CONTAINED: ARTIST INTERVIEW - C.T

UK RAPPER C.T SAT DOWN WITH US AND EXPLORED ISSUES IN HIS AREA, ARTIST STRENGTHS AND DREAM COLLABS.

Wearing CLINTS, NIKE X SACAI

Last year you Brought out “GWOP”. It has a strong message behind it regarding knife crime, what was the response like to this single?

Oh bro! It was a good response, it actually got covered at the local paper. That whole story was about a kid that got murdered in my town, only up the road. You generally associate stuff like that out of town so the fact it just happened up the road from me was a big game changer. I felt it was necessary to create that piece, I wouldn’t say the song was overly around it that situation but It had connotations of it and the beat wrote that feeling, so yeah it felt right man, it was a vibe.

What prompted you to cover these important topics and have you been affected in any way?

You know, you always hear about different things on the news and we always associate music with that violence. Being from Livingston, it’s not an overly cultural place, there’s mixed ethnicities but it’s not like Coventry. You can spot people that are not from around town quite easily, maybe I’m judging, maybe it’s the media. I feel like nowadays they have their eye on what they think is the problem but a matter of fact it’s right in front of you. They always say London or big cities is where it’s happening. It’s not, this is happening in small town areas. The kid we spoke about was 17, so many younger people are getting into this way of life so it’s one of those things you’ve got to talk about. Because, they are ultimately going to put on their next generation. If we don’t tell them what it is, it’s finished isn’t it.


What is your greatest strength as an artist ?

Versatility, and my ability to see my own downfall, because I’m over critical. So, being able to look at something and say that’s not it, but maybe it is, and it’s just my opinion. But it’s just me being creative and over analysing what I’m doing. Being versatile, not only in sound and design but having the ability to change what I’m doing. I ask myself questions like is narrative I’m trying to make, is it speaking to me? Is this actually how I’m feeling? Have I just fell in the trap of saying the generic stuff? It’s always been about change and moulding my experience than what I’m saying.

What’s the biggest obstacle you have faced in the music industry so far?

I feel technology has been an obstacle for me, I loose plug ins for whatever reason or I overwrite a song, but also people just get in the way of your journey. Bugzy said ‘Being from Manchester trying to make music is like having a iPhone with no apps’ you feel it’s pointless, the focus was on London. It sounds cliche but it’s not now, Manchester is coming up to be a big scene. I’m not even from a big city, I’m from town near a city so I’m trying to come through that way.

What producer would you dream of collaborating with and why?

Unknown T’s producer, Ghosty is a big one for me. Even some people who I already work with and Franklin he’s a good producer too. I’m just good at disconcerting who’s good in my area, I don’t need to focus on any big producers, I’m just making music with people who’s right and it’s working, so support your local creatives.

What can we expect to see in the next 12 months?

I’m going to Barca to shoot a video with my boy Jake, in general just loads of music videos and pushing the campaigns differently. Just trying to push the awareness stuff. I’m trying to create this different art form that’s where I’m at when trying to get shows a little festival coming up in my local town. So yeah shows, content, vibes that’s it bro, plug in if you want to get to know.