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► Chipmunk
Chipmunk
Ventilating the UK music scene with his unmistakable lyrical progress, 18 year old Chipmunk is the rising Mobo & UMA award winning Best UK Newcomer set to light the charts with his debut album I Am Chipmunk early 2009.
“I hope to take the music industry as far as no one has ever took it from my era. If I can make the same progress in the next three/fours years that I‘ve made in the past three/four years I‘d be laughing because what‘s further than that?”
Chipmunk is on a mission to bring back good music. A bold and weighty proposition this may be. But it’s a challenge the multitalented MC and his ever expanding group of supporters believe he is more then capable of seeing through with the release of I Am Chipmunk.
In the brief period since he’s been in the grime scene he’s already been touted as the next big thing. 2007 saw MTV proclaim him as ‘About To Blow’ in their flagship show run in association with RWD Magazine, following in the steps of the Lewis Hamilton who was also given the same accolade long before his F1 success. In the fashion world the influential GQ Style magazine covered Chipmunk this summer. Chipmunk’s MySpace page boasts views of over 2 million and his freestyle on Tim Westwood’s Radio 1 show has gained over 1.1 million hits on YouTube.
His position as the future of UK music has been cemented in his ability to headline sell out shows across the UK or whip up a crowd frenzy while supporting acts like Lil Wayne and Dipset. Closer to home Kano, Wiley and Dizzee Rascal have all handed down the baton to Chipmunk as the next grime MC to breakthrough, thus reinforcing the already snowballing sense of inevitability. Chipmunk is undoubtedly the most exciting act to come out of the UK this year.
Chipmunk’s ascension into one of the UK’s most promising talents happened by coincidence. Spurned on by his friends and the success of Lethal B’s 2004 grime anthem ’Pow (Forward Riddim)’ Chipmunk first picked up the mic and started rapping over grime beats in a Finsbury Park youth club. He soon realised that he had a knack for vocalising his thoughts in an succinct stream of consciousness far belying his young years. The next task was to find a suitable pseudonym.
Born and bought up in Tottenham, North London to a Jamaican mother and father, he was given the name Chipmunk by an elder on his estate as a joke. However the name soon became symbolic when said elder was knifed in an unprovoked street attack. The amount of youth’s being killed in the UK make for grim statistics and Chip who has a older brother and younger sister knows all too well about life’s harsh realities. But yet he still remains faithfully optimistic. Rather then becoming another statistic, Chipmunk began to focus on what was most important to him; music and education.
By 16, Chipmunk was already a well known name on the grime scene having released 3 acclaimed mixtapes with prolific regularity (Whatever The Weather Vol 1 and 2, League of my Own) whilst also finding time to achieve 10 A-C grades at GCSE.
Chipmunk‘s message to the Government is clear: “Politicians can’t tell the youths to change if you haven’t got another option for them“ he says. “You need to show the youths that there is another lifestyle, there is another path where you can still be happy and can still have all the girls on your case and that’s what I think it’s all about“. Refreshingly articulate without coming across too preachy, he’s the type of teen rolemodel that Gordon Brown should have on speed dial.
Part of the independent label collective Alwayz Recordings, and despite various major labels all eager to wrangle this credible young musician, Chipmunk’s is resolute in his plans. He intends to become successful without the backing of a major. In this way his entrepreneurial savvy may echo the media moguls across the pond like Jay Z, P Diddy and Russell Simmons but the sound is distinctly British.
Chipmunk’s appeal lies in the fact that he refuses to be a product of his environment. ““I’ve always got the option to talk negativity in my rhymes because I’ve seen it and been around it and technically I’m still in the streets“ he says. “I know what’s going on and I know what’s happening and the youth of today need someone to look up to and if by looking at me, people can say ‘if he can do it, I can do it too’ then that’s what it’s all about“.
And if you’re left with any questions about why 2009 is set to be the year of the Chipmunk. Here’s your answer: “Because it’s all about supporting good music. And I guarantee if you buy one, it’s gonna be getting one for your house and one for your car.”
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