Road 1 by Road Magazine

ROAD #1

N O T E

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARIA NAVARRO

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ROUTINE CHECK? I DIDN’TTAKETHIS ROUTETO BE CHECKED SOUND LIKE YOU ROUTINELY CHECK ANY YOUTHS IN JEANS AND CREPS WHAT DO YOU MEAN ROUTINE CHECK? I DIDN’TTAKETHIS ROUTETO BE CHECKED SOUND LIKE YOU ROUTINELY CHECK ANY YOUTHS IN JEANS AND CREPS THE MITCHELL BROTHERS - ROUTINE CHECK 2004

CONTENTS

ROAD JAMS - 6 FILFURY

REAL TALK - 10 FEMI ADEYEMI - 14 A N D R E ANDERSEN - 16

ANIS ALI - 20 TGIF

FRESH DEATH

MOJEEZY’S - 28 S T U D I O PIONEERS - 30 TYLER, CREATOR

TO 34

CONTRIBUTORS 54

BAE #1

4X4

THE - 32 36

Just like Young Fathers, Kendrick also has something to say, and as with White Men Are Black Men Too, Kendrick also tries to fuse the politics with the partying, with interesting results.To Pimp A Butterfly is essentially a concept album, one with many themes, interlocking and overlapping like a musical Pulp Fiction. It covers so much, that I’m still uncovering and discovering elements I didn’t even hear first time round, but I’ll try and run you through the major points Kendrick is aiming to address. The weightier issues include black-on-black violence, US race relations, African-American role models, the history of black music, slavery, and America in general. But interwoven are the interesting side notes, the stories that let us know more about the man behind the rhymes, such as the perils and temptations of fame (personified several times as Lucy aka Lucifer), the importance of home life versus tour life, and of course, family. To be honest, this is one of those albums that deserves more than words on a page, so go listen, learn, and enjoy what is undoubtedly one of the greatest hip hop albums of modern times.

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Dizzee Rascal – Nutcrackerz (Feat. Giggs)

Another man from day dropping his latest single is the one and only Dizzee Rascal AKA Raskit. Unfortunately, where Skepta’s Shutdown had that progressive production and cutting edge social references, here we have Dizzee and Giggs flowing over a boring and repetitive sample from the Nutcracker Suite ballet – a sample that’s been flipped more times than a pancake. And just like said pancake, Giggs is flat and monotonous, as usual. Every couplet starts “Back when…”, and the whole thing just sounds like a mixtape filler at best. The only saving grace here is Dizzee. Despite having been there and done it, he still sounds fresher than a daisy field, using that rapid-fire, multisyllabic flow to full effect on his two verses.

Skepta – Shutdown

After the opening sample of Drake’s infamous Vine we’re treated to some gloriously lo-fi midi horns, taking us straight back to ’04. But what follows is not some rose-tinted, “longing for the glory days” homage. Instead,

ROAD JAMS

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly

WHAT ROAD IS LISTENING TO REVIEWS BY DANIEL SPENCER

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here we have a forward-thinking, bass-heavy half stepping rolla that gives Skepta the space and time to spin his lyrical thread. What I really love about Shutdown though, is that you can really hear Skepta’s development as an artist, from roadman to fashionista, and with this track he tries to straddle both worlds: “Me and my G’s ain’t scared of police, we don’t listen to no politician”, juxtaposed with “Fashion week and it’s shutdown, went to the show sitting in the front row, in the black tracksuit and it’s shutdown”. I guess he’s basically trying to follow in Kanye’s footsteps, except unlike Mr West, Skepta’s music seems to be going from strength to strength.

Ossie – The Buzz

The Buzz is one of those big and bouncy house bangers that is cheeky, funky, and above all catchy. It almost sounds like Basement Jaxx made some naughty electro track 10 years ago, then jumped into a time machine and travelled to today, where they gave it to some hip, young East Londoner to remix. And I mean that as a compliment! The cheekiness comes from the looping sample (“I can do what the fuck I want”), the funkiness from a wicked little diva-esque vocal lick dropping in about halfway through, and the source of the catchiness is, of course, that massive buzzing sawtooth bass – especially when it’s combined with a lovely hollow synth riff, that weaves an hypnotic call and response with said “buzz bass”. As the kids raving it up in Ibiza oft say: “OI OI, BIG TUNE!”

DRS – Mid Mic Crisis For years Delroy Pottinger (aka DRS) has singlehandedly been flying the flag for the d&b MC as artist. While most people see them as annoying hype men shouting over jump up, DRS has been quietly gathering together the cream of forward thinking drum & bass, and what started with his brilliant debut album from 2012, I Don’t Usually Like MCs But…, becomes fully formed here on Mid Mic Crisis. With production from the likes of LSB, DJ Die, S.P.Y, Dub Phizix, Jubei, Calibre, and label head honcho Marcus Intalex, you know this is gonna be banging, but what’s more surprising is when DRS takes his skillset through into the other genres; DJ Die and Addison Groove bring the footwork-influenced track Concrete Blocks, Toddla T lays down some superchilled, sun-soaked, slo-mo dancehall vibes on the title track, and there’s even time for some classic UK hip hop featuring Micall Parknsun. But Del hasn’t forgotten his roots, bringing back every Mancunian MC worth their salt from Bun Ya for the follow up, Bun Ya Too, featuring Chimpo, Fox, Rolla, Skittles & Strategy. This is electronic dance music with a dark soul that works both in the headphones, and in the clubs.

