.There were three years between B.B. Manik's first official "retail mixtape" & in those three years a lot happened. In the year since, even more has happened. Mike Musst has joined Raw Riddim, Cassie Graves has left the company & TM is set to drop his set official Raw Riddim Release.
With his new album Foibles on the way & a possible joint tour with Ash Price, we thought it was time to hear from the boss himself. Jayson Jackson investigates
Raw Riddim: Almost Famous was not as well recieved as Meautiful Busic. What do you think the reason for this was & how to do you plan to rectify that with Foibles?
B.B. Manik: I think I kind of rushed the project a bit & I didn't push it as aggrssively as I should have. I'm taking a lot more time with this project & they'll be more videos and promotion behind it.
Raw Riddim: Any thing you can tell us about production or guests?
B.B. Manik: The bulk of the album is self-produced, but I have contributions from Mike Musst, Curt X & hopefully Ash [Price] will get something on there. I'm gonna get features from Wave, TM, Callum Read & hopefully a few others. It's sounding great so far.
Raw Riddim: Earlier this year, it looked like a Raw Riddim reunion album was on the cards. What happened?
B.B. Manik: I reached out to EVERYONE & nobody was on it. Dekay said she'd send a verse. Never sent it. Same for 2Badd & most of the others. Grim Burton just didn't even bother responding. Random & Juva were the only two who submitted anything, so I scrapped it. I'm probably going to use Random & Juva submissions for an unpcoming solo mixtape.
Raw Riddim: What happened with Cassie Graves? You went from being a vocal supporter of her work, to booting her from Raw Riddim.
B.B. Manik: I didn't boot Cassie, she chose to leave. I asked her to adhere to a deadline, which is a perfectly reasonable request, and she decided she'd rather be independent. Best of luck to her.
Raw Riddim: Curt X's All Or Nowt was promised three years ago & Mike Musst joined the company last year. Meanwhile, your albums always come out without an issue. Are you holding back releases?
B.B. Manik: If anything, I've been trying to push release dates forward. But certain artists feel they're not ready. Shy of stealing the masters & just releasing the albums without permission, there's not really much I can do. If it was up to me, you'd hear those LPs. I've heard Curt X's & it's brilliant. He deserves to be a household name.
Raw Riddim: Wave is listed as an executive producer on Foibles, but not for Raw Riddim. Why has he not fully re-joined the company?
B.B. Manik: We had a long talk about it & realized our relationship just meant more. I'm a massive hot head & he can be one too & we didn't want to fall out over a music thing & have that affect our personal relationship. He's been a massive help with this project, though.
Raw Riddim: Do you think they'll be a day when you close the doors on Raw Riddim?
B.B. Manik: Not as long as I'm breathing. It could not make profit for the next decade & I'd still do it. I love the artists I sign, I love the music we make & I think we're incredibly slept-on. I'll never give up on it.
Raw Riddim: What do you mean by "slept-on"?
B.B. Manik: Nobody gives us our f*cking props, but we started this in our early teens, with no investors. Collectively, we've created Channel 4 theme tunes, played Glastonbury, Bestival & Dot-To-Dot (numerous times!), shared stages with Diplo, Rusko, Das Racist, Wiley, Tim Westwood & more. With no distribution, we got our first official release carried by HMV NATIONWIDE. Before I'm done, they're gonna give us our props. Just watch!
Raw Riddim: What does the future hold for yourself & the company?
B.B. Manik: You know I hate answering that, cos you announce something, then for whatever reason it doesn't work out & you look like a liar. I'm working on Foibles, I'd like to tour with Ash Price. I wanna bring back the clothesline & TM and I are going to hit the studio soon. When there's more solid release dates in place, I'll make announcements.
Raw Riddim: We know you're a fan of your shout-outs, anyone you'd like thank?
B.B. Manik [Laughs] Um, Alice P for being my biggest supporter. Wave for his guidance. Big up Curt X, Ash Price & Mike Musst. MASSIVE shout to TM & the cast of S!NK. That launches soon, so watch this space. Finally, everyone that supports Raw Riddim. I see you & it means the world to me.
Raw Riddim: Thank you for your time
Foibles is due for release in November, with the first single to be announced on this blog.
