Returning to the music game once again, Double S is right back to his old ways, collaborating with Sticky to release the garage-infused banger ‘Day One’ earlier this year. And we can expect to hear far more from him as we ease out of the COVID madness.
Having cut his teeth alongside Chip and Wretch 32, and being exposed to the industry so young, he’s taken time away to enjoy music as a hobby, not just a job, and you can hear that playfulness in his music. In this interview, we get to know the latest iteration of the man behind tracks like ‘Style & Flows’ (ft. Jme), ‘Certy’ (ft. Skepta) and ‘Get Paid’ (ft. Wiley).
THIS IS MSM MEETS DOUBLE S
JS: Jack Siggs (@jacksiggs)
DS: Double S (@double.s.official)
JS: Hi mate. How’s it going?
DS: I’m good man I’m good. Just chilling. The suns out.
I’m getting back into the swing of things, adjusting to everything with COVID. But everything’s going good man.
JS: Talk me through your first half of 2020… what’s been good, what’s been bad?
DS: Well I enjoyed until my birthday, March 10th. I was in Barcelona and the day we came back to London was the day they had lockdown over there. So, I could have accidentally spent the whole of the last 5 months in Barcelona. But yeah, God is good…
I’ve been using it to get back to being creative, going studio, sharpening my tools and preparing myself for when COVID’s done.
JS: You’ve taken some time away from music on more than one occasion. Why is that?
DS: I’ve been in the industry for a very long time. I would say people like me, Chip, Griminal… we grew up in the industry. We didn’t really have a childhood. It’s like going to work straight away. We’ve been working since 16, up til 22, 23.
After that is when I tried to have my childhood again, if that makes sense. Enjoying myself a bit more, then going back to music because it’s paying… I’ve only found the balance in the past few years.
JS: Do you still write bars during those breaks?
DS: I’ve always got songs. When I was younger, I didn’t look at music as ‘songs’, I just wanted the best lyric. I wanted the best bar.
Now I’d rather write songs than bars. It’s very easy to write a 16 bar or a 32 bar. It’s not as easy to write a song… a song is a feeling. You want a career that’s able to maintain you, and that’s what songs do. So yeah, I always write bars.
JS: Your latest release, Day One, is a garage-infused summer banger. Do you want to keep branching out like that?
DS: Definitely. Music for me is a feeling. You can’t be sad all the time. You can’t be happy all the time. Summer comes round every year… so I’ve got a few more of those in the archive. 100%.
JS: Can you tell us what sort of thing you’re working on at the moment?
DS: At the moment I’m doing singles more, but I definitely want to drop a project at the beginning of 2021. I’ve got some afrobeat songs, a few grime songs, a few R&B songs. The thing is, the age that I’m at now I’m more honest with myself when it comes down to music… I want to make songs for my generation of people as well.
JS: Will you ever move away from North London?
DS: I’m a person who don’t stay still for too long. Even when I go cinema. I’m a traveller. I can’t sit still for too long. So definitely. Funnily enough I’m actually looking at houses at the moment.
JS: What was it like growing up here?
DS: North is not an easy place to grow up in, but when you know yourself as a person you can make it make sense. It’s very active. There are people in the area who might get shot, might get stabbed. Most people are oblivious to it, because they only hear about it on the news. It was good… because we had youth clubs and everything… but we were never oblivious to what was going on.
JS: A couple years back you spoke on being sent to boarding school. What sort of music did you listen to there?
DS: I took a grime CD with just D Double E on it…. a 10 track CD. And I think that was the only thing I listened to from over here for like a year.
JS: How did going there influence the man you are today?
DS: 100 million percent. It humbled me.
Because I feel like, over here, we have the whole thing of ‘no one can tell me anything’ and ‘I have to do what I have to do straight away’.
Whereas when you go to a place where the kids have nothing… you’re walking past a woman and she’s breastfeeding her child on the road, when you’re in school and you’ve got money and someone else has to steal to eat, or doesn’t have trainers… it gave me a more manly understanding of life. I mentally grew up.
JS: Do you have any predictions for where UK rap is likely to go in the future?
DS: I think we’re at the beginning stages of what US rap used to be, when the Jay-Z’s and everyone came about.
Our grime is what hip-hop was in America, and this is why we need to continue doing it.
I think we’re gonna start doing arena tours, travelling around the world, People have started it already… the Stormzys, the Skeptas. I think it’s just gonna be more of us being able to do that. God willing.
QUICKFIRE
What’s a better invention - the mobile phone or the aeroplane? Aeroplane
Favourite takeaway? Caribbean
Dream car? Bentley
Beer, wine, water or weed? Water
Music, TV/films or theatre? Music
Comedy or Drama? Comedy
What’s one country you’d like to visit that you haven’t yet? Maldives… I’m waiting to get married
Piercings or tattoos? Tattoos
If you could choose what you’re remembered for when you die, what would it be? Flowing with life
Biggest spend? My car
Favourite country so far? Egypt
Go-to news source? Instagram
Favourite clothing brand? Dior
Favourite shoe? Dior Runners
Favourite artist outside the genre you play/produce/manage/etc? Drake
What artist/genre would people be most surprised that you listen to? Afrobeats
What do you see for your retirement? I’ll probably get into property
If you could have a chef, a driver or a cleaner (who does your laundry) – which would you choose? Why? A chef to make sure I’m eating healthy
