FEATURE

Azzie G talks about his craft, sense of style and more

Published on April 27, 2020

How did you come by your stage name?

The name Azzie came from my best mates little brother, who at the time was young and couldn’t say Arron so it came out as Azzie and so my circle of friends including my best mate start calling me Azzie G since my last name is Grey.

When did you discover your love for your craft and what made you realize you wanted to pursue a career in it?

I think from young to be fair I remember when I was little a friend of my mum who also lived in the same estate as we used to look after me. I remember one Friday I just got to her flat and her oldest boy said her “mum I’m gone I’m goner handle my business” she was like “ok stay safe and behave yourself” 2 hours later the top of the pop is on everyone in the family would come down the stairs to watch it and her son was on the TV rapping in a group.

His mum looked so proud of him and from then I knew I wanted to be a rapper. The fire got reignited when I was in year 7. I was literally a couple of weeks into secondary school, which is quite a scary moment for anyone because you’re still testing the waters. I started chilling with people in the older years and a lot of them just saw me as a younger and I remember my friend Lemar who was in year 10 at the time got into some argument with a guy in his year who was known for being a rapper in the area.

Me as a jumped little shit offered him out. He and everyone else laughed and said little man sit down, at this point I was seeing red, and then I came with it. “hold on a sec you’re known for spitting right, fuck it I will clash you tonight after school, he laughed and said, “I ain’t got time for this foolishness that’s a waste of my time”. I replied “awww I see so not only are you a wasteman, your shook to get duppied by a year 7 as well. say no more” at this point, there is a crowd gathering and everyone knows what is about to go down and his back is against wall.

He said “tell you what I will give a day to write your 16 bars. You will need it as your goner lose”. Lemar said come here let me talk to you, Lemar grabbed me up and said what are you doing your brain needs to engage before your mouth runs”. At this point it has only just dawned on me, I didn’t know what 16 bars was at the time but I listened to So Solid Crew and ICE.FM. Lemar and others sat there and told me about it and Lemar showed me his lyric book and how you go about writing 16 bars.

I went home put my So Solid Crew – They Don’t Know album on, followed by a 50 Cent song I had burnt on to a disc and back to back and then wrote down a couple of words I wanted to use about what went on that day. I tried to rap over the So Solid song with the lyrics I come up with and then tried the same lyrics on a 50 cent track. Following day I turned up to the clash, Lemar was next to me with the Nutty Violin instrumental and Sony Ericsson Walkman speakers. if you know then you know. The crowd turned up with the boy. I aim screamed and fired. Everyone was shocked including the guy I was clashing, and I have not stopped since. I was 12 at the time I am now 26.

To what or whom do you accredit your sense of style?

I would say Grime to be fair because I started off in the grime era, so even to this day my flow is heavily influenced by it but the only difference is since I am the type of artist which likes to build an image in your head by using certain words you won’t hear a lot of rappers use because I am targeting an older audience.

I think being raised in Croydon we have our own lingo so that gets used a lot as it’s natural and tends to fly out and hit the page. There are a lot of artists in Croydon we may all rap different but the fundamentals are there like the sarcasm within our lyrics. So I will put it down to grime and my upbringing.

On your current project, how did you come up with the concept?

1. The Adventures Of Azzie G Part 1 and 2 are based on an event I have gone through from when I started up until now. You’re basically coming on a journey and understand who I am as Azzie.

2. A rough copy is an E.P I am doing which is slightly different as your coming on a new journey with me and I learn to engineer my music and you get to witness the progress as I get better at it. That is where the rough copy comes from it is not quite where I want my art to be yet.

What are some of your greatest challenges, and what is your greatest attribute when it comes to your work ethic?

I would say my greatest challenge is juggling family, work-life, and music life all whilst making sure everyone is good at the same time. My greatest attribute is having the ability to be able to adapt or if I don’t like something I will do change it and set trends.

Are you the best at what you do in your opinion?

No because there is always room for improvement.

What are your plans for the near future?

My plans include getting my music into adverts, games, and T.V. I would also like to be able to create a platform that allows people who don’t necessarily have the same amounts of funds as labels but still have the ability to create the same level of quality as them.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank, any shout outs?

I would like to thank the people around me who help with my music like my manager and engineers and the unit I roll with.

How can fans find you?

Instagram | Facebook |Twitter

Snapchat: azziemanart

Google: AzzieG for the music

Spotify, Apple Music, Microsoft Store, Amazon, Tidal, YouTube – if you just type in Azzie G you will find me.

What suggestions do you have for other artist like yourself?

Be confident in what you do. Measure twice and cut once in what you do and most importantly have confidence in yourself because how else are you supposed to convince everyone else your good if you don’t believe in your self. Also support others around you which are also trying to strive to success as unity is the key.