Young Fathers – White Men Are Black Men Too

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After the success of their debut album last year, I was expecting big tings from their follow up - and boy do they not disappoint! As the title suggests, these three young men have a lot on their minds, ranging from politics to social issues via ethnic identity, and yet what takes this album to the next level is the fact they never once lose sight of the main goal; the music. I always say a truly great album should entertain as well as inform; sparking discussion as well as dancing. From start to finish, Young Fathers push the boundaries of contemporary pop music to breaking point, mixing hip hop and soul with a dash of punk rock attitude, and therefore accomplishing that rare feat of meshing pop and politics into a potent, yet pleasurable mix. This is an album that delivers on all fronts, and thus creates the odd juxtaposition of sating our appetite whilst leaving us hungry for more…

8 encouraging kids to find a better path for themselves through creativity. What type of activities do you set up for the children? And do you think it has had a positive affect on them?

ARTIST FILFURY TALKS TO ROAD ABOUT THE INSPIRATION BEHIND HIS CREP INSPIRED ARTWORK AND HOW HE IS TRYING TO INSPIRE KIDS TO CREATE A BETTER PATH FOR THEMSELVES THROUGH CREATIVITY

I’m still in the process of this; it’s a project I am working on bringing to life. I just want to expose kids to the sense of freedom and creativity that art has to offer. I found myself through personal expression, it now defines me. When I was at school I was always good at art, but it was never encouraged or pushed - it took me some time to realise that was the path for me. The idea with a workshop would be to encourage those good at art, or those with an interest to go further and explore what this has to offer them. Obviously, trainers are a big inspiration to you. What is it about trainers that inspire you? My youth. It makes me think of the past, the memories of what I was doing at each stage of my life when wearing them. I love the textures, the bold colours, the bubbles, and the design in general. It’ a statement - loud and proud. Road is all about street culture and how it is perceived. Do you take any other inspiration from street culture apart from trainers?

FILFURY

Of course, the music, the lifestyle, the attitude. I’m originally from Birmingham, I didn’t have a particularly rough upbringing - I’m more from the burbs. But it was pirate radio, UK garage, 90s street wear, clubs, hanging out with mates in parks, that shaped who I am. I am a long way removed from that now, but those times were amazing now I look back. I’m a little older now so I don’t hang on street corners, park up in empty car parks, or hang at the park - but that spirit of fun I still understand. Today with the internet I see how street culture is influenced on a global scale, so subcultures are a little more blurred. I wish I had Tumblr blogs when I was 17/18, I would’ve dressed a little sharper. We looked up to older kids, what they wore, how they acted, they influenced what I thought was cool. Are you working on any projects at the moment?

Your ‘Make Art the Weapon’ series is very intriguing. What techniques did you use to create these images and what was the inspiration behind them? Originally my process involved taking photographs of my own trainer collection and then digitally painting them into new form. I am in the process of making some real life sculptures however which will break from this technique. I’m inspired by my surroundings, travel, nature, music, fashion, and street

culture. The weapon pieces were my first using the photo mash-up idea and were essentially inspired by my 90’s youth. Both the Footwear and subject matter would be found in 90s action films and I just wanted to see if I could pull it off. Fuse an Airmax 90 with a Beretta handgun, there was no hidden agenda, just to create an iconic image using the two languages. I’ve read that this series lead you to starting up workshops in schools,

Loads. Always. Too many. I create my art outside of being a full time director, I design and direct films and commercials for brands. You can check that stuff out here (www.cortezstreet.com). So I’m busy with a few films and balancing that with pushing my art. I am looking to create more real life sculptures of my art as a next progression, and get my own exhibition in early 2015. What would you say has been your most challenging project? Juggling my time. My art has always been a relatively easy process, as it’s just for me. I enjoy diving into new ideas, I love taking photos and testing myself with how I

LEFT PAGEBERETTA X AM90 2013 THIS PAGE TOP RIGHTADIDAS WORLD CUP SPIDER 2014 TOP LEFT- SNEAKER PIMPS SKULL RED 2013 BOTTOM RIGHTTASTY CREPES 2014

SEE MORE OF FILFURY’S WORK AT WWW.FILFURY.COM

can create something new each time. If you could collaborate with any brand, apart from the ones you have, who would it be and why? Brands don’t really interest me, not near as much as the idea of collaborating with musicians. I love music, especially UK, so any grime artists wanting to jam on a video concept or artwork idea would be lots of fun. Saying that, if Kanye wants a new album cover I’d be into that too... INTERVIEW BY JORDAN RICHINGS

