With the clashes done and dusted, fans will be left to decide who comes out on top when footage of the Maxsta Vs. Lil’ Nasty round down in Jammer‘s infamous Dungeon is released December 16th on the Lord of the Mics 5 DVD. Before then, assured London rapper Lil’ Nasty sat with SB.TV to speak on doing whatever, and talking about whatever it takes to win…
Lord of the Mics kingpin Jammer labeled your face off with Maxsta as “the biggest clash in Grime history,” that’s pretty high praise. What do you think about that?
It’s good for the scene, it’s good for the culture, it’s good for the following and it’s good for Lord of the Mics. It’s good for my brand – I just thought that I’d take the opportunity to prove that I can jump in the Dungeon, deliver and come out on top. So I’m happy with myself.
I’m sure you’ve stumbled across the comments from a handful Lord of the Mics fans who disapproved of you rapping about Maxsta’s deceased brother in one of the online videos that set the scene for the actual clashes. The controversial lines were ultimately censored out…
It might sound inappropriate to some ears but when people put on a Lord of the Mics DVD or any sort of rap battle…people do that to see a clash. They know what they are looking for, I’m like the only rapper taking part in the Lord of the Mics DVD that has been censored and so I’m thinking that I’ve made history already! [Laughs] I don’t see why they should take out what I am saying, I don’t think that it’s wrong. You diss me, I’ll diss you. That’s what it’s about.
When you found out you were censored, what went through your mind?
It did surprise me. No one is ever going to accept Grime as a Katy Perry kind of thing, it’s not going to be a boy band so let’s not play games. We can try and make it blend in and more appropriate but we’re never going to make it commercial unless we tame our music as a whole. I’m not dissing anyone, because everyone is doing it – but the whole skinny jeans thing has to come into it. I come from the bottom of Grime, the beginning and I’ve grown up and I’ve seen the expectations and the benefits of doing Grime. There are some great artists out there that come from the Grime scene like Tinchy Stryder, Kano, Dizzee Rascal and Ms. Dynamite.
I didn’t listen to what Maxsta was saying during our clash, I did my homework elsewhere and so I don’t have to listen to what he’s saying. I’ve come here for business and there are a lot of people who want to see it and there’s a lot of money involved. It’s all good for the culture.
As I really began to research the man behind the microphone, it didn’t take long for me to realise that you really, really don’t care for Grime ever going mainstream or the “watering down” of it…
No I don’t care for the watering down of it at all because at the end of the day a battle is a battle. People don’t go in there talking about ‘sharing is caring’ you go in there and you do your thing – you spit raw. Whatever ability, skill or talent you have to win that battle…you use. That’s what I use to win battles – raw talent.
I’m sure you’re aware of acts that are intentionally trying to take Grime into the charts…
Ain’t gonna happen, I’ll tell you that now. I don’t want to blacklist it and shoot myself in the foot but I’ll just say that Grime is Grime – it started from the bottom. When you listen to Grime it’s just got that feeling to it, like with the Trap music that is coming out. Trap is a bit more appropriate than Grime, and so people take it in more. Grime is a bit heavier, and so it’s limited but what you can gain from it is limitless. Grime is like a platform, an avenue for people to get involved and become successful.
Wiley was just one of the people that co-signed your performance online, what did that mean to you?
Wow, yeah! Shout outs to Wiley! Wiley is a godfather, I would honestly say that Wiley is up there with Tinchy and I look up to Tinchy because he is a lyrical assassin. I am never gonna let him down by going into the basement and letting Maxsta destroy me, I come from the same era and same side as Titch and you see how Titch performs when he goes into a battle, we’re not letting anyone take our stripes from us.
So the fact that Maxsta is signed to Sony’s Just Jam Records doesn’t really faze you at all?
No it doesn’t, but it’s good for him. If I’m totally honest, at the time when I heard that Maxsta was still signed to Sony I was thinking, ‘why did they allow you to take part in this?’ Everyone is aware of what Grime is and if they allowed Maxsta to get involved…where is his career going? Because now people are not going to be interested in his new single, all the fights and s**t will take over his new music. He didn’t win the clash…and so that’s it now. I believe Maxsta’s friends will start looking into me and saying ‘yo, this guy is cold’…and that’s what I want y’know?
Who would like to clash with now?
I’ve been asked this question a few times and I would say someone like Roachee, someone that is a bit more on my energy level. Someone that has a bit more fury in their delivery, to me it’s business and it’s fun to me…it really is. It nothing more than business, because if you start getting egos involved that’s when things can start spiralling out of control. You have to put your ego aside and deal with business like a man and that’s what I did in that basement. Whether I said some spiteful things or not, that’s how I believe battles should be done and take place.
So the clash has been filmed now, have you seen any of the footage?
It’s all been filmed, and I’ve seen the DVD. I went to watch it the other day, I went to the studio with Jammer and he brought the DVD down with him cause it had all been finalised and it was ready to go. I watched it – I didn’t need any reassurance – but I watched it and it was self-explanatory basically. I just hope it all goes well for Maxsta in the future, I’m just out here doing my thing. Good luck to him…
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