“What kind of shit have we got ourselves
in to?” (laughing). But I was prepared.
We’d been tipped off about wellies and
had everything on (laughs). Jay Z is in
wellies!
the large show is great because of the
sheer bigness of it. You start feeling like
so... so big (laughs). I’m big! But it can be
overwhelming, but it’s a fantastic feeling.
I love it.
So was it your idea to come out to
‘Wonderwall’?
It was and actually I did try to play it on
the guitar. I should have just sat down
and practised it and I could have nailed
it on the day, but I didn’t think of it until
an hour before I went on stage. So I’m
sat in the dressing room trying to work
out the chords for ‘Wonderwall’. But Noel
Gallagher helped out a lot and I appreciate
that!
Are you looking forward to playing the
arena dates with Coldplay then?
It’s going to be fantastic playing with them,
especially with Chris (Martin) being such
a close friend of mine. I’ve never played
with them before, so it should be pretty
cool. We’ve been friends for a long time
now and we ended up doing a couple
of tracks together and then last year we
were both on the same festival bill and we
thought about maybe doing something
live as a unit...
But in reality there are very few hiphop artists who could have headlined
Glastonbury – purely on a logistical
level. They just don’t suit big events
that well. Is that down to the way
you come up through mixtapes etc.
whereas bands tend to play live in
order to become known and get that
practise in early on?
Definitely, that is exactly what happens.
A lot of the time people have a hit before
they even step a foot on stage. This type
of music sees you put a song out and that
song catches fire and suddenly people
are booking you to play live shows. Next
thing you’re stood there in front of fifty
thousand people so what you gonna do?
You grab your dick (laughs) and start
shouting. “What the fuck, turn the music
up and everybody scream!”. You don’t
know what else to say when you never
played a show. It’s just lack of experience.
I’ve played more shows than a lot of
rock bands and I think rappers are now
coming round to thinking about the live
show because they’re seeing the level
of production and what we’re doing and
understanding that it’s an intricate part of
the whole performance and entertaining.
Before it was a case of play the music,
shout on stage and grab your baggy
shirt!
II
I like music! (laughs) Borders are irrelevant
to me!
When you record do you keep it in
mind how it will play out live?
Only for the past couple of years. It is
now something I have to think about
when I record because I understand the
importance of it. But it’s still a background
consideration. If I can fit it in there I fit in
there, if not I don’t.
Do you prefer playing large arena
shows to small intimate ones?
They’re both equally great for different
reasons. The intimate shows allow you t