MICHAEL DAPAAH! | EP 347 | ShxtsNGigs Podcast
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Ryan Reynolds here for, I guess, my 100th Mint commercial. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, honestly, when I started this, I thought I'd only have to do like four of these. I mean, it's unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month. How are there still people paying two or three times that much? I'm sorry, I shouldn't be victim blaming here. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch whenever you're ready. For

$45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three-month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes. See details. Shout out to the free shack. Michael. No. All right, guys. Welcome back to the show. Again,

We're cooking this year still. We've got a very special guest in the studio today. Now, as you guys know, whenever we have someone new in the studio, I like to give them a nice introduction, show them that we care and that we're honored to have them here today. So for this gentleman that we have in the hot seat today, what I can say about this brother is that

We've had very, very, very limited interactions with this prayer. So he owes us literally nothing. Facts. But every time we have seen him, he's made a very conscious... I've seen him on two occasions come from the other side of the room just to come and say hello. Even as a very brief...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, walk on. And that actually makes a massive difference. And I make a mental log of all of those. So he's not on the assassination list whatsoever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's calm. He's gang. And that actually means a lot because a lot of people don't do that. So that has always been a massive appreciation for us. He has done some incredible stuff to the point of which now I don't even think people have been able to replicate.

i think yeah going on six seven years now this browser accomplished stuff that i can't think of a single person in this country doesn't manage to do the same or have as much impact yeah um influence or whatever influence or whatever you want to call it like on a global scale i've never seen it done since we're talking like mr beast level stuff facts um crazy yeah we're talking baby shark levels numbers over here yeah yeah um so

without any further ado guys please uh give a very very very warm welcome to mr michael dapper

- I appreciate that. - Let's go. - That's a really nice intro. - Thank you bro. - Yeah, yeah, nah, I appreciate that. - We're happy to have you man. How are you feeling today, sir? - Blessed bro. - Yeah? - Yeah man, you know, I'm chilling man. - Gang, good to hear. - Yeah man, I'm chilling. It's cold outside but you know. - Tell us, we went on a rant about that earlier today. - It's crazy, but it's warm inside so I'm feeling nice. - All right, thank you G. - Hopefully you feel a bit better 'cause we like to start off the show a bit loose, you know? - Yeah, nah, that's all good. - Pause, pause, yeah. - A bit loose, yeah, yeah. - Pause indeed, pause indeed.

- The pause thing is just like, bro, like you can't speak bro. - Oh, you can't say nothing. - No, you actually can't say nothing. It's ridiculous. Yeah, it's mad. You know what I'm saying? Say, yeah, I love my man. It's like, oh, yeah. - It's not even the thing, it's not even just the word pause, it's the expression that you get. - Give it to me. - Yeah. - Hey yo. - And say, hey yo.

I hit the thing from behind. Yeah. Yeah. Bro, you're off the trouble. You can't say anything. Like, bro, I just tell my, bro, I speak English. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, that's it. I'm just speaking English. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you lot want to do all this, pause, turn back, hey, do whatever you like. Yeah, yeah. I'm just, yeah, bro, everything is,

is a pause or a why. - Yeah, it's a lot, man. It's funny. - You'll get used to it though. - Yeah, we double down as well. - Oh, is it? - Yeah, yeah. So if you hear it, in order for me to get paused, I'll probably like offer up a lips. - Yeah. - Okay, okay. - So it's not, there's no ambiguity in it. - Okay, that's more central, right? - Yeah. - Yeah, you speak good English, innit? Ambiguity. - Come on, I respect that. - Well, I tried, G. - Man them went to school. Man them did English language.

- Literatures. - Right, as we do, so. - Go on. - I hope you got thick skin. - Yeah. - Always, man. - To break the ice, we always start off the show with our guests with a roast, all right? So just a young little, little poke the bear a little bit. - Run that, man. - And see what I'll go on. So this is for the internet. We didn't make these up, by the way. - Yeah, we didn't. - We asked the internet. Rem, draws up the picture, please. All right, so this is the picture that we asked the internet to cook you on. - Yeah.

It's a buff picture. It's a buff picture as well. So yeah, they had to think outside the box. Young, handsome baby. You know what I'm saying? This is fly. One breast said with those teeth, he could take a bite out of crime. A bite of what? A bite of what? A bite out of crime. All right, say less. You take a bite out of crime.

- Where's your audience? How old are they? Like 12? - Yeah, the ones that sign up for the roast are usually the youngest. - Oh, they're the youngest? - Yeah, the foot asylum audience. - Okay, okay, okay. - Yeah, them and them. - Okay, okay, okay. - Oh, that's jokes. - He looks like he was a nose dribble licker at school. - He looks like he was a nose dribble licker at school. - Nose dribble licker. Them dons. - Do I? - Yeah. - Oh, yeah.

Aye, that's funny. Aye, that's funny.

- That's funny. - Oh, that's pink. - I must have done that a few, bro, we all done that. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Swear. - No, we all done that, 100%. - You look like you're in a cold winter. - You know like on the lap, you know what I'm saying? - Cold winter. - That's salt. - Chatting to a girl and then you see something like. - That's salt. - That is salt. - I did it, I did it, bro. - It's salty. - It's salty. - It's salty. - It's salty. - It's salty. - Mad salty. He knows.

- Oh wow. Okay, cool. Oh, Raf from the jump. Someone looked at one look at the suit and said he probably smells like salmon too. Which is actually dread because you came in and smelling fresh. - Yeah, to be fair. - You came in and smelling real good actually. So yeah, I don't co-sign on that one. - Yeah, we stay barfing, B. - Stay barfing, come on man. And that one was like, this one's actually not too bad. - What you saying, what people get it? - Yeah, we've had a couple of people get it. - Some people got it. - Oh, for real? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Who got it worse do you think?

Chunks got it bad. Chunks. Oh, man. Some of Madam Joyce. Madam Joyce's were bad. Oh, for real? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Philly got it as well. Philly got cooked. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They don't really be cooking, cooking, cooking me like that. Nah, it's because you're handsome, bro. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, man. There you go. That's the handsome laugh. I know that laughing laugh. Oh, God. All right.

He looks like the guy selling fruit at a beach shouting, "Sexy banana at women." - I heard that. I heard that. I heard that. - You think that's- - Sexy banana. - Sexy banana at women. I heard that. - I feel like that could pattern for you. - That could be a little- - Little side hustle. - Little character. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - I'll run that, bro. Sexy banana at women. - Right, next one. Someone said it again, bro. His teeth slogan is "Separated but equal."

His teeth slogan is separated by equal. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. They're looking like straight drawings from here though. Facts. They're looking like straight. Yeah, bruv. Maybe the picture, maybe. Yeah, the lighting and the... Yeah, maybe you can't really tell. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's probably looking like...

- Yeah, my teeth is mad. You know what it is? You gotta go for something where you can't actually tell what's going on there. - Yeah, facts, facts, facts, facts, facts, facts, facts, facts, facts, facts. - Yeah, you gotta just pick something that, oh damn. If they wanted to really pick something there, see that picture there? - Yeah, what would you go for? - I wore the wrong kind of boxers for them trousers there. Can you see them? - Oh, is that what that is? - Yeah, you see the boxers? - I was the wind. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You see the boxer line right there. If they wanted to really go for something, and if he was mad on playing, you know what it is? When I saw them pitch, I said, oh, bro, you know what it is? I think those are like, they're like supreme boxers, but they're thick.

You know the Supreme ones are thick. Usually I wear the Nike. - Skin tight. - Yeah, the skin tight. Everything just flows. But that day, I don't know why, I must have packed the wrong, I just said, "Hey yo." And then I, bruv, when I saw the pictures, I said, "Damn." So if you wanted to really come to me- - You got a keen eye, bro. I didn't even clock it. - Yeah, you're not gonna- - What's up, VPL?

- Yeah, it's coming like the, what do you call it? The kitchen towel dance. - Yeah, the square dance. - All right, last but not least, obviously you've not been cooked properly. I feel like you've been handling it well, so fair play. But last roast from the squad was, it looks like you're in late ovulation.

