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Rude Kid talks new music, Nass Festival & why Grime is in a good place right now
RnB/Hip Hop | Tuesday 22nd May 2018 | Rosh
Having just signed a new management and distribution deal, Rude Kid and Grime, in general, is in a good place. We spoke to Rude Kid about his upcoming NASS Festival appearance, his new projects and why he thinks university fees should be scrapped.
So how are you feeling today, busy, whats your current settings?
Yeah, am alright, am relaxed today, which is great for an interview. I was in the studio until early morning, so today I've just woken up and am chilling, just doing this interview with you and that's about it.
Describe your current state of mind right now, lots of things are happening for you this year, how are you feeling?
Do you know what, it feels good man, I just want everything now. It was because 2016 was a great year, 2017 was an even better year am trying to make this year mine. Am just trying to set me up to do bigger and better things. Every year that comes am trying to do new moves, put out new styles of music, and when I say that, I mean a new style of my own music. If you hear my music, its never the same thing, or the same sound, am always trying to find new styles, new projects, singles and just working with new artists again.
So your set to play the NASS festival in Bristol in July, is that the 1st time you ever played there?
Nah, I was there the last year as well and that was good, that was sick man as I was on the Kurupt FM stage which was sick, then the day after me and Ghetts did the main stage as well.
So are you into any of the Skateboarding, BMX'ing or street art that is widely represented at the NASS festival?
Well, personally me, if I was to stand on a skateboard I'd drop. I like watching people do madness on there, I don't mind it, I like watching it, but me personally I can ride a bike and stuff but on a skateboard and doing mad tricks, I cant, I'd just prefer to watch.
You're a spearhead of grime culture at the moment, with artists like Wiley being recognised officially for their dedication and work within the scene by being awarded an MBE, how do you feel that the culture is changing?
I mean like with Wiley being awarded an MBE is like, whoa! That's crazy, that's very crazy, and you know what, he deserves it as well. That just gives people like me, and other people who are like me on the scene another goal. Its like, hold on, Wiley got an MBE so maybe one day we can too, do you know what I mean.
There are no boundaries in what you can achieve in music at the moment. If you said like about 5 years ago you're going to be doing this and that and that, I would be like, ok, but I wouldn't really believe it. The opportunities that we are getting from the music that we love is actually crazy when you think about it. Like you said, the Wiley MBE thing was huge. People like Giggs achieving mad things, Skepta too. We are doing bigger and better shows and things are changing.
So just going on the 'shows' thing, how detrimental was the risk assessment form 696 to artists that needed to tour last year. Do you think it affected their career and maybe they didn't progress as quickly as they should have?
Yeah, you see them shows right, its a lot of income to artists, if not the main income. So when that's getting stopped, what do you really have? I mean what can you do? Obviously, you can sell music and stuff but you have to do shows too. With doing shows, well for me anyway, and am sure for other people too, but doing festivals and being in front of loads of people, it changes your mind frame of how you make music and what you play as well man.
Like in the last few years how I deejay now compared to a few years ago is totally different. Am catering to people now and I get more nervous playing to smaller crowds than to thousands of people. It's weird like, it's an inspiration on its own performing in front of people with your music is behind you. You get a love for it and then all you want to do is focus on music. With the 696 assessment form, its holding people back and you make these people do what they were doing, before they were doing music anyway and not giving them the opportunity to better their lives. I get both sides, but now the form has gone, we now see everyone doing mad shows.
The current Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was quite instrumental in getting the 696 assessment form scraped. How do you feel about his vision on nightlife culture in London, is it a good or a bad thing?
Well, I think it's a good thing, and also a bad thing because yes at some places there most probably will be trouble because we don't know what peoples situations are like, who's after them and what kind of people go to certain things. From my experience, I've never been to a show or anywhere, where there's been trouble, or anyone backstage has caused trouble with any of the artists. Yes, you will always get trouble, and you can get that anywhere which is normal and it's like that with any genre of music, no matter where you go, but its a hard one.
Like for instance, the Giggs shows when he first started doing his shows, with the O2 Forum show in particular which was the first show he did when he was allowed to do shows in London, that went so smoothly even thou there was so much police outside. Now he can do shows everywhere and they all run smoothly. But me speaking from experience, I've never been to a show where there's been trouble. There might have, but I've never seen it, but am speaking about the people backstage and that, everyone's at peace man so I don't know, that's a tough one as when am thinking about it, both points are valuable and I get it but I will still say, and feel like its a good thing that the 696 form has gone as its given opportunities to artists to put on there own shows, to get bookings which will change their frame of mind and achieve more and do more.