REAL TALK

A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES, INSPIRED BY REAL STUFF THAT GOES DOWN IN THE NIT AND GRIT OF URBAN LIFE

CHICKEN DONNER

It tasted amazing. I was starting to feel really waved from the spliff, I stopped eating for a second as I’d already stuffed half of the kebab down. I looked down at the kebab in my hazed state and staring back at me was the mauled and bloodied face of a dog. I blinked, my heart started beating fast from the gruesome image. I stared at the kebab and that’s what it was, just a kebab. I really shouldn’t of smoked that much, especially not that fast AND especially after still feeling shit from the roll I’d had the other night. I continued eating, this time more slowly, still feeling a bit weird from the image of the dogs face. I was so high, I could feel my eye’s were half shut and I was tingling from head to toe, feeling as if I was sitting on a massive piece of cotton wool and not my bed. As I chewed, I could feel something weird in my mouth, it felt like hair. I spat it out on to my plate and sure enough, bits of bloodied fur coated by saliva was sitting on my plate. I looked at the kebab again and there it was, the dogs severed head. I freaked the fuck out. What was going on? I was tripping obviously, but when you’re feeling it you really start to believe it. I closed my eyes again, but when opened the dog’s head was still there. The eye’s had gone and it was badly disfigured, but it was definitely a dog. I continued opening and closing my eyes, my heart pounding and my stomach churning, but it wouldn’t go away. I could feel the kebab/dog’s head coming back up, I can’t describe how sick I felt. I threw the dog’s head in the bin, it left blood and bits of clumped fur all over my hands. I dashed for the bathroom to wash them off, unable to get the image of the eyeless, disfigured dog head staring at me. I knew it couldn’t of been real, it was just a donner, but I just couldn’t convince myself and I rushed over to the toilet, barely making it in time to spew whatever I had just eaten into it. After I’d finished, I went and got back into bed, I still felt sick to my stomach and kept thinking – ‘there is a fucking dog’s head in my bin’. My earlier hopes of having a good night’s sleep definitely were not going to happen, I laid there for ages, it must have been at least 2 hours, the image of the dog unable to escape my mind, until finally I drifted off into a very restless sleep. It’s safe to say that I will never touch a chicken donner again.

I’d felt like shit for the past two day’s – a very heavy night in the dirty pits of south London with a few mates, one of them called Molly. My come down’s normally only last a day but this one seemed to be going strong still. I’d picked up a draw prior to the rave in anticipation of not being able to sleep, on my way home from work that night it had me excited, a nice spliff and then a deep relaxing sleep. As I walked home from the station I decided to get a chicken donner, I’d had no appetite since the night out and thought the weed would help kick start it. At home, I rolled a FAT one, I wanted to be knocked out in hopes of recovering. A couple of pulls in and I was already feeling it, my body started tingling, my thought’s were beginning to warp and distort in that crazy way you can’t really explain. I felt good. Sure enough, the chicken donner had my stomach grumbling and I started smoking the spliff faster so I could get going on it. I really should of slowed down, I’m a light weight when it comes to weed and I’d made it really strong. With no one around to judge, I went in on the donner once finished. Mayo dripped down my chin and on to my top, salad and bits of chicken falling onto my bed.

BY JAMEL BILLY

COLLAGES BY MERCEDES PARAMOUR

We had always believed that she was the strong one, she stood tall against any challenge and any dickheaded comment. He could have been twice her size but it never phased her, you spat out hate and she would bare her teeth. She was a warrior, a believer and a radical gun. And when Frankie started to moan about her bad habits and sour turns, I remind him of the times before her, of bodies exposed and broken egos. I’d point out to him that we were the lucky ones. Sam could never stand it though. I had two feet to stand on but she always told me to “get some balls”. Not necessary. She had enough for the both of us. Humility was her specialty and apathy her enemy; and so it was mine too. We’d go out dreaming of cities and streets, people we’d never meet and magnitudes that we weren’t completely sure

YOUTH

BY CAROLINE ADEYEMI

we wouldn’t reach. We’d set fire to these shitty nights with our laughter and our screams. Call it an emergency; no one would ever think to run. We were quite the pair, Sam and I. Like two peas in a firing squad- our roots were sown the same way and set in the same place. We were reckless with our eyes, our words and the posts on our instagram accounts. Well I thought it was bold, posting an arse or a nipple or something kind-of-profound, and waiting to see who would be first to be pulled up. I recall the report of April 2012 deemed‘inappropriate’. An animated woman with full front view. It was so flaky, this online community, who liked us sometimes, but took one bad opinion to push us out. What happened to freedom? What happened to loyalty? What happened to ‘don’t be afraid to ask questions?’ We would never bother. The middle-man was a waste of time, we all knew the answers for the things we saw were wrong. We look past it as it eats at our souls and engrosses the back of our minds. Please Stand-by. Nothing much is changed from real life. They tell us how to behave, who we should be, but we never seem to know how to get there. This must be why they get at us all the time. Here’s one that I’ve been getting since I hit adolescence, “You’re all spoilt” some

