Interview: Messy – 13/12/11

“I’m Messy but it’s ironic because I’m trying to clean up.”

London rapper Messy has had his sights set high for a while, coming from a musical background he knows the nature of the beast. Part of grime collective, South Soldiers, Messy’s toured with the likes of Jessie J as part of their anti-gun crime campaign before moving in to his own light, something that his friends were also doing including good friend, Tinie Tempah.

He released his first mixtape ‘Messinterpretation’ in 2008 and his recent offering, ‘Just A Mess About’ earlier this year. But, Messy is no ordinary rapper, he refreshingly entwines meaning and honesty over the beats and he’s now moving in to the writing field, having penned tracks for Loick Essien on his forthcoming album.

Messy’s got a hectic 2012 on the boil, including a new release. He plays me a couple of tracks and they sound incredibly success worthy. Trust me. Even the mere intro of one got me excited for the prospects. When I speak with Messy, it’s obvious he’s fearless when it comes to taking risks. This combined with his fierce determination to make his life path a music one, next year could very well be a Messy one.

When did you first realise that rap was the music you wanted to pursue?
I think it was when I was in school. At first it just became something that you just muck about, set up on the playground and things like that. It just so happened that I was quite good at it. I’ve always been quite musical and obviously I didn’t know which way I was gonna go. Rap just came, not by accident but it was just a fun thing that became serious because I excelled at it.

You’re dad’s a musician (80’s reggae icon, Tippa Irie), how much of an influence has he had on your rapping.
It was weird because obviously a lot of people kinda assume that it would be something but it wasn’t as much as people would think. It’s a lot more influence via friends and what you listen to and then you just pick it up as well. Obviously, I knew my dad did music and stuff but where we do different music all together, we took totally different roots. I think maybe the fact that I am musical had something to do with it.

Has he given you any tips about the industry?

Yeah, I think one thing is that you just have to work hard and be patient. Ultimately, you never know when you’re going to really get that hit that breaks you through completely. Don’t be afraid to try things, that pretty much more than anything just don’t be afraid to try things, work hard and be patient.

Your recent mixtape, ‘Just a Mess About’ features a lot of collaborations featuring the likes of Ghetts and Wretch 32. How did all these appearances come about?

Obviously because I’ve just been doing this for so long, along the way you just pick up people and start to do certain things with them. A lot of them I’ve known for years and where I wanted to do that first initial thing, it was just to bring a lot of different energies towards the mixtape and give it that added momentum. They’re all artists who I respect for what they do so I thought each of them would bring something to the table.

Who was your favourite to collaborate with?

Wow, that’s difficult. It changes every week to be honest. I liked Young Tef who was on it, I liked Wretch on it. There’s loads, it’s hard to even put it in to words because every song has its own energy. On the mixtape, it’s a good and a bad thing because I felt that a lot of them had their chance to give their own stamp on what they do. So, it’s hard to compare because they just do what they do and I just did what I done. I like Craiig, the way his choruses on there were quite powerful in ‘Losing All My Friends’ and ‘Fuck The Law.’ They stood out for a lot of people, so I’d say maybe those three.

As you said, ‘Losing All My Friends’ and ‘Fuck The law’ are sharp and reflective on society. What influences your lyricism?

I think it’s a cross between creativity and real life. You can be real, and obviously you have to be real in your music and try as much as you can for the music to be true to you. But the same time, I don’t think you should ever shy away from being creative. I think that’s the most important thing. Sometimes a lot of artists quote and quote ‘real’ but I don’t think their lyricism or creativity is that good. So I don’t see them as that good, even though their lyrics is true to them, that’s cool but I don’t appreciate it as much as people who are true to themselves but creative. I think that there’s almost in a way two types of artist. There are some artists that are extremely creative and sometimes they might not be true to themselves as a person but their persona just spans so wide, like Gaga. It’s so creative in what she does; I can’t believe that is her as a person because she would be insane. It’s difficult to relate to her and I think people are wowed by everything, the performance, the persona, the creativity, the innovative nature of her music and visuals. Then, there’s artist who are just completely real, like say 50 Cent in his early days that just really touch on where they come from. I think a lot of artists lose sight of that balance especially in rap music because there’s such an emphasis on whether you’re real or not. But I think that you should never stop being creative.

Your song, ‘Overnight Celebrity’ deals with the trials and tribulations of fame. What are your views on fame, especially know that some of your fellow artists and friends are making it in the industry?
It’s good thing in terms of the scene because it’s progressive with the seen moving forward; so it can only help artists like me who are still trying to elevate to the next, next level. But at the same time, obviously there’s a lot of things that come with it which are negative. Y’know I speak to a lot of people and they don’t get to see their parents, their life is completely upside down. Obviously there’s the deal with like groupies and that. It’s a good and a bad thing.

