Fellow rapper Guvna B sits down with Aitch to see where he’s going from here
Since bursting on the scene in 2018 with ‘Straight Rhymez’, M40-born Aitch has gone from strength to strength. He sat down with fellow rapper to discuss the story so far – and where he’s going from here.
GUVNA B
It's good to have you back man, I feel like you're always active, you never really disappear for too long, but it's good to hear sick music man.
AITCH
Sometimes I wish I could disappear for longer, but I've not got it in me. I always say right, I'm having a break now, and about three days after I'm like “nah, let's get in the studio.” I'm lucky enough to do something that I love, so there’s never really too many draining days.
GB
Looking back over your career, would you say your style has changed much?
A
One million percent my style has changed. But I also think how I dress now has been a thing from day one, it's just that obviously you grow up in certain environments and you just naturally mould to what's going on. Especially being where I'm from as well bro, North Manchester. If you're from London for example, there's so many different crowds that you can manage to like just find yourself in. But where I was growing up, you’re either with the mandem or you're not. Which is obviously a bit of a childish thing obviously, but people don't like different do they?
GB
Especially when you're younger – you don't want to stand out.
A
I think my style has definitely changed though. Back in the day there wasn't really much thought process – I didn't really care too much about how I looked, I’d just throw on an Under Armour tracksuit, and as long as had my Armani man bag, then I would feel like the guy.
GB
One thing I love about ‘Straight Rhymez 2’ is it’s in the exact same spot as the first one. It made me wonder – do you think success, money, and fame has changed you much?
A
Obviously factual things have changed – the cars are different in ‘Straight Rhymez 2’ than in ‘Straight Rhymez’. But I don't know man. Honestly it might depend on what day you ask me this question. No one can tell me that money and fame and stuff isn’t a confidence booster, because it definitely is. And then that may make you act a certain way. Which isn’t necessarily a bad way. I might have gotten bigger materialistically, but in terms of like, family, friends, how I feel about things, morals, xyz – everything's exactly the same.
GB
Do you think about the future much? You’re super young but it feels like you’ve had a full career. How much do you think about the next 10 or 20 years?
A
Yeah, bro, I'm nowhere near done. If people are sick of seeing my face or hearing my voice now, then they're going to be fucked in the next five to ten years. I don't vividly remember life before all this. There is – and take this wording with a pinch of salt – a sense of boredom sometimes, because I feel like I've been doing this since I was a kid, and I didn't really get to live my stereotypical 18, 19, 20, 21 years.
GB
I feel like people do you a disservice: obviously everyone knows you can rap, make good tunes, bend over a feature – but you've got layers to who you are. You've got tunes that are braggadocious, where you talk your shit. But then you've also got some really vulnerable songs too. How do you kind of define masculinity on your own terms?
A
I feel like the masculinity word has been flying about a lot recently, and it's mad, because I've never even thought about that word, if I'm honest with you. But I think masculinity is just openly being yourself, and not really caring what anyone else has to say. Everyone has different levels of it. I'd consider a man who protects his family with his life to be masculine, but I'd also consider a man who can walk in a room with other men and go, “I'm not being funny, I'm feeling like shit today, boys,” and maybe shed a tear masculine. Just be yourself and get the job done, whatever that job may be, and don't consider anyone else's negative opinion on it.
GB
You seem like quite a confident person, and it feels like you've been that way for a long time. I know that a lot of brothers would love to have confidence as an attribute – do you think that's something you were born with, or was it kind of instilled in you by family and friends?
A
I kind of got in my head quite early that a lot of the things that you think matter, don't. Sometimes people need to realise how big the world is. When I went over to climb Kilimanjaro it made me realise that. I'd never seen so many smiles on people's faces. I just came to the realisation that there's so many different worlds inside this world, and you can literally go and choose any of them, and be happy in any of them.
GB
It feels like Kilimanjaro had quite a big impact on your life. Why did you decide to do it in the first place?
