How and when did you officially step into the music game?
I’ve always had an interest in making music for several years now. At the start it was just for fun when I was younger. A few friends who share the same hobby meeting up and recording. But as time went on I kept improving the quality of my work and people showed appreciation for the talent as well as good quality music which I produced. All these has lead me to the point I’m at now. So to answer your question, Officially I’d say the year 2010 I stepped into the game. All past events has been leading to this point.
How did you get your performing/street name and is there a story behind it?
Good question. Its funny cause nothing was planned. From college in london I was known as SOLO just cause of the movement I was making….moves on my lonley as they say. But as music progressed I wanted to re-invent myself so I was looking for a tag/name that represented everyones struggle, a name that everyone can identify with. Growing up in the streets meant that on a daily basis everyone in my circle was involved in one hustle or another just to get by and thats the way the world revolves. I used to say to my friend Gauge-Nova what you on and he replied Scrilla.com and when I realised what the word Scrilla meant I knew it was perfect for my vision. People often mis-represent its meaning, at a gig a youth came upto me and said why do you call yourself Scrilla, are you a millionaire and I laughed and said no, but I’m a work in progress. To me my name SCRILLS for short, represent the struggle, the reason why the world gets up in the morning to go to work, the reason why everyone is involved in one hustler another and the reason why the world revolves around is because of SCRILLS.
Where exactly do you reside and what is it like living there? Do you get a lot of support from people in your city?
I’m something known as a black gypsie….to coin a phrase. I’ve lived in several cities to date, but theres is no place like home (London SE6 Catford or Catty as we call it). I will always rep for london as I grew up there and still have a lot of ties there. But these days you can also find me in Cambridge (bridge City) CB5 as well, which is where I reside now. My fan base is growing and its kind of a mixture as I have links all over the country. But the fans in bridge city show me love and I appreciate that, cause they appreciated talent and good music. I’ll like to thank all my fans wherever they are for helping me generate this buzz, and keep spreading the word….
Hip-Hop music has changed since it started back in the 1970’s, some like how it’s progressed some say its losing its identity. Where do you stand on that?
To me changed is natural and inevitable. The only question is whether that change is for good or worse. The old school hip hop heads will say its lost its identity and I can understand their point. The media has always played a huge part in hip hop and to me what the media class as hip hop these days in some cases is definetly not Hip Hop. I mean just because a rapper is rapping over a dance track/beat like most of the mainstream rappers do these days dont make it Hip Hop. The problem as I see it is that the mainstream is merging music into one genre, and there is no clear boundary anymore. This is done I guess to boost sales as support for real hip hop artist is not as good as it once was in the last 15 years. I suppose the industry in the UK is different. In the UK we have come far in the last five years but theres still a long way to go as the genre is still growing over here
It seems that a lot of major label artists these days have to come out beefing with some one or some crew or coast. Does ‘beef’ really sell records?
Well the beefing thing is all played out…but it does give the fan base something to talk about. As much as I dont want to say it, but people love drama and thats what the beef sceneario is…DRAMA. Beefing sells records if the record you’re are making is off good quality. Beef causes street hype, which generates interest and if you back this up with hot tracks then I suppose you will sell but How much is the only question? I’ve not written a track dissing anyone to date and lets just hope I dont have to for their sake.
Okay so let’s talk about your music for a minute. What have you released to date, what’s been the most popular and what’s next for you?
I’m currently working on the “Bangers n Cash” album which will be out next year and I’ve just released the first Single and video off the album called “Whats My Name”. The Single is available to download on iTunes, Amazon and other good online stores, so make sure you cop that and support the track. In the past, I have also released a few mixtapes as part of a crew when I was starting out. Now I’m in the game fully, I’m working on “Before the Hype” another mixtape which contains all the songs which I’ve recorded recently but was never released for one reason or the other and some that never make the album. I will be realising my next Single from the “Bangers n Cash” album titled “Beautiful Goodbye” and I’m in talks currently about shooting the video. So look out for that people and make sure you support it when it comes out.
A lot of people are now doing FREE downloads of street albums and mixtapes, do you think this works or do you think it makes it harder when you actually come to sell it?
Sometimes it works and sometimes it dont. It depends on the individual and what type of songs they have. Any mixtape material/song I record, will be given out for free to my fans as a token of my appreciation. Having said that my album material and Singles will only be available for download on itunes and amazon as lot of time and effort as well as promotion will be put into it so I will try and recoup some of that back. Artist are forced sometimes to give their music away because some fans wont go out and buy it but will happily watch the video and enjoy the song and that kills the industry for up and coming artists. My message to the people is this…Go out and buy the music of the up and coming artist you like, support new INDEPENDENT music because if you dont, it will DIE. on that note download my smash hit Single from itunes and amazon and other stores…Scrilla – “Whats My Name” OUT NOW!!
So do you think that 2010 is the year when independent artists have to think of other ways of making money apart from just straight sales?
Well its been like that in the last 10 – 15 years. The market in the UK is really small so I guess you have to supplement earnings by other means. Sites like limewire and torrent dont exactly help and some people these days go to these sites first to see if they can find the music thats out there. Its real simple for me the bigger your audience as an artist, the more chance you have of making substiantial sales and this what I strive for as an independent artist…to get my music to a wider audience.
Apart from www.FromThaGutta.com what other urban music/lifestyle websites do you check for?
www.Hiphop4days.com
www.100percentuk
www.iamscrilla.com
www.worldwide-grind.com
www.vladtv.com
and more…
Do you have your own website that sells your music or do you have main spots where people are selling your music?
My Official Website is www.iamscrilla.com. You can find all new release from me here as well. Its designed so my fans can easily gain access and buy my music. The sites is the best place for people to keep up to date with my movements.
So check for me at www.iamscrilla.com
Can we do a quick-fire round?! You have to pick one answer.
Facebook OR Twitter?
Facebook….twitter will have to grow on me.
Compact Disc OR Digital MP3?
You know what I’m old school…I’d rather have the disc in hand so I can admire and see the effort going into the production. These days its all digital and you dont get to appreciate the artistic creation with Mp3
2Pac OR Biggie?
This one is a toughie still – I’d say Pac just cause he writes from within. Biggie is still up there.
Studio OR Playing live?
Playing live gives me adrenaline rush so its playing live…defo
Blackberry OR iPhone?
iPhone…cant beat the iPhone…its too stylish.
Okay that wraps up the interview nice please tell us how people can connect with you and before you go do you have any final words?
You can connect/contact me thru my website and emails.
Info@iamscrilla.com is the email address
The website is www.iamscrilla.com, where you can find all the links and icons to my social network site pages as well as buy my music from there, you can subscribe to my newsletter for all updates from the site WWW.IAMSCRILLA.COM remember that. Keyword search in google is iamscrilla.com so search for me if all fails.
Dont forget, Keep my name in your mouth.
Bless.
Scrilla
