Skepta drops the old school themed video with a Fresh Prince vibe to his new single Lay Her Down featuring Kano. The track is said to be on his forthcoming album called Konnichiwa.
March 11, 2013
Benga & Kano – Forefather [Music Video]
Forefathers is the first release from Benga‘s forthcoming brand new album Chapter II, which is slated for a May 6th release.
July 6, 2012
Tanya Lacey – Greatness’ (Mikey J Remix)
Mikey J officially remixes Tanya Lacey’s Greatness which features Kano who has colloborated with Mikey J for years. .
July 6, 2012
Mikey J | Interview
Mikey J is not just a producer, although some know him best for the work he has done with Kano; producing London Town, Home Sweet Home and Not For The A List and the newly released EP Random Antics. What some might not know is that he is also a classically trained singer, with his voice being featured in many songs. Not stopping there, he has also been heavily involved in the dance world, starting up Boy Blue Entertainment with a friend, and winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Pied Piper. There is more to this man than meets the eye.
How did you get into producing and was there anyone in particular who influenced you?
I think it was an amalgamation of my love for music overall, experimenting and putting music together. Music and production back then was more analogue, I got into it when I was 14. No one in specific got me into production, it was the creation of music which got me. I was in a studio and saw guys making music, and I just thought I want to do production.
How do you start making a tune? Do you make the beat first or the bassline, or do you get inspired by a sample, talk me through the process.
It depends really. Of late I’ve just been playing with ideas and sounds and putting them together. You could hear a sample and just be like yea bam. The Kano track Layer Cake, well I was watching the film Layer Cake, the Michael Gambon speech and I thought this talks about what I’m going through at this point in time, I’m going to make a track inspired by this. Or it could be you get a job and it’s the artist that inspires you. Now I’ve got The Maschine, I just have more fun with my music. It’s the No1 source where I begin my material now.
What programs do you use to make your beats and why?
The Maschine which has it’s own software attached to the hardware. I use Logic Pro mainly to make my tracks or loops into full songs. I use samples from all kinds of digital software out there.
Your work had been very varied from dance theatres and shows to production and engineering. How do you juggle so many different things at once, and which one do you want to pursue the most?
It’s pretty hard, I don’t have much of a life. I just like to put my head down and work. I don’t get to see everyone often, but my friends and my family are very understanding they know it’s a part of me. No one nags me saying where are you, they are very supportive. I don’t get much time; my weekends are usually spent in the studio. I get down time every now and again. Juggling everything is exactly what I do, but it can be tough. It’s allowed me to do so many different things, produce music for films, TV, shows and theatre. As long as I’m doing music I’m fine.
Do you feel that by taking the hip hop dance scene to a wider audience in the theatre that it’s helped it to become more understood and mainstream?
Yes defiantly. Flawless are doing their thing now they did the Chase the Dream tour. Zoo Nation has got a piece called Some Like It Hip Hop. Now we’re starting to see that hip hop is more viable, people are understanding it more. It’s getting more prestige in the dance world, you don’t have to go and see Swan Lake. When you see hip hop dance it’s really exciting, that’s what makes people come.
You’ve been working with Kano for a long time now including the albums Home Sweet Home and London Town. Why did you feel it was the right time to bring something out together again?
We did a track that was a personal for him for one of his friends. It had been a while, he was doing his thing, and I’ve been doing my thing. I just had a jam with him after we made the track for his friend and I said, ‘we should just do something.’ So he said ‘OK cool.’ He came over that Sunday, and literally I just made a couple of beats, and it just ended up being Random Antics. He was leaving and said this tracks cool I’m going to go now, I said I got one more, and he stayed and we did another. Random Antics is the perfect way to describe the project, it just happened randomly.
Have you got any exciting projects coming up that we should know about?
We got a new show with Boy Blue. We’ve got a new show up in Ipswich were doing for 2 weeks, up at DanceEast. I’m making all the music for that, so I’m going to be working on that for the next few months. I’ve done a track with Chronz from RD, that’s come out sounding nice. I’m working with quite a few artists, so you will be hearing them soon
May 28, 2012
Scorcher – It’s All Love Official Remix ft Kano, Bashy, Wretch 32 and Talay Riley
Kano, Bashy and Wretch 32 come together for the remix of Scorcher’s It’s All Love featuring Talay Riley. Here is the official remix video.
