- Words Ben Tibbits
- Photography Dav Stewart
- Styling Kit Swann
- Production Studio Notion
Skripture is a quintessential blood vessel in the pounding heart of the UK Rap scene. Chameleonic, his artistry moves from strength to strength, metamorphosing from an instrumentalist to a producer to an artist to an all-around creative juggernaut.
West London spitter Skripture boasts more than a decade of experience in the game and has spent the time augmenting his name and status in several worlds within UK music’s stratosphere. You’d struggle to find an artist with a more diverse come up; from his work with trans-Atlantic urban rock group The Score, being a founding member of the collective The Truth Moment, to producing for artists like Tinchy Stryder and Bashy and brands like Adidas and MTV, and releasing several solo albums and EP’s – Skripture has done it all.
An artist who successfully juggles quality and quantity, his discography is dense, eclectic and nuanced, highlighting a special quality that Skripture upholds – a lack of fear in illustrating each side of his artistry. When an artist releases often, it allows their listening base to witness the artistic progression at its core; Skripture bequeaths us the opportunity to dig beneath the surface level glamour and delve into the ins and outs of his psyche and expression.
Most recently, Skripture unveiled his new single “Who Don’t Love Me”, the latest teaser from the rapper’s upcoming body of work ‘One Accord’. A slick and personal cut with an effortlessly vibrant instrumental, Skripture continues to truly come into his own here, showcasing his lyrical craft through a melodic hook and raw, unapologetic bars. With the promise of plenty more to come on the album, Skripture looks set to proceed on his journey towards critical acclaim and public stardom.
Notion speak to Skripture about the upcoming album, the diverse nature of his artistry, his ideological focus on collaboration, and how he maintains his passion after all these years in the scene
When and how did you first start writing and creating?
My Dad introduced my brother and me to music at an early age, he was a worship leader in our church, so we saw him regularly singing and playing guitar every Sunday. He had instruments lying around the house, guitars, percussion, etc. One day I picked up an acoustic guitar that had a couple of strings missing, and started playing it like a bass, my dad said if I got good he’d get me a Bass Guitar and the rest was history.
My brother and I eventually started laying ideas down on my dad’s old Four-Track Tape Recorder and my love for music developed from there.
Your skill set is so diverse, equally effective producing, rapping and singing. Why do you think it’s important to be multifaceted in the modern industry?
Thank you, I really appreciate that. For me, it stems from having all these ideas in my head, full songs, that I wanted to create but not having the resources at the time which forced me into D.I.Y mode. The more and more I did things by myself the more I realised I didn’t need anyone to get what I wanted done creatively. It’s always good to collaborate with other creatives for different reasons but I was very particular and that forced me to be more hands-on & now wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve found it’s important to be multifaceted so you can fully understand & express yourself how you originally intended to. It also helps to be self-sufficient as it requires less outsourcing which means you have more control over your output rate as an artist.
Do you feel more at home as a producer or an artist?
Very good question, if I’m honest I feel more at home as a producer, I feel like you can stay behind the scenes more & I’m not really In love with the spotlight so it’s more comfortable for me. Plus it’s what I started with, I was making beats and writing songs with artists way before I thought about becoming one. So I guess you feel more at home with whatever you’re used to most.
You’ve been around for some time now, and must have witnessed changes in the industry. How is it different now in comparison to when you first came onto the scene?
The changes have been drastic and differ slightly depending on the territory. I feel like the Internet has impacted the UK industry in a very positive way. It’s given the creators more control over what they sound like as the Internet has given them direct access to their consumers, Radio & Record labels used to force artist’s into particular boxes. The way Artists are paid has also changed, streaming splits aren’t fair and playlists are the new way of controlling who gets pushed, etc.
What’s your opinion of the direction that the UK rap scene is heading?
I love it. Drill reminds me of Grime, same energy, same impact, same negativity surrounding it which means it’s doing its job representing rebel music. As I mentioned earlier, the Internet gives artists the freedom to sound like what they want, rather than what the labels champion. Rap music today is an exact representation of that. I hope it continues to grow, people need to remember it’s only been around for 4/5 generations, it’s still got a lot of evolving to do, I like how it’s moving so far.
