UNITED KINGDOM: Tinchy Stryder amongst new wave of British rappers storming British music charts

Record ID: 735242

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Tinchy Stryder amongst new wave of British rappers storming British music charts
  • Date: 17th November 2010
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (NOVEMBER 15, 2010) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH RAPPER TINCHY STRYDER, SAYING: "How come Dizzee (Rascal) wasn't on the track? Well I just like this track and I would have loved so many people on this track. I just felt like right now, not that Dizzee isn't popular right now because he has been for a while and he still is but certainly I felt like right now and with certain people on the track, I didn't really want like, twenty people on the track in the end. I just wanted to keep it nice and strong."
  • Embargoed: 2nd December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA11WFLY6UMHX9OBXRI3HLAIXSW
  • Story Text: "Game Over", British rapper Tinchy Stryder's first single release off his latest album, features a new wave of hip-hop artists in the UK who are taking the music charts by storm.
    The rapper signed autographs of his third album, "Third Strike," at Whiteleys Shopping Centre in London's Bayswater on Monday (November 15).
    Stryder was the biggest-selling British male artist of 2009 and his tracks, appropriately titled "Number 1" and "Never Leave You", reached the top of the singles charts.
    The rapper, whose real name is Kwasi Danquah, was given his nickname as a schoolboy due to his diminutive size. Despite being five foot, one inch (1.55m) the London-born rapper has big ambitions.
    For the single, "Game Over," Stryder called on his fellow British hip-hop artists to make a statement about the strength of the current rap music scene including: Tinie Tempah, Professor Green, Chipmunk, Giggs, Devlin and Example.
    "A lot of people asked me if there was any competition. It was more like a thing where I guess because we all didn't record on the same day as in on the actual track. Everyone was so busy so they got their verses together. On the video shoot, they were all there but the idea was that there was so many people, I wanted it to be quite simple but effective, so we had the idea that everyone was there and the camera was spinning around. It naturally felt like that at the end but on the actual day it was good vibes," Stryder told Reuters Television at the album launch.
    The rappers featured on "Game Over" are the next generation of British rappers to directly follow on heels of east London-born Dizzee Rascal. He became the youngest artist at 19 and second rapper in history to win Britain's prestigious Mercury Music Prize with 2003's "Boy In Da Corner".
    "How come Dizzee (Rascal) wasn't on the track? Well I just like this track and I would have loved so many people on this track. I just felt like right now, not that Dizzee isn't popular right now because he has been for a while and he still is but certainly I felt like right now and with certain people on the track, I didn't really want like, twenty people on the track in the end. I just wanted to keep it nice and strong," said Stryder.
    He added that Rascal opened the doors for British rappers to make hip-hop about British life and with experimental music sounds and arrangements that were more akin to the streets of London versus making music for the masses.
    "What people might have felt like before, there might have been a lot of UK, they say rap music, MCs which they might not have related to but right now for the movement, is powerful. Like I was saying about Dizzee, his first album was 2003 'Boy in Da Corner' and that's been a while since before anyone else came through. That was inspirational right then. It was like, 'Yes, it can be done,'. Everyone has been working hard. I think good music speaks out loud and that's what people have been making so it's connecting," said Stryder.
    The rapper's management company, TakeOver Entertainment, has also collaborated with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in a joint venture to find the next Dizzee Rascal or Eminem.
    "We did a joint venture with Jay-Z. He's got 'Roc Nation' and I've got 'TakeOver' so we came together and I guess it's like sort of a deal where we find new artists to bring through. At the same time the relationship from us to them is a good enough thing for me. That's who I grew up listening to. Being in the business with him now and the whole team, the whole team, we're all cool with them and it works out. That's the main plan. We're in no rush. When I find a rare talent, it'll happen," said Stryder.
    "Third Strike" is out now on Island/Universal Records in the UK.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register