aj tracey interview
Today, the demands on the modern musician extend beyond putting out albums and touring, there’s a whole 360 approach to consider, from social media, to how to navigate life in the public eye, to the pressures that come with the sudden arrival of money – and quickly becoming the family breadwinner. That’s how I was feeling, so all my music sounded very aggressive, violent, angry, all these negative things.”. Bigging up one’s “ends” has always been a cornerstone of grime’s lyrical content, but here was AJ putting it on a clubby beat with a video shot with some camels in Marrakech. I wanted it to be a song for everyone.”, For some, this move away from his roots was confusing, especially as he told Esquire earlier this year: “Just don’t call me a grime rapper.” But even his earlier tracks such as Spirit Bomb and Buster Cannon, he says, used trap beats. From an early age, Tracey’s mother, a youth worker, instilled some strong left-wing convictions in her son (yes, Tracey’s real first name, Che, was inspired by that iconic Marxist revolutionary).
While the Alexandra Palace dates are going to confirm the arrival of AJ Tracey as a serious, stand-alone force, it’s also an opportunity for him to unveil a new addition for the first time – a full Dragon Ball Z tattoo sleeve. AJ's name was the first of the 52 called during Stormzy's Glastonbury headline-set homage to the grime and rap stars that either shaped the game before Stormzy, or are among those he regards as peers today. I am boastful.” Any songs detailing his sexual encounters with women, he continues, are just him speaking his “truth”. All the latest Manchester City news, views and transfer rumours brought to you by the MEN. At the end of the day, that’s the way it is.”, Genres such as drill are increasingly popular but they are still demonised in the media and Tracey says that he wanted to present an image of young black youth that was more carefree and fun. “My mum wanted me to be as left as possible,” he says. It’s one of the funniest things I’ve seen.”. I remember when me and Not3s wore it in the “Butterflies” video last year, I said to him, ‘Yo, I’m going to wear this brand, all my LA friends put me onto it.’ I wanted to wear it and he was like, ‘Nah, it looks like Adidas.’ We wore it in a video and then I saw – I’m not going to say who – but another rapper wore it in a video shortly after and now? A catalogue of cuts not seen since the worst years of austerity could be about to hit the poorest people in Manchester, SPECIAL REPORT: Up to £80m in brutal savings are being considered by the council, including at least 195 job losses, as it warns a declaration of ‘bankruptcy’ is not out of the question, Manchester United to move for AC Milan's Hakan Calhanoglu on free transfer and more rumours. One of British hip-hop’s most exciting young prospects, the West London rapper’s rise to success – a Top 3 album, sold-out tours, the approval of Canadian rap giant Drake – has been characterised by a playful joie de vivre.
But the next day, when Dave performed Thiago Silva, he plucked bucket-hatted teenager Alex Mann from the crowd to rap Tracey’s part, which promptly went viral. In February, he self-released his debut album, which has since become the second-biggest album of 2019 by an independent musician; to cap it off, he’s playing two sold-out nights at the 10,000-capacity venue Alexandra Palace next month. AJ Tracey plays Parklife Festival (Parklife main stage) on Saturday, June 8. It’s not my job to tell people how to conduct their lives – it’s not that straightforward. And now that I am, they’re like, ‘Oh! The harder-edged road rap, meanwhile, emerged when grime fell out of favour, and a more recent development is drill, a nihilistic offshoot of trap that began in Chicago and transferred to London estates. So when I veered away from it, I didn’t feel like I was leaving the circle – I felt like I was never in it.” He says that many of the grime originators who were around during the genre’s inception weren’t interested in giving him a leg up. “With my fans, it’s like they don’t understand that we’re human, which I forgive them for, I get it, cause when I was a fan and not making music I didn’t understand that they [the artists] were humans,” he says. If Stormzy ran for prime minister, he’d stand a chance of winning, I swear to God, Behind the bravado, though, Tracey hints at having struggled to find his moment. He was a smart kid, and briefly studied criminology at London Metropolitan University before dropping out to focus on music. “My friend and his whole family died in that fire,” he says, “so that’s very close to my heart. “Because I’m independent, it’s a lot more of an achievement to be doing what I’m doing,” he insists. Dave won this year’s Mercury music prize for his debut album Psychodrama, and stars in the new series of Top Boy, alongside rising London rapper Little Simz and grime veteran Kano. Oh they’re all wearing Palm Angels. We can see Grenfell from my mum’s front room window.” He says he doesn’t feel the need to refer to it in his music.
