A few months ago, Krept and Konan announced that they would team up with DJ Target for their new television show The Rap Game UK which will see the trio seeking the next artist to sign to the Play Dirty record label.
During this process, the upcoming artists will be joined by guest mentors who will provide the artists with guidance in their music careers. The artists will share a house as they develop their skills, range and natural musical ability.
Hailing from north west London, Chade Paine is a contestant on The Rap Game UK who hopes appearing on the show will enhance his music abilities and give him the confidence to share more of his music publicly. We caught up with Chade to discuss his influences, creative process and much more.
How has your area influenced your music?
“I’m from north west London, Harrow. My area has a very strong community so everyone is very together and obviously there’s a lot of grief. There’s a lot of violence and council estates. So I use the suffering from people around my area and what I go through, and I use the good sides of it as well I guess.”
Where do you find inspiration for your content?
“Family, loved ones, friends. All of their experiences. I make a lot of emotional and conscious music. I like to talk about subjects that affect people.”
What do you want people to get from your music?
“I just want people to resonate to be honest with you. I just want to connect with people and let everyone know that whatever they are going through, it’s ok to go through and it’s ok to not be ok sometimes. It’s literally just a resonation sort of thing. But it also depends on the atmosphere and depends on the song that I make. If it’s summer and it’s a good vibe then I’ll just want them to feel the vibe of it.”
What’s your creative process like when you’re in the studio?
“So, it will start with how I feel at the time. A lot of things effect it, even the weather effects it. Now that the sun is out, I’m making music with good vibes. Depends on the atmosphere and depends on who I’m with. But generally, it’s just on the spot and spontaneous.
Who have you drawn inspiration from – not just musically – but in life?
“I would start mainly with my family, my seven-year-old daughter. She inspires me the most. I would love to provide a better life for her than I had. Family and friends as well. I don’t get to give back too often so that’s another main one. In terms of artists, it’s mostly American artists. Maverick Sabre inspires me a lot, XXXtentacion and then a lot of people in our industry that are booming now. Stormzy, Not3s and Dave especially.”
Speaking of Stormzy, do you take inspiration from certain things he does such as his Glastonbury set?
“Yeah his set was sick, and his new song “Crown” that has just been released as well. Music overall, I just have a lot of passion for it.”
Aside from exposure, what do you hope that you can get from being on the show?
“I struggle right now, even going to work and stuff so I just want to start monetising from it now. I have been doing it for ages so it would just be good to get to that point. It’s just a little step that I need to get over and that’s what this show is to me. Hopefully this is what is going to give me the jump to be able to do so. I want to be able to start doing events, shows, interviews, radio sets. But, I am getting interviewed now so I guess we’re one step closer.”
Who would you most like to collaborate with and why?
“Aiming high but Dave. I would love to collaborate with Dave. It’s his wordplay and how he structures his verses and music and how he puts it together. It really paints a picture and that’s what I love doing with my music as well.”
And at the minute, it’s as if Dave is the golden ticket to get a top 10 hit as well.
“Of course! It’s the same as Aitch as well, he has shelled every single verse that he has touched. He’s changed the perception of the Manchester scene as well. The thing is, once it starts to take off somewhere as well, it will start somewhere and then it just blows up all around the country. At the minute, UK rap and grime has just been given so much more light so it’s just such a great time for us to have gone onto the show.”
Aside from being accepted to appear on the show, has there been a significant moment when you realised you wanted to do music as a career?
“I don’t know, I think it’s a bit of everything to be honest. When I was younger, it started off in my parents’ house. When I lived with my dad, he bought me a microphone and a karaoke machine. Me and my brother used to rap and then my brother started making beats. Then I got Eminem’s album Curtain Call and 50 Cent’s Massacre. From then I just started making music.”
“There was actually a few moments in the show, I wanted to go on there and find out a bit more about myself and a bit more about my character. I was quite an introverted person and I didn’t like to put myself in extroverted situations. Managing to overcome this and challenge myself was good because I never had the confidence to rap in front of my friends or family and then suddenly, I was rapping in front of loads of people and Krept and Konan. It was just passing that step that gave me more confidence to be like, right now it is actually time to start taking it a lot more seriously than I did before.
In terms of being an introvert and making music, do you think that social media has helped you build up confidence?
“I don’t know, social media is a funny one. I see it as something that is needed in order to have exposure and grow a fan base. But, numbers and stuff don’t mean a lot to me. Of course it helps in certain ways, people are listening to your music and if they like it and resonate with it then that’s a good thing.”
Definitely, and it’s also important to have a following that’s actually engaged with your music and what you do.
“Exactly, because I know some people who have like 30k followers and the engagement isn’t there. I feel that focusing on your audience is very important. Especially depending on how far up you are in the game and the hierarchy.”
Once the show is over, what is your next move? What do you have planned for the future?
“At the minute I haven’t got a lot of music online, so I need to film some videos. I need to start putting myself out there a bit more and going to the studio more often. Collaborating a lot more as well. Really and truly what I need to do is to just sit down and plan it all out. I just need to keep pushing forward and putting myself in situations that I’m not used to being in.”
BBC Three’s The Rap Game UK is coming to iPlayer on Friday 23rd August