Loudmouth

M: How’s it going bruv?

Loud: Im good thanks bruv. Just finished my album so right now I’m on top of the world call me North Pole.

M: How would you describe youself to people that have never heard of you?

Loud: I would say I’m an MC/Producer/Artist. I don’t like to be labelled or pigeon holed in to being UK Hip Hop or Grime. I would say I’m a musician and I’ve done
and will keep doing what I like to do musically be it Grime, Hip Hop, RnB, Dubstep, Electro, Pop, Country lol (never that)

M: What made you start writting?

Loud: Just being a fan. I think that’s what makes all mcs start mcing. I grew up listening to Hip Hop like Wu Tang, Jay-Z and Outkast. I wrote bars back then but never
took it seriously. It wasn’t until I started hearing Dizzee, Lethal, Wiley and other grime artists that I started looking at it as a career. I got in to producing and
through that the mc in me came out.

M: Name Drop was a massive tune and the first time i heard you on
a grime beat, How did that track come about?

Loud: Well with that tune I came up with the idea and then made the beat. I wanted to mention anyone who was on my radar at that time regardless of if I liked them all or not. I wouldn’t say it’s a grime beat but I mention more grime artists then hip hop ones because at that time I felt like more grime artists were making moves then UK Hip Hop ones and being from East London it’s a pride thing too beacause alot of big grime artists are from where I’m from.

M: What’s the situation with you & Aftershock?

Loud: I’ve left. I felt like it was time for me to take more control of my own career because it all got a bit confusing over there. I’m still cool with and still working with alot of the artists that were involved but from what I know everyone’s gone their own way even Terror. I learnt alot from Terror as a producer while I was with Shock andme and him are good friends but as an artist i didn’t really become any bigger while I was in Aftershock so it’s best I concentrate on doing me now.

M: How do you see the state of the UK HipHop scene?

Loud:It’s pretty quiet really. I don’t listen to many UK HipHop artists to be honest. I’ve never felt part of that scene and don’t really think they even care about me beacuse I’m not involved with them like that. I just want to make good music that normal people can relate to, men and women. I think UK HipHop and even grime these days is a bit of a boys club. When I go out I don’t want  to see bare sweaty dudes bugging out to music I want to see some women there. I don’t think UK HipHop really makes music with women in mind and it’s a bit out of touch with life in London and other inner city areas for this generation.

M: And the grime scene?

Loud: The grime scene is shrinking a bit. It’s doing well in one sense because the big boys like Wiley and Dizzee are having chart success but they aint doing it with grimetunes. The ways of getting your music out in grime is getting more and more limited. The foundation of grime is pirate radio but that’s gone quiet in the past few years and grime fans are getting nostalgic about the good old days when you had all your favourite mcs on one set. I think things like the grimeforum are good for the scene but it depends on the artists to keep things going, the mainstream artists and the underground ones.

M: I know you’ve been producing for a while now but you’ve started to drop the odd grime beat here
and there like Suck Out etc.. Can we expect more?

Loud: Yer I’ve got a couple more up my sleeve and will keep making more. That tune got mad reaction from dj’s. I didn’t send it out and I had bare djs from all over the world asking for it. I gave it to djs in the US, Germany, Holland and all over the UK. As a producer I want to be known as versatile so things like Suck Out raised some eyebrows and made people realise I produce.

I think where I’ve been on tracks in the past it’s taken from the fact I’ve produced them. I’ve done a couple tracksfor Jeeday Jawz which are grime beats so watch out for those. I’ve got a few to artists like Youf, Mz Bratt and some other artists but I’d rather say names when I know they’re being used. You’ll hear more grime beats from me regardless though even on my album.

M: The 55 Freestyles download was a nice mix of HipHop, Grime and Dubstep. What was the feedback like
from that and when will we hear part 2?

Loud: Part 2 is available now on my myspace. so people should go anf get their copy now. On part 1 The feedback was good. I used it as a way of showing my range. I like so much different music so I wanted that cd to reflect that. I made it a rule where if I took someones tune like Calvin Harris’ ‘Love Souvenir’ for example then i could chop parts and loop them but not add any production to it and just work with whats there. The Love Souvenir tune got nice radio play and people think it’s anoriginal song so I obviously did the right thing with that. With part 2 I changed the rule and took a couple people’s songs like Sam Sparro and Radiohead and made beats out of them like with drums and basslines etc. It’s got some funky, some rock and some pop on their so I made sure I kept some variety on it like pt.1. I dont think I’ll do many freestyles again after all those. I feel like I achieved what I wanted to and I want to concentrate on original songs from now on.

M: What’s the lauren mason madness about? (laughs) Is it beef?

Loud: I HATE HER!! nah Lauren is my good friend infact I just came off the phone to her a minute ago. I did a version of her tune P.S. and i said something cheeky about her bleaching her hair. She heard it and said she was going to get me back so I said go on then. She slewed me over that Rusko ‘Cockney Thug’ beat that I used on the cd as well. I was tempted to reply but then I decided not to because she wouldn’t stop. It was all a bit of fun at the end of the day but people thought it was real and it got us both a little attention for five minutes.

M: What are your main interests outside of music?

Normal stuff really but mainly music. Im interested in film and the visual side of things so I would like to get involved in all that sometime

M: Are you a ps3 or 360 kind of guy?

Loud: PS3. My left thumb is sore from play pro evo yesterday. The skin has gone rough on it so I think I need to leave it alone for a while.

M: What are you working on at the moment? And what are your plans for the future?

My album ‘The Lightbulb Moment’ It’s all recorded and just being mixed and mastered right now. It will be out in a few months hopefully and features Smasher, Mz Bratt, Mentalist, Badness and Elrae. With production mainly by me and a few others. After the album I’m going to concentrate on production. I’ve just done a
tune with Shola Ama which is playlisted on BBC 1xtra and I want to do more stuff with artists I rate whatever genre they’re from. You can find regular freetsyles, productions and new tracks on my myspace (www.myspace.com/loudmouthuk) I update it regularly with new material.

M: Thanks for taking the time out to talk to me.

Bless fam. Big up O.T. all day long.