MistaJam has told Music Week that BBC Radio 1Xtra “sets trends, sets the pace” when it comes to grime and UK rap.
In a new interview, in the latest edition of Music Week, the DJ, who’s been at BBC Radio 1Xtra for 12 years and last month took over Charlie Sloth’s drivetime slot, said the station has “been trying to push this [music] forward”.
“For a long time, commercial radio wasn’t playing anything from the grime or UK rap worlds,” he said. “It was very hard for artists to break onto the daytime playlists of any station, but 1Xtra has always been there supporting and nurturing those artists and helping them make a living from the music, but also giving feedback to help them believe in themselves.
“We’re in a situation now where J Hus can have a Mercury-nominated album and have people go, ‘OK, what is this?’ Paul Weller saying that’s his favourite album of the last 12 months... It’s crazy but it’s testament to what we do over here, which is set the trends, set the pace. What’s happened with grime and UK rap on the whole is they’ve changed the way the mainstream looks.”
The presenter, who won a Music Week Award for Best Radio Show earlier this year, also discussed the possibility of leaving the station. “I think they’ll have to physically remove me from this place, and I mean that,” he said.
He added: “At the point where I don’t feel the thrill of being able to bring something new to someone that could change their mood, or make them think slightly differently, unite people or challenge their perceptions... As soon as I find that boring I’ll leave. But I can’t see that happening any time soon."
Read the full interview in the latest issue of Music Week, or, for subscribers, click here.
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