EBS: Do you think there are rules that should be followed in battles?

S: I used to be a freestyle purest, but the older and more jaded I get the less I give a fuck and the more its about energy and entertainment.. personally I don’t care about anything other than how funny or clever the insults are, if you can combine that with good flow and delivery then even better.

EBS: I first heard about you through the Jump off battles up and down the country, how did you hook up with those guys?

S: Before I moved to London I had seen some JumpOff battles and thought they were gash and ran my mouth about how much better I was, so when I moved I kinda had to prove it, it wasn’t a case of I thought I was amazing, more that the standards at the time were so low.



EBS: What’s your motivation for battling?
S: Fun, Money and Exposure.. nothing more.


EBS: Would you battle for free or to simply gain respect?
S: Not anymore, I’ve done enough battling to earn my stripes and heads know ive proved my ability, I personally think I could improve massively and have done since my last set of competitive battles, I just don’t have the hunger for it anymore, so my only motivation is for the fun or the coin.. not that I wont ever do it, Its just my music and love for that side of the art is a much bigger priority.



EBS: You’ve not long dropped your debut EP, Homeless Microphonist, you wanna break down the concept?

S: I was homeless at the time, sofa surfing and on park benches and mates floors etc, in a bit of a dark place in my life.. I had just got a little buzz from the battling and was at a mates house drinking to get over a hang over from a night before. I was bitching about having not released anything despite moving to London a yr prior for that reason alone. My boy Newborn was with me and told me to quit bitching as I could have a product done in a week if I wanted to.. For once I acted on something instead of just talking about it and 7 days later I had done a bunch of tracks, it was my first release and I didn’t feel it was an album more a collection of tracks marking a period in my life. So I called it an EP and it was released with the idea of paying a deposit on a flat for me, the rest is history.




EBS: Who’s on the production for the EP?
S: My boy I do from Brighton came through with some murderous beats, Blufoot who’s a genius produced a double time track called White Rhino and I have a couple of beats from Steve Clear and Winchester.



EBS: Word on the street is you’ve got a track coming out with Suffolk county’s finest, RA The Rugged Man, tell us more!

S: Yeah Beer & Rap brought him over to Brighton a couple times and we hooked up a feature on a track, we went studio and wrote it together over a Beat Butcher beat, I then wrote a second verse and hook, got a Jehst remix with cuts by Harry Love added a track called Intoxicated produced by Smoov and sent it to be pressed… It will soon come out and smash up clubs as its dope!!..



EBS: Tell us about the Beer & Rap movement?
S: Were just tryna focus on the old school values of hip hop “Party & Bullshit”, it started from a night in Brighton which promoted good hip hop booze and fun with no room for ego’s. The label works with the same musical ethos, except we all have huge ego’s now ha ha ha ha.


EBS: Pints of beer or spirits?

S: Pints of spirits!


EBS: Tell us your perfect night out?
S: A Beer & Rap party, dope hip hop, loads of booze with good people who are all up for having a laugh and willing to laugh at themselves and each other. Maybe with a satellite link up to a gig full of screw faced assholes all standing around with crossed arms fronting, just so we can laugh at them too.

EBS: What have you got in your pockets right now?
S: An empty wallet, my house keys, a packet of cigarettes, a lighter, a packet of chewing gum, a receipt for a bottle of tequila from last night, my mobile which has no credit or battery and £7.67 in change.

EBS: Who you listening to at the moment?
S: Been rinsing Celph Titled, Vinny Paz & Ill Bill “heavy metal kings” Dr Syntax (who cares if its biased, Synners is too dope) and Rick James but at this exact moment im bumping Mad Lion “Real Ting”

EBS: Any shouts?
S: Yeah, Dr Syntax & Newborn.. Beer & Rap fam, my Live Poets crew Esyoube & Mr Burns, all my Newcastle kin folk, Foreign Beggars, all my ppls who have supported me, all the fucks who hate on me (I hate you more ha ha) all my heads in the Czech Republic and anyone going Kemp this year, My Lady Type and any fucker else who wants one…

You can’t fault the kid! Look out for him on the mighty Myspace (www.myspace.com/stigdastardly) and cop his EP. It plays like a war on your ear lobes.

Interview by C.Monts for Bbarak Magazine (CZ)

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