never make money”. I want to let people know that this could be you as well. You can go to university, you can play sports, you can do grime. And you can make a living from it.
Hence the name of the EP.
When I started, because it was fresh and new, people were like “what are you doing? stop this shit. make what’s going on now, the cool hip-hop & pop stuff”. But that doesn’t represent not me. I’m an artist, I want to try new things, that I’m comfortable with. No one believed. On the cover, I’m just laughing. Because, if I had listened to them, where would I be now?
If you had to make a Pow 2017, who would you feature? You don’t have to feature new UK rappers, pick whoever you’d like.
Because he’s my favorite, I’d put 50 Cent on it. I’d put Stormzy on it. I’d put Novelist on it. I’d put Quavo on it. I’d put Young Thug on it. Who else… That’s hard! That’s why I haven’t done one. I get tweets every single week — “Pow 2017, Biz, you need to do it”. I might put Krept & Konan on it as well. Maybe one more person… Did I say Drake already? I’d put Drake on it.
No Adele, No Ed Sheeran?
They’re my boys, but I’m not quite sure… Big ups Ed and Adele, they’re my people, but maybe not for a Pow 2017.
Grime got worldwide big not only because of Drake, but because the Internet pushes music fans to open their minds and discover news scenes constantly. Do you pay any attention to the European scene? As far as France, I’m thinking of the waves made by MHD and his afro-trap sound.
I’m definitely paying attention. The afro-trap vibe, I’ve been shown, it’s dope. The thing I love about it, you don’t even have to understand what they say, you just know it’s a turn up. And the production is dope. I was in Norway the other day, and they played me 3 rappers rapping in Norwegian. And again, I don’t understand what they’re saying, but I got the energy, I got the vibe. If I was hearing this in the club, I’d be vibing to it. It’s inspiring to me as well to hear different artists, different languages, different styles of music. This tour in particular is definitely making me more aware of the different cultures and scenes in Europe. When I’m out here on tour, and I’m getting recognised, doing pictures, it’s mind-bobbling for me, because these people know me and what I do. And I realize we’re neighbours, it should be like this because we’re Europeans.
What I love the most, is how European rappers are being themselves, they’re carrying themselves. Over the years, we’ve tried to chase America too much. America is an amazing country for music, entertainment, everything. But I think for the first time in a long time, we’re doing us. If I’m French, I’m doing what we do in France. I’m London, this is what we do in London. I’m fucking Norwegian, this is what do in Norway. We’re not trying to ride Cadillacs, people want to hear authentic situation, and I think culture is the number one thing that will break every single market.
Definitely. Let’s not get too political but when the Brexit happened, I told myself that was really too bad. As Europeans, if only we paid more attention to the culture surrounding us. Especially in something easy to understand, like rap music. The language of turning up is the same wherever you go. We just need to connect, the same way someone in Munich can be a fan of the FC Barcelona from Spain, and someone in Portugal can love Manchester.
Universal language. It’s all unified.
Speaking of football — what do you think of Arsenal’s season? And Arsène Wenger?
I love Wenger but, I feel like his time is up. Everyone has their time, he’s done well for us, and I don’t want to disrespect him in any sort of ways because what he’s done for us is amazing. But, I think, he’s being too stubborn now. He needs to do what’s best for the club, not what’s best for him. He’s tarnishing his legacy, for me. He’s done so well for us, and I don’t want to see him go out on a low. We’re not going to be in the Champions League next year, it’s our worst season in 20 years. We need to stop being scared of change, and start a new chapter.
[This interview was made on May 2017 — Arsenal qualified for the Euro League since, which is a minor compensation!]
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