In just over 16 months Harry Shotta has risen to fame in the Drum & Bass scene and recently claimed Best Newcomer MC at the 2009 Drum & Bass Awards. We catch up with the bad boy MC to chat about his background, UNCZ, productions and his set at Son of Dance on 17th April.

Congratulations on your recent crown as Best Breakthrough MC at the 2009 Drum & Bass Awards how did that feel and was it expected?

It was a blessing to win the award, I was buzzing when I went up to collect it. I’ve been in the DNB thing around 16 months now so to come in, work hard and make an impact like I have was big in its self. But to actually win an award was a mad achievement that I was very proud of. I wasn’t expecting to win it although I had a few heads telling me I was in the running for it. I don’t think you ever know with awards but what I liked about this one was that it is determined by the public. Its all good to get love and props from the industry man but the reason I was so haps to be named best breakthrough MC is that it was voted for by the DNB heads who come and support the scene in the raves week in week out.

Your roots are within the Hip Hop scene, how did you progress to the Drum & Bass scene?

Yeah, those who know my history will know I’ve been putting in work on the Underground scene for a long time. I come from the Hip Hop side of things with my producer Destruction. He co-produced the Adam F ‘Kaos’ which featured people like Redman, LL Cool J, CNN and MOP. We’ve put out successful Mix CD’s, albums and singles, had number 1’s and tunes of the week on 1xtra, tracks played by Westwood, we’ve been signed to a major label, the whole shebang. I can understand people who don’t know the history thinking it’s an overnight success but that couldn’t be further from the truth really.

Coming into Drum N Bass was a natural move for me. Even though I wasn’t spitting on mics I was always at the raves. I was always a fan of the music and was always inspired by MC’s from the DNB scene when making Hip Hop. I love this scene, and although I still love Hip Hop I’m not currently as inspired by it as I once was. Drum N Bass is my priority, that’s what all my energy goes into.

Now, as a lot of people know I’ve been friends with Fun since I was 13 / 14. We had lost touch but linked back up through the Drum N Bass connections in 2007. I went round his yard, drank some beers and played him some of the new music I was doing, a lot of which featured Skibadee who Fun had also been friends with for years but was now rolling with as ‘Uncontrolabelz’. Fun really liked one of the tracks called Digi so I said he should come to the studio and put a verse on it. In that studio session we ended up doing two tracks and Fun invited me to come up and guest on Majistrate and Nicols ‘Cyndicut FM’ show. I went on there as a guest from the Hip Hop scene and spat my double time bars and the reaction was crazy. I went on some of the DNB web sites and the forums were buzzing asking ‘who’s this Harry Shotta guy?’

A week later Fun invited me on stage to roll with him at the Notting Hill Carnival and things really started to snowball. I was really excited by the lyrical elevation and content in DNB and I had always loved the music anyway so it was a natural progression to start rolling with Fun and Skibz and join the UNCZ. Fun took me to every booking he had over the next month or two and taught me loads of things about the Drum N Bass scene. He brought me on stage at big dances and really got my name out there so I’ll always be thankful to him for that.

I started taking it really seriously and put all my efforts into writing bars for Drum N Bass. We were all connected before UNCZ in other ways. I even used to make dub plates for Ruffstuff years before I thought about spitting professionally to Jungle! It was meant to be, it’s deeper than music.

A lot of noise is being made in the D&B scene about UNCZ, who is part of UNCZ and how did this collaboration come about?

Yeah the UNCZ thing is big right now! The official line up for the crew is Skibadee, myself, Funsta and DJ Ruffstuff. A lot of mans claim the name and are extended family but officially there are four people within the UNCZ collective. Funsta originally came up with the ethos and idea for the crew and I think we all add our own flavour and vibes when we come together for live shows or recording tunes.
How it came about was we are all connected and were all friends but not really moving under one banner. UNCZ became the collective and the musical family that we now represent even when doing solo projects.

I heard there is an UNCZ album in the pipeline, can you tell us anymore?

Yeah the UNCZ album is being recorded as we speak. There are some pretty exciting concepts and beats being bought to the table with this one and I think it has potential to do really well. I just want it to convey the natural chemistry we have on stage, I want to take all that energy and make an album that will stand the test of time. We all respect each other and are fans of each others work. I’m the biggest Fun and Skiba fan in the world and I think with our three heads combining then we could cook up something big together and the levels have gone up again. When people ask me who inspires me these days I have to be honest and say its them two, its not American Hip Hop man, it’s the people in my clique. We all love this music and working together and are just trying to take this thing as high as we can.

You have also got your own album, Pepper Flow, coming out soon, what styles and artists are featured on the album?

I don’t know if it’s going to be called Pepper Flow anymore, that’s still up for debate. I’ve worked with a lot of big MC’s across the genres on my album and I think it will have an across the board representation of all the sickest Underground styles in the UK. I got Dub Step tunes with Crissy Criss, straight up Hip Hop with Destruction, Beni G and Plus One from the Scratch Perverts, UNCZ collabos, double time flavours, club tunes and of course some Drum N Bass! I’ve worked with the darkest UK rappers like Skeme and Mr Ti2bs, Grime youths like Buggsy and DNB spitters like Dynamite and Darrison. I’ve even got some big soulful tunes with Young Man and Steelo. That’s the one thing about me, I like to keep it versatile!

