Harry Shotta really epitomises everything that is awesome about the art of rhyming, give Harry Shotta any beat of any genre to rhyme over and you wont ever be disappointed!
One of the biggest names in D&B and UK music, Harry Shotta’s latest single “Mr Contradictions” was our February single of the month on the Saturday morning show on ITCH FM. We managed to grab a few minutes with one of the nicest and busiest guys in the game to talk about his latest single “Mr Contradictions”, breaking Eminem’s world record, what his plans are for 2016 and more..
DJ Myme catches up with Harry Shotta
Mr Contradictions was our Feb single of the month on the Saturday breakfast show on ITCH FM its fire, Harry Shotta you never disappoint! How has the public reaction been to the single so far?
I’m glad your feeling it bro! Yeah when we dropped the Back 4 More EP a lot of people were talking about the Contradictions track. We made a decision to make videos for every track off the EP and Mr Contradictions was actually the last one we shot. I was sent a e mail from a guy called Luke C Harper, I checked out his work and immediately decided I wanted him to shoot the video as the music videos I saw of his all had a very film/cinematic vibe which was perfect the track. When we dropped the video for the tune it got people taking straight away and I’m really happy with the reaction from the fans and also people in the scene. Evil B even called it my best work yet which was a big compliment considering the amount of music I put out.
There are so many influences within the production, HipHop, Grime, D&B. What genre would you put it in? Also who produced it they did an amazing job?
See this is the thing. I come from a Hip Hop background. I grew up listening to people like Wutang, Big Pun, Biggie & Nas but I was always massively into Drum N Bass too. I use to go to all the big DnB raves on the weekend and have always had a passion for the scene way before I ever MC’d to it. I think this is why I like to fuse the two styles whenever I can. With Contradictions the verses are more on a Hip Hop flex but obviously the chorus switches to a standard DNB tempo. I’ve got to give credit to Erb N Dub for the production. I’ve known him since school days and he knows I love both genres so it was sick how he managed to fuse the two styles. I want to do a lot more of this in the future aswell as full on vocal DNB and obviously Hip Hop and Grime too!
Mr Contradictions is taken from your latest EP “Back 4 More” how has the reaction been to the EP?
Yeah the EP was very well received!!! It came out around the same as the Compton film so the week it dropped it was pure NWA and only Section Boyz & myself from the UK in the I Tunes top 10. Aswell as it selling well though I think the EP makes a statement. Some people don’t really respect DnB MC’s as they have a perception that we are just rave MC’s with zero lyrical content. I wanted to dispel that myth by dropping an vocal led DnB EP which fused elements of Hip Hop and Grime and above all had a strong wave of lyrical content. I also collaborated a lot on the EP. All the producers are from a DnB background but MC wise I had P Money on there, Spyda, Azza and Grima, Eksman & Traumatik. I was really happy with the way the EP came out and am back in the studio working on all sorts of styles that I can wait to drop!!!
I have to mention “Animal” your wold record breaking single, you laid down 1771 words, beating Eminem’s previous record for 1560 words on “Rap God”. Any plans to try and beat your own record? Also when are you and Eminem going to do a track?
Eminem over a D&B track with your self would be epic!
Nah I wasn’t really thinking about beating my own record but you might have given me an idea there! Nah seriously that whole Animal situation was mental. When the record went viral & people like T Pain, Funk Flex & Waka Flocka were all posting about it I knew it had gone to a whole new level. In terms of Eminem, obviously I would love to do something with him. I’ve loved his work for years & him over DnB would be epic!!!
I can imagine your playlists are quite varied, who should we be listening to music wise in 2016, any recommendations?
It’s true that I listen to a broad spectrum of music & my playlists are quite varied. There’s a whole new wave of MC’s coming through in DnB who I rate like Azza, Grima, Dreps & Traumatik so watch out for those guys DNB wise. In terms of artists outside of the DnB scene I love Cadet. I don’t think anyone is doing it like him in the current market place. His passion and the emotion he puts into his bars is on a whole next level. I also like Prez T a lot, love his flows. And of course I listen to American Hip Hop too, Kendrick is my favourite rapper from the States but I seriously rate J Cole and I’m loving the new Kanye album!
Last but not least what’s next for you in 2016?
I’ve got serious aims for this year! By the time the year is out I’m hoping to drop the Harry Shotta Show album, a Grime EP, a Hip Hop EP and a new DnB mixtape. Plus I’ll be collaborating a lot and I’ll be working on stuff with the SAS-SAS. And of course I’m gonna drop a bunch of freestyles and all the usual visuals. I do want to experiment a bit more vocally too and perhaps do some acoustic stuff. I’m excited about the music I’m making in the studio and am looking to push my own levels & my work rate up a few notches.
[wpsocialboost_video youtube=’z0A7VdGs_Oc’]