Hip hop - A Maltese rapper making waves in London

CHRIS BIRDD is a 23-year-old rapper based in London. He speaks about his passion for Hip Hop and the struggle of trying to make it big in one of the biggest music cities in the world. Helena Grech writes

There are many talented musicians is Malta, but it is not often that you hear about a hip-hop artist, and one that relocates to London at that. Chris Birdd, whose real name is Chris Mizzi moved to London to pursue his dream. Conducting an interview on Skype is not the same as the real thing, it doesn’t always allow you to capture the essence of the person on the other end. But Chris is different. He is so passionate about his music that he almost jumps out of the screen at you.

I ask him about his production rate, and he says: “I release singles quite often now since I am doing all the production myself. What I’ve done for the past two years is learn to produce myself. I went to school for it, but learnt most of it on my own.”

He builds a database of sound which, in the modern industry can be sampled at will in any new creation. “I create my own sounds, my own samples and I’m building a bank of all my different, stripped down creations. I am building different dynamics and singing hyped-up tracks and just getting out of my comfort zone. The last thing I put out alone is a reflection of my time over the past couple of years, making music on my own in my room without anybody bothering me. The new single coming out tomorrow is also a reflection of the energy I need to let out – it is also a hyped-up track.”

I asked as to whether the highenergy level tracks he is producing right now is a backlash against the long periods of time he spent locked up at home, sharpening his skills and learning what it means to produce a track alone from start to finish.

“When I was a kid and I was just writing music, I was trying to prove myself. At the time I was trying to rap really fast and show the world I could do it. Over the past couple of years I’ve really changed my focus to the music itself. I felt I needed to take a step back and analyse the music from a different perspective. This is why I did production – I wanted every aspect of the sound to come from me. Now I feel like since I’ve been holding back it’s like a sling shot – I’ve been going back slowly but I’ve rocketed forward. I’m putting out so much music and am trying to put myself out there.”

The feel of the song

“Before I actually start a track I see what feel I’m going for – choosing the tempo/beats-perminute. This will tell you if it’s a chilled out song or down tempo or pulsing with energy.

“Then I choose what snare I want to go with the song, it’s always the tempo, vibe and sound that I use so for example if I use a harsh snare it would be for a party track. I start putting vocals on it then I start building the track and see what it needs from there. It grows as it is produced, sometimes I completely flip it on its head – I leave the process open.”

I ask what he samples in to a song, the basics... “I add highhats, kick drums, add a bass line, add some chords and build it slowly. There’s no limit to how a song can progress, I leave the whole process open and free. I think it’s a blend of music coming from the heart and music coming from some bigger picture that I’ve got in my head. Usually I would start off without an idea. If I’m off from work that day I would wake up very early and I’d create the vibe in my head, but it would evolve with how I’m feeling that day.”

“If I’m writing a party track and I’m feeling really chilled that day I would either write something separate and new or else will change that party track completely. It depends on so many things, even my dreams the night before.”

Hip Hop in Malta

The hip hop scene in Malta is growing. I ask him how he feels about it. “It’s great to see. There is a limit to how far it could go, which is why I took my sound overseas. The real opportunities are out there. I do feel there is potential on the island, and there are other Maltese artists who left the country to test the waters. Look at Sean Manche – he’s not even a hip hop artist to me, he uniquely developed his whole sound and name. I feel there is a lot of potential in the country but the bigger picture is abroad.”

Chris does not shy away from being Maltese. In fact it makes him the artist that he is. “Being Maltese definitely helps me stand out. Every little thing makes a person different, and this is part of what makes me unique. I am blessed because my accent does

No matter what you want in life you need to work for it, and that means leaving your comfort zone, and that can be scary

give me some uniqueness when people listen to my vocals, even when taking out the whole production aspect to it. In general though I think it’s the whole story, being real and honest with the music makes it different and makes me stand out. I don’t think it’s just the accent.”

Chris explains that he started writing just for fun at the age of 13-14.” I never thought I would take it seriously and I never thought I would even pick it up. One day I wanted to write a story and I just did. It slowly picked up; I have a background of my brother playing in a band, and my best friend who lived across the road from me was in a band as well and had a massive passion for music – all this exposure helped me along the way.”

Taking it seriously

“I kept on writing and kept on writing and then by the time I was 17 I said I want to take this seriously. I never understood what it meant to take up music seriously – but I guess it’s a learning process. I saw the artists I liked and tried to copy them and understand what I liked about them, then I would move on and get aspects from different artists. This is how I slowly started to build my sound.”

Chris explains that rapping is one thing, but singing is a different animal. “When I felt like I really mastered the rapping part, I wanted to move on to singing. That’s the thing with me – once I’ve really picked on and worked tirelessly on a skill, to be at the level which I think is good, I get bored and move on to mastering another skill.”

“I always want to do something I don’t know how to do. That’s how I moved into production, that and being fed up of relying on other people. When you’ve got somebody producing the beat you are dependent on them, and sometimes they don’t really understand the sound you are trying to communicate to the world. You are chasing this person or that because you don’t like something, but they’re always busy – it’s a nightmare.”

Getting more and more passionate, he explains through the screen how it evolved to him now learning how to play the guitar and the piano. “I taught myself and it’s not because I want to prove something to someone, but because for example, if I feel like a tune could really use a good guitar part – I’d work on it myself. If I like where the track is going I would go to a professional guitar player but at least I can lay down the basic idea myself.”

‘I love what I do’

“Being able to do what I love every day really excites me. And for me, doing that with the people I grew up with makes it special for me. If I had to pick one thing it would be the live show. It all boils down to the live show because you are not just putting your music out there, people are actually interacting with it, vibing to the sound with you. If I had to pick one thing it’s that but it’s very, very hard for me to pick.”

Chris said that his last show in Malta was incredible. “I’ve got a big fan base in Malta, they know my music and like it which is great. I hadn’t performed in Malta for 2-3 years, so it was great to give back. A lot of people wanted me to perform but I delayed because I felt my sound wasn’t ready but it was amazing – everyone was singing a long and jumping, it was so much more than what I expected.”

The home of Hip Hop - the US

“For me the bigger picture is moving to the States and seeking out the opportunities there, going for it and moving forward. Your inner voice tells you that you can’t do something – it’s so true. No matter what you want in life you need to work for it, and that means leaving your comfort zone, and that can be scary,” he said.

“Some people are so comfortable never breaking boundaries and never exploring – that’s not a good life to live. You need to see both sides of the story. My message is that whatever it may be that you want, just go for it!”

He said that when he first started out, his parents were not that supportive and they wanted a more mainstream future for him. “Normal doesn’t make any sense to me though, there is no such thing as normal. I was working 60-70 hours a week at a point, before moving to London, and I would go home and write and record.”

“Being in London has helped my music grow – opportunities weren’t falling at my feet but a city is pumping and it is alive – every moment, second, minute moment not writing music is wasted. If I miss a day that’s a missed song, London keeps me aware of that,” he said.