N1

When did you first hear hip hop and what were those first songs?

I first bought hip hop in 1982/83 (Grandmaster Melle Mel and the furious five, Kurtis Blow, Arthur Baker etc), but I had been hearing it via the Electro series in the UK from about 1980...tunes like "Jam on it" by Nucleus etc on all these compilations first showed me hip hop....

What did hip hop mean to you then and how has that meaning stayed with you and evolved as you've begun to write rhymes and produce tracks?

Hip hop meant everything to me! But I wasn't so much into the dancing or graffiti as I was into the words. I was fascinated by the idea that these guys were saying so many words in a song, and they rhymed, and they all made sense! It was like some amazing miracle to me! I used to sit down and hand write all the lyrics to Melle Mel and KRS1 tunes on all my books, bags etc, and just sit there reciting them back to people. Then as I began to write I realised the incredible powerhouse rap music was. I was able to channel all my emotions, feelings, and ideas out through this music. Writing rap (which is essentially street poetry) and writing poetry is still at the core of who I am, and will never fade. People who like hip hop are very different people to those who write rhymes....rappers are the crying voice in the wilderness of the streets.

You've performed at Nihal's (from BBC Radio1) London club night called Bombay Bronx - tell me about that gig and what Bombay Bronx is all about.

Ha ha! Yes I battled Nihal in fact! It was a beautiful thing. He and I went about four rounds of non-stop battery. Neither of us wanted to give up or leave each other alone, it was deep and kept the audience laughing...which was the main thing. It was a great night, and for a fantastic cause as well. Nihal set this up almost instantaneously in the wake of the Tsunami disaster, and with his generosity of spirit and time helped raise thousands of pounds for this cause. Bombay Bronx is all about cutting edge Asian music, and it has personified all that is interesting and diverse about the UK Asian sound.

'Natural Progression' and self-expression are things you've talked about when refering to the development of Yoga, particularily the combination of philosphies and techniques you believe in as an instructor... How are Yoga and music related to each other and how can people use music to develop themselves?

Yoga and hip hop music are my two subjects. Some people find them distinctly at odds, and others can see that they both are forms of spiritual development. People can question how hip hop helps you spiritually, but I say that anything which allows your spirit and consciousness to manifest its presence so personally has got to be good for the whole being. If a rapper raps about killing people mindlessly then clearly that is not progressive, but eventually he will purge himself of that inclination - and maybe its better he speaks out it, than actually does it. Ultimately rap is words....and words are hip hop. So, who says that words are always bad words? Many hip hop acts have been "conscious" and even those who appeared contrary to that, may have had serious points raised in their music, albeit in a forceful manner.

Yoga is a system of mental, physical, and spiritual discipline. Music and poetry is the expression and feeling of the soul and heart. So as the soul becomes more apparent in a person, so their expressions become more stirring and philosophical. Yoga helps the person to tune it with themselves, and music helps the person to safely and beautifully express their nature along that journey we call life....

Many people find their soul through the medium of music. There is a type of yoga named "Bhakti yoga" which means the yoga of devotion. So when one is singing or rapping about something with such passion that they feel a spirit within them raise, that is a type of yoga (yoga means union with the soul and Spirit). Examples of this are gospel, quawali, and gharbar or bhajan music.

It is also understood in yoga that vibration is the cause of life, and what is vibration, but music...?

Your latest work is a political peace that opens with 'Calling all US Troops and all Terrorists, lay down your guns you all need therapists.' This is a bold statement and the track goes on to relate your view on war and its non-place in true religion. What was the lead-up to releasing the track; was it difficult to approach the topic and what is your vision for it once it hits the streets?

This track "same skies" is laying down my foot hard on the streets and saying that I am fed up with the nonsense this world is claiming as truth. In my heart, there is only one truth, and that is that all religions are essentially the same. All religions teach one to better themselves in the ultimate aim of uniting with the creator or with the higher self within. To me, it makes perfect sense that all religions were by nature of time and space created at different points in history. Even a child could understand that there would be differences in the purveyours, cultures, and climes in which these religions were born. But strip these differentials apart and what you have are the same ideas, values, and even the same scientific theories on re-ascending the human back to "God", what amazes me is that in the name of religion (and I am not talking about Muslims' alone by any means) all religions see it fit to fight and kill babies and mothers of opposing religions, because they have not understood the simplicity of what say.

It is bold, but it needs to be said boldly. There is no point being wishy-washy about a message like this. I want people on the street to take this track exactly as they wish, some will not agree, others will see my truth, and see it as their own. Either way, I will carry this message as boldly and as starkly as it takes to right this wrong.

About the track - 'Same Skies' The message behind the track is simple: Although we all may appear radically different in out cultures and religions, we are still clearly one people. After all, we drink from the same seas, are born in the same manner, laugh with the same tones, and of course, we live and die under one sky. It points out that all religions hold peace and love at their core, yet war is the result of the meeting of these religions. It speaks of the hypocrisy of seeing God in all, and then killing all. It speaks of the children lost and dying in the name of religion. The message is ultimately, let us begin to recognise the oneness of out race, the things we share, both material and ideologically, and drown out the global turf war with the waters of wisdom.

Three versions were made for the various tastes: one is for the ragga / hip hop massive, with ad libs from Danni and more of an edge. Another was produced for the radio, with a street soul feel, and yet another was made for pumping loud and feeling the bass!