Music
Better than the rest: An interview with D Double E
With his debut album Jackuum! finally released, the legendary grime MC discusses his distinctive style and the evolutions of UK culture.
He’s widely regarded as one of the most distinctive UK MCs of all time, he’s been a core member of N.A.S.T.Y Crew and Newham Generals and he’s been spitting bars since before grime even had a proper name. But despite having a career spanning more than two decades that’s seen him get more reloads than most MCs could ever dream of, until recently D Double E had not lent his voice to a full length project.
New album Jackuum! has changed that. Peppered with D Double’s idiosyncratic vernacular, delivery and lyrical dexterity, it’s bound to please fans of the infamous 'D Double signal', surreal lyricism and legendary ad libs ('bidibupbup!'). The supporting line-up does not disappoint, with features from Wiley, Skepta and AJ Tracey.
Meeting up with D Double E in East London the day before Jackuum!’s release (and the week before he collects the GRM Daily Legacy trophy at the Rated Awards), we discuss UK-US cultural crossovers, drill music and the days when grime was just a glint in the eye of its two unlikely parents, jungle and garage.
Americans love to say ‘fam' now. They love to wear Stone Island. They love wearing trackies. But they didn't understand us before.
To those who’ve not heard the word before, can you explain what ‘jackuum’ means?
Jackuum is my way of saying ‘reload it’. It starts from ‘jack it’ or ‘jack it up’ – back in the day on radio people would say that, or sometimes ‘take it back from the T-O-P!’ We had loads of different ways of saying it, when we were on radio. The ‘uum’ means ‘them’ – like when I say ‘eat ‘em'. So ‘jackuum' just means ‘jack it’, ‘eat 'em all’. Jackuum – rah!
Why did you decide to release your first solo album now?
I feel like basically I had this aroma around me and my working colleagues – we're all here, we're all working – but there was something else. When I know I'm gonna do well, I'm gonna do well.
Getting into the record then, Better Than The Rest featuring Wiley seems to poke a bit of fun at US hip-hop and big up UK MCs, is that right?
I think that’s what Wiley was saying – it's so genius how he's done it. And there’s a few other messages in songs where people lightly say things. When you say things heavily people think you've got a problem with things, but we ain’t got a problem with things, we just like to represent where we're really at.
Kids now are watching Americans today [and] getting sucked up by it. When we watched Americans in our day we didn't let them suck us up. We appreciated them, but we didn't do stuff that sounded like what they do.
I feel like if you do something that sounds like what they do, there's less chance of you making it because you're not surprising them. Americans like to hear the English voice, they love to say ‘fam' now. They love to wear Stone Island. They love wearing trackies. But they didn't understand us before. So when Wiley's talking like that, he's bossin' it. And Americans are bossin’ their ting. We're all being authentic to us.
What do you think sets you apart as an MC?
I've realised there are a lot of people that can’t do what I can do. Even the having confidence and belief. I don't know how to explain it: I'm calm, I'm chill. I used to be backstage and the promoter would be like, ‘Are you sure you’re ready to perform?’ Then I'd go on and it'd be the maddest thing ever, and they’d be shocked.
Some people backstage – like Dizzee, he used to exercise before his show, star jumps, you know – but with me, I'm more chill. The way I live my music is different, I'm ready for spur of the moment stuff more than someone else: the DJ could drop the needle and it could jump, but I can hear where it is and get back in. I'm just snappy, mad snappy.
What was the inspiration for the track Back Then, it’s very nostalgic.
That whole track is [about] where I'm from. All the slang I use, everything. Everyone from London – no matter what part – all these moments are moments we remember.
I’m talking about things we all go through. I don’t care how American we all look now, I’m talking to the real you. This is what I love about that track: there's an honesty to it. Top of The Pops, breakdancing… and in that era, what did everyone look like? We had Stone Island on lock, Akademiks, Avirex… but with no outside influence. It was organic. It was just you. That’s why I like drill music: it’s real.
Tell me more about your thoughts on drill…
I don't really like the messages, but I do love drill because I believe it's the next genre of UK music. It's coming from the heart, it's coming from the blocks. When I see drill I see kids who don't give a shit, and when you look at early grime, we didn't give a shit. We never came in the game with cars and jewels, we came in raw. They're coming in like us – it's the real streets.
But now they've taken over the news, even the police know what they look like. Drill's worse [than grime was] in that way – what's getting done is worse. That’s the only bad thing about it. I heard police are taking down videos… we never had that problem.
There’s a diversity on your new album – quite a few mellow tracks with more atmospheric production, a bit like a call-back to Birds In The Sky [produced by Jammer in 2003].
I love those beats. With [Birds In The Sky], I've always been in that zone but I've never been able to document it, so these are new versions of that. People want me to go mad all the time, but I like to relax. I might do an EP or a project all like this. I want to work on my next album, but if I'm gonna dedicate a whole album to one vibe I'd want to do something else at the same time. Like a double album with a Jackuum!-style side, and on the other side more calm.
D Double on the decks at Red Bull Roadblock Afterparty
© Vicky Grout
Talking of future projects, who do you want to work with soon?
That's a good question. I want to work with Chip next. I wanna work with Skrapz, Giggs, Fekky, Ghetts, Lethal Bizzle, Shy FX… that enough? Need any mo?
That’s a pretty good list! Shy FX is in there – DJ Target's recent book Grime Kids talks a lot about jungle. What do you remember about the ‘jungle-to-garage-to-grime’ era in UK music?
I don’t know what it was but there was this period of time when garage came in with this power, and it kind of made everyone turn their heads around. We were all going strong in jungle… and then we looked around and saw these garage heads, and they looked different to us, in shirt and shoes. I just started doing drum ’n’ bass even harder, you get me?
Then I found myself in a situation where I was leaving my d’n’b donnies and going on this garage station – hosting in the middle – and you know what? I loved the music. Then some of my jungle people asked ‘What, you doing garage now?!’ Then when garage started going hard, I got my jungle dons saying, ‘Yeah, it's actually alright!’ It was a tricky crossover man, I remember being stuck in between the two.
Then grime came along. What are your best memories looking back over it all?
It’s the moments of success that stand out. Like when [Lethal Bizzle’s] Pow done well – I happened to be on the track, but even if I wasn't I would have been proud of that – and Dizzee's album, stuff like that. Before that I couldn’t imagine another life. I was just an MC monster. Just going on the mic and hosting for people to get reloads, that's what my life consisted of. But it didn’t stay that way.
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