INTERVIEWS: LIGHTNIN

He’s a sparky MC in some good company; a recipe for sure success in the often fickle world of Grime. Lightnin has built his name up from the bottom; he now rides with the giants, getting cosy in his slippers over at powerhouse J.Clarke and releasing a red hot new joint Young and Gifted.

R: How’re things Lightnin? The year has gotton off to a quick start with some big projects dropping in from J.Clarke...

L: Yeah it’s all good over here as it should be. As you know Ghetto’s new album has dropped, Freedom of Speech and my mix tape Young & Gifted dropped 20th of march as well so yeah things are moving over here.

R: What’s been your most favourite live performance to date?

L: I recently just came back from my homeland Gambia. I did a performance over there and I got the most love ever and all my family was there watching so that was by far my favourite performance.

R: You’re a great live performer and can hold your own with the likes of Ghetto and Devlin; do you enjoy the performance side of things?

L: Most definitely because in a live set you feel everyone’s energy so you can just bounce off it which makes me perform much better, plus the main reason why I prefer it is because you can get a instant reaction from everywhere but with a mix tape you have to wait. I was on the Westwood 1Xtra show not to long ago with Ghetto and Devlin which got a very good response as well.

R: It’s that ‘instant gratification’; good if you can get it. Things seem to be getting popular up North as well, Grime is getting a name for itself all over the UK now – would you agree?

L: Yes I would agree with that 100%.

R: Why do you think that is?

L: I Would say the reason for that is because before all we had was radio and the people up North couldn’t lock in to our radio stations so they didn’t know the movement that was happening down South.Where as now we’ve got myspace, videos, mix tapes and album’s we are able to let a music travel all over and not just in London not as like before

R: Young and Gifted has just been released, how has it been received so far?

L: Yes its been released, it was released march 20th and its in all your good record shops and you can buy it from myspace/lightninmc. So far all I’ve had is positive feedback from everyone which I was hoping and confident in.

R: What’s the concept behind it?

L: This mix tape caters for all I made sure I didn’t limit my market at all. There really isn’t just any one concept of this mix tape it’s just me proving that I’m a Young & Gifted artist

I’m talking about everything on this mix tape like I said it caters for all so I’ve got tunes on here for all types of people from different background and walks of life

R: What are your favourite tracks on there?

L: My favourite track on there is there is Track 6 Let Me Know feat.Brutal. On this track I let a lot out so I know that one is my favourite.

R: Have you got many collaborations on the CD or have you decided to make it all about you?

L: Nah I got a few features on there, the likes of Ghetto, Brutal, Tinie Tempa and Chipmunk

R: What other artists and producers in the scene are you feeling at the minute?

L: Yeah there’s a few people I’m feeling at the moment, of course there’s my boys from East Ghetto, Brutal, Inches, and others like Devlin and Wretch 32. There are one or two producers as well such as Lewi White and Troublesome.

Young & Gifted is out now in all good record shops or visit Lightnin’s Myspace