Jelani Blackman

Name, where are you from?
Jelani Blackman, London.

Describe your style in three words?
Heavy, Deep, Energy.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
Dizzee Rascal when 'Boy In Da Corner' first came out, 'Fix Up, Look Sharp' was the heaviest thing I'd ever seen live at that point, changed my life.

If you could be on the line up with any two artists in history?
Kayne, so I could low key surprise him and jump out as a hype man on songs I was feeling. Oasis because the atmosphere they'd create would be mad and it's actually so peak they might never reunite for that to happen.

Which subcultures have influenced you?
Grime, dunno if you'd still call it a subculture to be honest. But it was massively influential to me when it was, even though I always knew I didn't wanna be a grime artist. Probably Indie as well actually. Taught me how to mosh, was a very valuable life lesson.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
Jesus. Because what was the deal really.

Of all the venues you’ve played, which is your favourite?
I loved Corsica Studios. The bass banged, and the energy inside was a lot. It was my first headline gig, and there was mad love inside.

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
I don't think Trim gets the widespread rating he should like other older grime artists. Everything about his flow and bars is deep. And when he dropped his new project recently, it sounded fresh and still sounded like him.

Experimental hip-hop orientated artist Jelani Blackman's career so far has seen him work with such diverse artists as Sylas, Brian Eno and Kanye West. His latest vibrant track 'Go Low' is accompanied by an equally vibrant video made with London based creative agency Paq.