by Art Jefferson
Images courtesy of Untitled

Since the early days of Wiley’s “Eskimo” track and raves that entailed many young London emcees striving to get “reloads” off of catchy lines or clashing at youth clubs, the Grime scene has ultimately changed. While many officials in the U.K. squirmed at the music of Grime with fear that the lyrics were too violent and only perpetuated more violence in London’s poorer areas, the Grime artists were considered the new voice of young inner city Londoners. However, with anything that starts underground, eventually it will rise to the surface. U.K. Grime artists began making songs that were radio friendly and soon the major record companies began sniffing out and signing many of these emcees. Artists such as Tinchy Stryder and Chipmunk became household names and reached number 1 on the charts. While there still remains die hard Grime artists, North London’s Untitled expands pass simply a “genre”. With a variety of lyrical content that many people inside and outside of London boundaries can relate to, stardom is knocking at the door of Untitled.

AJ– It seems that for the past few years, North London emcees have been consistent with releasing quality material and many of them have moved on to acquire massive success. Talk a little bit about the scene in North London.

Unt– There’s a lot of emcees that are doing well that have come from North London. You have Chipmunk that’s signed and now Scorcher to major labels. Skepta is doing well in the charts so it’s a good look. I expect that a few other people will get signed too in the near future.

AJ-.Around what age did you start emceeing and what motivated you to want to emcee?

Unt– I started emceeing at 16 with my mates in 6th form. Honestly, I had the right concepts but my flow was all over the place. I liked poetry beforehand as it allows you to express yourself so emceeing was a natural progression.

AJ– How did you get the name Untitled?

Unt– I didn’t want an M.C. name so I went with Untitled. It’s only recently that I have found more meaning to my name. Untitled has many different faces. Sometimes I’m happy, sad, moody, crazy etc. When people see one of my tunes they don’t know what they are gonna get and that’s what my name is all about.

AJ– When I first heard your album “Misconceptions”, I noticed that you had many songs with really great messages. At a time when many grime emcees were rhyming about war and road topics, what made you decide to write songs that leaned more towards more positive topics?

Unt– Generally, I am a positive person. As I said before I have a love for poetry and story telling and I wanted to continue the story telling in my music. I get a buzz when people tell me they can relate to something I have made. The whole war thing is boring and played out.

AJ– Lately many grime artists have been doing more club songs or straight Hip-Hop songs. How do you currently see the state of grime?

Unt– At the end of the day, artists are artists. True artists do not stick to using the same canvases and same paint brushes. You have to try different things in order to progress within yourself. Grime is reaching a wider audience but we first need to do some mainstream music to grab people’s attention. In time people will accept the sound. Rescue me by Skepta is a perfect example. Playlisted on radio 1, it’s set to do well.

AJ– Major labels have also been signing many UK artists that originally came from the grime scene. Do you think that is one reason why many grime artists are changing the sound? If so, is it a good or bad thing?

Unt– I can’t really comment on what everyone else is doing and if it’s good or bad but like I said artists should be free to experiment and try different things to gain a larger fan base. If a lot of grime fans actually bought the stuff, maybe they wouldn’t stray in the first place.

AJ-. Talk about the show on Axe Fm. How long has that been going on?

Unt– I’ve been off of axe for the past few months. Been too busy with a lot of projects but big up Pabz and the management team for keeping it going.

AJ– Explain the importance of radio stations such as Axe Fm to the scenes of UK music.

Unt– I feel like all forms of media are important. Internet stations are slowly dying out and being replaced by Ustream and other mediums that artists can use for free. Long live pirate radio. We need some fm stations back. I don’t see myself going back to internet radio to be honest. There’s so many other free ways to promote yourself online.

AJ– Many emcees are also recording more UK Funky tracks lately. How do you feel about the Funky scene? Will you be doing any Funky songs?

Unt– I know next to nothing about the funky scene but if a beat come my way and I liked it I would do it. I don’t restrict myself to any genre.

AJ– Since you cover various topics in your songs, one topic I wanted to get your opinion on is the rise of knife crimes in the UK. What do you think have attributed to so many cases?

Unt– Bad parenting, no community projects, slack sentencing…

AJ– What projects are you currently working on and who are some of the people you have been working with lately?

Unt– Well I’m working with my group called Behave Yourself. That’s me, Messy, Evolver and Rogue. I released a mixtape last year called Mind Warp and 2 singles earlier this year called Getting Older and Left Me. I’m currently working on a free e.p. series while looking to release my next single in September.

AJ– Finally, what would you like the people to ultimately know about Untitled?

Unt– I want people to know that I’m different in terms of the way I approach music. I can only stress that they check it out and judge for themselves.

Untitled Official Site
Untitled Myspace
Untitled’s Twitter Page
Untitled Facebook
Behave Yourself Clothing