- It looks like I'm in late ovulation. - Late ovulation. - Yeah. - Like finishing tomorrow. - Just finishing tomorrow. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - It's that light pink. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - It's not blood red anymore. It's just light pink. - Hey, listen, the Cool Scott, they wear pink bee. You know what I'm saying? Not everybody can pull that off, you know? - Fair play. - Not everybody can pull off a salmon. - It's very true. - Fair play. - Yeah, not everybody. You know what I'm saying? - Fair play. - You handled it well, man. - Yeah, that was light. - To be fair, that was light. - That was light. - That was light. - That was light, yeah. - That was light, yeah. - That was light, yeah. - What do you say? Have I got one of the lightest?

- Definitely. - I feel like you have for sure. - Is it? - Yeah, I think so. - I love you lot 150 million times. - That's actually love 'cause they struggled with you. - Yeah, I love you lot 150 million times. - Come on. - Over and over. - All right, come on, man. All right, so roast is done, intro is done. Let's talk about you. Basically, G, let's talk about you. So obviously for those of you who don't know, if you don't know, you're mad, but Michael here is a very, very multi-talented brer.

For us, we call this section the origin story. So this is an opportunity. So obviously we know all your accolades and what you do now and what you've been doing for the last few years. But where did it start for you? Why did you choose...

- This avenue, this way. - Yeah, why did you choose this avenue? Like, what is it about you? - Hey, that's mad. It's a long time since someone asked me that question. - Swear. - I swear down. Yeah, 'cause I think when you meet people now, it's just like, you know, everyone wants to know, oh, when is this coming out? What's next? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - But you know what? My love for performance started, I would say,

When I lived in South Africa. I was going to ask about that. Yeah, I lived in South Africa. So I remember I played Mowgli.

- Jungle Book. - Yeah, Jungle Book. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Theater. - Okay. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, theater. In school though, I remember I played Mowgli there and it was mad 'cause I think I was either gonna get casted for the narrator or Mowgli. And then obviously one other guy, I think his English was just flowing way better than mine. So he got the narrator role and then they gave me Mowgli. And then, yeah, like literally I remember like just performing

I think I did like two, three nights at a show. And every time, like I just was performing, it just felt right. So we obviously with that, it was like a musical. So you're singing, you're acting, you know what I'm saying? It's theatre, it's comedy, you're singing, you're acting. So yeah, I remember that was my like, where I developed a real love for that. But I remember I didn't come from,

that kind of household. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Naturally, I think that, you know, my father, you know, being a medical doctor, like, you know, he's very, very hell bent on education. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, there was like, it was, education was literally the mantra, like for growing up, do you get me? So everything was just about doing well in school, being the best in class,

excelling, you know what I'm saying, in academics. And that's where, that was always the thing. So that was always the main priority and focus growing up. So even though I realized that I loved performing arts and I loved all of that,

it wasn't anything that was at the forefront of my mind. You get me? It was just like a, it was kind of like a distant love. You know what I'm saying, man? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Obviously, coming back to the UK, when you came back to the UK, bruv, I came back to the UK when I was like, what, eight or nine or something like that? I had bare gaps in my tooth.

I had a big accent in my teeth and a mad accent. The South African accent was thick. I said, what's that? I like that girl. LAUGHTER

- You would have got cooked in my school. - I know, I know, bruv, they definitely was cooking, but you know what I mean? Like, you know, when you're fresh, you're not really, you know what I'm saying? But you know what it is, I always knew how to hold my own anyway. But I remember, bruv, when I came back to the UK, one girl from my class, one girl called Nina,

- Even the way you said it, Nina, you hate her. - I remember Nina said to me, she was just like, "Oh, I thought you were gonna look different 'cause your name was Michael." - Oh.

- What does that even mean? - What does that even mean? - Yeah, wow. - But you know like, bro, like at that time the Backstreet Boys was poppin'. You know what I'm tellin' me why. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - So I wanted to look like, what's the bad man's name? - I don't even know that name. - I just wanted to look like one of the Backstreet Boys, bro. You know what I'm saying? ♪ Tell me why I ain't never ♪

I want it. I just want it to look like one of them. But yeah, no, no. Yeah, I want it to look like... Yeah, I remember I came back. I want it to look like one of them bad, but you know, obviously I was black in it. But anyway, yeah, I just came back, bare gaps in my teeth, flipping, bruv, top button all the way to the top. And I was just like this South African boy.

that was in primary school in the UK. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Kind of figuring it out. You know them ones there. - Yeah, boy. - Would you say there was a massive culture shock for you? 'Cause obviously you're Ghanaian by birth. - Yeah. - Lived in the UK, then moved to South Africa, then came back to the UK. - Yeah. - Would you say there was a massive culture shock continuing your adolescent life into teenage years? - 100%, man, 100%. 'Cause obviously you said I was born here, went to live with my grandparents in Ghana for five years.

Then I was in South Africa for like three years. Then you come back here and it's just like, yo,

bruv, it's like another world. You know what I'm saying? You come from being in the sun all the time and you come in mad cold. Do you get what I'm saying? It's freezing. Like mad, mad, mad cold. And then obviously like bruv, you're just adopting. Because remember, you're around obviously a lot of people that also look very similar to yourself. Do you get what I'm saying? And then you come and then you've got all these like wonderful different races and different people from all these different kind of backgrounds that you just have to kind of just like, yo, everyone's,

Everyone's stories is different. Do you know what I'm saying? And it's mad. So it's just like adopting to that

it took me a little while it definitely took me a little while and obviously i didn't know that like we didn't have much you know what i'm saying yeah you know you didn't even know we didn't have much you got what i'm saying i think like i found i came and then obviously we i was we're staying on the um council estate do you know what i'm saying so um but brother like i didn't know any different you got what i'm saying you just you just kind of just saw you know just flying with it you know this is this is how you live

You know, my mum was kind of, she was here by herself at the time. My dad was still out there and it was just managing, really. You get me? But I realised quite early on that, yeah, bruv, like...

it was it was hard you know what i mean it was difficult because i remember i used to rub money from my mom's purse bro hey i said i used to take right them notes they used to go missing yeah no yeah that's the wrong way for my mom's purse but hey one time she beat me bad bro and she beat me

- She's been there bro. - She finished me. She done all the moves bro. - Elbows. - What? - Elbows. - She done all the moves bro. - That's crazy. - See when my mum was on smoke? Aye, it's mad. You're not escaping. But yeah, no, yeah. So yeah, no, it was definitely like a big culture shock in terms of like, it definitely took me a few years to,

So it's funny because I remember when I was in secondary school and then, you know, people from like the Middle East started coming over. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, they were just kind of like, ah,

I just found a liking to them because obviously I could relate to what they were going through just adjusting. You know what I'm saying? You could clearly see some of them are probably like 18 or whatever. How old are you? 13? How old are you? 12? But you can see, man,

my chest you know he said yeah yeah I'm 12 you know what I'm saying so I could yeah I could definitely relate to them so I definitely could understand what they're going through that transition you know I had to make that transition but they were just doing it a little bit older so

Yeah, nah, it was, yeah. It took, I reckon it took a few years. Yeah. Yeah, nah. And when did you manage to get back? Obviously, you come back, you're adjusting. How did you manage to, like, get back into, like, the performances and the theatre and... Creative. Hey, yo, that took some years, bro. That's it. Hey. It was probably when I was in sixth form. Hmm. Yeah. And I remember, another girl again. I remember, like, I saw, like, I was going to, like,

Because my dad's in medicine. I finished GCSEs. And then, obviously, my GCSEs, I was waffling. I remember, like, okay, brother, I'll tell that story later. But, yeah, no, I waffled about my grades as well. But, anyway, yes, I got into sixth form.

And then I remember I saw Nadine and a few other people, they were going to drama. And I was going upstairs to physics. Yeah, yeah. And I was just standing on the stairs like, damn, bro, like...

I wish I was getting drama. - Drama was the lick, man. - You know what I'm saying? - My mum never didn't let me do no drama, man. - Bro, I didn't even get to do drama in school. I did it up to like year nine. You know what I'm saying, man? Shut down drama in year nine. You know what I'm saying? We shut it down in year nine, but I just remember like, yo, them lot was going for their performance that she had on like, I don't know what she has on, princess outfit or whatever. Do you know what I'm saying?