The Truth Movement is an incredible collective, talk me through your work with that and how it affected your own musicality and musical journey?
We were so young at the time of creating The Truth Movement, a lot of the artists, musicians and producers part of the collective were still finding their feet, we just made a choice to do it together. We were inspired by a couple of collectives in the US so we started pushing ourselves as a band and songwriting group. It also had creatives like ‘Obenewa’ aka ‘Obi Franky’, who could stand alone as well work with other artists/producers. We used it as a hub to network, build our sounds, home our skills and feed off each other’s energy. We all learned from each other and I think it was pivotal in confidence building too. Artists like Michael Kiwanuka & Dornik were birthed and producer/musicians like myself, Prgrshn and 2Left also found our feet, one of the best times of my life.
Collaboration seems like a massive part of your artistic ethos. What is it about working with others that you love?
I love feeding off of someone else’s energy when creating, I love working with artists, musicians, or producers who make me think out of the box, come with fresh ideas and push the boundaries. It’s important because we create something I would never have alone, alongside the fact I learn a lot and in this industry you’re never done learning. It’s also great to merge fan bases, which is always a great help when it comes to gaining new listeners and browsing your audiences.
You’ve already put out so much music this year! After so many years in the game, where does the incessant drive to create and release stem from?
It may be arrogance, I prefer to call it confidence, but I don’t believe I’ve even touched my full potential as an artist, accolades and most definitely not in terms of reach/fan base.
The drive comes from me wanting to prove to myself that I can be as successful as I think I can, I always love a new challenge, it’s just the way I’m wired so the motivation is forever present. God didn’t give me all these talents for no reason, I believe I have a purpose so it’s my duty to fulfill that purpose.
“Who Don’t Love Me” is a big tune! What is the idea behind the track?
The album, ‘One Accord’, was themed around money and economics, all of my songs come from personal experience so I drew from some situations in my life that were centered around those topics. This particular song is about Jealousy, perception & racism in relation to finance & how it can affect me as a young Black man. I feel people can relate to the things I speak about and if not then hopefully I can give you an insight into my world and experiences that not only I go through.
It’s a concoction of different rap sub-styles, how did you shape the track’s soundscape and structure?
My songs always end up sounding like a hybrid because I grew up listening to so many different genres, which ends up heavily influencing my sound and direction of production. 90% of the time I begin with melody and then I create around that. I never really have a direction of soundscape in mind when creating, I let the track speak to me and tell me where I want to go, this track was no different, hence why it sounds like a mix of different rap sub-genres.
What can we expect from your upcoming project ‘One Accord’?
A lot more good music to put it simply. I can’t help but create unique music because of my skill set, there are not many musician/rappers who sing & produce. Like I mentioned above, the album is themed around money and I speak on a lot of personal experiences in relation to that over a variety of different soundscapes. There should be something for everyone on there, some deep tracks, some club tracks, some grime, some trap & some hip-hop laced with some R&B. I just hope everyone enjoys the project enough to look forward to more from me because I’ve definitely got a-lot more in the vault.
You’ve had a hugely eclectic career, working with rock bands, producing grime, rapping on drill etc. For you, what has been your greatest achievement to date?
I think playing the Royal Albert hall with my band The Score whilst on the JLS festival tour. It was our own material, we had our own fan base and it was one of the best times in my career. We got a great reception at that show and there were loads of family and friends there as it was a London show. The feeling of performing was unmatched, definitely a memorable moment and something I’m very proud of.
Where do you want to take your artistry in the future?
I’m thinking stateside then worldwide. I most definitely want to explore what it’ll be like to take my skill set overseas and see how I get on working with the creatives in different environments and see what opportunities come my way. I plan to keep releasing music as an artist but I also really want to get more into producing and songwriting for different artists too. I hope to expand my fan base and just continue to make good music that inspires & is relatable and enlightening.