The Slammer was recorded in autumn / winter ‘03. Recorded in 1 take with another for ad-libs at Lincoln’s studio in an industrial estate in Greenwich which doesn’t exist anymore.

Mik Grimton produced the original and I paid £20 to record and have it mixed. Drips pressed it on a Dubplate at Transition Studios sometime afterwards.

The ‘Deptford’ bar is perhaps one of my most memorable as that’s when Air Max ‘95s were £110 and that’s what I used to wear (soft leather preference). Fun fact: it’s probably one of the only bars I gave my bro a shoutout.

Hearing my 17/18 year old self, full of hopes, dreams and naivety has inspired me to reconnect with my essence, allowing me to view my hobbies from a renewed perspective which now has me asking:

“With all the tools you have at your disposal right now in this era, what would Brains do and how would he utilise them?”

‘Growth’ is a funny thing because the older you get, you become like one of those trees in the rainforest: essence of why you do things and who you are is formed at the shrub level and under canopy but eventually you emerge above the canopy obstructing the light penetrating to the shrub level.

I’m not saying we disconnect, in a way we dilute, we adapt, we evolve but no matter how far we grow in search of nutrients from the sun, we remain connected through the roots of ourselves, deep into the soil of who we are.

Again, not a milestone reflection but it very well could be…

Peace

#grime #abletonlive #stemseparator

I finally used Stem Separator in a DAW. Despite having it in MPC, Logic, and Maschine, I never found an excuse or a reason to use it but then it dawned on me “Go into your archives and remix them vintage Grime freestyles”.

As someone who stopped MCing a very long time ago, this brought me back to my origins. Hearing myself at 17/18 years old with so much energy, passion and agility, inspired me in a way I can’t even describe.

This isn’t just milestone talk but genuine inspiration to test out Stem Separator across the other DAWs too.