- I'm like, damn bro, I'm going to physics. You know, like it got to a stage in physics where everything was going over my head. - Yeah, facts. - I thought the teacher was just speaking gibberish. - Bro, A levels is mad hard bro. - Bro. - I failed my A levels bro. - I failed like, I don't even know. I think I must've got like a U for physics. - Yeah, I think I got, yeah, U. - I think I held a couple U's bro. - Unequivocally undisqualified. - Bro, hey, hey, hey, hey.

It was that bad, yeah? I had no clue. I remember I was copying one Utes, one Utes like in the AS. I was copying, I was literally copying his thing. I was plagiarizing the whole thing. The invigilator didn't catch me. But anyway, I was copying that. I just saw him drawing mad images and I just had to copy the image. Yeah, it was, it was, yeah. It got to that stage, I just thought, bruv. This ain't the one. Nah, man. It just, it just...

Yeah, it wasn't me. And I felt like at that stage, it was that there was a mad disconnect. Do you get what I'm saying? Because I think like, you know, like, obviously if you're blessed to have like a father figure around, naturally,

like I said not even natural I think maybe because my dad was so he was so like you know hard working and etc etc you would kind of just naturally think okay I want to be like my dad yeah yeah yeah yeah obviously for the times that he was around and stuff like that sometimes he was away you know what I'm saying just because of work and whatever but yeah so you naturally wanted to be like your father but then

I just realised that, bruv, like, I don't... I can't do medicine because I don't like blood. Yeah, OK. And

Yeah. Yeah, bro, that thing, that gives me the ick. Yeah, bro. I'll collapse, bro. You see me, bro, needles and that, bro. I'm trying to come do a blood test. Bro, I was, I nearly collapsed at my house. Yeah, I don't like needles. I don't like all of that. So, I just like, yeah, it just got to the stage where I was just like, nah, man, this isn't me. Yeah, and I think it was, yeah, during, after that, I got kicked out of

Sixth form. Because I didn't make the grades. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, yeah, not long after that, I went away on a government holiday. Government? Does that mean you got shit back? Nah, nah, nah. What's a government holiday, my man? You don't know government holidays? Nah, I've never heard of that in my life. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Government holiday. Yeah, yeah. And I went to... I was in like a youth institution.

- Yeah. - Yeah. - Her Majesty's all time. Lizzie, we love you. We miss you. - We miss you. - Yeah, yeah. So yeah, yeah. We were there for like six months. But I was young, I was about 16, something, 16 years old. - That's tough bro. - At that age? - Yeah man.

- Would you say that kind of, once he came out of that, did that kind of shape you differently or was it more of a- - 1 million percent. - Okay. - 1 million percent. I feel like that was, you see it's mad 'cause in life certain times, certain things look like they're a curse, but it can be the biggest blessing ever. You know what I'm saying? And a lot of times it's all based on that perspective. You feel me? And so that experience for me was

it was life changing because that's where I discovered, okay, cool. I'm going back to what I really want to do. You know, that's when the light really came on. You feel what I'm saying? So it was like, you know, if I didn't have that experience, I would have probably been on the same trajectory again and I would have ended up doing something that I just didn't like. Do you get what I'm saying? And so like it took that,

And I feel like that was a blessing from God. You know what I'm saying? It was almost like God gave me a lifeline when I'd messed it up. You know what I'm saying? You literally like- - You've been taking the piss. - Yeah, you've been taking the piss. - All this Alfred's saying, listen. - You've been taking the piss. - Hey, mess it up. You know what I'm saying? The prayers that my people then were doing. You know what I'm saying? He's not going there. - But bruv, I had to go.

And like I said, it was the biggest, it was such a blessing. Do you know what I'm saying? And I think, you know, when you're in that situation, you realize how blessed I was in terms of your education. You're mad smart. A lot of people aren't not as bright as you. Do you know what I'm saying? And then I remember I started...

I was making music. Okay. Beats and stuff like that. There was a guy called Ben that was, you know, hold tight Ben, you know, he never replied to my message after, but you know, hold tight Ben. He did, he served his purpose. You know what I'm saying? He served his purpose. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, Ben, I remember he was teaching me how to make music, you know, and then,

Yeah, we was like, you was rapping in the can, you know, you're learning different things. And then, you know, we was doing drama, literally, National Youth Theatre, all of that. And then that's when it was just like, bruv, they was just like, they was so kind of just blown away by like all my performance skills, you know, a lot of my natural ability that it was just like, yo, this is you. And I remember at the time,

I think Kid Hot Hood was out on TV at the time and then obviously... What a throwback indeed. Yeah, trust me. Kid Hot Hood was out on the TV. That's what I'm saying. I was like, you know what I'm saying? He's young, isn't he? Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah. And then, yeah, I remember just kind of like understanding...

the story and the journey of like Noel and all the different actors and everyone that was a part of it and you know just kind of understanding all right cool they're from very similar backgrounds to myself do you get what I'm saying and you know sometimes you almost feel as if everything's lost do you get what I'm saying everything was lost and I felt at that stage everything was lost but what kept me was the faith do you get what I'm saying I feel like

That's where I personally grew closer to God in terms of just general... Because you have a lot of time to yourself. You know what I'm saying? You reflect, you pray. You get what I'm saying? You get to find out who you are, why you're doing certain things, what you actually want to do. So I chose to use it as an opportunity to reset.

Do you get what I'm saying? Because obviously the statistics is like 85 or 84% end up re-offending or going back to adult institutions or whatever. But I was just like, you know what? That's not going to be my story. You know what I'm saying? I remember one of my friends, Jeremiah, he wrote to me on the inside and he was just like,

you got to use this. He's actually a bodybuilder now, you know, hold tight Jeremiah Kenny, he calls himself collecting gains. He's mad wham now. Mad wham. But I remember he wrote to me one time and he was just like, it's a setback, but this is a setup for a comeback. - Yeah, fair play. - He said it's a setback,

but it's a set up for a comeback. And I remember like, yeah, that was one of the things that- - I'll be shaking the bars if I read that. - You wanna hear my statement? I'll be shaking the bars. I'm ready to come out. - Let me out. I'm ready. - Yeah, I remember that. And I was just like, yeah, that's my boy. You know what I'm saying? I remember that at the time and I was just like, yo,

Yo, yeah, I remember that stuck with me. Do you get what I'm saying? It's mad. I hope it's not his brother because they're twins, innit? I hope I got it right. I think it's him. It's like, hey, K-Dub and Pozzy, you know, I love both of you. You know what I'm saying? Them more guys. Yeah, I remember that like vividly and I was just like, yeah, man. Do you get what I'm saying? So it was...

- Yeah, I think for the rest of the time, it was like, I was just more like motivated and inspired to just land and change everything. - Okay. - You know what I'm saying? - So 16, 17, 18, fresh out of the holiday now. - Yeah. - Your- - I didn't do that long. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - A stint. Around the 17, 18 age, where were your creative juices at? Like what were you trying to tap into?

- I think like I restarted college. - Okay. - Then I came and I just like started doing, I did theater now. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Theater. - He said, "I'm doing what I want this time." - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, man. I said, "Hey, yeah, yeah, hey big man." - "Hey, pops, I'm doing what I want." - "Hey, hey, hey, big man." "Hey, big man, I'm running the show now." "Let me show you." And I remember like, you know, he was just like, I remember, yeah, it's crazy. I remember, and he was just like, "So what do you wanna do?" And I was just like, "You know what? "This medicine thing's not for me, man."

I'm gonna act, I'm gonna do comedy, I'm gonna do entertainment. Do you know what I'm saying? What I feel is what's inside. Yeah, rebuilding everything was crazy because obviously it got to a stage where I just thought, the building blocks are slowly kind of coming together. And then yeah, bro, I had like a mad fire.

- At my crib. - Oh, rah. - Yeah. - You thought metaphorical? - I thought metaphorical. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

I was downstairs at a time. He's praying this and that. And bruv, like, just lost everything. Jeez, bro. Everything. Wow. Everything to the point where, like, I had a white T-shirt, a pair of combats.