moany bastard at the bus-stop would say. “You’re lazy” from a the teacher of a course I didn’t even want to take. Oh and I can’t forget dad’s favourite: “what is it exactly that you do?” “Nothing” The only answer we say; the only one that they really wanted to hear to reaffirm their intelligence and monopoly over sanity. “Nothing you could recognise”, if the statement was ever complete. They can’t see the things we see the way we see it. For that reason we gave up on them a long time ago, like forget reality, we have dreams. Sam was never too vocal about this. But sometimes, with the occasional “fuck it”, there was a comment to show she’d been thinking about it. We watch Cartoon Network and foreign films on repeat and in-between scenes she’d turn an ask “how come we keep confusing our wants with needs? Habits with desire? Why can’t we breathe?” Every so often we’d get lost in ourselves with our arrogance or self-pity or whatever it was, but the day that Tommy died none of us knew how to take it. Like a gift that you’d stolen one day and wrapped up in leaves, buried in lost ground and some bastard dug out. We thought that we were all on the same trip- Wake, Work, Sleep- and then break your neck under another’s feet. We sat silent in my room, Eric faked to pick a song. Sam stared at this stupid bong that we’d picked up on a trip to Amsterdam and cracked the edge on the coach that we ran to catch back. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but something with her was both wrong and right. She didn’t look at me to speak, or even shift her head but “we are the strongest”, she said. “We are stronger than them, because we wake up everyday in a daze of uncertainty and their lives are all set in place. I’m not mad at them, it’s what they were taught, and even though everything’s changed, they still think that they know better. But I’m not afraid. Even though they don’t see it, we are the boldest”, she said, “because we are not afraid to be lovers or whores, or to be opened wide or to stand out alone. We are the boldest”, she said, “because although the world might collapse right on top of us and the guards that said they’d save us are far away, we still walk out on a shit day with no helmets and the music on our headphones on”.

FEMI

ADEYEMI

THE FOUNDER OF NTS RADIO SPEAKS TO ROAD ABOUT HOW IT ALL STARTED AND WHERE THE STATION IS HEADING

What prompted you to start NTS? The main thing that prompted me to start it was the fact that I felt that there wasn’t any alternative to mainstream radio. There were some alternatives but they were sort of hidden, no one rea lly knew about them, you’d always have to look hard to find them. I think also from an almost sort of a personal point, I didn’t really feel there was something that catered to the varied taste in music that I like to listen to and that a lot of people like to listen to. How did you go about starting it up? It was hard. I did some business plans, I spoke to a few people and no one really took it seriously as an idea. I totally understood, I was

saying I want to set up my own radio station when there are millions of other stations out there. But anyway, I saved lots of money and I got some help from the Prince’s Trust because I was just under the cut off age when I started. I managed to pull in some favours from friends and I was lucky enough to find space in the Gillet Square around the corner from here, and that was it man, things started flowing from there. Overall though it was a mix of a bit of luck and hard work. NTS has a wide array of different genres playing, how do you go about finding and organizing it all? It can be quite complicated, because the music is different but you still wanna have a

consistent flow so it doesn’t sound so choppy and ‘changy’. It’s been a lot of trial and error, I mean one thing that we’ve always said is that it has to be varied, and it will never sound the same in one day. We’ve tried certain things that haven’t worked but we’ve sort of managed to over-ride them. We’re coming up to four years, over the four years we’ve sort of been able to find a formula that sort of works, to keep the flow, to keep the people still listening. In regards to finding the DJs, when I first started a lot of the people I first started asking where friends as I’d been DJing a lot around London before hand and had made a lot of friends that where DJs. The initial plan was to get around 12 DJs on in the beginning. Most of my friends said they’d do it and we also stuck some posters around and just said that we’ll keep it