May 23, 2012
Kano – WAVY (Prod. Footsie)
Kano blessed his fans with a brand new track on his birthday produced by Footsie, Wavy is the perfect title for a birthday track. Kano is in Jamaica working on his fourth studio album so look out for that.
May 1, 2012
Scorcher – It’s All Love Official Remix ft Kano, Bashy and Wretch 32
Kano, Bashy and Wretch 32 assist Scorcher for the official remix of It’s All Love.
April 22, 2012
D Double E – Pumpin It Out Remix
Kano, Footsie, Hyper, JME and Rapid jump on the remix for D Double E‘s Pumpin It Out.
April 20, 2012
Clement marfo and The Frontline: Destined to hit highs and headlines in 2012
Meet rapper Clement Marfo, who has been making waves as an individual on the underground grime scene. Then there’s the band: you have vocalist Kojo, Dion-on drums, Johnny on bass, Rich and Dan on guitar, and the only female, Stacey, on keys and vocals. Collectively their sound is unique, uniting hip hop with grime, rock and pop. They have been together for three years, playing shows on the underground circuit as well as supporting Example, Plan B and Florence + the Machine. Now 2012 is set to be their year, to be at the forefront. Flavour meets Clement Marfo & The Frontline to talk fusion, concrete and Captain Kirk…
So, can Clement Marfo function or exist without The Frontline, or The Frontline without their frontman?
CM: That’s a good question. I was a hip-hop MC before this, and a mutual friend hooked me up with Dion, and Dion knew other musical people and recommended them to me. Everything just came naturally; and I swear, if I wasn’t with the band, I don’t think I’d be in this position.
Dion: As a band, instrumentally we can hold it down, but this dude’s stage presence and energy is amazing. We bounce off each other. If any of us out of the seven wasn’t there, it just wouldn’t feel right.
Your sound has been described as a fusion of grime, hip hop, rock, pop and R&B – is that how you’d put it?
CM: The thing is, you can’t put us in a box. There are seven of us with different backgrounds. Dion’s into his rock, I’m into hip hop, Kojo’s into soul, Stacey’s into pop… there’s different aspect of things. We can cross genres. I would say hip-hop rock. We borrowed those elements and incorporated them in our music.
Do you think by mixing up all these genres it unites today’s youth?
Dion: I’d say so. I’ve met people that are strictly grime or strictly rock, and the two worlds just can’t understand each other. I feel as a band, hopefully we bring it all together. Kano did ‘Typical Me’ – that’s when everyone started to go, ‘OK.’
CM: People are borrowing elements. I think we’re in this generation where it’s not like your jazz, your hip hop, your pop; everything’s mixed around. When you come to our show there’s a wide demographic; there’s kids, adults, teenagers, black, white, Asian people. It appeals to everyone, not because of the music, but because of the seven figures you see on stage.
Does having so many creative individuals within one entity often lead to creative differences?
Dion: No chance.
CM: Were a family. I wouldn’t say not a chance.
Dion: No, because I feel like…
CM: We’re having a dispute right now… [all laugh]. It’s the quality control, everybody puts a contribution in, which is positive. It’s not like, ‘I want this in because I’m a rock guy.’ We all sprinkle our ingredients on it to come together. I’m the frontman.
Dion: Captain Kirk.
CM: There always has to be someone who makes the executive decisions, in a way. You’ve also got to listen, and the guys have got so many valid points, it makes you think outside of the spectrum.
How do you begin to make a song, with so many of you involved?
CM: There’s two ways: One is where a producer might come up with a little snippet of a beat and we kind of loop that and put an instrumentation of that. Or we go in a rehearsal studio or a sound check, for example, and come up with a natural jam.
Dion: We’ll go into a rehearsal room and start jamming and doing our thing, and Clement will come out with some screenplay, he’s very visual.