Air Force Ones. That's all you had to your name? One socks. One boxers as well. He'll take the boxers. They kept you going. It was mad. Yeah, I had one t-shirt.

one pair of combats air force ones and then yeah just some socks for now that was how do you when this happened i must have been like 17 18 18 yeah yeah 18. yeah it was mad because i you know me bro bro yeah i'm african bro i'm just thinking yeah i just go and just recover the clothes go wash them and you can put them back on lost everything literally like i think we had to go and stay in like a

for like, was in the hotel for a few months. Do you get what I'm saying? Like we didn't even know what was gonna happen. And then from the hotel, we moved into like temporary accommodation for a little while. You feel me? So yeah, that was a very interesting period for me, man. Very, very interesting period. Cause you felt as if like, you just started kind of restarting everything. And then you kind of just get set back again. Mentally that must be too much to handle. It's just like,

- Life isn't easy. - It's not easy, you know. Take that and then take that. You get what I'm saying? And it was that. Bro, it was tough, man. - Jesus, man. - Tough, tough, tough, tough. - Sounds like it. - When did you manage to start up again? Obviously you're doing the theater, everything's going well. Like you're owning your actions, everything's going well.

How did you get to the point where you're like, all right, cool. Outside fear, I'm doing something like literally like this somewhere in London thing. Like what, like how did that start? Like what was the birth of that? - Ooh, yeah, somewhere in London. You skip a couple of years now. Yeah, so it was that, going to uni, I'm gonna get myself a job, you know what I'm saying? So yeah, you know, I got myself like, I was working at Vodafone.

I was very grateful for, you know, being able to have a job, you know, earn your money. You know what I'm saying? £10 an hour. I was like, hey! You know what I'm saying? We're doing £10 an hour London waiting. London waiting, brother. You know what I'm saying? We're doing £10 an hour. It's lit. Yeah, no, so it was good, you know. I met some great people there as well. Yeah.

uh you know kobe kobe dumb he's like uh funny enough yeah later on he's he's a director um that i met from vodafone okay he did like notes and crosses he's done like top way etc you know what i'm saying that's sick it's crazy so like i i feel like all my steps and everything that i've done have been like ordered yeah they've been in alignment because i've always met

you know, really great people just along the way. - At each journey of their life. - Yeah, man, you get what I'm saying? Even in like, some of like the worst situations or things, situations that I didn't even wanna be in or I felt like, yo, this is taking longer than it needs to take, et cetera, et cetera. Even at Vodafone, I got to a stage where I really wanted to leave because I felt fed up. I thought, you know what? I've got all these ideas bubbling. I've got all these different things that I wanna do, but

you know, you're scared. You know what I'm saying? In terms of like taking the jump and wanting to, you know, pursue your dreams and stuff, you're scared. And it was interesting because I stayed there that little bit longer.

And that's where I met Kobe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you get what I'm saying? That's what I'm saying. It's like timing. I met Kobe. And I remember a friend of mine that was there called Robert. Robert O. I think, you know, old type Rob. I think one time we went out to go eat. And I was just telling him all my ideas and all of these things. And he just said to me, yo, I'm Mike, man. You don't know, bro. You're sitting on gold. He just said, yo, bro, you're sitting on gold, man. Trust me, you're sitting on gold. And I just remember that at the time. And I was just thinking...

Yeah, bro. But you know what it is? It was just like, it was just difficult, man. Do you get what I'm saying? Because obviously it's like, you're making your like eight, nine hundred pound a month or whatever. Do you get what I'm saying? You're kind of just scraping through and then you've got these kind of like ideas of different things and then like, you know, you're at this crossroads where you want to leave but when you, if you leave, you can't afford to do what you want to do. Do you understand? Because now I'm on a path where it's like,

I'm just doing everything just the right way. You know what I'm saying? I'm fully legit, et cetera, et cetera. So it was like, yeah, man. Yeah. So I was just kind of toying, toying, toying. I remember one time I went downstairs and I was just like, I was just chatting to the big man upstairs and I was just like, hey, big man. I said, yo, bro, I want to just, I want to go, man. Do you know what I'm saying? I want to move. And I remember, I remember like God telling me, he was like, yo,

Like, when you move, I move. You know what I'm saying? And I was just like, bruv, I needed something better than that, bro. You know what I'm saying? I remember God telling me like, yo, yeah, when you move, I move. So I was just like, okay. Leap of faith type of thing. Leap of faith. You know what I'm saying? Bruv, it got to a stage where you almost, you're definitely at this crossroads. You know you don't want to be somewhere. You know that you can move, right? But,

you're just staying because it's what you know. It's the comfortability. It's the comfortability. I got the news one day when I was working that one of my friends, close friends, had passed away and that like he took his own life. And I was just like, what are you talking about? You know, no one's like I said, I just couldn't believe it. Yeah.

How? Yeah. Like this can't be real. You get what I'm saying? I said, nah, this can't be real. So I remember that because it was all like a blur at the time and I was mad confused, bro. Once Nathan passed away, I started speaking at schools with Fix Up, you know, Action Jackson and the team over there. Big up them. You know, I met my guy Bola there, Mr. Busy. Yeah, started speaking at schools.

And, you know, that gave me. So imagine like, you know what you want to do, but then you've got a confidence issue. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

here and speaking to the kids and whatever and I remember like yo and then like and then obviously as time went on you ended up becoming more and more confident do you know what I'm saying as you was doing it

And then I got to a stage where I was just kind of just flowing, if you get what I'm saying. And I felt like that was God taking me through training, like prepping me. You know them ones? And it's so interesting because you didn't see it at the time. You just thought, bro, I'm just speaking to these kids. You know what I'm saying? Telling them, live your dreams, live your dreams. But I got to a stage where I just felt like, you know, you're given all these presentations, but are you actually living...

- You know them ones there because it's very easy to speak. A lot of people speak. Like they be chatting away, bros. You know what I'm saying? It got to a stage where a person felt convicted and I was just like, nah man, do you get what I'm saying? Man can't be telling these youths to like- - You're not the person they think you are. - Exactly. You can't be telling them to live your dreams, go for it.

and be all that you can be. You're amazing. Like you're doing all of that, but are you actually doing all that? And so like, yeah, I just started writing, man. I started writing. You know, my schedule was kind of like simple. I was just kind of, I'd be writing, I'd go to the cafe in Streatham. I would just be writing. You know, I had this, this is where I came up with Summer in London. Yeah, yeah. I kind of saw the state of everything.

And I was just like, I don't want to do... What, the norm? Yeah. I said, you know, it's like, I just want to bring something fresh, something different to the marketplace, you know what I'm saying? Just to the world, you know what I'm saying? And I just started writing, you know, just creating these storylines and, you know, just carving out these characters. Like...

Yeah, like I was probably writing for maybe like eight months. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, writing for eight months. My schedule was kind of, you know, bear in mind them times there, bro. I'm like, I'm scraping. You know what I'm saying? I'm scraping literally, like, because sometimes you're not getting talks to go and do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? Like,

Because obviously you're making, you know, every time you go on speakers when you're making some money. Yeah. So if you're not speaking, you're not really making no money. Yeah. So obviously it's fluctuating all the time. So I'm literally scraping, you know, managing through. And then, yeah, like, you know, got to a stage where, you know, Marv...

Marv Brown, who is, he's a friend, he's like a brother now, isn't he, really? He went to the same church as I did, told him, yo, we just had a common interest in like comedy and entertainment. He just liked entertainment. I like entertainment as a whole. Do you get what I'm saying? So, but you know, we just kind of clicked with that. Do you get what I'm saying? And it was like, and funny enough, I met him through Nathan, my friend that passed away. I actually met Marv through Nathan. Yeah. Yeah, I just told him about these ideas.