open, having 12 DJs wasn’t set in stone. From this we got so many responses and so many people applying, lots of them playing really different stuff. We had this guy who’s show was called Devil Voodoo and he was just playing ritual music all the way through - we had people playing house music, people playing hip-hop, people playing this, people playing that. It was a nice, real mix of people. As I said we thought we’d have around 12 people come through but we had around 60 shows when it got running which was great. Road is really interested in the ways that culture can be expressed, especially through the more lo-fi ways such as pirate radio. Would you say that NTS takes any inspiration from pirate radio? Absolutely, we’d have been a pirate radio station if I could’ve dealt with the hassle. When I was younger me and some friends set up a pirate radio station in Edmonton. It was fun, I mean we only really did it just to impress girls really. We had a few bunch of girls come around and we had this little studio. It got to a point though where travelling all the time and the worry about someone coming to shut you down and everyone just sort of lost interest in it. Ever since that moment I’ve had sort of a bug, so to speak, to be involved in radio in some form. But from pirate radio I always take inspiration from the way it’s run and the way it works. I watched The Square’s session the other day, how was it having them in and performing? Yeah it was great. We’re all sort of linked, somehow through family and friends, it was really good. I’m a little bit more of a garage kid and didn’t really get into grime. A lot of my friends were all garage kids too but when grime came about they got into it. But for me, it’s just amazing to see these young kids coming up again. Grime’s having a massive resurgence and it’s great to see it happening because it’s a uniquely kind of London, British thing. It’s good to see as well that not just people from the UK but around the world are sort of clocking on to it now, like in Japan. I was in Japan recently and we were trying to link up with some grime kids over there but unfortunately it didn’t happen. But yeah, it was nice to have them on the show and it’s good to see everyone pushing them forward. Are you looking forward to anything in particular coming up on NTS? Yeah definitely. The station’s growth is really exciting. I mean we’re growing probably about 8-10% a month in listeners and stuff like that. Just the direction that we seem to be headed, we’re looking to start doing some stuff merging music and art, it will be fun to be working with some artists. Also it’s the sort of excitement of what tomorrow brings in a sense, if there’s always a sense of certainty it can get a bit complacent. Even though we’ve always got a strategy there’s always something that will happen along the way, which will take us in another direction, be it good or bad. The highlight though for this year is that we’re gonna be 4 years old in April, you know being able to take this to 4 years is great. Also some of the events we’re doing this year, some of the people that we’re collaborating with, some of the places in the world where we’ll be broadcasting from, it’s all really exciting. What advice would you give someone wanting to get into radio? It’s all about being dedicated. You’ve just got to believe in yourself and have confidence, that’s number one. That’s easier said than done, but if you feel passionate and strong enough about something then you can basically do it. This doesn’t just go for radio though it goes for anything, what ever you wanna do just stick to those principles. You’ve got nothing to lose. INTERVIEW BY JORDAN RICHINGS

16 St. Raphael’s (or St. Raphs) estate in North West London can be held as notorious for it’s bad reputation due to crime. The young and gifted author Andre Anderson, who has travelled overseas to work with brands such as Adidas, is from this estate. He has previously just completed a project in which he encouraged other youths from St. Raphs to put pen to paper and have their creative talents published. ROAD speaks to Andre about his inspiration behind this and what it’s like living on St. Raphael’s estate. How long have you lived on St. Raphs? I’ve lived on Raphs since 1992, so all my life. What’s life like there? It’s a mix and match. Now it’s much more quiet because it was known for its loudness and it’s madness. There was a lot of crime that was going around which was due to the uncontrolled energy back in the day. But nowadays it’s much more quiet, the community in terms of having like a community barbeque and that is not as frequent as it may have been before hand. So right now it’s really a place where people just live, it’s not a community, for good or for bad. What pushed you to create Authors of the estate?

ANDRE

Aite, so whenever you’ve said that you come from St. Raphs there’s always a stigma of the kind of person you might be because of living there. All the crime and stuff that was happening and the reputation that St. Raphs had will be attached to anybody who lives there. So what I wanted to do was create something that could help in changing the perspective of people who live here and for us to change the way

ANDERSEN

in how we see ourselves. But mainly to change how people on the outside would see us. Being an author, I’ve written five books beforehand ANDRE TALKS ABOUT HIS and every time I’ve written a book I’ve looked RECENT PROJECT ‘AUTHORS OF at it as a passport – It’s THE ESTATE’ WHICH SET OUT allowed me to see different things, meet different people and go different places. It’s even alTO GIVE YOUTH A CHANCE TO lowed me to go over seas to Montreal and New HAVE THEIR WORK PUBLISHED York. Going to those places and then coming back to St. Raphael’s estate, you realise that everybody has the same skill set as you but they haven’t had the same opportunities because they haven’t made a passport yet. That was really the key idea, to create a passport and say ‘listen, we’re gonna make this passport so wherever you wanna go or whatever you wanna do with this passport is up to you. We’re just gonna do this and see what happens’. How did you meet the other authors? I kind of knew them before hand any way so we either went to the same school or I’d seen them around. The only person that I fully knew and I spoke to was one of the authors named Nathan. Because he was more connected to them than me he spoke to them more frequently, he was kind of the person to go around and say I know you write or you have the capability to write, do you want to do something for the book. He was the person that kind of rounded up everybody. Was it a good feeling to give the authors of the book a platform to showcase their talent? Yeah of course, because people who have come

LEFT PAGE - PHOTOGRAPHY BY JORDAN RICHINGS RIGHT PAGE - IMAGE TAKEN FROM ‘AUTHORS OF THE ESTATE’

