I caught up with D Double and the Dirtee Stank crew at the BBC as he was about to perform on the 5.19 show. After filming was done we went to the pub and, over a Bacardi and coke (double measures of course!) had a chat about Street Fighter, Newham Generals and the many upcoming projects he’s involved in. Bluku Bluku!
So, ‘Street Fighter Riddim’ is doing the rounds at the moment, Swerve produced it, are you two going to work together in future?
Yeah really want to do another tune with Swerve. Right now he’s got a lot of fire for me.
The collaboration seemed to come a little about out of the blue…
Yeah I’d never heard Swerve’s production – I never knew he produced until Laurence said ‘Ere listen mate, got a beat ‘ere’ and I was like ‘alright then let’s have a butchers.’ And yeah, I’m here! Big up Laurence, big up Swerve!
Have Capcom said anything? Do they want you on the next game?!
Yeah man, hopefully all that stuff will come after the tune. It’s in the pipeline, I mean we had to holla at them for the legalisation, so they know about us, but we re-did the sounds and FX anyway and I don’t think anyone can tell the difference! HADOUKEN! Hahaha!
After releasing your ‘Woooo Riddim’ version and ‘Street Fighter Riddim’, anticipation for the forthcoming DEE solo project is high. What can fans expect?
Boy, you can expect pure heat. If you liked the ‘Woooo Riddim’, ‘Street Fighter’ or ‘Hard’, then know what sort of avenue I’m taking.
Guest spots?
Producer-wise there is a couple of guest spots there. Footsie’s there, I’ve got a couple of tunes from Cage, Swerve, Swindle, Noah D and Skream. It’s an A-list roster…It’s gonna be live!
You produce as well as MC, can we expect any of your production efforts on there?
Definitely in the future, but at the moment I’m trying to pump out my vocals on the best beats and get my levels up in the background. Production is more of a hobby for me.
Part of the Newham Generals ‘Bag of Greeze E.P.’ is being produced by Skitz. What was it like working together?
Skitz has been about for time and he lives around the corner from my house so I’ve known him for a long time. Skitz is bless and used to work with Slew Dem a lot back in the day who are like my family.
The ‘I’m a General’ tune featuring the late Esco must have been a lot to record. Was it an emotional experience?
Erm…It was kind of, but at the same time it was a good feeling to promote and showcase his talent again. We wanted to show love. He never got his chance to shine so we helped out a bit.
I read an interview you gave with the Guardian back in 2004 where you said you were tired of listening to 14 year olds chat about guns, and that you wanted to go lyrically deeper with your music. What does Grime say to you today and do you feel able to express yourself fully on it?
Grime has got a lot lighter, it’s still dark, but it has definitely lightened up. Stations like KISS, 1Xtra and Radio 1 are starting to play us now so we all have to straighten out a bit. It’s getting more professional and the production is levelling as well.
Does Grime still give you the same feeling as it did back in the day?
Definitely man, I can listen to Grime beats all day. It still hits me and I like the way it’s getting wider. Tunes like ‘Rescue Me’ by Skepta [for example] aren’t strictly ‘Grime’, but they have that element. It has that home base. I like anything that has that home base in there.
Talking of success, Chipmunk, Tinchy and Tinie are finding high chart positions, and Jammer, Skepta and yourself are starting to position yourselves for the same. However, whereas they made their music a bit sweeter, you guys have been able to stay true to your sound and still find new audiences. Did they ‘open the doors’ for you in that sense?
I think they have made it easier, but not because of what they’ve done. People are moving away from the scene, so the people like me left at the core are able to represent more fully. They aren’t repping what we come from. You hear a mixtape and there might be a couple of hard tracks on there, but their core fans don’t get Grime.
They are helping in the way that, if they have an interview they will talk about what they’ve done before and who we are.
You have been noted as being ahead of your time, and you’ve said that you still perform lyrics still you wrote at 15. What lyrics were they?
Err…yeah, you know “If you you, you you/ Wanna come against I-I, I-I” that was from then, “me nah ramp, me nah skin/” Ah there’s so many, I’ve got a big selection of lyrics.
Your lyric repertoire is big, but how do you keep going on sets?
It’s natural for me. I don’t really need to make that much of an effort to lift-off as I used to. It’s just there bruv. I could be here mucking about and say something and I could make it into the deepest thing.
Has that happened recently?
Yeah man, it happened with ‘Hard.’ We put that together quickly! ‘Street Fighter’ was so quick, all I need to do is feel free, have the beat playing and bubble.
How would you say you’ve developed since the Jungle days?
I’ve got more professional with the lyrics. On Jungle I couldn’t really go into depth ‘cos of the tempo, Hip Hop was a bit too slow and Grime was just right. I found I could go in more. Now I can spit at 140 (bpm), 160, whatever.
You and Footsie together with DJ Tubby have forged a niche spitting over Dubstep, and have become known for it. Is it more exciting to spit over than regular Grime?
I prefer to ride Grime because it gives me the time to do what I need to – maybe a bit too much time sometimes! You know, if a DJ’s playing for two hours it’s like ‘Rah I might run out of power’ on dubstep though, there are tunes there that you can’t ride, they’re too big. You’re still ready to leng, but you’re also a host.
