HATTIE EXCLLUUUSEEEE!!!
So I interviewed Diddy last night - he was megalolz. I had the amazing opportunity to spend about 10 hours with him back in 2006 when I interviewed him and Cassie for the cover of i-D. I saw him rehearse for the Superbowl, went to Sean John meetings, met Elephant Man in Daddy's House and took a trip in his Mayback. Literally. Though I only had 30 minutes this time round, he was as engaging, funny and open as before.
I of course asked him all about Skepta, the rumours about which UK act he's signing and his thoughts on grime. He also dropped me a couple of excluse nuggest; Tinie and Tinchy are both on the UK remix for Hello Good Morning, and IF it works out, then the Skepta remix (which will be properly re-done, re-recorded etc) may get it's own video.
He also denied that he's signed Fugative. I'm still not entirely sure. Not that he hasn't signed him, but perhaps he doesn't know Harry by that name. I mean, Young Lord is working with Fugative, so it all makes sense. He also couldn't confirm whether he's managing Nicki Minaj.
But here's what Diddy said in his own words:
"I think Tinie is doing something for u,s but not on the grime mix. He's on one of the UK remixes of Hello Good Morning with Tinchy Stryder. That's exclusive right there. I want Skepta to do a straight, dirty, authentic grime remix where I redo the vocals, the beats and everything. So I hit up everyone on Twitter and Skepta hit me right back. He was buggin'. He said his twitter blew up, caught on fire and nearly crashed the server... And we just, I guess it's just exciting. I'm actually rooting for the UK. I love the UK, I love the artists, the vibe, the style, the swag. I always wanted to do more with the UK cos I think we have an affiliation with each other. If I could be one of the people musically to help expose some of the talent through this album especially, because this album has a very UK vibe. The last train to Paris is through London so....
So I think that's happening organically. It's not pre-meditated. I didn't like go and give it to some A&Rs and say 'go get me Skepta.' This was designed by God and by the people. I put it on Twitter, people hit me back, I got at Skepta, we had a vibe on the phone. I said 'I don't know what's gonna happen with it, but we're gonna try and make it happen.' It's serious though, it's definately something we're going to be getting into in the next couple of days. If it comes out right, we're gonna be shooting a video for it and the whole nine.
When did you first hear grime?
When I first heard grime I was like 'this gon' be the next big thing' especially cos of the crunk stuff. I saw it coming over to the US but then that didn't happen and I just don't understand that. I heard it first about four years ago. I was on promo tour for Press Play and I landed in London and I heard it on the radio. I think it was Westwood. It blew my mind, that shit was raw. The first joint I heard sounded like Busta, very aggressive, but the beats? I was always into garage and drum and bass and really into the beats, that formated sound (does 140bpm beatbox) and I used some of that vibe on Press Play, like with the Brandy song. It's really progressive music. So it was shocking for me to hear it cos it was so raw. My mind was blown and I never knew what happened to it. I heard it a couple of times and then I didn't hear it no more. So with Hello Good Morning I had this idea that I wanted to do some real interesting mixes with it. Not like the same-old dance remixes with the same people that everyone else is doing.
Have you signed someone? I heard a rumour that it's Fugative?
Not true. I haven't signed a person yet, I'm looking at signing a person but his name is not Fugative. I'm a little ways away from it and I know Twitter is very powerful and I gotta watch what I say. I was just speaking off the top of my head that I finally found a rap artist that I liked, but... I can't say who it is but I really don't think you would know him if I said his name. He's like London"s best kept secret. I don't think he's really out there like that.
Are you managing Nicki Minaj? And please can you get me an interview with her cos I'm obsessed!
I can't confirm that cos I'm not managing her at this point. We're friends and we're close but I can get you an interview though...
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