So just getting back to the music, what projects are you working on that your excited about right now?
There's a lot man, am working on a vocal project album, I don't really like the word 'album' but am working on that. Deejay shows too and singles too, I want to put out lots of singles but different ones with different artists, not just the cliche tunes people might expect, I want to do proper songs with singers and stuff. So yeah as well as that I just want to have more deejay shows this year as I love, love it. As well as that am always in the studio, like all the time.
So you want to work with different artists, is that from different genres too?
Yeah, why not man, am a producer, but I love making different types of music and having my twist on it. Whatever it may be, I just want to add my thing to it and work with people you might not see me working with which it interesting. I've just done a remix for Marshmellow too, 'The Silence' tune and that goes off when I play that in raves.
So that's it, I want to do bits and bobs, but not too many. I don't plan too much, I just go along with it, like if I have a tune and think 'yeah this is sick' am like cool, let's start the campaign and push that out. One thing that is planned is that am going to drop a vocal project before the year is done. That's working with different artists, calling everyone together. It's hard to do a vocal thing as everyone is so busy and that's why you can never have a date on these things but I have got a lot of tunes that I have made already that are sitting there, I need to be smart with and see which one I should put out first as there good tunes, so yeah that should be good.
So you have been teaming up with some well-known brands such as Addidas and Beats by Dre to produce music for their campaigns and adverts, how did this come about?
That's just getting an email like, and me saying 'would you be up for just making something?'. With Anthony Jousha and Beats by Dre, I knew one of the girls that was doing the campaign and she wanted some tunes to fit that specific advert, and I just happen to have that the perfect tune already there and it worked well. With the Addidas one and JD sports, I gave them a load of tunes so they picked what they wanted. In terms of brands am an Ambassador for Relentless drinks too, am doing a lot of work with them as well as doing the deejay side and producing so that's another part of my work and also the radio, that's mad as well. So yeah just keeping busy.
At the start of this year, you shut down the Eskimo Dance with Ghetts, tell us a bit more about your chemistry with Ghetts.
Everyone says that, that the chemistry between me and Ghetts is mad. People see that but that's just us, it's just how we are. Me and him can't be in the studio and it's a dead studio session. If he does something sick on the mic, you'll see me like 'yes' and clapping, and if I do the same thing or drop a sick tune, he'll do the same thing back and he'll come and give me a handshake or whatever, do you know what I mean? Its just natural that's why people are watching and thinking that chemistry is mad, it's so natural and organic. Even when we are just in the studio together, it's just real and not forced. It's great that people see that and love it.
What ideas have changed your life in general?
Doing an EP with Ghetts changed my life because that introduced me to Relentless too and 'One Take' was one of the biggest tunes, even right now when you drop it people still go mad. Going with the right people, the right team behind me, making moves like that is very important. The agents I have, their wicked man, Echo Location, the people that are just there for you. Am like more friends with the people that I am around and they actually care about you and it's not like 'later' because nothing is happening.
Pretty much the end of 2015 until now have been the best years of my music career even though I have been doing music for ages. The last few years have been sick. I feel the decisions I've made have been okay, they have been good and I've been making the right ones. If I feel like I want to do something or make something I will just go and do it instead of thinking 'Nah, that's not achievable'. That's the attitude that I have developed over the last few years.
So this is a bit of a general one, and we usually ask this to a few of the artists we interview. If you had the chance to change or introduce a law in the UK to help the millennial generation, what would it be and why?
Well, I would change Brexit for one, and take it back to how it was and make the pound strong again. I would also put down University fees actually as education is key even though I didn't go but I would still do that. I think that's important, and they're trying to make it where only the rich people can be there. There are people that don't have money and want to achieve and they could be the next doctors of this country, you don't know. If not just make education free, like totally free and let the government pay the teachers and tutors.
Errmm, what else. I would stop the congestion charging in London as am always driving in there and also make parking free also, as that kills me, man, so yeah stop the congestion charge. I'd also say better policing, and make sure the feds don't judge people by the way they look or dress. But the main one is Universtiy fees, yeah should be free.
Catch Rude Kid at these London festivals this summer: WeAreFSTVL in May, Tranzmission in June, NASS Festival (Tickets here) in July and SW4 in August