You’re known for your brilliant free styling ability, are any of your songs freestyled, what’s your writing process?
To be honest, I don’t write them down anymore really. Obviously I songwrite as well, so I write that down just because someone else has got to do it. But a lot of the time, I’ll just go into the studio or record it on my phone. I feel like in a way, it’s hard to explain sometimes, when I look at pages it feels like you’re kind of bound by the lines. The way I write is quite neat, so then when it overlaps lines it just feels a bit weird to me, it feels like I’m almost confined by the space of the lines. If I just do it by myself, off the top, there’s no boundaries. I tried to write something the other day and it was really difficult. I was writing it, but then I’d just stop and then just do it in my head.

How does recording as a solo artist compare to recording with South Soldiers?
There’s pros and cons with both. With South Soldiers chances are you’d only do one verse and a chorus or one verse because there’s a few artists. When we first started initially then there were seven and then where there was like eleven of us. So you can image 11 heads all trying to compile to one thing. Obviously as a solo artist you can do what you like. Though sometimes other people’s input is good as well, y’know sometimes they say that two heads are better than one or three or eleven. But overall I think I just prefer it as a solo artist because you can just do what you like.

Are you still in contact with the rest of the crew?
Yeah, pretty much. I talk to spokes; he’s like a close close friend of mine, probably my best friend. We went to school together and so we’ve been spitting since were about twelve, so we always keep in contact. I speak to Shaun White, MdotE; I speak to everyone, Desperado. We still speak, but everyone is just on their own individual journey now. But, you can see that some people are still doing their thing in their own way. If you look at Shaun White, he’s doing a lot of choruses and songs, he’s doing well. MdotE likewise is doing a lot of stuff and Desperado is doing stuff as well. We’re all progressing, which is the most important thing.

Where did the name ‘Messy’ come from?
I just think it’s me a person and just stuck from when I was young. Obviously I’m not the tidiest and I think back in the day, ‘messy’ was the cool word like, ‘you’re a messy lyricist.’ I try and use it as a little play on words, it’s like I’m Messy but it’s ironic because I’m trying to clean up.

You’ve recently penned tracks for other artists such as Loick Essien. Do you find it strange hearing them sing your songs when they’re of such a high calibre?
Yeah and No, because I’m not really a singer so even though I can hold a tone well enough for them to get it, but I’m not really a singer so, it doesn’t really affect me that much. I think it’s a little bit more strange when they’re saying my bars as a rapper. I’ve written some rapper songs as well and they don’t say it exactly the same sometimes. I think with singers they just do it over and over again, but a rapper, even though you write lyrics for them, they have their own way of saying things. Sometimes it’s a little bit cringing when they say it wrong.

Do you like writing for other people and is it something you want to do more of in the future?
Yeah, I think as I’m getting older and as an artist progressing I know that there’s certain things that I wouldn’t want to do going forward as an artist. I know what lane I want to go in, but then that doesn’t mean I can’t do other things. I think in a way it’s been like a burden in some aspects because I’m creative, so I can spin off in so many different directions. But, then you don’t really find yourself as an artist so it’s hard for people to relate to you and build up a fan base that are just diehard because you do so many things. I already know the lane I’m going in, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do something in another lane. I can just give it to someone else to do. It’s a good way of getting that side out of me without conflicting with where I want to go. I think it holds a lot of weight, when you look at Ne-Yo or Dream, Keri Hilson or even Lady Gaga; they all came out as writers. It was like oh okay, you’ve written for him, him and him, so you kinda think I want to hear what they’re gonna do because if they’ve written for them then they must be good.

How’s next year shaping up for you?

It’s shaping up well. Obviously with the writing thing, I’ve been doing a lot of stuff with Warner and Sony asked me a couple of things. I’ve just done lots of different projects, writing wise. Artist wise, I’ve got a few singes that are gonna be coming out, I’ve got the radio plug-in and PR, so there’s going to be a big campaign. I’m also going to be doing a mix CD with Benjamin AD and Little Dee. They’re two other artists, Benjamin is signed to Universal and Little Dee has got a big underground following, so it’s another good project. We all really respect each other as artists but we all bring something really different. There’s also going to be ‘Messinterpretation’ HD further down the line as well. So it’s going to be big year I think.

Have you got any plans to do any live shows?

Yeah definitely. There’s a lot of shows that will be coming up, but I wanted to wait until I’ve got a single coming out. There’s been people who have said that they want me to do certain shows, but I’ve held back just because I wanna have a campaign going. There’s been times like when I did I love live, it was good but it was a little bit far away from my mixtape, so then by the time my mix tape was coming out, I’d done ‘I Love Live’ two months prior, then I did the ‘G-Shock’ and it was the same thing. I just want to make sure it’s all in sync rather than it be sporadic. At the end of the day shows are just promotion, so if there’s no point doing a show when you don’t have nothing promote. That’s the way I see it anyway. So I would rather not really waste a show, do it, but do it once I’ve got something that I’m plugging out.

Check out Messy’s ‘Mainstream Money.’