It’s at once intense, but easy to listen to, much like the style of rapping that elevated him to where he is today.Īn hour earlier, I’m sitting on AJ’s sofa waiting for him to finish showering. His thoughts and observations about art, politics, and life keep coming at a punchy, effortlessly rhythmic pace. He expresses excitement for his upcoming world tour, describing how performing in America is “like starting all over again in the UK, because you have to win over your audience.” My impression is that when AJ is in full flow like this-we’re en route to an album signing at a record store in Ladbroke Grove, a stone’s throw from where he grew up, the son of two musicians turned youth-workers-there’s no need to ask too many questions. Kelly and articulates a craving for Kanye West to return to the form that gave us 2008’s pioneering album 808s & Heartbreak. Over the next twenty minutes, AJ condemns R. KEY! Has Been Ahead of His Time For 10 Years Straight I didn’t want to just be the broke little n**** kid that couldn’t fit in. I’d hustle as hard as I could to get the new Air Forces, to go and chill with the posh kids and the white girls who were around my area. At school, when everyone would sell sweets and chocolate, I’d always take it that step further.

“It either makes you really salty, walking around with a chip on your shoulder, or it motivates you, and makes you a zealous person who wants to go get it. “When you grow up in west, there are estate blocks next to £20 million houses, so you see what you can’t have every day,” he explains, detailing the same sort of geographical inequality that has given rise to British rap’s latest star Fredo, and UK drill outfit, 1011.

A towering bodyguard sits in the front with AJ’s driver, who is wearing sunglasses and a Moncler bomber jacket, which the MC was quick to nod his head towards in approval when we first approached the vehicle in the underground car park of his apartment complex moments ago.ĪJ points out that Ed Sheeran and the Beckhams live around here. It’s the early afternoon and I’m sat in the back of a spacious car opposite AJ Tracey-or Ché Grant, named after revolutionary leader Che Guevara-and next to his older brother, Danny. Through tinted windows, I can see the huge, eggshell mansions of Holland Park lit up under a freakishly early spring sun. It’s not difficult to see why West London is known as the plusher side of the English capital city. Secure your spot while tickets last! Buy tickets Balvin and Kristen Noel Crawley, performances by A$AP Rocky and Turnstile, and more shopping and drops.

Aj tracey