Anth Latue

FU interviewed rapper and producer Anth Latue
How long have you been rapping and producing for?
I first started writing lyrics when I was about 14 years old. Soon after I started downloading instrumentals and recording songs to mini-disc and tape for school/college friends. The production work came quite a lot later in my life.

How did you get your start?
I have always been a massive fan of Hip-Hop and RnB for as long as I can remember. I just thought, you know what, I love this music, I want to give it a go. I started out learning other peoples songs, then writing my own lyrics. Years later I started putting together complete original songs. The first time that I knew that it would be a good idea to continue writing music came when I was asked to record for a major label in London when I was 17 years old. I went independent not long after, and I put together my debut album ‘Unfinished & Perfected LP’ which is actually still available through iTunes. (Sorry for the plug!)

Who are your musical influences?
I have a massive list of influences from all over the place really. From Motown to Hip-Hop, so poeple like Bobby Womack, Otis Redding, Tupac, Biggy, Jay-z, Mobb Deep, Talib Kweli, De La Soul, Common and Nas. Production wise, I am a massive fan of J Dilla, Kanye, Just Blaze and Premier.

What inspires your music?
Everything I do, see, touch, hear, love and hate.

R-Kelly and Jay Z teamed up to do ‘Best of both worlds’ if you could do the same thing & collaborate with an RnB artist on an album who would you choose?
Ohhhhh I’d love to either do an album with Al Green or John Legend. I can’t even explain what I would do to get in a studio with one of those guys for half an hour. I like my RnB singers to be a bit more old school Soul....once again my early Motown influences are probably the reason for this haha.

Do you think the area you live in influences your lyrics and if so, do you not worry that ‘outsiders’ may not get what you’re talking about?
Really good question... Now I have actually had this problem before. My early music was very local, speaking about characters that everyone knew. I needed to stop doing this in order to branch out with my music. Of course what seemed to happen was, as soon as my music changed, people felt that I had changed. I was still the same artist, I just knew that if I was going to get people from London, or anywhere else in the world to listen, I needed to be a bit more accessible. It was a sacrifice that I had to make. To be honest, the true fans of my music have followed my musical style all over the place, and they’ve always been amazingly helpful in spreading the word.

As a new artist, if you could support any rapper on tour who would it be?
It would have to be the big guys; Jay-Z & Kanye... Sorry if you’ve heard it a million times, but the energy would be incredible. They're touring so I am going to watch them perform in June. I’m going to be dying to try and hijack the stage! Could possibly end badly for me though... haha.

What’s next for you?
I have a new album that I'm working on at the moment. I'm trying to keep details scarce at the moment, I don’t want to ruin the suprise. But new singles and a new album will be coming in 2012. I’ll keep you guys posted.


For more info on Anth Latue:
www.twitter.com/AnthLatue