Music has always been in my life and a big thing for my family. If I had to say when it all began for me, it was from going to church every weekend, where music is a huge part of the service - it’s very joyful and celebratory with everyone dancing and singing as part of their worship and through that I started playing drums for our church choir.
I started listening to rap music when I was about six years old. My dad didn’t want me to listen to it because of the lyrics but I absolutely loved it instantly.
We lived in London at that time and Grime music was emerging everywhere. I started writing little rhymes because of what was going on around me - my dad told me he would find little bits of paper everywhere that I’d written lyrics on.
We moved to Glasgow when I was eight. I started releasing my own music when I was 15 and a few years later I started MC’ing and playing sell out sets across Scotland and in Newcastle. From touring and playing, I built a following and I loved doing the gigs, but rap remained my biggest passion. I began releasing my own rap songs around the same time -people like versatility and everything I was doing was working and really being well received. I’ve always worked hard to be successful and because of that I feel I deserve to be where I am. I’ve got a lot going on. I'm one of the rappers involved in DJ Prospect’s special Scotland Cypher - he’s putting Scottish rap on the map - and I'm excited that it premieres tomorrow night.
I’ve also made two albums that will be released soon, and I’ve got an exciting opportunity coming up in July that I can’t talk about yet, but people should be ready to hear more from me.
Music means the world to me, it’s my be all and end all, I devote all my time and energy to it and make my living from it, that’s been harder to do during lockdown obviously without live shows but more than money, I miss performing so much, I was really enjoying myself and I can’t wait to get back out there. If you love music and you want a career in it, start now, start young like I did, and never give up, work hard and never stop, because you never know just how close you are to making it.
Oakzy B joins DJ Prospect, Ransom FA, Sherlock, Shogun, McRoy and Melroze in putting Scottish rap on the map with a special Scotland Cypher, produced by Show N Prove. The video, which was filmed at SWG3, premieres on GRM Daily at 7pm tomorrow Wednesday 30th June.
