Interview by Zweli Chibumba

By now you’ve probably heard of him. If not you’ve probably heard one of his songs or freestyles. Having been given co-signs across the industry and displaying his talent on some of the premiere platforms of the scene like BBC 1Xtra, Yo! MTV Raps, and GRM Daily, Aitch is definitely one to watch. He looks to be the next big thing coming out of Manchester, which has produced some huge stars in our scene most recently with the likes of IAMDDB and Bugzy Malone. Aitch is an artist with a diverse skill set which has elevated him to where he is now. With witty lyrics, a nonchalant swagger in his delivery, and an ear for good production Aitch is someone that once he gets your attention it sticks. Whilst still being relatively young and in the infancy of his career, we got Aitch to answer a couple of questions to shine some light on his perspective on things so far.

How old are you now and how old were you when you started rapping? I’m 19 now and I actually started rapping properly when I was about 16.

Why did you start rapping and when did you know it could be a career? I started rapping, firstly as a joke, I didn’t really take it too seriously, but funnily enough I ended up being the best out of my group! It took off from there, really. That’s when I knew for certain in my mind it could be a career. I’ve always had a feeling, just from dropping music that this was serious, but I believe that ‘Straight Rhymez’ is what solidified it for me.

What do you think makes people gravitate towards you as an artist?

I think me as a person away from the music! People seem to like my personality and characteristics and that’s just made more people gravitate toward me. That and the fact that I just speak the truth! That and speaking about every day thing instead of everything else that everyone is talking about.

How important do you think the internet is to not just your success but artist’s success in general?

It’s one of the most important things. Without it I don’t think a lot of people would be here and have the opportunity to be making it as they are today.

Do you think you were an overnight success or do you think people just started to tune in properly more recently?

More people have started to tune in recently, for sure, however… this was always supposed to happen. [laughs].

How has your life changed since taking music seriously/ your recent success?

I’m definitely a lot busier! Hmm.. I would say, just really stuff like popularity and more people are noticing the work ethic and I, in my mind take this as a job now as well as just the fun I used to have with it.

What advice would you have to other young people who have a passion but don’t know what to do to take them to the next level?

I would say, stay true to yourself don’t try be like anybody else. Ask everyone you can for advice whether you think it’s important or not and no matter how much advice you get, always stick with your initial thoughts and gut feeling.

How important do you think working with other people is, not even just musically but in terms of to push your brand/business?

It’s super important, nobody can win on their own, however linking up with people and other artists should always be a natural relationship and not just linking for the sake of linking.

Does Manchester give you a lot of inspiration or would you say you work a lot more off of personal experiences?

1 million percent. Manchester is my biggest inspiration, I think it will be for a long time cause this is what makes me different to a lot of other artists.