Like, my mum is a strong independent woman, but obviously she relies on me a little bit. “It’s not that I forget that we’re friends, but I don’t see him that often, and when we talk we talk about things other than music, so I forget that we’re both musicians.
Manchester United evening headlines as Alex Telles delivers update following Covid-19 diagnosis. The next album he makes will be more “conscious”, he continues, although he adds that he doesn’t actually enjoy talking about politics, as “everything that’s said can be twisted”.
Until 2019, however, the 25-year-old watched as his peers raced ahead. To me, that’s as good as getting a No.1.”. “He’s just an idiot, innit,” says Tracey.
On the one hand, Tracey fires off boasts like a bazooka. If this unavoidable aspect of rapidly growing fame is not especially welcome, there is one side of being a rising rap superstar that clearly makes AJ’s heartbeat a little faster: the clothes. There are a lot of great artists who are terrible performers. But he says that “a lot of people don’t have that” and so youth clubs provide a “safe haven for kids to hang out in”. It helped to create a “youthquake”, encouraging the largest number of young voters in the country since 1992. Interview. Corbyn is a great guy and his morals are in the right place but I don’t think he’s strong enough to be our leader.” And the less said about Boris, the better. Given that fun-seeking reputation, it’s no surprise that AJ Tracey is hugely looking forward to this weekend’s Parklife festival.
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CityLife’s interview with acclaimed British hip-hop star AJ Tracey takes place just two days after last weekend’s Champions League final between … As a renowned, diehard fan of the north London side – his songs are peppered with references to Spurs players such as Christian Eriksen, Hugo Lloris and Eric Dier – AJ Tracey wouldn’t be blamed for feeling somewhat disheartened. Rap's X Factor: can a TV talent show find the next Stormzy? That’s really the attitude they have. “I dunno, man,” he says. Growing in Ladbrook Grove, west London, the young AJ Tracey (real name: Che Wolton Grant) would visit local youth clubs to lay down his earliest tracks. “Bar Stormzy’s, because I know how much he puts into his shows and I don’t want to talk his down, but mine is definitely going to be way better.”. “I was the outsider.
His witty, self-assured lyrics reference Las Vegas hotels, fast cars and (of course) his favourite footie stars, while his music videos are filled with scenes of wild revelry (his last video, for the single Psych Out!, found him surrounded by strippers in a plush-looking mansion). You can have an opinion against it but you can’t tell me not to do it. For those lucky enough to have tickets, don’t expect to just sit back and watch – AJ needs you to bring the energy. The estate he lived on was largely white and as a mixed-race kid, he says, “I feel like I was more accepted by the white community than the black [one]. Tracey is different in that he has scooped up these many-tentacled styles in his musically omnivorous net. This pressure he refers to his twofold: keeping the fans who idolise him happy, and making decisions that will impact his family, not just himself. “My music, it’s escapism.” He says he used to be very angry (“at life, at society, at... just everything”) but doesn’t feel that any more, not least because he’s upgraded to a nice apartment in Chelsea “with glass all around it – there’s flowers in my house, I read cook books. “I had to do everything on my own.”, Stormzy, however, has been a key mentor: “He’s given me so much good advice. He taught his son how to write lyrics but also about “the dilemmas of being black, which my mum can’t teach me,” says Tracey. Tracey, whose real name is Ché (after Guevara) Wolton Grant, though he usually goes by his stage name, has been having a breakthrough year. So, it makes it a lot easier for me,” he laughs. Also unheard of would have been Tracey’s forthcoming Ally Pally appearance or Kano’s recent, triumphant homecoming at the Royal Albert Hall.
It made me misbehave more because I felt like I had to prove a point.”. “Parklife is one of the festivals I most look forward to," he enthuses. If Stormzy ran for prime minister, he’d stand a chance of winning, I swear to God.”, And if he was in charge himself? His album spans soca, drill, UK rap, various cap-tips to American trap and sad-rap and even a strum-tastic song called Country Star. So if I do stupid things and they go and do it, I’m letting them down.”. He talks about how drum’n’bass informed his style – and why Boris Johnson is ‘a very small man’, Sun 27 Oct 2019 07.30 GMT
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