The Grime Forum today caught up with legendary MC Big H to discuss the release of his CD which you can purchase right now from iTunes by clicking this link. It’s an epic interview and very indepth so grab a drink and biscuits and get reading as we discuss grime music with Big H himself.

While you have plenty of hardcore fans copping this release, for those that don’t know you, what’s your background in the grime scene?

I’m Big H and basically I am the grime scene! I am one of the main people that brough the grime scene to where it is now. It’s people around me and their input that put grime where it is. But thats who we are and that’s who I am and anyone who is listening to grime, or anybody on grime forum, that’s invovled in grime nowadays, that don’t know who I am, then they are off their head. You can’t be listening to grime in 2009 right now and not know who Big H is unless your real young you get me? Especially now the CD has dropped, you need to know who H is man.

There’s been some debate on the forum as to exactly where your from in the UK, so where do you rep and where you did you start doing music?

Well basically in a nutshell I am from a lot of places. I got a lot of bases. I ain’t based in one part of the UK. I’m an international soldier, you know what I’m saying? I ain’t got one post code. I’m in every block and wherever I go people show me respect and they know that its Big H. I’ve been arrested in London, Manchester and Birmingham and that’s why I rep them places because I’ve been there, committed crimes there, got arressted, done the crime and the time in all of those cities and thats why I rep them like I’m actually from there. I been through the system.

You were previously a part of Meridian but the crew is no longer together. Although JME and Skepta have both featured on your CD, will you be working with them again in future?

I’m definately going to line up something with JME again yeah. I’m hopefully gonna do another track with JME definately but basically yeah I keep in touch with the full Meridian crew, even the ones who have stopped MCing like Dan, D-Lo and them sort of people there. But basically I ain’t really concentrating on Meridian at the moment, I’m just trying to get Bloodline through the door basically. Meridian had their time and its over now.

The CD Street Crime dropped recently and has received a massive reaction from different sorts of people. It been a while for you to release your first CD because like you said you’ve been around from the beginning, was there a reason behind the delay, or did you just realise one day you wanted to get your music out there?

It’s a weird one. I’ve been involved in the scene from a time where you didn’t need to put out CD’s. You just grabbed the mic, jumped on a set, sprayed your bars, done your thing and man rated you based upon what you could do on the spot. They rated you based on what you could do after you rehearsed it and went into a room and just did the best you could come with you know what I’m saying? It was just street man. I don’t care if you can do loads of karate moves when your train with your sensui, you need to be doing that stuff on the street. So basically thats where I was from and I didn’t think I need to do mixtapes, do all this proffesional stuff and get artwork and that, I wasn’t really on that. I was just on making bars in my head, going radio and spraying them. That’s why I ain’t put out loads of CDs like JME or a release like President T and stuff like that because I was more on the street part of grime.

So what inspired you to bring Street Crime UK out now?

Basically I had the idea for Street Crime UK because of my criminal background, my criminal history and stuff, through travelling up and down the UK and being involved in so much crimes nationwide that I thought, “that’s going to be the name” and the reason I thought to bring it out now is because the game right now is in a bad condition. There’s not many MC’s any more who are really grime mc’s, everyones trying to go and get number one in the charts, no-one really wants to do grime, people just want to do whatever, pop music basically. So I thought to save what I started really, I’d bring a CD out and make it gully again, come back and apply the original recipe still. So people don’t forget what it’s all about basically and so you don’t see people on the TV in their shiny clothing make you think that’s what grime is.

So do you think fashion plays a big part in peoples perception of the grime scene?

Yeah, you see nowadays, a lot of man are on this Louis Vutton and Gucci stuff and that’s not grime at all, you know what I’m saying? In grime, we barely wear NY caps! Grime is not really that at all. So that’s why I’ve come back now, when people are talking all this swagger talk and everyones now talking about H is back, slap people and tell them “this is grime man”.

Of all the tunes on there which would you say was your personal favourite and is the first one you put on when you listen back to the CD?

Of all the tunes on the CD, my favourite tune?

Yeah, that sort of thing.

Do you know what? A lot of people ask me this yeah and to tell the truth every track on the CD is actual banger. Sometimes I sit down and think “It’s got to be life and death”, but then I listen to “Real on Road” and then I decide “Nah thats the best one”, then I listen to Assasin and then that ones the best, then I listen to “Alone” and that ones the best. Everyone’s just got to buy the CD to know that there are so many bangers on there.

So theres not one track that just edges slightly above all of them in your eyes?

(Thinks) I’ll tell you the best Hip Hop track is “Wrap Skills”. And for you guys, all the grime tracks are fire, theres not one grime track out at the moment that is at the levels of any one of the grime tracks on Street Crime UK.

You were talking a lot about the MC’s at the moment in the scene and its striking that a lot of the producers on your CD aren’t as widely known, as perhaps some other popular producers, are they all people you know generally, did they contact you, or did you seek out their sound?

You see me Hij, when I’m looking for beats I ain’t looking for big names because sometimes I feel thats how you can fall off. Your all looking for a big name, they send you a beat and you get through some Kylie Minogue stuff and then your wondering whether to even vocal it. I look for a certain feeling, or a certain gully sort of sound. I’m saying like a dark sort of sound. That’s what I look for and if I hear that on a track, I’ll just take the track, I don’t care who produced it. I ain’t looking for like Nocturnal or someone to produce my stuff, you know what I’m saying? Not that I’m saying Nocturnal isn’t a big producer, but what I’m saying is when I’m going for beats I ain’t going for a guys name, I’m going for the hottest beat basically. Producers don’t matter too much if it sounds good.

