A Moment With Mes

The week before we meet he was graduating. This week he’s here with me discussing a budding music career and various business adventures on which he hopes to embark, including his own Production Company. Before I can even take the first sip of my tea he is talking of new management, videos, and collaborations. In fact, I realise after only a few minutes that he doesn’t stop talking.

For some he will be just another name, however, some may already be musically acquainted. Either way the 23 year old, graduate from South-East London has the same history, one rooted in Grime. If you were not tuned into pirate radio during the mid-2000’s you may not be so familiar with Messy. If, however, more recently you’ve got your ‘Grime’ on you may know a little more. Luckily I am about to fill you in.

Whilst music has always been an important factor for Mes, he hasn’t always taken it so seriously. Just like most secondary school boys interested in music it was at first a case of strictly playground business. By the age of 16, however, Messy had begun appearing on pirate radio, firstly with his own collective TMS and later the ‘Merc Boys’. Before long he had hooked up with SLK and Flirta D, joining them for regular sets on Hot Blaze (formerly Raw UK), one of the biggest stations around at the time.

Subsequently he became a member of the ‘South Soldiers’ who, as a collective, regularly appeared on the popular pirate station ‘On Top’ fm. If you knew Grime back then, you knew South Soldiers. If you didn’t you may at least of heard their 2006 ‘Heads Up’ hit promoting anti-gun crime, a record that received widely acclaimed success, particularly in South London. As a result ‘South Soldiers’ became a house-hold name within Grime; however this was as a collective- not as individuals. It helped, but as Mes agrees he has had to pave his own way as an individual. As a South London boy I assume it had been harder for him to make connections within a scene largely dominated by North and East London MC’s. ‘Definitely’ he replies without much hesitation, but it seems he chanced upon connections through a combination of networking and luck.

As he openly admits however, his University years proved somewhat intrusive on his musical ambition, and for the most part, ground his progress as an artist in the UK scene to a premature halt. Somehow I’m not at all surprised- prioritising between a degree and music must have been tough. ‘The first year wasn’t so hard’ Messy admits, but as deadlines arose it began to take its toll. He couldn’t put any music out and subsequently lost most of the buzz he had worked hard in creating previoulsy. But, he wasn’t going to get right to the end to fail, so he put the work in. Thankfully, for him, it proved to be no-more than a temporary interruption to his musical schedule.

If, by chance you are quite unfamiliar with Mes’s older work, collaborations with the likes of Wiley and Tinchy Stryder, you may, more recently have stumbled upon him collaborating with artists such as Ghetts or Rebler. You might even have caught his face on Grime Daily; he’s a regular nowadays so it’s more than likely, and his F64- surely you’ve seen it? He grins when I mention his, ‘I’m not guna lie…’ he says confidently, ‘But I went in’. Without doubt he seems pretty chuffed with his performance. In this line of work it does not pay to be introverted or modest, in fact it’s almost certain to hold you back. As an artist if you don’t think you’re the best- then there’s a problem.

I ask him which quality he believes makes him stands out most as an artist. Certainly he has as a very distinctive voice- but what else? ‘I’m a well rounded artist’ he says ‘but I think it’s my word play’. It’s a listen-to-and-rewind-back-too-many-times-so-you’re-certain-to- catch-everything situation, and when one of those arises I’m certain to take notice. With Mes, whilst you may pick up some lyrics the first time round a lot goes over the head and comes back later. Attach no negative connotations here-not every MC is fortunate enough to possess this quality. I certainly sympathise when the lyrics an artist has included ‘to make the other bits sound better’ as Messy puts it, are picked up on more frequently that the ones that are even better. That’s the downfall of being too lyrical I suppose.

As our interview draws to a close, my questioning begins to lack any sense of direction but I’m glad that’s the case. Instead we just chat which is far nicer and I begin to see just what he’s about as a person as well as an artist. I apologise for not asking him the questions I bet he gets asked every time, the ‘how did you come up with your name’ sort of one’s. He tells me its better that way but to be honest I’m now regretting not asking him at least that question- he’ll have to get back to me on that one. As I head off back to work I think over our meeting. I like what Mes is about. Importantly he has drive and positivity and with this in tow there should be nothing stopping him. Plus he has the material to go with it. Messy he may be, but it looks as though he’s certainly capable of clearing up this year. I for one certainly hope so.

{If you like the sound of what you read I am pleased to inform you there’s an awful lot in the pipeline! Not only is his old mix CD ‘Messinterpretation’ available for digital download right now but he’s been working on an EP that’s coming very soon. There’s a whole load of remix volumes too. And, as if that wasn’t enough he’s got videos and collaborations coming out of his ears. If you’d heard whisperings about a collaboration with Wretch- you’re sources informed you well and hook up’s with artists such as G-Frsh, Mike GLC and Fix Dot are certainly not out of the question either!}