Big Narstie

Tell me about your summer. Did you enjoy Croatia, Copenhagen, Outlook Festival, Fresh Island? My summer was really good man, it was extravagant. I think that’s the best way to put it

Extravagant? Yeah man, I think the best way to describe the whole summer was “You fucking rock, man!” That’s the best way to describe it. I had a lot of good experiences

Yeah I saw you perform in Croatia actually. Isit? It was lovely out there though

It was amazing. Yeah, completely different vibe to Outlook.

So what was the thing that made you want to become a Grime artist? Seeing Pay As You Go in Brixton. Fridge, Chillin’… Remember Chillin’? Bare man were scared to go Chillin’. Basically Chillin’ was like an under 18s event, in Brixton – Professor Lux, Elephant Man. It was mad. I had my hair plaited in a pineapple shape – embellishing my Jamaican roots.

So who would you say was your biggest inspiration? My cousin, RIP. He taught me how to MC. If it wasn’t for him, there would be no Big Narstie. I’d be in prison or maybe dead.  He made me think Mcing was cool.

What have you got lined up for 2016? Are we allowed a sneak preview? Well I got BDL album coming next year, Uncle Pain DVD – Part 1’s already out and Uncle Pain DVD part 2 will be coming next year too – more radical stuff, more music, more everything. I’m an excessive person!

UK Grime has had a massive year in 2015. Drake brought Skepta out during his Wireless performance and Kanye West during the MOBO awards. How has this all affected you, and why do you think that Grime is finally getting the recognition that it deserves? None of that stuff affected me. Grime’s booming because grime artists are making money now, and I’m a part of the reason why. I was the first guy putting on grime tours.

BDL! Yeah, BDL is grime. Have you ever watched game of thrones? When Greyjoy said to his son, “How did you get those nice clothes? Did you get it the haul way or did you pay the iron price?” A lot of these n****s got their stuff the haul way. I paid the iron price – that’s why I’ve got this empire thing. It’s all good right now. Fucking look at me, doing wonderful things! The main problem that fucked up grime was that a lot of English artists were ashamed to be English and appreciate their genre of music. We all looked over to the Americans. English music right now and the grime scene right, the reason why it’s so big right now all over the country is because the whole country’s embracing it, not just some demographics of the country how it was before. There was stigma – before a lot of uni kids would never be in a grime rave, they’d think they’d get their phones robbed, get shot or stabbed. I’m the guy who’s made it fun and happy. ‘Cause I’m the 21st century hippie. Who smokes more and gets more turnt up than me? And no ones left my rave being robbed or violated, or threatened for their life. Man moshpit for fun. Even got the girls doin’ it.