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Jasmine caught up with fast rising British MC Wretch 32

A YOUNG man that I kept hearing about years ago - one that young people really respected musically - is an artist named Wretch 32. My interns, researchers, work experience staff and others would bring his name up continually.

I met him a few times before he became popular and he was always a very well-mannered, friendly and engaging person. Everyone liked him. He is definitely on the register for 'next to blow up' so check him out.

Hailing from north London like his homeboy Chipmunk, Wretch smiled as he recalled to me that his dad was a sound system DJ so they had speaker boxes all over the house, including Wretch's bedroom. Wretch has been really close to Chipmunk for years, and they always kept in touch, played each other tracks and kept each other on their toes.

Described his early days of getting into the music game, he said: “It was more difficult to get into the game then, as acts like Wiley, Roll Deep, Nasty Crew, and others were all from London’s East End and all the pirate radio stations there were controlling the sounds of the time.”

However, his talent soon got noticed when his first mixtape Learn From My Mixtape impressed the likes of DJs Ace & Vis and Semtex.

It was the quality of lyrics and concepts on Wretchs’ mixtapes that caught people’s attention. For example, he did a track called Punctuation, where he went all metaphorical with the English language! After that, he did a lot of school tours and talks with primary schools, which he found easy as he thinks “kids nowadays respect artists more than their teachers.”

Currently working on his new album Black and White, Wretch has been chased by Radio1Xtra bigwigs to host his own show and is juggling music with being a good dad to his young son. The album concept differs from his past work on Wretchrospective, but he reassures me: “It’s still intimate with a good vibe. In the past I may have been too conceptual.” The new work includes tracks that talk about love and the roller coaster of life and being in the industry.

The one thing I love about Wretch is that he never talks too recklessly. He understands the power of being irresponsible with words. Look out for Wretch 32; an articulate lyricist, a responsible father and a decent human being!

Published: 12 July 2010
Issue: 0

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