Told him what I wanted to do. And he was just like, yeah, man, he's on board. Do you get what I'm saying? He's on board. And, you know, I didn't know that. That's terrifying. Say that again. That's terrifying, by the way. What's that? Someone having co-signed your dreams is a very scary thing because now it's like the accountability of it. Yeah. I've said before, like...

the story of when we started outing he denied doing this for like six months but the day he said yes i bought the equipment and i didn't tell him that i'd actually bought it come on for like three months come on i just kept it in the box because i was too scared to actually be like raw okay we actually have to do it now he said yes we have to do it yeah come on man yeah sorry to interrupt bro carry on yeah no like that's what i'm saying that's the beat that's the beauty of the hustle though you know sometimes all you need is one person to also

believe or to catch it you don't need like a you don't need everyone to see it you know what I'm saying some people think oh my god everyone needs to see that no they don't bruv they're not going to see it bruv you know what I'm saying oh my friends don't support me okay oh my god like you know what I'm saying my mates don't post my stuff bruv they're not gonna post your stuff bruv

Like every, you know what I'm saying? I'm like, my meats, oh my God. You look all the ups, like, you know? You look all the ups, like, you don't post my stuff, like, all my days, like. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They're not going to post your stuff bro My mainstone posts my stuff It's jokes Bro It happens to everyone Facts Wow that's funny It happens to everybody Oh yeah Oh no I believe in my brethren You're not supporting me You're not supporting Bro they're not going to support nothing Until you start popping Facts When you start popping off Aye they'll jump on that bandwagon bro You know what I'm saying But anyway like yeah no I feel like it was God sent You know at the time

And, you know, he was, I think he was working for like, you know, a TV station at the time. And then, you know, he was camera operator, naturally. But then he also understood sound. And then, you know, like, yeah, he directed, I directed. I didn't even know that I was directing at the time or what it was. You know what I'm saying? It was just kind of like really kind of, you know, makeshift. So I just started, you know, just posting these little videos, you know,

you get me posting these little videos building up you know just kind of like an organic audience yeah you know what i'm saying yeah yeah we was kind of just working on the show doing loads of research and stuff in the background like you know what i'm saying it wasn't like oh my god by chance you know the man's doing like mad late nights you know what i'm saying just kind of just you know researching you know looking at different things you know i really liked um

David Walliams and Matt Lucas, you know, everything that they did. Key and Peel, you know, there were so many different things. And then just loads of kind of like underground people. There were some guys from Birmingham. I've forgotten their name. They used to do something called that piece in MacApple. MacApple or something. There's loads of different things that, you know, just really like cool. I did spend some time doing some case studies, kind of just watching things and see how we're going to do it. And then, yeah, I think like I

you know we just started started recording literally recording and brother like yeah we just started recording you know people started taking a liking to certain characters or whatever started recording the show yeah started recording the show literally on

shoestring budget or maybe a shoestring rice grain budget literally rice grain budget because bro I didn't have no money bro yeah I had you know as naturally as you kind of you start growing and

I think, you know, shout out to like, I'm just bait, you know, he's, and he's great guy, you know, he just kind of just saw what like we was doing. So I was doing and he just kind of jumped on, you know, he was just always sharing love with resharing stuff. Do you know what I'm saying? And he was just a shout out to I'm just bait as well. They reshare our stuff all the time. He's, he's, I just think he's such a genuine,

because it's so mad. I hadn't met him for maybe a couple of years. We never met each other. You know what I'm saying? And then eventually we ended up meeting and he's just, Antsy's just great peoples, man. Do you know what I'm saying? So, you know, shout out to Ant. So yeah, he was, you know, putting the stuff up, putting up some of these videos, Hackney's Finest. Shout out to Hackney's Finest at the time.

as well, you know, he was supporting and, you know, GRM, naturally, Jack from GRM, my guy, you know, he's putting some stuff up and then obviously Rashid and Joey from Link Up and stuff. Yeah, yeah. Everything just really started like, just kind of like real grassroots organically, you know, with everyone just kind of like supporting and if anybody else I've forgotten, sorry, sorry guys, you know what I'm saying? But, you know, I'm just kind of riffing off the top of my head. I appreciate every single one of you. We'd already recorded the show

not knowing if it's going to work, but believing that it's going to work. Yeah. And, you know, yeah, we got some different actors and actresses and people that are just doing their thing and just, you know, normal everyday people to just kind of be in it. You know, I appreciate Sean, Sean a lot. Sean is my homie. Like, just from like, I say homie, that's so like American homie. Yeah.

- Shout out my dog, man. She's got great people. She helped us like, you know, just in terms of just organizing all these little, little things to do with the show. And yeah, like eventually like, you know, we dropped the first episode and I remember when I started to, when we dropped the first episode, the day when we started, when we dropped the first episode, Instagram went down. - Oh, for God's sake, bro. - No, but you know what's mad?

i've never seen instagram go down yeah yeah yeah yeah up until that day yeah yeah yeah like never yeah so i was so confused as to what was happening i said yo the devil was trying to play with me i've never seen insta ever yeah go down yeah i was like so i was just like sus yeah i was like

Okay. You know what I'm saying? When I start seeing all this funky stuff, I just start saying, you know, it just means that something great is happening. Because, you know, sometimes like,

You know, on the journey to something amazing, you know, you might, you know, incur random mishaps. Yeah. That you just can't. Oh, of course, bro. You don't understand why. Like, what the heck is this? Yeah. Where did this come from? Yeah. Oh, this person's not talking to you no more. Yeah. Oh, she doesn't want to. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's just the most random things in life just start happening. And, you know, I've just learned to understand that, yo,

you're not gonna get and achieve anything great or with some sort of significance without there being this side. - 100%. - And I'm sure you guys have had so many different, hey, that, it says it all still. - You know what I was thinking about? One thing we never even talk about, do you remember that we did a show last year at Shepherd's Bush? It was the Shepherd's Bush show. - Okay. - And it was before, it was the first, first proper train strike.

Since we went on, since they did the first thing, I remember on that day, all the lines were down. And I remember I opened my Instagram, I must've had like a hundred messages from people like, can't make it, can't make it, can't make it, can't make it, can't make it, try and strike, try and strike. I was like, my life's over. Yeah, this is a joke. You see what I'm saying? But I was saying, on that road, like to something amazing, like, and see for me now,

I expect these things. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a part of... The journey. Yeah, it's just a part. It's going to happen some way, somehow. There's got to be opposition. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? There's got to be, you know, things that are going to come against what it is that you're doing, especially if you're flowing in like, you know, your destiny or what it is that you're really supposed to be doing. There's going to be

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Friction. There's going to be friction, bro. You know what I'm saying? And everybody, no matter what they do, has faced that. Do you get what I'm saying? And if you haven't faced that yet, then you're not dreaming yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Facts. You're not pushing yourself. You're not...

trying to do the things that you know is in here you know what I'm saying we're still kind of playing it all safe you feel me and it's those those are the moments so when that happened I was just like alright cool do you know what we're onto something I remember like my prayers at the time was for it to I always want to do things that are gonna like

entertain people it's gonna motivate people it's gonna inspire them they're gonna be able to take something away and then I wanted it to be I wanted it also to have virality that was one of my things that we always used to we always used to say like do you know what I'm saying we wanted to we wanted it to have virality at the time so literally kind of episode one come out

you know, that, that, that done its thing. I remember like my Snapchat followers and that they was going crazy over it, you know, posting it everywhere, you know, all these like different Facebook pages picked it up and et cetera. But remember, cause people didn't know if it was real or not. Yeah. That's, that's the beauty, bro. You don't know if it was real or not. So, you know, you know, episode one naturally, remember this is like, there's no ads. Yeah. There's nothing.

you know, all this fancy stuff. Like there's no ads on it. You know, where's the money for ads, bro? Yeah. That's broke, bro. You know what I'm saying? Like you don't have no money for no ads or nothing. So yeah, there's no ads. There's none of this other stuff. We're just kind of just putting out everything organically. And you know, everyone's just kind of just, they just flog into it organically. And you know, I just, I'm very appreciative of like,

You know, just in terms of that, you know, like the people. You know what I'm saying? I'm very, very appreciative to the people because the people is what allowed this thing to just bubble. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know them ones. You get me? The people just allowed this thing to bubble. And I remember after episode one...

i was like cool man you know we've got something here do you know what i'm saying they they they they're enjoying it yeah i'm saying then oh yeah i got a call to go to cabos yeah yeah um for island breakup yeah so shout out to frank and all the team over there that was the first time someone booked me to go and do something abroad it was mad nice and then i remember one time like

4am or 3am I'm on the strip we're eating in some random kebab shop bruv I just turn my head and I just see like Charlie Slough and I was just like and I just went up to him like yo and he's like yo man mate are you doing your thing man you know Charlie's energy is infectious like he's

Charlie Sloth is like, he's actually who he is. You know what I'm saying? He's infectious. He was just showing me so much love. He was just like, yo, bro, you're doing your thing, man. We've got to do something, man. We've got to make it happen. And I was just like, yeah, man, for sure, bro. Do you know what I'm saying? We're going to make it happen. I was just like, but you know what? Just the way that he was showing me so much love, it kind of took me back a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was just like, yeah, man, I appreciate it.