V I S I T AUTHORSOFLONDON. S Q U A R E S PAC E . CO M TO PURCHASE A COPY OF THE BOOK

from North West London or our kind of background haven’t necessarily had the opportunity to sit down and write a book or have the opportunity to have their words in print. It’s almost like magic to allow something like that to happen. It was a good feeling. Do you feel there is enough support and encouragement for youth to pursue their talents? I’d say there is a lack of encouragement, that’s the reason why this project has ended up the way it is, probably the reason why I done this project in the first place. This is supposed to be the encouragement, to get everybody into creativity but other than that there’s nothing around us that brings up any spark of creativity. Even the way this estate is designed, if you didn’t know this estate you’d get lost in an instant. Everything is designed the same, it’s all blocks. There’s not a speck of graffiti around, I’m not saying that graffiti is good, but there’s no speck of art around here. This area in particular doesn’t encourage people into creativity. Are you working on any other projects at the moment? Well this project has sort of developed, it’s changing from authors of the estate to authors of London. I’m still figuring out exactly what this will be, but the end goal is to try and make London full of authors and creatives. How we get to that point I’m not too sue, but that’s what the end goal is. Now I’m just in the process of how I’m going to make it a thing. What’s the step by step to get to the end goal. What’s your ideal goal for the future? Do you want to carry on writing? Yeah I’m definitely going to carry on writing; literally words can get you anywhere. The reason that we are having this interview now is because I wrote a book at some point. My goal is to create as many passports as possible; if I want to go overseas I know I just need to create a passport in order to get there. If I want to get a particular job or do something I need to create a passport. I’ve understood now that writing is my tool to get through doors or in order to build other people. I don’t think that words or books or writing is going to loose any power soon. INTERVIEW BY JORDAN RICHINGS

THE OLDAHS

When gathering the authorsfor this book, I was in discussion with Raze, wondering who in this estate would be interested in something like this. Out of innocence, I thought it would be good to have the Oldahs, the prominent role models of the estate, writing something. I said this thinking that those who were older and of influence wrote in this book, it would spur on the younger guys to take on writing. When hearing my comment, he laughed... “We are the Oldahs”. It took me back a little, though it shouldn’t have. There is no one above us anymore. We are the role models. We were once kids who had no say. Now, we are twenty-somethings with the power to influence the younger generations. The best thing is, we don’t need to keep our street culture the way it’s always been. We can invent new rules to this game. And we already have Oldahs paving the way. He used to kick ball in these fields, now Raheem Sterling plays regularly in stadiums packed with roaring supporters. He used to make his way to local gatherings, now George the Poet casually strolls into the Royal Albert Hall to get his voice heard. Where we used to start mischief, we now start businesses. We used to write raps, now we write books. Less poverty, more prodigies. We are the Oldahs now. We write the future. BY ANDRE ANDERSEN FROM ‘AUTHORS OF THE ESTATE’

When did you first become interested in photography and why? It was in college, it fell in accidentally as I chose photography as a subject to waste a few years to try and not fall into the world of getting a job and growing up. I bought a little SLR and just began shooting my friends and all the stupid things we used to do, it pretty much went from there really.

ROAD SPEAKS TO ANIS ALI - A PHOTOGRAPHERWHO CLAIMS HIS WORK TO BE AN ‘ON-GOING DOCUMENTATION OF UK HIP-HOP CULTURE’

Thank you, I don’t actually know when its the right time to snap, I keep one both eyes open so I can still see what’s going on when I’m about to take the photo. I know it sounds silly because that’s the point of the viewfinder but sometimes when its dark I can’t see anything through it - which means I have to look with my left eye as well. I think it also falls into the fact that I carry a point and shoot with me near enough 24/7, so whatever situation I’m in, I’m always ready to take a flick.

ANIS

Firstly, I love your images. They’re very in the moment and make me feel as if I’m there involved in what’s going on. When do you know it’s the right time to take a picture? They always seem to be taken at just the right time.

Are there any other photographers that you specifically take inspiration from? I try not to look at other peoples work much, Its not a personal thing towards them it’s just when you look at someone’s work that you like, it’s in the back of your head and when you go shoot or just put some work together you subconsciously try and re-enact or make it look like something that you’ve seen. Maybe not everyone, but I used too when I first started and it’s something I erased away from my work at a very early stage. Since then I’ve been working on trying to get my own style and work hard on it.