A
Last year me, my dad, and a couple of my team did a skydive for the Down Syndrome Association, as my sister Gracie has Down syndrome. I think we raised around £65k. After that, my dad, being the man he is, couldn’t sleep until we bettered that sum, so he just turned around to me one day and asked if I wanted to climb it. Me, not thinking anything of it, was just like, “yeah, go on then, put me on it,” and that was it. It was only when I started doing my research that I realised it was serious. But we did it to raise awareness. People think finding out your kid is going to have Down syndrome is the end of the world, but it’s not. People have a fear of the unknown. But I wouldn’t change my sister for the world. My sister makes my life – and everyone’s around it.
GB
What’s your relationship like with Gracie?
A
She's just so certified, bro, I can't even explain it. You could go and have a laugh with her for two hours; you could go and have a proper conversation with her for two hours. You feel some type of way, you just go see her, and everything's sorted. She walks in the room and she just lights it up.
GB
How much do you think about how people perceive you? Do you ever think about how you want to be remembered or spoken about?
A
I feel like a very, very good sentence for me, and what relates to me is: ‘real ones know.’ I feel like that hits different with me. If anyone's got a negative opinion of me, I think 9 and a half times out of 10, it's definitely your problem. I'm not saying that I'm some absolutely perfect guy either – maybe I've pissed a couple people off, and if I have, I'm sorry. But I personally feel like I've done enough where you can see from a mile away that I'm half-decent. I came into the game as a super outsider. In terms of everything, there's no one like me in the game at all. Some people might still sit here and go, “my man shouldn't be here,” or “my man's only in a certain position because of XYZ,” and I'm just going to have to continue to prove all of them wrong, innit?
GB
That’s quality. Let’s chat about the new album. What was the inspiration? What do you want to communicate? What does it mean for you – because not everyone's an album artist, you get me?
A
So I did my first album, Close to Home, because I got to a point where it felt a bit like people thought I was only rapping about stereotypical rapper stuff. These times, I wasn't even going out that much. My first album was me needing to show people that there's a different side to me. With 4, I did the opposite. I wasn't bothered about telling anyone about my personal life or trying to go anywhere deep. This time, I'm on a vibe of, “how dare any of you lot forget how sick of a rapper I am.” I’m on smoke on this one. I should have called the album, I Cannot Believe You Motherfuckers Forgot About Me. I've done nothing but rap since 2016, and I kind of see what I do as a bit of a flex. When people come to Manchester, they shout me – and that goes from N-Dubz to Nicki Minaj to Ashanti to Giggs to Nines. I'm the only one that can do that.
GB
Would you say that ‘Bounce’ is symbolic of the kind of sounds that people will find on the album?
A
Bounce feels fresh; it feels new. I can't really see anyone else making them kind of songs right now. I've never been the guy to follow the wave and do what everyone else is doing for the sake of more streams. But there’s 100% for everyone on there, and I feel like you can go through it from top to bottom and not get bored because every song gives you a different feeling and a different outcome.
GB
What would define success for this album?
A
I’ll know the album has been successful next time I get on stage. I don’t even care if people aren’t singing every word, as long as the atmosphere is untouchable, then I would consider it successful. I’ve made an album based on the time we’re living in. People’s attention spans are different. There’s certain songs I would have made four minutes long two years ago. But I know that people probably aren’t going to get to the end of it. I’ve catered for the times now, but also for my solid fans that have always been there. Hopefully any new fans will be like, “Why have we been gassing anybody else up? Aitch is the guy.”
GB
What advice would you give to men trying to forge their own path, especially from outside of London?
A
I’ve said this before, but you don’t always need loads of examples of people who’ve come before to do it. When I was coming up, the only person I had to look to was Bugzy Malone. Everyone’s journey is different. But you don’t need 100 people in the queue in front of you. You’ve just got to get your head in the game and do it. If you’re not from London, you might have to work a little harder. But the game’s the game, you’re born where you’re born.
