Rodney P has been a major presence on the UK hip-hop scene since the mid-80s, first finding success as part of the London Posse, and through the 90s and beyond as an acclaimed solo artist. He’s spent most of 2019 making music and touring as part of the super group KingDem, alongside fellow UK rap icons Blak Twang and Ty. GingerSlim spoke to him about that and more.
You’ve recently been on the KingDem tour. How did it feel to have it finally out on the road?
Yeah man it’s good, it’s always good. I mean I do a lot of shows over the course of the year anyway, but this one feels a bit special. We’ve never done it before, the audience has never seen it before and the response has been amazing so far, so yeah it feels good.
Yeah I mean in my memory, it’s a pretty monumental line-up.
Yeah I think as far as UK hip hop goes, it’s not bad at all [laughs].
Does it take much to plan something like this?
Yeah, in a word [laughs] but no, honestly we wanted to do it and we pooled together, so with that in mind it’s been pretty easy. The logistics can be a bit hard, like getting everyone in the same place at the same time, all being on the same page, working out show times; all of that stuff takes organising. But we’ve all been willing so it hasn’t been that hard, it’s all been doable.
You guys have all been friends for a long time, what made you decide to do this now?
I was asked! Tony (Blak Twang) and Ty had already been having a conversation about it because they shared an agent, so they came and asked how I’d feel about going on tour with them. Now we weren’t KingDem then, we didn’t have the name or anything, it was just going to be a UK hip hop tour. It showed a unified strength all of us going out there together and it just felt like a good idea and a good time for us to do it. As the sort of elders of the scene too, it was kind of a way for us to support the artists that are coming up behind us and also help to reinvigorate the sort of hip hop that we like. And that’s not to take away from anyone else, or take away from the grime scene or the drill scene or the trap scene, or whatever name you give it, but there is a style of hip hop that we come from that hasn’t really been getting much light or much credit. So this was a way for us to show some love for where we come from and what we do, and for the kind of artists who are coming up now too. And that is all part of a long-term plan cos at the moment this is just us three out on the road, but in the future we definitely intend to highlight more of the stuff we like and the kind of artists we like, who we’d like to help promote.
That’s really good to hear, because I was actually going to ask what your feelings are on the current state of hip hop as a whole, not just in the UK?
For a start there is hip hop and there is rap music, which I don’t think are necessarily the same thing. But I do think it’s in a very healthy space, there are lots of really good creative artists out there doing work, trying to get themselves seen and heard, and as I said this is definitely a way for us to try and be a part of that. I mean rap music in the UK is going to No. 1 independently, so whether you personally like those songs, you can’t knock the hustle and dispute the success that these young guys are having, and the doorways and pathways that they’re opening up. And all this is done independently too, they’re not being dragged to the water, these guys are finding their own way to the water and you’re going to have to follow them. So I think it’s fantastic, I think the scene right now is probably the strongest and healthiest it’s ever been, and that says a lot coming from someone who’s been here practically since the beginning.
Now when you and Bionic first started making music, it was very rare to hear people rapping in an English accent. What made you guys decide to take that risk?
We just thought it was necessary. Plus we came from a more dancehall and reggae background where that conversation was already happening – let’s stop pretending we’re Jamaican, we’re from England, you know? So within sound system culture it was quite normal, well maybe not normal, but it had been broached. Then we took that mentality and applied it to hip hop; we didn’t reinvent the wheel but we were the first within the hip hop scene to start doing that consistently.
And did you experience much of a backlash at the time because of that approach?
Yeah absolutely. I mean look at how many years it took for it become the norm, we put out our first record in ’87. All through the 90’s there were still British rappers rapping with fake American accents. And the push back was from in the scene too, a lot of London Posse’s early audience weren’t hip hop fans. It was kids who were into Madness, The Specials and The Beat, and had an understanding of punk rock. That was our first real fanbase. I took a while for us to convince the UK hip hop scene that this was the way forward, everyone was like “Well it’s hip hop music, it’s supposed to sound American”; that was their argument. So it took a while, but we were right and our argument won, now here we are. You get laughed out of the club if you come out with a silly American accent now.
Good.
Yeah good [laughs].
As someone who has managed to maintain their longevity in a scene that does tend to swallow artists up quite easily, what do you think is the key to remaining relevant?
I think for me it was always about being brave enough to do other stuff and also having that passion. I’m passionate about the scene, I’m passionate about hip hop, about hip hop culture. I was a breakdancer and a body popper, I did graffiti, I did all of that shit. So regardless of whether I was having success doing it, I’d still be involved in it. A lot of people got their heart broke because they didn’t find the success they were looking for, you know? I was lucky enough to be able to make a living and also have this passion that has stayed with me. And plus I like to think I’m quite good, so… [laughs].
Do you think it has anything to do with working with different producers and branching out into other genres? I know you and Die worked together, for example.
Absolutely, that’s part of it. Like I said, it’s about being brave enough to do other stuff. I think for a lot of people they get quite insular and nerdy like, “Oh hip hop has to be this way, or that way”, but for me hip hop has to be about self-expression. You can take it wherever you want to go with it, as long as your heart is true to it and I’ve always done that. Plus I’m a Londoner and a raver – I like garage, I like DnB, I like house, I like the experimental shit – so when I’m making the kind of hip hop I like,I want to throw all of that in the mix and see how it comes out. You know, I’ve had amazing times working with the Dub Pistols, working with (DJ) Die, working with Skitz, working with The Herbaliser, all this other kind of stuff I do that keeps it entertaining for me, first and foremost. So yeah, fuck anyone else, I do what I like [laughs].
You’ve been involved with a couple of documentaries over the years, including The Hip Hop World News and Beast, Bass & Bars; are there any other subjects you would like to tackle in the future?
We also did one about pirate radio, The Past Pirates. But yeah we have some other things in the pipeline. I definitely want to get more into archiving and telling the story. I’ve got another documentary in production at the minute, which is a lot more UK hip hop based. Then also I want to try to do some stuff outside of the music as well, to help tell the story or the narrative from within the culture generally, not just musically. So yeah, look for me! I’m also hoping to do a book as well, so I stay busy, I hustle, bruv [laughs].
Well that’s it from me, man, but thank you very much for talking to me.
All good, man, it was a pleasure.
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The KingDem album from Rodney P, Ty and Blak Twang is out now. Follow Rodney P on Twitter and Instagram.
Gingerslim has been a hip-hop fan since 1994 and has written for various blogs and websites since around 2006. During that time he has contributed to style43, Think Zebra, Headsknow and Front Magazine. His main interests in rap are UK hip-hop and the underground movement in America, with a focus on Rhymesayers Entertainment and the once mighty Def Jux label. He lives in Bristol and has a beard. All other details are sketchy at best. Follow him here.