ALI

ALL IMAGES BY ANIS ALI

What would you say is the most exciting thing that you’ve photographed? Hmm, that’s a hard one. I think festivals are very exciting, that’s the situation and environment I do well in and it’s challenging. From doing my gig work to following people who have no idea what planet they’re on is definitely an exciting mix. Also just meeting artists and people who I’ve looked up to for years and just coming up with really fun and silly shoots on the spot which come out better than I ever imagined. I’ve heard you use digital to shoot for gigs and such and 35mm cameras for your more personal work. Is there a reason behind this? And which do you prefer shooting with? There isn’t really a reason to be honest. Its just a safe option for me to shoot at gigs, I have shot some gigs strictly on film but it is risky for me. I do take one or two here and there on film and I do prefer them to the 200 digitals ones I end up taking. Maybe once I feel more confident in my understanding with low light photography with no flash then I can start doing it. A lot of movement and low light is hard to capture on a shoddy little 35mm camera I found in a charity shop. I shoot 35 for personal work because I just carry several types of point and shoots with me so it’s easy too be sneaky or completely up front. It’s lightweight and a lot of the time I prefer the look of the photos. I don’t mind digital but it’s hard to carry a DSLR when going out with my friends. A lot of drinks get spilt and sheer amounts of recklessness get had. The subjects within your more personal work are quite subversive (well, to the more mainstream public). Are you friends with those in your images or do you approach them to document them? A lot of the time yes, it’s friends or people I know who are comfortable with me shooting them. I’m starting to shoot a lot of strangers lately because I’m noticing more weird and wonderful people in my town. I’ve starting carrying round a little pocket 6X4 photo album with about 20 or so photo’s of mine so if people get funny with me taking photos of them I show them that I take photos and they relax a bit more and want to not smash my head in. What are your plans for the rest of 2k15? Right now I’m chilling, Its been a very busy few years building my work and getting to where I am, I’m in no way certain where I want to be with my work yet so I’m just slowly developing and learning as much as I can on the way. Who knows what the future holds, Festival season is fast approaching so that should make for some fun shooting (as always ). And lastly, is there anything exciting going on within the UK hip hop scene that you recon we should be keeping an eye one? I think the scene is growing into something it’s never delved into before and its exciting. I can only say from my point of view that I’m looking forward to future releases from an ever-expanding scene and genre. A lot of good music is to still be made and released I’m sure so who knows what the future holds for the scene. Its in a very strong place and no one seems to be slowing down. INTERVIEW BY JORDAN RICHINGS

THANK G O D I T ’ S FRIDAY

ROAD FOUND THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE IMAGES FROM THE BLACK FRIDAY SALES COMPARED TO THOSE OF THE LONDON RIOT’S QUITE AMUSING. HERE WE PRESENT A MASH-UP OF NEWS REPORT TEXT AND IMAGES FROM BOTH EVENTS.

MOJEEZY’S

Why did you decide to name the place Mojeezy’s? It was a rebellion thing so a combination of Young Jeezy and Mugabe haha. So Mojeezy’s. It was one of my boy’s nicknames. How did Mojeezy’s begin? I started with Uncle Felix. We started by going to people’s houses then we started the first shop upstairs and that was it. We’re in the second branch now. Did you build your customers initially through word of mouth? Yeah, people started recommending us. We saw that there was potential in the business so it went from there. I worked in a shop called Frontline where I rented a chair then from there moved to the village market and also rented a chair there then eventually we started our own little business so by then we had already built a clientele. How did you find the other barbers? Some barbers came one by one. Others got trained. We started with a guy called Abu, he’s still here with me in the new shop now. We trained him up initially. The next barber to come was Killian. He was a barber already so had his customers. He lived locally and then the rest. We have 7 barbers altogether. Myself, Abu, 2Pac, Killian, Kofi, Michael and Nicholas. What makes you guys stand out as barbers?

29 Mainly it’s our customer service, the cleanliness of the shop and sanitation and the consistency of the haircut. Who would you say is a favourite barber? I would say 2Pac because he relates to the younger boys more. Is that important? Very important because we have a young clientele. Everyone needs to relate to the teenagers. What flows through conversation when guys come to get their hair cut? Normally fashion, what’s happening in the news and the media, music and sports. Does it get busy during big matches? We don’t tend to show matches because it just distracts us. We don’t get too busy on match days. Especially when its big teams like Chelsea or Arsenal. What creates the environment in the barbershop? I would say the main factor is music. We play a lot of current music. It’s always mixed. We play R&B and Hip Hop for the youngsters as well as Afrobeats but we cater for all. Lastly how would you like people to perceive Mojeezy’s? What is it important to know about you? We’re quite open. We operate in a simple manner so there’s not much that’s hidden. I think that’s what helps us as well. We know that it’s a clean business and everything is in order. We’re trying to set up a legacy and also trying to help the youth more or less and the black community. We want to help the young people around the area by giving them valuable skills.

AN INTERVIEW WITH SLOUGH BASED BARBER SHOP ‘MOJEEY’S’, TALKING ABOUT WHERE THEY’VE COME FROM AND THE ALL IMPORTANT BARBER SHOP E T I Q U E T T E

INTERVIEW AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY RACHEL ABEBRESE