Tell us about your latest single ‘Overtime’. What has the reaction been so far?
CM: This is the first step in the door, I think. With this track we’re here to set a mark and the response has been crazy. It’s No 2 on the MTV Base Chart, and Radio 1, 1Xtra have all been supporting the track, and it’s got us MTV Brand New for 2012. The track is about nobody works harder than us, it’s about work ethic – in order to get where you are you have to work harder than the people around you. Someone like Ghetts, his work ethic is crazy – every year he’s got singles, mixtapes, collaborating – he was perfect for this.
Your second single ‘Mayhem’ is out in March, so tell us about it…
CM: We’ve had this track for a year and a half now. We knew it was going to have some heat on it, because when we did it on a few shows it gets the crowd hyped. With Kano on it, he just added an extra something.
Dion: He just swagged it completely.
Clement, how do you feel about other MCs on a track, being the group’s rapper?
CM: I like collaborations; I think it helps us as a campaign and as a product. People want to hear a great UK legend on track. If it was any Tom Dick or Harry, I’d be like what’s this?
Dion: For me, if you can bring it…
CM: It’s a very competitive field and it steps my game up. It’s great because these guys are inspirations to me and it feels like I’ve worked hard to be on stage with guys that I’ve looked up to.
What was the track that you feel first got you guys noticed?
Dion: It has to be ‘Champion’.
CM: Yeah. We wrote the song on the day of David Haye’s fight – we wanted an entrance theme, that was the inspiration for it. The day we recorded it, I remember the producer was like, ‘This is it, this is a hit.’ Then A&Rs started coming to our shows: Warner came, Sony came, EMI, it was like, woah, crazy! So after a few months we were offered a contract with Warner Brothers; it was like, damn, massive major label!
Dion: That was one of the best days, but we didn’t want to get gassed.
How long do you think it takes to create an underground buzz?
CM: You can’t blow in six months; you can’t blow in one year.
Dion: You just can’t do it like that.
CM: There are ways, though; with the likes of YouTube you can have one song and blow up. Everything takes steps – you can’t run before you can walk. We’ve been together maybe three years and I believe that’s how long it takes. You’ve got to build a foundation, get the concrete, make sure everything sits perfectly and then you can start building.
Dion: You need to be going out and tearing shows to pieces. I think what’s worked for us is we like to go out and talk to people after shows and just hang out with them. If you want to keep them on board, you have to give them something to remember.
You’ve worked with many great artists. Who’s been your favourite?
Dion: You could ask each member of the band and everyone’s got a different answer. For me, I feel torn, because Ghetts’ energy on stage is incredible, and then Sway, when he came down and I heard his verse, it was just like incredible.
CM: Ghetts matches our energy, and I love that. Sway adds a polish and Kano adds a package full of swag.
What’s the nicest thing a person in the music industry has said about your music?
CM: Mike Skinner from The Streets, we did a gig with him at the Freeze Festival and he said, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing, because you know what it is, I’m not going to make your head big, but you guys are the future.’ This is Mike Skinner, he’s sold millions. ‘The future’, that makes us feel amazing. He’s an icon, a legend.
Dion: There was a session drummer, Ginger his name is, he came down and saw the set and said, ‘That was incredible.’ For me, from drummer to drummer, that was just beautiful.
What can we expect from the forthcoming debut album?
CM: We’ve written 60 songs; I know in the back of my mind there’s eight songs that I want on the album.
Dion: We’ve all got our lists of what we want; because there are seven of us we need to get a shortlist.
CM: Expect something like ‘Champion’, big energetic hooks, full of instrumentations; we’ve got two guitarists so it’s going to be a very rock/hip hop/pop album. It’s out this summer, just before the Olympics.
Is 2012 going to be your year, we expect great things from you?
CM: I wouldn’t like to say yes, 2012 is our year, because I might jinx myself or underachieve.
Dion: I think it is; the momentum at the minute is building, and if we keep going how we are, then yes.
Follow Clement Marfo & The Frontline on Twitter
@ClementMarfo or visit
www.clementmarfo.com
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