Grime Squad

YOU have to hand it to Tinchy Stryder. In an industry where modesty is rarely regarded as a virtue, the rapper and producer takes confidence to a new level.

You don’t release a single called Number 1, without being pretty darn sure it’s going to go all the way up the charts. And so it did. The record, a collaboration with N-Dubz, stayed there for three weeks.

Its predecessor Take Me Back did all right too, hogging the top five for more than a month, while follow-up Never Leave You, featuring Amelle Berrabah of the Sugababes, went straight to the top of the charts in its first week.

Now the eloquent star of UK grime is celebrating the release of his debut long player, Catch 22, which debuted at number two in the album charts.

“There’s a nice mix on there,” says Tinchy – aka Kwasi Danquah, 22, whose family hail from Ghana. “There are downtempo tunes and then the ones which are going to get you hyped up. I didn’t really structure the tunes with moods in mind, but with what I was going through at the time.”

His musical confidence stems from his overarching sense of self-belief. After all, he says, he grew up with it, in the very epicentre of the UK’s high-velocity grime scene – Bow, in London’s East End.

“When I was growing up in Bow, the main thing everyone wanted to do was music,” he says. “There are a lot of people making good music from a young age. There are some things that go on which are not quite so positive, but you get that in every area. In Bow a lot of people stuck together so there weren’t a lot of enemies growing up, which made it feel like a community.”

He started off, and still remains part of Bow’s tight, slick and bombastic Ruff Sqwad – a collective boasting such likely characters as DJ Scholar, Fuda Guy, Slix, Rapid, Dirty Dangerous and Shifty Rydos – who got their break on neighbourhood pirate radio stations.

“Yeah, we all grew up together and it all just started in my bedroom, really. We were just making tapes. We’ve always had a different sound to the rest out there on the scene. We are unique. At times our focus will shift on to different things, but we’ll always come back and do projects together.”

Tinchy and the Ruff Skwad are among the best known artists in grime – a punchy fusion of garage hip hop and Jamaican dancehall, which has produced artists Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Roll Deep, Lethal Bizzle, and Kano.

It’s a boisterous scene, to put it lightly. Grime has been attacked by the authorities for its sometimes violent and sexual lyrics, and its artists for what has been perceived as boastful posturing. Is he concerned about being lumped together with that, and all the negative headlines which have attached themselves to the scene; you know, like shootings and stabbings?

“I think that it might be a concern if you’re the type of artist who can only make grime,” he explains. “Old school garage evolved into grime, but no actual artists from the scene named it grime. It just got labelled. I wouldn’t say I’m concerned because that’s just where I’ve come from; it’s just something that’s a part of me. I don’t feel like it’s the only type of music I can make, so I’m feeling comfortable.”

Does he feel its important to act as a positive role model?

“Some people may choose to become role models, but I didn’t. It’s new to me – I’m still becoming aware of the fact that a lot of people might listen to my music.

“At the same time, though, I’ve got to be real and talk about the things which are going on around me. I think you can't really hold back on the things that are coming from your heart.”

That, of courses includes gun and knife crime. But Tinchy is keen not to link the crime with the music, as some politicians are eager to do.

“Knife crime runs much deeper than any music people listen to,” he insists. “You can watch a film and see more violence than what you will hear on a grime track, so people use music as an excuse.”

He may not admit it, but Tinchy is, however, using his music as a force for good, performing at this year’s Love Music Hate Racism Festival.

“Yeah, they reached out to me and explained exactly what the organisation’s about,” he recalls. “Anything I believe in and can be a part of – I’m down for that, man. I’m not really into politics but when I heard the BNP had won some seats, it highlighted that racism is something that needs to be blocked out.”

He also took part in a War Child charity cover track of The Killers’ All These Things That I’ve Done – along with Chipmunk, N-Dubz and Pixie Lott, to raise money for child soldiers. The single, I Got Soul, will be released next month.

And he harbours a secret. “Initially I wanted to be a footballer and that was my main thing,” he confides. “I used to play for the Wimbledon youth team and Leyton Orient. Now I support Manchester United – I know it’s strange coming from East London.”

So does Tinchy, who this year finished a degree in animation at the University of East London, have any other guilty pleasures?

“To tell you the truth, I actually haven’t. There’s nothing I can think of.” Or is he too cool to tell?

“Ha ha! I am ridiculously cool!” he laughs. “When I was younger I’d like Spice Girls and things like that, but then everyone did so I’m not ashamed. Now pop music is credible again anyway, so I’m still a winner!”

Tinchy plays the Oxford O2 Academy on Thursday with support from fellow Grime star Chipmunk.