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The early '00s began with the groundbreaking grime of artists like Dizzee Rascal, but that soon gave way to a kind of cheesy fusion of pop and rap.
@Labrinth: "It was shit. Shit music is music that isn’t honest with itself, and that music was lying."
@Labrinth: "At the time a lot of grime artists were trying to penetrate the pop scene, making stuff like 'Wearing My Rolex' and losing their essence. I was already working on 'Pass Out' because I wanted to make a grime song that could be played at the clubs."
People at predominantly white record labels were trying to package these artists in the same way they were X Factor winners.
@Labrinth: "A lot of the label guys were old white men thinking, ‘Would my daughter listen to this?’ Now that we have social media you’re getting Stormzy able to be unfiltered and the audience shows that’s what they wanted in the first place."
'Earthquake', and his album 'Electronic Earth', put him in that grey area between pop and rap, and he found himself pulled in different directions when trying to write a follow-up. He was burned out and his anxiety was mounting. He needed a break.
@Labrinth: "Everything slowed down after that, it challenged my ego because I was famous, and if I wanted to go figure my shit out that stuff was going to go away. Do I leave these beautiful things? These linens? This furry jacket? But I had to let it go."
One evening several years later, he found himself at a party in LA the sort of party where people like Paul McCartney and Bono are in attendance. "It was basically like Madame Tussauds in one room. And I’m just little @Labrinth with my glass of red wine and ghetto clothes."
Someone announced a performance from an upcoming artist, then said his name. After spluttering out some of his wine, he sat down and played 'Jealous'. Everyone wanted to know who he was or if they could sign him, unaware of the career he'd already built.
The British press seemed uninterested in his attempts at a rebrand and kept calling him "rapper Labrinth" in headlines when announcing that he was making new music which clearly wasn't rap.
@Labrinth: "If you call 'Jealous' a rap song, are you saying to the audience that are reading an article and seeing a Black guy that they don't want to listen to this? Because if they don’t listen to rap they won’t want to listen to it."
@Labrinth: "In order to become a pop star as a Black artist you have to reach legendary status. You have to be Beyoncé or Rihanna."
@Labrinth is now making the music he wants: " @EuphoriaHBO is me with no holds barred. It is the clearest version of what I look like musically without worrying about making a hit."
The result of being able to follow his instincts is an Ivor Novello- and Emmy-award winning score.
The result of being able to follow his instincts is an Ivor Novello- and Emmy-award winning score.
The freedom to make this music has been hard-won, especially as a Black artist.
@Labrinth: "If I’m asked what I do in a cab and say I’m a musician, they will say 'hip-hop or R&B?’, and I think 'shit, did my face say that’s all I could do?'"
@Labrinth: "If I’m asked what I do in a cab and say I’m a musician, they will say 'hip-hop or R&B?’, and I think 'shit, did my face say that’s all I could do?'"
@Labrinth: "I could make classical music if I want, but the world has given you an idea of what music I make." https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a34516614/labrinth-interview/