Boom, boom, boom. He come back to London. But little did Charlie know that he was on my vision board. I swear. Oh, gang. Like, I had a vision board. And, yo, I was just like, yo, we're going to, we're going to, I had to, like, you know, he was one of the things that was on my vision board. Like, yo, we're going to,

We're gonna do something. So when we just kind of organically met and stuff, it was just like, it was just one of them moments once again that, you know what I'm saying? It was just, it just felt like. - Where you go, I go. - Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Where you go, I go. 'Cause I was just thinking how. - We're killing it today. - Good recall. - At the time I'd written, I'd just written, Man's Not Hot wasn't even a thing. - Yeah.

It wasn't a thing. I think I went out with my younger bro. Shout out to my younger bro, man. You know what I'm saying? From the fire to my right hand. At the time he was recording. He was recording. So yeah, I think I went out. So sometimes I used to have little ideas. Yo bro, can we go and just, you know what I'm saying? So one day we just went out. I think MB sent me the beat of Let's Lurk or whatever. We went out, we did this. We shot a little something. I kind of like, because when I rap and stuff, yeah?

I can like float off like my head. You get what I'm saying? I can just kind of like, you know what I'm saying? Like I'm just, I don't like sit there and just be, you know what I'm saying? And you know, I didn't know like,

that's how my creative process goes. I can just kind of like wrap off the top of my head. You know what I'm saying? I could just go like, da, da, da, da, and then, you know, I just be getting them to record it or type this down, da, da, da, da. So I remember we went, we shot something, got sent the beat, we shot a little something. I put it online at the time. It was probably like a minute long. Everyone was just kind of like reacting to it. Hey, this is actually hard, you know? This is mad, like, hey, yo, this is mad, like, you know what I'm saying? I was like, two plus two is four.

Man is looking at free Quick match Like hey Man was actually Bro I did that original With my younger bro Yeah Off the dome Yeah yeah yeah Do you know what I'm saying Like it wasn't like Man planned it Yeah We went off the dome We done it Then like I said Yeah we went to go Link them lot Off the back of like Meeting Charlie Or whatever What not But

I hope I'm getting my timeline right. I think it was, we were still shooting SWOOL for sure. This was either before or just after SWOOL, but I believe we were still shooting it.

we linked them look we did it bro on their estate bruv you know what i'm saying yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah like it was mad so we shot on their state

Yeah, it was like, you know, and that's the first time I kind of did the first verse of Man's Not Hot. But it wasn't called Man's Not Hot. At the time. It wasn't called nothing. It was just like, man just freestyled

on the beat. Yeah. Do you get what I'm saying? Abdi TV kind of put that out and it just kind of was bubbling or whatever, but it wasn't really like a thing, thing, thing. Do you know what I'm saying? Everyone was just like, hey, this is mad. My man's on the six, seven beat. Yeah. You know, with them man, et cetera, et cetera. Cool.

we fast forward some times gone past and then like you know I'm just linking up with Mo you know me and Mo Mo back to back because me and Mo kind of started kind of coming up at the same time do you get what I'm saying that's like you know he's like my big bro do you know what I'm saying that's like that's broski we started coming up at the same time you know we just used to link up do lives like at his mum's

his mum's crib, you know what I'm saying? It's just mad love. He's always kind of just supported, man. I've always just support. It's just been love, you know what I'm saying? I feel like, bro, you don't lose nothing. You know what I'm saying? Everyone support each other. That's why when I see you, man, I say, hey, you lot are doing your thing, bro. I see you lot on there. You lot are killing it. Because, bro, it's like...

Bruv we all can win You know them ones It's not like Oh my god There's this one plate And we all have to eat Bruv come on man Are you lot alright You know like That mentality When I see That's one reason Why the UK Isn't as big Don't get me started As it could be Yeah yeah yeah Because everybody thinks Crabs in a bucket type of thing Bro we all eat off the same plate Famine mentality Thinking that

If you're popping, that's going to stop me from popping. Yeah, exactly. If you're the man, that's going to stop me from being the man. Or if she's doing her thing, that's going to stop me from doing my thing. You're all wrong. There is millions of people in this country. There's billions of people in the world. Why is his journey going to affect mine? Yeah. Or her journey going to affect yours? Yeah. It doesn't even make no sense. But obviously when you have this scarcity mentality, you think that,

Oh, well, no, I need to be the one. I need to be the one. I need to be. No, you don't, bro. It's okay. Like, do you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Everyone can win, bro. There's more than enough to go around. But yeah, anyway, quite long story short. Yeah. Charlie called us. We went into the booth. I think I went with my cousin, Jamie, Edward, Marv, my younger brother, Ree. Yeah, a few of us. We just went into the booth and it was kind of like, I just told Charlie, yo, I'm going to come as two different people.

Do you get what I'm saying? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - I'm gonna come as two different people from the show because what I was doing was MC Quakes and Shakes. MC Quakes, he was like a grime MC, kinda da-da-da-da-da. So it was me and then my younger brother used to just kinda back me up with ad libs. You know what I'm saying? I ran for the bus, yeah, ran for the bus. But I missed it, missed it. So I sat at the bus stop, bus stop, you know what I'm saying? He used to just back me up, you know what I'm saying? So I said, "Cool, I'm gonna come as MC Quakes and I'm gonna come as Shaq."

Yeah, I just used to call him Shaq at the time. Did I call him Big Shaq? I think I called him Big Shaq or Shaq. Yeah, I think I called him Big Shaq at the time. Yeah, and funny enough, Shaq was an addition to the show. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, he wasn't in the original cast. I added Shaq into Somewhere in London in episode three. So he wasn't in the original cast. The original cast was MC Quakes, Dr. Fori, Patrick...

And it was this, them three, I believe. And then later on, I added Shaq onto, Shaq onto the, you know, I introduced him by episode three because he was kind of, had built his own kind of like little audience because I introduced him to the world just a little bit later. Yeah. You know, in terms of, you know, the character sphere. Yeah. Do you get me? Yeah. We went in there, told Charlie this, Charlie was just like, yeah, bro, you know, whatever. Do you know what I'm saying? Just do your thing, you know, uh,

Yeah, I think Alex, the producer, they were just like, yeah, just do your thing. Went in there. It was mad because at the time I had just released the song Balance by MC Quakes. Featuring my little bro. So, you know, you need to know the balance. Balance. I remember, bro. I remember. Barclays Balance. Balance. Barclays Balance. Everywhere you go, the balance. So we just released that. And so obviously I went in there with the intention. Okay, cool. Do you know what?

Bear in mind, like, we're doing everything, like, fully independently, right? Everything's independent from the show to music to this to that. I think Essex produced that beat, Balance. It's not Balance, it's...

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - That was a beat, yeah. - That was a beat. - That was a beat, yeah, yeah. - See, I remember, yeah, Essex, like, I think he hit me on Insta. He was just like, "Yo, I'm a big fan, bro. "You're doing your thing." Hit him and said, "Yo, I wanna use the beat." Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We sort out the splits. Everything was cool. So we went in there.

I'm just like yo, Balance is like, we've just shot the video for Balance, it's just come out, I'm going in there, clear mind, I'm gonna go in there as two characters but I want Balance to be the song that kinda goes, just because obviously naturally you shot the video, it's kinda gaining a bit of traction. I think I recorded it on a Friday, they told me that it will come out on a Monday. I posted a picture I think on the Sunday or the Monday.

So no, the fire in the booth is coming out later. Monday, no fire in the booth. I'll be sick. I was like, all right, cool. I'm like, all right, do you know what? Yeah. All right, I hear it. Delays happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tuesday, no fire in the booth. I'm like, all right, cool. Wednesday, no fire in the booth. So imagine I've posted this picture. Yeah, you're just gassing. I'm just gassing it. The thing's not coming out. Yeah.

And so obviously I started messaging Alex like, yo bruv, what's going on man? Like, you know what I'm saying? He's like, bruv, like, you know, he's like, yeah, Mike, we're working on this thing. And you know, the editor and blah, blah, blah, blah. So he's like, it'll be out tomorrow. I'm just like, all right, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. I think I tell my people, tell the audience, yo, Fire in the Booth is coming out Thursday. We're sure, we're set. Thursday's coming out. Thursday coming. Don't say it. Fire in the Booth.