With Grime it’s flat out. You can spit your heart out for half an hour with hype and then the tune you love best comes in and you’re like ‘shit!’ So yeah, I think Grime is better to practice and MC to.
What do you think about other MC’s jumping on it?
It’s alright, it’s a good move but I think Dubstep is slightly different. You can’t really do too many deep songs on it; the instrumentals have as much power as the vocals. With the beat already there, as an MC you need only add a couple of spicy lines and it’s gone, maxed out. With Grime you have to add your own energy and build on the beat.
Some people sound good on it, some don’t.
As a FWD>> veteran, what has performing there done for your repertoire?
FWD>> was my introduction to Dubstep. Tubby and Footsie brought me in on that, I was all Grime-d out, whereas they were into their Dub. But FWD>> was a time where I got to see another world and build on it. Now, Dubstep is massive and it’s cool man.
You’ve worked with Breakage and Skream, are there any other people you would like to work with?
Yeah, I’m working with Noah D, I want to do a tune with Chromestar, Caspa, Plastician…anyone that has the bangers. They know what I can do!
Let’s talk about ‘Generally Speaking.’ I heard you spit on DJ MK’s kiss show and you said ‘Generally Speaking means a lot to me.’ What does that CD mean to you?
It’s a benchmark. It was the first official release and there will be a lot more to come. That was number one…
What was the recording process like?
It was long – over quite a stretch of time. Some of the tunes that were on the finalised track listing were some of the last ones we recorded. We had so many to consider, it was like a puzzle trying to fit it all together.
Will any of the off cuts make it onto the new CD?
Nah man, that’ll all be fresh stuff. We got some tunes that we’ll pump out in the meantime but the next album from New Gens will be all brand new material.
How do you think ‘Generally Speaking’ was received?
I think that album is timeless. If you listen to it, you keep surprising yourself. It’s quite deep. It’s different, but looking back, at the time I thought it was really different from what we do. Now, I can see it fits in with what we do – it’s us and fits our sound.
After releasing ‘Generally Speaking’ you embarked on a huge tour supporting Dizzee, what was it like spitting for crowds that aren’t as ‘Grime-savvy’ as your usual audience?
We found them quite receptive man. The ravers we played out to were there for a good time so we played to that. We were surprised the youngsters got in ‘cos there’s a fair amount of swearing in the shows but they were easy to get involved, especially when me and Foots get them to go against each other like ‘This side make noise, that side make noise’ ‘where’s all the girls in here?’ ‘who’s got money?’ ‘who knows about Facebook, Twitter, C‘mon!’
Will the experiences you got performing live form the shape of the new album?
Definitely, that is the way we go about music at all times. Every piece of music we write is something we can go and perform. It’s lively, always about making straight bangers. A lot of Grime artists do what they think will work but going to Dizzee’s show, you can see it’s electric. It’s like a D’n’B rave. I wouldn’t want to go to a live show and hear some bloody R’n’B. I want everyone to go maaaaaad!
Both you and Footsie feature on ‘Bad Mind People’ one of the stand-out tracks from Jammer’s debut album, released this week. What was it like hooking up for that?
It’s always fun hooking up with Jammer, we have bare jokes – Jammer’s a mad man! It was vibes recording that tune, Likkle J had already laid down his chorus so it was just us man vybzin, big up Jammer! We’ve known each other since 2000, I was the one that introduced Jammer to Nasty Crew, he was coming up on the production tip and then one day I went over to his house with Sharky and then it formed in front of me.
Do you still keep in contact with the other Nasty members?
Erm, not really. I don’t see Sharky much anymore. I still see Mak 10, Kano and Ghetts every so often but that’s it. I haven’t seen Stormin or Armour for a while…One person I do see come to think of it is Hyper. When he heard my ‘Woooo Riddim’ he phoned me up and was like ‘Double man I heard your Woooo. I need that beat!’ and he met me and got the beat. I told him that he better go mad on it and I tuned into Logan’s show to hear that he did…I think it might be the second best version man.
There is a lot of promo for ‘Bluku Bluku’ at the moment, what can people expect after it drops?
Once the release is done, we’ll get promoting that and then get ready for the ‘Bag of Greeze E.P.’, the second Newham General album and then pick up on my solo project that’s already in the making. We’ve got quite a few things on the go that should take us nicely into the new year.
Shouts?
Watch out for the ‘Street Fighter’ single released July 26th, the ‘Bluku Bluku E.P.’, the ‘Bag of Greeze E.P.’ and also watch out for ‘Bluku Bluku T.V’ coming soon to Dirtee Stank TV. I’ll be hosting the show, doing a load of stuff. We’re talking pranks, the whole shebang. There will be a few Punks in there, and hopefully we’ll be on BBC4 by the year 2012!
‘Street Fighter Riddim’ drops July 26th
Follow D Double on Twitter here
Kristian
Tags: 5.19 show, bbc, chipmunk, D Double E, Dirtee Stank, Dizzee Rascal, Dubstep, Footsie, Grime, Jammer, newham generals, Skepta, Skream, street fighter, switch
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