CHECK STP AT D A N I E D U C H A M P . W I X . C O M / S T U D I O - P I O N E E R S

Who are STP? “There are many pioneers within film directing, fashion and music but there hasn’t ever been a partnership of individuals that have combined these elements into one organization”. This quote taken from their website can sum up who they are. A young ‘creative collective’ made up of young ‘urban’ youths fresh out of college. Within this group there is an exciting mix of music producers, photographers, fashion designers and even a member there just to handle the business side of things. Their ambition is thrilling, as well as their energy – which I find hard to keep myself flowing with when meeting up with four of their members; Mac (fashion design), TRILLWILL (fashion design), Polani (photography) and Jay (business student). The meeting was regarding a possible collaboration that could happen between them and ROAD. However, upon meeting them it was clear that they in themselves are a feature for this magazine. They embody what ROAD want to portray – not all youths that are in a crew are up to no good. STP have all the same mannerisms as a gang. They have tag names, the listen to what some would call loud and subversive music, their attire is predominantly made up of street and sportswear fashion and their slang is that what is vocalised from raw London youth. Yet there is no threat to be had from them, the only kind of deviance they want to create is that in the terms of breaking the mould of how creativity can be enhanced. I found it hard to keep up with there relentless energy at the meeting, there ambition was pushed to the forefront by them and gave a sense of impending success for this collective. Their work may not be the most highly successful and polished thing that is happening at the moment, but the level that they are at and the drive they have at such a young age gives me a sense that their work will soon be at the forefront of creative London and I cannot wait. ARTICLE BY JORDAN RICHINGS

A LOOK AT ASPIRING CREATIVE COLLECTIVE STP (STUDIO PIONEERS).A CREW WANTING TO START ART, NOT BEEF.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIMBERLEY DUKE

STUDIO PIONEERS

THE ROUNDHOUSE 14.05.2015

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHANTAL ADAMS

TYLER, THE CREATOR

Being one of the world’s most controversial rappers, attending Tyler, the Creator’s gig at The Roundhouse as part of his CHERRY BOMB tour we had high hopes for an exciting and shocking show. Exciting it was, opening with his track ‘BITCH SUCK DICK’ set the hype and momentum for the rest of the gig. This was helped also by the pre show warm up by fellow OFGWKTA member TACO the DJ, playing some of the turnt hip hop tracks of the moment. Tyler’s erratic and boisterous behaviour by which he is known for was somewhat milder than what we were expecting, but he did still put on a good show. Halfway through he instructed half of the crowd to yell “Fuck that” and the other half to shout out “Golf! Wang!” (the name of his clothing line). This was about as much interaction he had with the crowd however. The show ended quite abruptly and Tyler didn’t deliver an encore, however we were entertained throughout the show and were not left disappointed. The night, although, was still due a dose of deviance which came from what could be called a ‘guerilla performance’ by an anonymous rapper wearing a balaclava outside the venue whilst the crowd was filling out. Luckily we arrived in the heat of the moment and managed to capture some pretty sick footage. This was soon broken up by the police but we were left with a buzz from the shock and the thrill of the performance. All in all, Tyler and the unknown masked rapper delivered the goods. REVIEW BY JORDAN RICHINGS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRISTIAN MARCUS

NIKE TUNED 1 Remember back to being in secondary school, with your attire consisting of a pair of TN’s, a TN hat, TN tracksuit, TN cap etc. Well, Nike’s infamous TN shoe is high up on ROAD’s wish list right now with a whole new range of colour-ways to choose from, pick up a pair and reminisce about the care free days chilling at school with your boys.

FRESH TO DEATH

LEFT - TOP BY NIKE / BOTTOMS BY ADIDAS RIGHT - JACKET BY TOPSHOP / BOTTOMS MODEL’S OWN

BARDHA

DONNIKA

39 LEFT - CAP BY REEBOK / JACKET BY H&M / TOP BY ADIDAS / DUNGAREES MODEL’S OWN RIGHT - JACKET BY EVISU / JEANS BY LEVI’S

LEFT - DUNGAREES BY TOMMY HILFIGER RIGHT - BATHING SUIT MODEL’S OWN

YASMIN

PHOTOGRAPHY - JORDAN RICHINGS STYLING - RACHEL ABEBRESE & ALEX WHITEHOUSE MODELS - ELI & SKIDZ

LEFT - CAP BY H&M / T-SHIRT BY THE NORTH FACE RIGHT - CAP BY FRED PERRY / COAT BY FILA / TROUSERS BY NIKE

SKIDZ WEARS - HAT MODEL’S OWN / T-SHIRT BY NIKE / TRACKSUIT BOTTOMS BY ADIDAS

ELI WEARS - HAT BY THE NORTH FACE / T-SHIRT BY UMBRO / TRACKSUIT BOTTOMS BY NIKE

LEFT - CAP BY ADIDAS / COAT BY POLO RALPH LAUREN / JEANS MODEL’S OWN RIGHT - CAP BY BURBERRY / T-SHIRT BY NY YANKEES

48 LEFT - BUCKET HAT AND HOODIE BY ADIDAS RIGHT - CAP BY LACOSTE / T-SHIRT BY POLO RALPH LAUREN

4X4 50

JORDAN X KALEEM

THEO X JOSH

CHANTAL X POLANI

COREY X THEO

CONTRIBUTORS

CHANTAL

JAMEL

KRISTIAN

RACHEL

ABEBRESE

ADAMS CAROLINE

ADEYEMI

BILLY COREY

BULMER

PIPPA

EVANS

MARCUS MARIAH

NAVARRO

DANIEL

SPENCER

MERCEDES PARAMOUR

THEO

ALEX

WHITHOUSE

EDITOR JORDAN RICHINGS

SPENCER

NOW

OFF