Reps interview

"...UK hip hop is as strong as it’s been for a while and this is reflected in the diversity of the scene."

After releasing the brilliant 'Sagas of a Peaceful Man' earlier this year, Reps became a firm favourite of mine so it was only fair to give him a few inches on the (not quite) hallowed pages of Certified Banger:

Certified Banger: Yo Reps! How are you? Can you start us off with a little summary of who you are and what you’ve done music-wise or otherwise?

Reps: Hi! Thanks I'm good. I’m a Bookbinder / handyman / rapper and right now I'm taking a break from bookbinding and handymaning. I’m from Devon, Brighton and London and have spent pretty much a third of my 30 years in each of these places. Right now I'm living in exile in Lodz Poland. Actually I'm just out here writing some new material and promoting my CD, which came out in the summer in both Poland and the UK.

I came up with the Brighton based Lost Souls releasing 12s on Janomi Records between 2002 and 2004.

In 2004 my current group Skill Mega was formed with myself, Dan Fresh (also former Lost Souls rapper) DJ Rod Dixon and Polish rapper / producer OSTR (at the time on his 5th solo album, now about to release his 10th and Gold selling in his home country of Poland!) We released a 12” on Leeds based Cryogenic Records in 2004 and went on to release a full length album in 2007 on Asfalt Records (Poland) entitled Normal Magic. Since meeting Adam (OSTR) I’ve been going to Poland alone or with Skill Mega to play shows and record tracks and have played over 40 shows alongside OSTR or performing solo with support slots for among others, Craig G, EMC, Talib Kweli, Sean Paul, El Da Sensei and Pharoahe Monch. This has been alongside living and working in London and playing shows around the South East of England again with Skill Mega or performing solo. As I mentioned previously I'm putting all my time into music and right now I’m in Poland permanently and return to the UK for shows and to see friends but as its only the end of November and its snowing pretty hard I'm not sure how much longer I'm gonna stay!

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