You have performed at some well established D&B events so far, what have been your highlights?

Yeah, I’ve been blessed to have gone to a lot of different countries in my short time in the DNB scene. I’ve been to Switzerland, Canada, Germany four or five times and Amsterdam and Spain as part of the Innovation nights. I’m getting a lot of New York and L.A heads hitting me up at the moment so who knows, I could be hitting there next. I’ve done some of the big festivals like Gatecrasher. Me and Fun killed that last year with Dillinja. I even did the DMC World Finals with Jungle Drummer and Fu last year at the 02 Arena. That was massive! I used to go those events when I was a kid so to actually play at one of those events was nuts! I love doing the overseas nights; I can’t wait for Innovation In The Sun this year. It’s going to be crazy out there!

You have a rapidly growing gig list, what parties are you most looking forward to this year?

Son Of Dance parties are always good! Lol…I’m hoping we get to do more of our own UNCZ nights like the Bar Rage Trilogy event wish was massive at Herbal recently. I like the Bangers N Mash parties obviously, Innovation In The Sun should be wicked and I always get a lot of vibes at the One Nation and Defintion parties too. I would love to MC at some Liquid nights, just spitting some more minimal rap flows as I’m a big fan of people like The Brookes Brothers, High Contrast and Danny Byrd.

Where do you get your inspirations from for your rhymes?

Loads of things inspire my writing. Daily life, the people around me, films, and the music I listen to. Writing lyrics is actually one of my favourite parts of this whole thing and I can write quickly now. If I’m feeling a beat I can come up with the right bars and record on the spot. I’m always writing lyrics though. When I came back from Canada for the whole seven hour flight back I was writing bars on the phone. That’s the thing I love about rolling with the UNCZ as well. We all feed off each other and are constantly working on new fresh bars; it’s not about the stale tings. It’s all about the next wave of bars and keeping creative. If you have the right mind state and stay in the creative mode as an MC then you should be able to churn out new material on a regular basis.

Do you have any advice for up and coming MCs out there who are trying to break into the scene?

There are a lot of people out there pushing themselves, hustling hard and working their brand. I respect the hustlers. I think you have to be really positive and believe in what you’re doing. You have to stay focused and not let anything hold you back. You have to try to be original and have good people skills. You could be the baddest MC on the planet but if you go around pissing people off or being a little too rude people won’t want to deal with you. It is a business and you have to try to be professional.

What are you future plans and aspirations within the Drum & Bass scene?

2009 is all about elevation and taking everything from 2008 to higher levels. You’re going to hear fresh new bars, ideas and concepts all year; you’re going to see me at all the big dances. I’m not going to slack on any of this. The work rate is going to excel this year. As well as this I’m doing an album that will have a strong DNB flavor but will also show my versatility as an MC. I’m looking to make an album full of bangers that will stay true to the Underground sound but also have big hooks and production to take it to higher levels. I’m working on that as we speak. Skibadee’s album is sounding crazy, we have an UNCZ album we are currently working on and a video that is on the road taken from that called ‘UNCZ Anthem’. Me and Funsta are currently finishing our own Hip Hop EP produced by Destruction. That will go under the name ‘UNCZ Splinter Cell’. Ruffstuff is in the studio making some mad beats as well! Also, I got my monthly show on Pyro, that’s doing its thing. I’m on there the first Monday on every month with different guests. We’re not stopping, if people thought our work rate was big last year they aint seen nothing yet.

You were at the last Son of Dance meets Back 2 93 at Hidden in Vauxhall back in January. What do you think of Hidden as a Drum & Bass venue?

Yeah, Hidden is wicked, I always like the vibe in there, plus it’s only down the road! You do a lot of miles in this scene travelling around the country so when I get a booking at Hidden it’s nice. You know the atmosphere is going to be good and all the events I’ve been to there have been rammed so it’s all bless.

On Friday 17th April you are performing alongside the recently crowned Best Old DJ at the 2009 Drum & Bass Awards, Nicky Blackmarket. Is there any artist in the D&B scene you have not worked with yet but would like to and who is your favourite act to work with?

Yeah love working with Nicky! He’s a true legend in the business so looking forward to linking with him on the 17th. I would like to do a set with the Brookes Brothers as I haven’t worked with them yet and would also like to roll with Hype in a big dance at some point. Obviously Fun and Skibadee are my favourite people to work with but MC wise I have really enjoyed sets I’ve done with Shabba, IC3 and Eksman. DJ wise, other than Ruffy I’m always pleased to get a Crissy Criss, Bryan G, Hazard, Original Sin, Heist or Zen set!

Thanks for your time bro! This guy is totally unstoppable at the moment so make sure you come check him out at Son of Dance meets Back 2 93 at Hidden on Friday 17th April! Advance Tickets are Selling Out Fast and are only £5!