“Life’s good, man. I give thanks and I’m gracious. Really gracious.” So starts my interview with grime music legend Bruza on a very positive note. Besides his general gratitude, Bruza – real name Shaun Barker – has good reason to be upbeat as he has just marked his return to the mic, almost two decades since he first touched down in the early 2000s. His first singles Get Me and Doin Me were enormously popular, but then Bruza disappeared without trace.
Bruza had steadily built a significant hype from his pirate radio appearances and becoming involved in the Lord Of The Mics clash scene — Bruza vs Crazy Titch is the stuff of legend from those very early days in grime’s decorated history.
Hence why so many followers of the scene were sad to no longer receive any output from the Hackney-born rapper. But that all changes this year; and what better way to return than with an infectious and in-your-face single, the fittingly titled Pick It Up.
Having lived in various parts of London including Hackney and Walthamstow (he’s noted for his very cockney style), Bruza tells me he’s living in an area where, “I take one step and I’m in Essex, and another step I’m in London.”
He reacts with modesty when I say he is one of the true original grime artists:
“To be fair, there was a wave before me. So that was Pay As U Go Cartel and Heartless Crew. I wasn’t taking emceeing too seriously when it was the likes of Dizzee Rascal, Nasty Crew, Sharkey Major. But you could say I was on the second wave because I went on their (pirate radio) shows to make a name for myself.”
Prior to this, Bruza had been appearing at the odd drum and bass rave to rap over 160-180 beats per minute tracks (great preparation for the grime beats he would later become involved with) but says as garage transitioned into grime, his interest grew as the sounds became increasingly darker. To make that crossover, he explains how he had to studiously listen to his peers.
“I've always been a student of music, so whether we’re talking about grime or hip hop and rap, even dancehall, I've always taken an interest in the way that they rhyme and rap. So I would listen to sets on the radio with Nasty Crew for example, D Double E, all that lot. I’d be listening to them and seeing how they would formulate their rhymes and how they’d be performing together. Learning about 16 bars, 32 bars, how to drop on, and how to do it like Wiley and Roll Deep.”
Catchy yet hard hitting, and unapologetically laced with Bruza’s cockney character, Bruza’s comeback track Pick It Up sees him linking up with legendary grime producer Silencer. Also known as Teddy Music, the beatmaker has produced some of the genre’s best-known backings for the likes of Skepta, Lethal Bizzle, D Double E and more.
And if you scroll through the YouTube comments of Pick It Up’s highly entertaining music video, you get the sense that Bruza never left in the first place.
