It’s not often that the good guy makes it, so we’re pleased as punch that in little under a year, WRETCH 32 has gone from underground respect to mainstream love thanks to hit singles, Traktor and Unorthodox with Example.With another brilliant song, Don’t Go due for release and album, Black And White in the bag, Rajveer Kathwadia meets the north London spitter to talk shop.
Wretch on the past year…
It’s been crazy. I couldn’t possibly expect that this was gonna happen. It’s really hard to describe. Everything changes so fast, and everything happens so fast that you honestly don’t get time to take it in, so it’s been strange and taken some getting used to, to be honest with you. It’s a good feeling when I listen back to the old material, because at that stage I just wanted to get to here. So obviously the material now is me wanting to get to there [points into the distance].
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Wretch on making hits…
I feel there’s different ways you can go about things. I could have tried to have done another Traktor after Traktor, but for me that was more of a risk than taking more of a risk on another sound! So with us being like that, we thought, ‘cool. Let’s make every single completely different,’ and then you’ll never know what’s next. I think that’s a good thing. It’s pretty brave because some people like you for what you first came out with, but obviously Traktor isn’t what I first came out with, that’s what I came out with first in the public eye. If I’m honest, I always thought, being a rapper’s rapper and all that, I didn’t think for me it was ever gonna be about top 10s or top 20s. I never ever thought that. I’ll even say it now, I’m not the hit-man. I dunno what’s happening.
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Wretch on bringing through new talent…
I think that’s very important. It would have been easy to try and reach out to someone and say, ‘hey John Legend, come and do the chorus.’ But I think when you go with the talent over the name, then I think people realise you’re in it to make the best song you can make and I think it’s more honest and really natural. I feel that Josh Kumra’s a great vocalist and I think he’s gonna have a good career. I want people to hear him. I don’t have any connection with him label-wise or anything, he’s just sick, the chorus is fire and the voice is undeniable. Why should he not be on a song cos it’s just the first public thing he’s done? He’s talented enough. I think talent over names every time.
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Wretch on his new album, Black And White…
I’ve got a story and a journey that you might have heard about. Some people might have visually seen it on YouTube, some people might have followed me from the beginning. But I think me calling it that is me putting everything in black and white, this is what it is right here, have a listen, this is me; Wretch 32. And it kind of takes you on a journey of my life, it explains who I am, how I feel about things. You’d understand me as an artist and as a person.
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Wretch on his first headline tour…
This tour isn’t profitable at all, I can tell you that. We ain’t making one penny off of this. All I want is for people to go home afterwards and think, ‘you know what? That was some mad show!’ I don’t even know what we can afford to do cos me and my manager have only really spoken about a few bits and bobs, but I really wanna go in. I think it’s so important. I wouldn’t have dreamed about having a tour last year, and coming into the game I always used to think, ‘if I was Dizzee [Rascal] or Kano, then I would do this…’ but now you are there… so do it then. I am one of those guys where I practice what I preach. I would never say it out loud, but in my head I’d be like, ‘Ahhh maybe he should have done that?’ I’m gonna do everything I think anyone should have done and anything I should have done.
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Wretch on Chipmunk…
The thing with Chip that I always love is that I met the kid when he was 13/14, he lived around the corner from me and this was around the time I’d released my first mixtape and everything was shaping up nice. The only thing I ever got from this kid is that he wants to be the best in the world and I admired that so much cos he phoned me out of the blue and asked if we could do a track. So I asked my little sister, ‘Do you know a kid called Chipmunk?’ and she said, ‘Yeah he goes to my school, they love him in the school.’ So I went to the studio and I could see the hunger in his eyes. For me it’s good to remain around people that are mad hungry, because it’s easy to get complacent, cos that’s how you fall off and that’s how you fall down. And this guy won’t allow himself to fall off and fall down – he’s hungry. I’m hungry as hell. I wanna be the best too, so that means you have to cover every angle. Me and him, it’s just that thing where we wanna go in and represent the country and be the best. Even last night I got in at 6am cos I was just at his house, writing.
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Wretch on Amy Winehouse…
It’s tragic man. It’s so tragic and it’s so sad. She’s got a phenomenal voice; she’s had an incredible struggle and you can hear it in her voice. It’s mad, it’s just one of those things where you wish things could be different, you just wish she could continue making music cos as an artist when you have a connection with another artist that you like, you never wanna hear that news. We all feel like we know her as a person, like she’s our next door neighbour, but she isn’t; we just know her voice, we know a bit about her story and a bit about her struggle, She was very young as well, so it’s real sad.
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There’s a girl called Kay Young that I’m really in love with musically. And I also think Emeli Sandé. She’s coming out on the same day as me, but I actually think she’s a phenomenal artist, I’ve heard some of her stuff and I think musically she’s my other half. I tell her that all the time. I wanted to get her on the album, but it was difficult at the time, but we’ll do stuff and when we do it’ll be mad.
The single, Don’t Go is out 14 August and the album, Black And White is out 21 August.
Check Wretch32.com for more information.
