‘Paris’, the new EP from Bajan-Geordie hip-hop artist Kay Greyson, has just been released. Following on from her Newcomer of the Year win at the 2019 Journal Culture Awards, Faye Dixon caught up with Kay to find out more.
Tell us a bit about your EP and the three tracks on it…
The EP is called ‘Paris’ and each track represents a different city. ‘Call The Police’ is all Newcastle, where I’m from and where I live. ‘Sweet Rum Punch’ is about London; it’s a place that always seemed like the centre of the world when I was growing up and I felt like if I ever made it there, I had made it. Finally, there’s ‘Paris’. I’ve never been but coming from where I come from sometimes you can seem so far from all the beautiful things in the world and when I felt like that I would dream of Paris.
What inspired the lyrics in the tracks?
‘Call the Police’ was a real-life moment. Me and my friends go clubbing a lot and one night we were having too much fun to stop. When the lights came on I turned to my friend and said “if they want us to leave they’ll have to call the police,” they laughed so I wrote it down and a few days later it became the song. ‘Sweet Rum Punch’ was real too. I go to Carnival every year, but the first time I went it seemed like everything went wrong: it took seven hours to get there and I remember being fed up. Then I got to the carnival and bought some sweet rum punch and everything changed. ‘Paris’ was written on the night of my 21st birthday. I had got back from a weird night out and I was feeling down. I wrote the verse all in one in about ten minutes. It was just exactly what came out of my brain at that point.
Who are your musical inspirations?
My music taste is very eclectic; it’s because my dad is a musician so he raised me listening to artists from Bob Marley to Bob Dylan. The artists I’m listening to the most right now are Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon. I’ve been trying to learn to be a better writer from them. In rap, I don’t think anyone is writing better than Kendrick Lamar, so he inspires me a lot. I’m constantly inspired by new things.
How are you keeping yourself busy during lockdown?
I’ve been writing a lot and reading too. I’ve been feeling very blessed and lucky as I know a lot of people haven’t been able to take things so lightly. The only real stress I’ve had is not being able to perform. Before lockdown, I was doing three shows a week, most weeks – now that feels like it was in another life. It’s going to be an equal mix of excitement and nerves when I get back to the stage but I can’t wait.
What are your plans for the remainder of the year?
The EP has been a long time coming so I’m taking that as a massive win and after that, I don’t want to stop. So, hopefully, I’ll bring more music out as well as videos and other great content. My main goal is to get back to performing this year – it would be so weird if my last gig of the year had already happened. Beyond that, I’m going to take everything as it comes.
You can find out more about Kay and listen to her EP by following her at Twitter.com/kaygreyson.