How do you mean?

Well only the hardcore fans of grime will listen to a track and know who produced it. Your average guy who just thinks the CD is good and listens to it on his way to work will be listening to me and the track underneath, he won’t care which way who made it so long as the beat is gully you get me?

Following on from the producers on your CD, how did you get in contact with J Beatz, he’s a member of the forum and featured a few times on your CD didn’t he?

He basically is in contact with one of my other bredrins, Major Man who is also in Bloodline, them two already knew each other and he was sending Major beats. So I must have gone round Major’s yard and he was playing some beats and I was like “What, that beat sounds tough still!”, so I was like “Who produced that beat?” and he was like “J Beatz still”, so I was like “get him to send me that beat” and that was it. Then he hollared me and we worked on it, and I linked him up and sorted him out a copy before it hit the roads you know.

On the subject of bloodline, will the scene be able to hear more music from the other members of Bloodline, I understand stuff is in the pipeline?

For starters we have got a Bloodline album that we are working on and we are just finishing off the tracks but I haven’t got a date yet for when the album is going to drop. People just need to pay attention and keep their eyes and ears open for it.

You spoke a lot on a different video about MC’s not doing fully grime CD’s at the moment, so in the history of the scene what are the releases that you think really represent grime?

So you mean basically, which CD has actually come out before Street Crime that I was rating?

Yeah?

Basically all of the critics that have listened to Street Crime have come out and said it was an instant classic, the post on your forum has had over 1,000 replies, thats more than for any other CD this year! But before Street Crime, I’d have to say (thinks). To tell you the truth I didn’t really listen to grime CD’s, I listened to beats. I’dget beats off people basically and just listen to instrumentals when I was younger. I don’t really like hearing MC’s just blabbering on all the time, because a lot of them ain’t really saying nothing. Most of them are just coming out with sound effects and that. I can’t really pick one because if I’m honest I don’t really listen to albums and that.

Well if we go with producers as you like to listen to instrumentals a lot?

I’ve always been a fan of, well not a fan, I’ve always rated the stuff that JME has done and (thinks) nah, thats the producer right there man, he’s the guy.

He’s the one yeah?

Yeah Hij he’s the one man.

And coming off the back of that question, which MC’s no matter how little they have appeared over the years were you rating when you came into the game?

The guys when I came into the game? You mean the people who I was listening to? The guy’s I was listening too weren’t even grime spitters. I used to listen to people from more up north, people like Bassman or Trigga, Shabbadee, Skibbadee, those sort of MC’s. I just used to listen to the best MC’s. I don’t listen to the guys that are ok or are getting better, just the best. That’s why I think I’ve got the lyrical level I’m at now, because if you listen to the best, you become the best.

And when you entered the scene, who would you say was on your wavelength at the time?

Do you mean who I think was a similar spitter to me?

Not neccessarily the same, but someone who you thought was a good spitter as well as yourself?

Well when I first started MCing, Pay as You Go were the best, they were kind of the best crew at the time. But you know I think everyone woke up and realised “this is some party stuff”, and realised “we want grime, we don’t want garage” and that was when I was younger and I was a lot less violent, I used to listen to Pay as You Go, but as I got older and got more violent I stopped listening to Pay as You Go and I started listening to more hardcore sort of music man.

You appeared on Logan’s recently to promote the release, but the fans would like to know if you’d be appearing at any raves or any more radio shows in the future?

Yeah I will be and I’ll be at a lot. You’ll see me in a lot of places. I can’t really confirm where I’m going to be because I’m erm, well, I’m a bit weird when it comes to appointments, but if you keep your eye out and you keep locked to my Myspace I will update that with everywhere I’m gonna be and everything I’m doing anyway so keep in touch with my Myspace to see.

What are the plans moving now for yourself after the release going forward?

Basically Street Crime was just a little warm up for what I’ve got coming out after basically. It’s a warm up for the next CD that I have coming out around Christmas, New Years that sort of time bracket.

What sort of shape is that CD going to take?

The next CD? It’s going to be bigger than Street Crime UK basically, this next CD is going to be massive! A lot of MC’s are going to feel disgruntled and disheartened when they hear this CD man when it comes to the lyrical content, but yeah this is the next CD, its going to be hot, its going to be fire. Look out for it, but make sure you get a copy of Street Crime or you might not understand the second CD. I’ll reveal more as time goes, because I ain’t starting on the promotion of that CD when I still got a lot of stuff to do for Street Crime UK but by middle of November everyone will know what’s going to happen.

Any final things you need to get out there?

Basically download Street Crime UK right now on iTunes. Make sure you get a Bloodline T Shirt. Stop supporting these waste artists that are doing this smiley, smiley, smiley face stuff! And Bloodline all day man, shout out Grime Forum as well and keep locked. Tell your mates about the CD, tell them your opinions on it.

www.myspace.com/streetcrimecd

Purchase Big H – Street Crime UK from iTunes by clicking this link

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