Friday I'm at my cousin's house. I'm at Alex and Jamie's house.

i was annoyed by this point innit so i'm just like bruv like come on bro what's going on like you know taking that piss man like i just want to land the ting you know yeah yeah just land the thing and keep it moving yeah i'm saying and i think like at the time i was gonna put out a message on my snap saying bruv the bbc are just taking long with this thing i don't know what's going on but one more boy remember my cousin jamie he's just like bro don't post nothing don't post that and i swear i heard the voice telling me just listen he was just like listen

this thing here is out of your control, right? You just focus on what you just need to focus on. I'm just trying to remember distinctly what I heard. I just heard like,

You just need to control what you can control and what you can't control, just leave it. That's what I heard. Yeah. It was, it was, it was along them lines. Like that's what I heard. Control what you can control, what you can't control. You just leave it. Right. So I was just like, cool. Do you know what? This must be like divine delay or, you know what I'm saying? But this is totally, clearly out of my control. Yeah. Leave it. And then I think I'm talking to Alex and he was saying, yeah, it's going to come out. I'm just like, Alex, when it comes out, it's when it comes out. Boom.

It comes out on Sunday. So you had the whole week. The whole week. Comes out on a Sunday. Yeah. Random. Random. I think it was a Sunday or the following Monday. One of them was just random. Or even a Saturday. It just dropped on the most random day, bro. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just like...

Okay cool Do you know what I'm saying Cool And then I remember like Some people Like some people loved it Naturally my You know your natural family Loved it And then some people I think Was making like comparisons To like Rollsafe

At the time, all my days, like, this is like raw, safe one. It was my man copying, like, raw, safe. Did you lot go in there, like, oh, no, my man saw my man's thing, like, I think it was a few random pages. And I was just like, you know, you know all that stuff. I'm just like, okay. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, yeah, do you know what I'm, but, like, yeah, so we just kind of left it. And then, yeah, the labels just started calling.

You know what I'm saying? But then yeah, like bro, things just started like, it just, things just started going bro. - Bro, like what's it, we'll move on from this to a game in a second, but this is a question I have to ask. Like, I bet it's hard 'cause I know I struggle to conceptualize like not real numbers, but like as far as like just YouTube. - Yeah.

there's a list of like the most famous YouTube videos of all time. And somewhere on that list, like that song is on there. Yeah. How do you digest that? Bro, like, I'll be honest. I don't. You just, yeah. I knew that was going to be answered and I was hoping that wouldn't be answered. You don't, innit? Because like I say, like, you know, like I said, you,

When you release something, you want it to do well. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Just like with this thing. And congratulations, you guys, man. Oh, thank you very much. So amazing. Round of applause for the back. This is sick, bro. You know what I'm saying? You guys, the team, this is amazing. Thank you. You want something to do well, but I promise you, I can't take credit.

for how far and wide something like that spread. I always knew that's God's doing. - I remember hearing it like in the car with my mum. In the car with my mum and my mum's like, "This song's so random." And then like, no one knew it was a joke. Like no one knew it wasn't like, it's the most like, how can I explain it bro? Like it's like,

the biggest trickery that's ever happened. Yeah. Like, no one knew it was, like, remotely comedic or anything like that. It's just, like, this is a song that is the most popular song, like, of all time right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's just, like, to think that that's just come from a guy who's just trying his best to be funny and creative. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just, like, the most...

fascinating thing that's like ever happened when you actually deep it like from an outsider looking in and for someone who respects comedy and like can be quite critical of comedy at times like I find it like genuinely the most fascinating and impressive thing yeah nah appreciate it man and you know like for me I've always thought you hear people say ah the UK's bad vibes yeah the UK's bad vibes you hear all these little things and

I never like, I never kind of paid attention to it. Till I kind of started seeing, I see certain little things sometimes where like people try to dumb things down. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - You know what I'm saying? - Yeah, 100%. - They try to dumb it down. Like, oh, no, but that's like, that doesn't count or that doesn't, yes it does bro. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - It really does count bro. 'Cause I've done shows and been to countries and done so many things that you lot have not done and you probably won't do.

in my most humblest, in the most humblest way. You know what I'm saying? You go, oh no, but he's not like, he's a rapper, but he's not, he's a rapper, but he's not rapper, rapper. What's a rapper, rapper, bro? Yeah, exactly. Tell me what's a rapper, rapper. You just rap and you go to different countries. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, but I was saying, what is a rapper, rapper? This is entertainment. Yeah, yeah. You're all telling the same story. Mm.

It's gonna get to a point Where bruv It's like Alright cool Yeah we all come from You know Everyone can't be Flipping telling the truth bruv Yeah Where did the

half of the world would be dead. You know what I'm saying? Everyone can't be flipping, spraying up the mack and letting off the ting. Some people really are. Do you understand? But then there's a lot of people's ting that's mad fabricated. Do you get what I'm saying? You might come from a good family, bro. You might come from a good place. Like you might actually have had your dad around or have had, you know what I'm saying? But you chose to go down. Bruv, talk your truth, bro. You know them ones there. So man, see like people try to play down

certain things or say oh no but this was like it's um it's funny and yeah bro it's flipping entertainment bro yeah do you understand what i'm saying go and add up your whole catalog you still aren't matching up with all due respect

Do you get what I'm saying? Off like- - Let's give that a quick- - Yeah, that's a bar. - That's a bar. - That's a major bar. - It's the genuine realness. Do you know what I'm saying? I've got like, what? Two songs or three songs, two or three songs that I think, obviously Manz.com is the biggest song, but there's other songs that's also done well. Do you know what I'm saying? So it's like, add up all your things, bro. Do you get what I'm saying? With all due respect. Do you get what I'm saying? But don't ever try to like,

water down yeah exactly or you know try to play down you know what we've been blessed to do yeah man what it is that we're doing you know what I'm saying it's like my mates are like alright them man are podcasters or them man are this or that bro these lot are flipping doing their thing yeah yeah exactly you're doing the O2 arena yeah that's

That's flipping amazing. Like, what can you say? You know them ones there? You can never like try, and that's what we tell people, don't let no one try to water down your ting. If you allow people and give people the opportunity to, they will try and water it down to like, to make it seem like, oh yeah, whatever man, you're just doing your little ting. Bro, shut up man. What are you doing? Facts. No, no, big man ting, what are you doing? What do you do? Because we do, you commentate. Mm-mm.

we're doing and you're commentating so what side of the fence you think I want to be on yeah yeah because you're just sitting here you know what I'm saying or you might go your a little platform somewhere you might just chat your rubbish blah blah blah blah blah but bro like you get what I'm saying it's a it's a bro because like since I came in in the game I've been for like five six years now there's so many people that are not here no more exactly so many people

Like so many people that like, you might have come in and thought, yo, yeah man, they're the guy. Yo, this person's the guy. They're not here, bruv. They're not here. Do you get what I'm saying? And obviously I thank God that I'm here. I thank God you guys are here. Do you get what I'm saying? But it's just like, bro, like to sustain,

and to keep things going and to still be around after like five years to be relevant. - It's tough. - Bro, come on, man. You already know how this thing goes. - These careers are like half a footballer's career, bro. It's tough. - Bro, do you know what I'm saying? To still be living, to still be thriving. Do you get what I'm saying? Bro, bare people aren't doing that. And so,

Like I always take my hat off to people that are doing it. Like I always salute. - Fair enough, man. Fair enough. - Finish on rhyme time? - Yeah, we're gonna switch it up a bit. - Let's talk. - We're gonna play a little game. - Put your shack hat on. - Yeah, yeah. - Put your shack hat on. - I ain't got none. I came in fully as man. - 'Cause we've got a game we call rhyme time, yeah? - Talk to me. - So basically what we do,

straight off the top, just like a little rhyme. I'm gonna go through and like, if you can't think of it in time, you're knocked out. - All right, cool, we do this, man. - All right, cool. - You'll get the- - You'll get it by the time it makes it to you, you understand the game. - Yeah. - All right, you ready? Ellis, I'm gonna be fired today, bro. - No pressure. - No pressure, right. - So we go with JME first. - JME. - I'm JME. I don't like gossip, but you can still call me JMT. - Okay, all right, all right.

