THE TRACK: Novelist, Stop Killing The Mandem – we travel to Abbey Road Studios for a glimpse at how it was made

Stop Killing The Mandem

South London native Kojo Kankam, aka Novelist, is almost infuriatingly talented for a man of his age. At 21, he’s made a name for himself not only as one of grime’s most thoughtful, poignant young MCs, but also as one its most exciting producers. His back catalogue is already impressively eclectic, from anthemic crew tracks like Lewisham McDeez – alongside his group The Square – to his killer Mumdance collaboration 1 Sec and forward-thinking instrumentals like Thrones and Powers.

He’s recently dropped his debut album, Novelist Guy, which eschews collaborations in favour of a fully independent approach, entirely written and produced by Novelist himself, and released on his own label MMMYeh. The only outside input on the LP came from Abbey Road in-house engineer Gordon Davidson, who took the reins for the final mix and master sessions. FM caught up with Kankam and Davidson in Abbey Road’s Front Room studio to break down the creation of one of the LP’s most instantly memorable moments, the politically-potent Stop Killing The Mandem.

Tell us a little about the inspiration for the track…

“In 2016 there was a protest, because a lot of black Americans were getting killed and shot by the police. At the time I made myself a banner with the words ‘Stop killing the mandem’ written on it. The message kind of surpasses what’s going on in America, it’s something that stands over here as well; there’s a lot police brutality. Pictures of me with that banner at the march went viral, but I thought the message surpassed that one picture, so I thought I’d write a track around that.

“The beat matches the message – it’s quite abrasive but upbeat. The chorus is somewhat like a chant, it’s meant to grab your attention, and make people remember the message. I’m really happy with how the whole idea turned out.”

You made the most of the beat in Reason, right?

“Yeah. I’ve been using Reason since I was nine years old, I think, from the beginning of my production life.”

How did you first get into make music?

“My first introduction to music on the whole came from my uncle. He had Reason and all the magazines and demo versions of all this different software. He let me practice and play around on all that. I

“I made the beat before I made the bars. I wanted to make an old school grime beat that would make people jumping up off the floor when you play it in a rave. The message is like that too, in a sense that it catches people’s attention.”

used to play around on all this different stuff – I remember I even had eJay – but my uncle was constantly using Reason. Even though we had Fruity Loops, and I used to use Cubase too, Reason’s always been my go-to. It shows you how to use hardware too, because it emulates hardware and teaches you about rewiring and moving things around and stuff. That’s why I’ve always liked Reason more.”

Do you use any hardware alongside Reason?

“I do, in fact it got used in Stop Killing The Mandem. I’ve got a Korg Triton Rack, which is a classic synth. I don’t think I used any drums from there, I think all the drums on this track were samples. The main sound I used on the track is a stock sound from the Triton though, which I played around with a little to make it a little bit more unique. I used that sound in a few songs actually, but it’s very prominent in Stop Killing The Mandem.”

Which producers have influenced your sound over the years?

“The producers I’ve taken inspiration from, where I’m from, definitely have to be Dizzee Rascal and Wiley, but I listen to music worldwide. There are so many different names that I listen to. But on the whole, because the main influence on my album comes from grime, the biggest impact comes from those original grime producers. That’s what I was aiming for. Growing up though, grime was just something I listened to, it wasn’t the main thing I listened to. It was the thing I wanted to do as a career, but it might even be

the thing I listened to least. That might sound funny, but that’s just how it’s been. I listened to all different sounds, a lot of dance music, a lot of East Coast hip-hop, a lot of West Coast hip-hop, funk, jazz, soul, deep house, garage… all different genres. Sometimes I just listen to ambient music as well. I purposefully like to place those inspirations into my music.”

You produced, wrote and released your album yourself without a label or any guest collaborations – what made you want to do that?

“I wanted the album to be as true as it possibly could be without too many opinions or influences that didn’t come from myself and my surroundings. It’s easy to do stuff with other artists and just do stuff for the hype at the time, but I wanted it to be monumental. I wanted it to be time-stamped – in the future I want people to still be able to relate to the music because it came from a true place. That’s why I wanted it to be uncompromised.”

And then you brought it to Abbey Road for the final mastering?

“Essentially, I brought it in as a finished product, but there were a few skits I hadn’t completed. I recorded Happiness In The Cold here in Abbey Road, but basically I did the album at home. I’ve got the facilities at home, and I spent a lot of time investing in myself and my music making, learning how to do things. I wanted to test myself, that’s why I did everything independently. Then bringing it to Abbey Road added that final touch of quality – and it’s a nice little stamp to have on the album too!”