Giggs Interview: UK Underground Scene, Being Independent, Drake, Teaching His Dog to Walk Himself

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Host & Producer @ktoarshan
Filming @kahhre @jack.kissane
Editing @mikkyfilmz @ktoarshan
Extra Production + Research @jack.kissane @antoniojohri

In this interview, Arshan sat down with UK Rap legend Giggs, who turned a rough upbringing in Southeast London’s Peckham neighborhood into an ongoing, nearly two-decade-long career where he carried the buzz he earned as an MC in infamous freestyle cyphers to international notoriety. Giggs is greatly respected and is known as one of the “big three” when it comes to UK Rap pioneers, alongside Skepta & Stormzy, who also were able to translate their music beyond the UK Rap & UK Grime scenes where they respectively began their careers. Additionally, Giggs is credited for opening doors to the current UK Rap scene like Central Cee, Dave, AJ Tracey, and more. In 2008, Giggs’ track “Talking the Hardest” off his debut album evolved from an underground cult classic into a UK Rap anthem. Since then, Giggs has had huge moments collaborating with Drake on “KMT” & “No Long Talk”, Jorja Smith on “Im Workin”, Dave on “Incredible Sauce”, & Wretch 32 on “Cool Nuh”, and also extending to US artists like Meek Mill & Swizz Beatz.

In this interview, Giggs & Arshan discussed Giggs’ working with Clint149 from Corteiz, the rise of freestyle platforms, the new wave of the UK Underground in Jim Legxacy, Fimiguerrero, etc, being a mentor to the next generation of artists, Ella Mai & Jordan Adetunji taking UK sound global, being a family man, working with Drake and more!

This interview with Giggs marks the last of six interviews in our ‘KTO in London’ series, following our previous videos with SlikSyd, Len, Jim Legxacy, Slawn, and Clint149 of Corteiz - stay tuned for more soon!

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Living between London & New York

1:43 - Being a family man in London

2:13 - Tough upbringing in early 2000s Peckham

3:27 - Peckham being gentrified

3:54 - Gun shot & not flinching: Giggs’ aura

4:37 - The rise of freestyle platforms

5:55 - Working with Corteiz

6:07 - Teaching his dog to walk itself in Peckham

7:55 - Releasing debut album ‘Walk in Da Park’

8:30 - “Talkin the Hardest” being a UK national anthem

9:18 - Having moments like Meek & Lil Baby

9:46 - New wave of UK Underground: Jim Legxacy, Fimiguerrero

10:53 - Being a mentor to new-gen artists

11:43 - Importance of going local to global

12:30 - Ella Mai & Jordan Adetunji’s global success

13:27 - Gigg’s advice to new-gen artists

14:13 - Early experience with record labels

14:32 - Importance of an artist’s work ethic

15:29 - Need a record label in 2025?

16:03 - “Pain Is The Essence” going viral

18:10 - Having longevity by being consistent

19:42 - Working with Drake on “KMT”

20:16 - Giggs’ goals: world domination

21:11 - Being a father of 3 kids & being grown

Tags (ignore):
uk rap uk rap peckham peckham skepta skepta drake drake stormzy stormzy central cee central cee santan dave santan dave jorja smith jorja smith jim legxacy jim legxacy fimiguerrero fimiguerrero feng feng yt yt aj tracey aj tracey ella mai ella mai jordan adetunji jordan adetunji mc mc freestyle cypher freestyle cypher victory lap victory lap fire in the booth fire in the booth uk grime uk grime swizz beatz swizz beatz meek mill meek mill lil baby lil baby roadman roadman southeast london southeast london