- I'm JME. I'm not one, not two, but call me JM3. - I'm JME. I'm working real hard, you know, I got that JMP. - All right. - Young Vanilla Baby, come on! I saw that! All right! Let's go! - I'm JME. I don't like winter sports, but I'll steal JM's ski. - That was naughty, though. - Hey, yo! - That was good. - Hey, yo! You threw me right off, man!

I'm JME. Some people think I'm delirious, but I'm just serious. I was going to be shocked. No! I was supposed to rhyme with you. Yeah! I know, I know, I know. It was hard, brother. It was hard. I was supposed to rhyme with you. JM, whatever. Serious. JM, serious.

- But you get the gist of the game. - Of course I get the gist. - That made me choke on my water. - You know that, bro? We're not having a blankety black, bro. We made up our own rules, bro. We had a blast on that one. We had to have a blast on this one. - All right, cool, cool, cool, cool. - Next round? - Next round, all right. - All right, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. - So it's knockouts. If you fuck up, you're out. - Wretch 3-2, yeah? - Yeah. And we're the S&G guys. That's my Wretch 3 crew. - I like that one. - Wretch 3-2. I like rice without the glue.

- I like rice with the stew. - You're not retching. - He's retch three strew, yeah? - He's retch three strew. - All right, cool, cool, cool, cool. Rem, you're up. - I always support the mandem on the pod. So they always bring me retch three through. - Interesting. - No, I think I'm out. - Yeah, you're out, bro. - I'm sure I'm out with that one. - I'm retch three two, gonna win this game. Call me retch three slew. - I'm usually a night fan, but they've been giving me the retch three blues. - Oh, okay, okay.

What did you say? I'm usually a United fan. I'm a United fan, but they're giving me the Retch 3 blue. I miss Ronaldo when he used to score and just do the swoop. Retch 3 swoop. Retch 3 swoop. All my days. Okay, cool. I'm Retch 3 2, producer of the show, but I could be sat there. Call me Retch 3 New. Retch 3 New. All right. All right. Apparently, Rem wants to take my place. Who Retch 3 New?

- Do you want to know this about Rich, me and you? - Oh, you might wanna go back to the- - Rich, me and who? - Oh, yeah! - Okay!

- Okay, okay. - Okay, okay. - Shit, all right, damn. Damn, ayo Quigs, check that- - It's a red street coup. - It's a red street coup. - Bro, check that vein on his head that's throbbing. Is it red street red or is it red street blue? - Oh my God, you might as well go back to back. - Yeah, nice, nice, nice, nice. - You might as well rhyme, B. - Damn, all right, cool. I'll tell you what to red street do. If you just need to wash your face a little bit, looks like you're getting a bit red. If you walk out the door, take the double doors on the right, take your right there,

you'll find the wretch three loo. - Aye yo. - Are you good? - He's cooking. - Aye yo, aye, he's fired up. - He's fired up. - Aye, aye, aye. - He's been sitting there loading it up. - Let's go. - He's been loading it up. - Bro, let's go. - Yeah. Damn. Don't make me chop, don't make me wretch three screw, bro. - Oh damn, that's cool. - All right, well, I've run out of my coffee. You can make me a wretch three brew. - Aye. - Man came with a prop. - Aye, he's one, man. - Came with a prop. - Aye, he's one, he's one, he's one. He's one.

- Real quick, yeah. Remember who you're talking to bro. Get a registry clue. - Oh, damn. Damn. Okay. I'm still playing mind games with you. Cause it looks like you don't know what to registry do. - First of all, you already said registry do a minute ago. - Is that a run back? - Yeah. - Did you say do? - Yeah. Cause he said, I'll tell you what you can registry do. - Oh. - Go downstairs, go to the registry loo.

But you know what? Have it. Have it. Have it. Have it. Have it. That was a good back and forth. Matt said it's a duel. That was a good back and forth. I like the retro-brew. Yeah. That was a savage. Make me a retro-brew. With the prop.

- Yeah, nah, nah, nah. - I was just. - You bring it home, you bring it home. - Yeah, bro. - I was still thinking of my right in this time of year. - Sorry, bro. - Say less. - It's cool, man. We'll run it to the next one. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Last week I got cooked. - Say less. - Facts. - Say less. - Man made me a target. Man made me a target, said go toilet and made me a drink. - Hey, that's hilarious. - All right, last one. - All right, last one, yeah? - We're still going this way, yeah? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Big Shaq is last. Big Shaq. Big Shaq is last. All right, let's go. People were slating darkest on the last one, but I'm Mr. Big Black. Okay. You're Mr. Big Black. That's a pause, right? It can be. You want it to be? That's a huge pause, bro. That's got to be a pause. That's a why for that. That's a resume. Why? In the gym, pushing weights, working hard, still no six-pack.

- Fair play. - I'm Big Shaq. I've had a few rounds of this game now. I've got the big knack. - All right. - Feeling, I'm Big Shaq. Feeling kind of hungry and gonna go get myself a Big Mac. - Mmm. I'm kind of peckish myself, but I'll settle with a big snack. - That was good. - This joint is getting on my nerves, but we all know she's got a big back. - Jeez. - Yeah, get your head in the game, man. Also this blackened back.

- We all love a big back, but if a ute looks at me funny, might make that water gun go click clack. - Yo! - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - All right! Okay. Oh God. - Big Shaq with the click clack. That was, that bar was a lot to big unpack. - Mmm, unpack, all right. - Took mine. - I said he took mine. Unpack was yours? - No, pack was. - Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay.

Nah, I'm out. - All right, Alyssa's out. Big Shaq. - Thank you, bro. - Bro, I'm getting lazy, bro. Call me Big Slack. Out here trying to get this bread. Call me Big Stack. I had Stack in the barrel as well. - We're getting Big Stacks. Still spend 1200 on an iMac. - Let's go. - I have to get the level up. I can make up with you, Big Slack. - You said Slack. - I said Slack. - I was supposed to say Lack. - You're out. - You're out. - All right, you can't use Lack.

- Big Shaq. - I'm out. - I'm out, I'm out. It's you man, it's you man, it's you man. - All right, these men are trying to make me veer off lane, but you know I stay on the big track. - Fair play. - I hear that. We stay in our lane, not getting that small money, but we collecting big racks. - Big racks. - Ah, that's charged, bro, that's charged out. - It's done, it's done. - All right, Michael for the dub. - Come on, G. - Come on, come on, come on.

Alright man Well Bro it's been lovely Having you today Thank you for coming on This has been a journey It has been A real journey We appreciate you Making the effort Taking the time And bro Obviously you've got Some stuff coming up So let us know What's next man Plug what you need To plug my guy Yeah man Yeah from the salmon suit You know that's how He started Oh no I appreciate you guys Having me man And congratulations On the success Thank you again Somewhere in London The Christmas special Let's go Is out

The 24th of the 12th, 2023. That is Christmas Eve. Let's go.

6:00 PM, somewhere in London, the Christmas special is landing. - Bro, I'll be looking out for it, G. - Yeah, man, the Christmas special, man. The Christmas special, it's gonna be exciting. We've had a lot of fun shooting it. It's been fun, man. It's definitely been fun shooting it. - You got a couple of ADs and bare man with you. - Yeah, brother, I told them, "Hey, keep the ting limited, B." Nah, keep the ting limited, man. So, nah, we've kept it limited, but it's been good. It's been a lot of fun.

there's a bit of everything in there. This is probably something that I'm most, I'm really excited about it because I think it's the end of one chapter and the beginning of another chapter. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some exciting things are coming. So, you know, I just thought like, you know what? I think it's only right that, you know, we give the people something. You know, they've been rocking with me for a long time. Nice. It's been a lot of love.

you know had a lot of opportunity to take the show to elsewhere different platform different this different that we just kept it you know organic giving it to them how i think they deserve it you know what i'm saying to everyone else this is a desk but to you it's a launch pad you're starting blah this ain't a desk this is opportunity

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Then learn about the world of money together. Get one month free when you sign up at greenlight.com slash podcast. And so, yeah, man. 24 for the 12th, 2023. Gang. Swill Christmas special is landing. Make sure you lock in. Yeah, man. I appreciate you guys. Bro, Michael Dapper, everybody. Okay. Gang, that's us, yeah? That is us, man. All right, guys. Till next time. Love, love, love. Gang, gang, gang. All right, best. Gang.