It has certainly been an interesting life for Ironik. Signed to Warner Music Group at the age of 20, in a short time he has had two top five singles in the UK, a top ten album, and a couple of MOBO award nominations. He was also the first rapper to perform for the Queen at Buckingham Palace, an interesting achievement. Stepping away from music, he was also the victim of a robbery and stabbing in 2010. Now producing music independently, he released an EP ‘Independently Unstoppable’, last year, and his latest EP ‘Ticking Off Boyhood Dreams’ is due at the end of 2014.
Ironik is certainly an affable individual – he’s in the middle of a busy press day land I only have a short time with him, but he still maintains a positive demeanour throughout our interview. We find a common ground early; both of us are DJs, so I ask him how he got into it. “My uncle was a club promoter for Twice As Nice,” he tells me. For those who don’t know, Twice As Nice was one of the biggest garage promotions in the early 2000s. “My parents were ravers too and got me into garage as a kid. Then my dad took me to a friend’s place when I was 13; I saw him playing on the decks and then told my dad ‘I wanna do that!’”.
He was obvious a natural talent. Self taught, his uncle got him a gig supporting So Solid Crew a year later, and he carried on working as a DJ throughout his teenage years. At the age of 15, he started to get into production. “I had a bad bicycle accident when I was 15, and I had to stay at home for about two months,” Ironik reminisces, “my mum bought me a music production game for the Playstation called ‘Music 2000’ – that got me into making beats.” Coming from North London, he started meeting and producing tracks with up and coming rappers like Chipmunk and Wiley, which influenced him to start making his own music. The first track he made was called ‘So Nice’, which he released on MySpace, which put him on the map, and a contract with Warner Records soon followed.
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With the transition to a rapper in full effect, I asked him how it affected him. “I watched guys like Chipmunk and Wiley, and how they did things, and it helped me to work out what I was doing,” he explains. “I focused on being a rapper, as it’s a bit too much to produce, write and think about concepts as well. Kanye does it, but I’m not Kanye!” he says, jokingly. When we talk more about his influences, he points to another successful UK rapper, Tinie Tempah. “When I heard his song ‘Wifey’, it inspired me to write songs about girls and love,” he says with a laugh. “I came from a nice neighbourhood, and I was raised to respect people – all I know is about girls! Everyone has their own experiences, so I just talk about mine.”
I want to go further into this, as I’m curious about ‘Stay With Me’, his first major single release with Warner. “I wrote it for my sister.” He starts to become more serious as the conversation develops. “At the time there was a lot of knife and gun crime – she was really young then so she’s didn’t really understand, but now she listens to it and gets it. I just wanted her to know she’s safe, and to watch out for what goes on in the streets.” ‘Stay With Me’ went on to become a hit, and went to no5 in the UK charts. “A lot of people could relate to it. It’s still talked about and played now, which is mad.”
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I ask him if he had planned out a theme for his music, but he laughs at this, “I was just going with it! I never expected chart success,” he says, humbly. “To be honest, I was never that confident to think that I could sell records and have lots of fans.”
We talk about his influences as an MC and what has inspired him over the years. “I was always only into the UK scene – I only got into American Hip Hop recently,” he confesses. It’s noticeable that his style has developed as he’s got older. “I’ve been studying the scene really closer. Everyone has got better, so I need to get better too. Lyrics and storytelling especially – I want people to think about the song after they’ve listened to it.”
Moving on, we discuss his EP releases. “With ‘Independently Unstoppable’ I just wanted to tell people what I’d been doing after the incident in 2010.” I ask him more about the incident, but he’s reticent to go into detail. “It wasn’t what I signed up for,” maintaining his upbeat attitude, “but I bounced back and I’m in a better place now. The aim of the last EP was just to tell people about what happened to me.”
The upcoming EP ‘Ticking Off Boyhood Dreams’ will have a different theme. “I wanted this one to be more uptempo and fun,” Ironik says. “When I DJ in the clubs, like in Ibiza, I realised that I can’t play any of my songs!” he says, lightheartedly. “My old songs were a lot slower. I just wanted to be creative and have fun with this.” As we talk about it more, the conversation develops into his departure from Warner Music to go independent.
“The label wanted me to go more commercial, and start making dance music,” he discloses. “Nothing against dance music, I play it in my sets. But it’s not what I want to rap about.”
“They signed me because I recorded a song in my bedroom. When they tried to box me into a different place I couldn’t be creative and do what I started out with.”
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He’s obviously happier with his current situation. “With a big label you have to work to a schedule; getting out two releases a year. Being independent there’s a lot less pressure, and you can take your time with the music. You can maintain a level of creativity.”
“Now I can have more fun with it, and make music that I want to.” Ironik becomes more philosophical as he continues, “Aiming for the charts, that’s not what music is about.” As the interview rolls to a close, he leaves me with this sage piece of advice.
“At the end of the day, when it’s all been said and done – all that’s left is your music.”
“Die For You” is out now and available from all the usual sources. The EP “Ticking Off Boyhood Dreams” will be out later this year.
