LOGAN SAMA
Photo by Matt Benson
Interview by Elijah Butterz
Logan Sama is the only DJ on legal radio with a 100% Grime Show anywhere in the world. After graduating from the legendary Rinse.fm 3 years ago, he has hosted the influential Monday Night Show ever since to much acclaim. All the big names have passed by including Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, JME & Skepta and Lethal Bizzle. The end of 2008 has seen Logan launch a new label, Earth 616, to release instrumental material from the top grime producers.
What is the idea behind the new label Earth 616?
I wanted to get real bassy-grimey-club instrumentals back into the scene. And the preservation of the vinyl format is important as well, as that embodies grime culture. Although legal mp3s will be available well after the vinyl versions are out, for accessibility’s sake, to ensure anyone who wants to buy it legitimately, can. From January colored vinyl, with full artwork, will come out to make it worth going to the record store. Generally, DJ’s prefer mixing vinyl, and if we lose the vinyl, we could see our independent record stores go here. That would be a disaster as the mainstream stores will never prioritize our music.
Do you think independent grime artists should be aiming their products at the mainstream music retailers instead of independents now?
They don’t give a fuck about you, if you are a new artist. When you are starting out, it is more important that people have it and hear it, than selling loads. Later when you are a big MC you can start selling your music. Most Grime mixtapes don’t sell over 1000 copies anyway so it is important that people just hear it.
What is the motivation behind the almost weekly free mix series “The Best There Is At What I Do’? (It can be downloaded @ Myspace.com/DjLoganSama)
On the show I don’t really get a chance to mix vocals and instrumentals, as it is hosting based, so it is a different way of pushing new music. It’s just for people that like listening to grime, for their ipods, phones, cars and to share. There are always free bassline and funky house mixes floating, so it is only right that there are grime ones for people to listen to. It is also for the people that can’t listen to the show as they are abroad, so it is simple to download and enjoy the latest music.
Is grime lacking an “official compilation” for a representation in the mainstream? There are tons of rnb, hip hop, bassline, house, and even old school garage collections out there now. Is there a reason why a grime one hasn’t come out since Run The Roads 2?Are labels scared of it, or is it because there is no demand?
A compilation is something which is made up of hits. House has them, bassline has them, rnb and hip hop have plenty. Grime has an abundance of great tracks, but not many hits. Compilations don’t sell off the back of their quality, they sell off the back of the success of the singles on them. That is why Run The Roads is no more. There were some great tracks on there, but hardly any of them were hits. That is due to the restrictions placed on the music. I could put a CD out with a bunch of great tunes on tomorrow, but the people who care about grime are the underground fans, and most of them download. It would sell terribly unless I got the wider public to run into HMV and buy. And to get them and HMV to care, you need hits. Grime has none right now. It’s not the right time. However if you mean grime is lacking a regular, easy to obtain collection of the freshest best music, I agree. But selling it wouldn’t work.
There has been a lot of discussion about your impressive listener numbers on the radio show. How can we convert some of these listeners into sales of the music?
With investment in promotion. Wiley – Wearing my Rolex was born on mine and Target’s show (Roll Deep), and it is at number 2 in the charts, as I type this with all number of radio rips and leaked promos online for people. Wiley is making huge amounts of money and everyone is happy. The only difference is someone invested in the tune, it came out on a wide enough platform and got heard by a wide enough audience for it to be profitable. Without that investment then you end up with the other 100 or so records Wiley has made, which are infinitely more groundbreaking and inventive, yet never saw 1/100th of the spins Rolex is getting.
How do you feel about artists leaving the Grime Scene and being vocal about their frustrations on it after moving to another scene such as Bassline or Funky?
Some people tried to make grime, weren’t good at it, went and made Bassline. Now they are massive. Some people make decent grime tunes, then go and make Funky. And now they are selling. Don’t try and do Grime, flop and then say it is shit, it just makes you sound bitter. Some people lose heart in making Grime, and if they feel inspired by making something else then fair enough, but don’t insult the people you left behind calling it kiddy music, otherwise you would have been big in it if it was that easy.
What do you think the future holds for the grime rave? There is only one regular grime night in London and basically none anywhere else in the UK, how can mcs, djs and promoters and possibly the fans mend this situation?
There are no regular grime raves. There are ‘parties’ where people might play grime, but they have turned into trendy fashion shows for wastemen to stand up and pose at. There’s nothing for people who genuinely love grime music now. I recently played at an event with jammer and the crowd was clearly there for a day out, not to rave. I ended up playing a bag of dubplates that used to mash down rumble, stampede and young man standing and would get beat out on de ja and Rinse back in the day. Classic grime tracks, but not the same 10 bait Eskimo dance reload tracks. No one in the dance knew any of the tunes. That’s how I knew that practically no one in the venue had seen the inside of EQ or Rex, never used to have to go through metal detectors to rave, never seen Dizzee Rascal MC on a set rather than at a concert. I miss playing grime to people who are into the music, not people who are there as cultural tourists. I have no problem with these trendy shoreditch and whitechapel nights, but when there are no real grime raves to play at, it just gets on my tits. And I blame the police for that. Ignorant policing.
