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AN INTERVIEW WITH: YIZZY


Yizzy is the new kid on the block, infiltrating the international grime scene with his relentlessly hard bars and gritty beats. He is the name on the end of every producers tongue, and despite his adolescence, the Lewisham MC has been able to nurture his talent in a way many in the game fail to. At the age of 18, many rappers only dream of playing abroad. However, Yizzy has already broken from the shackles of his country, and managed to deliver acclaimed performances on an international level. We managed to grab him for an interview, before it was too late.


It’s only been a short amount of time since you properly started spitting, when did you realise you were better than those around you? Did anyone in particular make you aware you had a talent or did you just know?

Haha I wouldn't say that I realised I was better, but I definitely realised I was more hungry to succeed and be one of the best in Grime at around the age of 16 turning 17. My friends around me told me I should take it seriously and so I thought why not I've got nothing to lose.


How has growing up in South East London effected you? The grime scene is very saturated there but you have managed to break from the crowd. What motivated you when you weren't getting the attention you deserve?


I think its definitely shaped my style and sound. I talk about stuff in my area and that I've experienced growing up. I was motivated by the fact that people around me in my area that I knew had made a living from grime and achieved a lot such as Novelist & P Money.


Speaking of P Money, you've spat on sets with the likes of him and Skepta, but who have you been most blown away by in those moments? What was different about them?


I think when I was on stage with Skepta that was a mad moment. It was really early on in my career as well, I think I was still 16. Seeing a legend spit bars in person like that was really inspiring.


How have you found taking up music full time and pursuing your dream? What has been the most difficult part of the process, or most unexpected?


Its like a dream come true, I can finally devote my time to music. The difficult part is working out what to do when I've got a little bit of down time. I like to be proactive as much as I can so I hate being bored or not having something top keep me occupied.



What is the oddest comparison someone has made about you? Arsenal Fan TV recently said you look like Aubameyang, any other lookalikes or parallels in the grime community?


Apparently I sound like P Money, Novelist and Izzie Gibbs all at the same time. I still don't know how that happens lol.


How do you adapt to create songs like 'Keep Chasing'? Your roots are deep in the clashing culture, but this track is way more reflective and personal.


I've always been capable of doing tracks like Keep Chasing. For me its about having a balance between your more hyped and energy songs as well as your deeper and more personal ones. People need to feel like they know you as an artist but that's never gonna happen if you don't give them a proper insight into your life.


So how was it doing a gig in Germany then? What is it like knowing your sound is so well received outside of the UK? Not many youngsters in the grime scene are breaking out of their city, let alone their country.


Its actually crazy to know people in other countries like my music and wanna see me live. They really looked after me when I went Germany and the show was sick, not many people my age have done stuff like that so I like to think it shows I could be the person to take grime to that next level from my generation.


Your collab with Star.One was such a vibe, and it also featured the likes of Masterpeace and Devilman. How did that come about? Who is your favourite artist on that feature list?


StarOne hit me up and said are you down to do a verse and I was like yeah riddim sounds cold. Favourite artist on that lineup with me is Tommy B.



I think my favourite track of yours has to be ‘Chief’, can you tell me a bit about how that track came about? What lit the fuse for you to write the bars on that one?


D.O.K played me the riddim but he didn't show it to me as like one of his favourites it was just another riddim for him. I told him watch what I do to this track, the riddim is crazy. Next thing I know I wrote the song for Chief and was filming the video for it.



Novelist is getting a lot of praise at the moment, especially off the back of his debut LP, Elf Kid is another Lewisham MC who has been popping off recently too. How close is the Lewisham grime network? Do you know the Square Gang well?


I know basically every artist from Lewisham in grime. I also know a lot of people outside of Grime the do music in lewisham as well, I know all members of the square gang personally, I'm cousins with Deejillz the only person I don't know properly is Syder.


To wrap the interview up, who’s inspiring your tunes at the moment? Who were you listening to when you made keep chasing?


Same people that have always inspired me: Devlin, Ghetts, Griminal, Bugzy Malone as well as others. Keep Chasing was written in the studio with Zdot so the inspiration literally came from past experiences in my life.



BIG UP YIZZY ON THIS ONE. BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE VID AND DOWNLOAD 'KEEP CHASING' RIGHT NOW.

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