SPZL Artist Series: Reign MC
Introducing Reign MC, a British MC based in Bournemouth who has been making a name for himself through his bold and brutal lyrical style. With one of his tracks, 'Blood Diamond' featured on Spezial EP release ‘SPZL KIDS 3’ and a new grime album out this summer, he spoke to us about what's he been up to recently.
How did you first get into rap and developing your MC style?
I got into rap music quite young because my mum used to lend me her CDs, so I’d listen to things like Nas, which got me really interested in the whole genre. Then I kind of got into grime when I was at school; back then me and my mates used to download it off LimeWire. We found a load of British MCs with a completely different vibe, so I suppose my style has developed over quite a long period of time - but I just love grime music.
When did you start writing your own material?
Originally, for ages I learnt someone else’s bars; then he would get me to repeat it at a party, but after a while I was thinking, I should just write my own bars, so that was when I was about 16 and it just sort of went from on from there. I've always been writing and stayed fairly active doing battles and shows around the area, but it's never been something I was able to make a priority. But then last year I found out one of my friends, Sxndshrxw, was producing, so we’ve been able to work together and I’ve been able to give making music more of a focus. He’s now my main producer and mix engineer, so when we’re in the studio we’ll meet up 3 times a week to keep coming up with stuff – it could just be a baseline, but we always come up with ideas when we’re there we can work on.
What other music are you influenced by?
I've always enjoyed all sorts of genres and again, my mum always listened to different types of music, which meant I did too. So when I was in my late teens, I got into heavy metal and dabbled with that a bit, and it opened up a lot of avenues. Right now, I listen to a wide mix; I’ve been listening to some Kate Bush, this morning I put Bullet for My Valentine on and then this afternoon it was P Money. I feel like I wasted a lot of time in my 20s as I would only listen to grime and hip-hop, I just stopped listening to everything else. And that was stupid because now it feels like I've got 10 odd years of music to catch up on.
You’ve been working with the SPEZIAL team on the track ‘Blood Diamond’ - how did that come about?
To be honest, I never thought it would turn into something, as I’d written these bars for a freestyle competition online. It was kind of me just spitting; I just wanted to go on a grime, so the lyrics came out quite easily. Anyway, Shahab saw it online and hit me up to see if we could work together and it went from there. Originally the bars I wrote were put with a really different type of grime instrumental, a bit like drill. But Shahab saw that he could do something different so it’s now kind of come together in a totally different way than it was originally done, so that’s really exciting to me as its completely changed the sound of it in a way I wouldn’t have thought of.
You’ve been busy recently with various music projects and have a new album coming out; The Return of Rai-man
Yes, I've done two projects in the last year which are completely different to each other and completely different to everything else I’ve done. We put out Southern Fried, which has a homegrown UK hip-hop vibe, and then I released Black Paintings. I don’t feel there’s a definition or genre for it. It's got a bit of grime in it and some hip-hop; but its more musically inspired, it has themes and stories. The Return of Rai-Man really came about because I wanted to do a grime album again. Back in the day, I used to be Rai-Man and do quite a lot with other MCs from the area doing battles and shows. I was young and reckless and didn’t really give a shit, so it was a totally different persona to what I do now as Reign MC. But people kept asking, what’s happening with Rai-Man? Is he coming back? So I thought, ok then let’s do a full grime album, it felt like the right time to do it.
I’m also writing 2 other tracks to work on with SPEZIAL; it can be a bit of a longer process as this isn’t like banging out freestyle. I’ll write, record it and then listen to it maybe 100 times to add or remove bits I’m not happy with, so these tracks are still a work in progress at the moment, but I’m looking forward to working with the team again.
What’s your preference, performing live or being in the studio?
I do really enjoy performing live still, but it takes a lot of energy and also a lot of prep behind it, and you know, day to day life can kind of get in the way of doing that sometimes. For instance, I was prepping this afternoon for a show trying to go through the bars in my head but at the same time I’m washing up and have my son coming up to ask me questions constantly. Once I’m actually there performing then yeah, it’s great. But the prep and work you have to put in to live shows nowadays does make it hard.
The studio is where I feel at home, I just love the whole process. You might walk into the studio one day with nothing, right? But you’ll come out that day with something, a product. Maybe it’s just a base idea but you go back, and you work on it more and then you leave the studio with something. Then you get it mixed and mastered and you come back and have this fully realised product right there. You’ve created something that didn’t exist in the world a day ago and now here it is, I love that.!
13th July 2024 - SPEZIAL Present Secret Garden Party
Das SPEZIAL & Regin MC will be performing live at the SPEZIAL Secret Garden Party on Saturday 13th July 2024. For more info and tickets please check out the link !