Maniry

FU interviewed London rapper Maniry:
How long have you been rapping for?
Since I was a sperm cell

Where did your name come from?
On Pro evolution soccer 4, you can make your own player, but the commentator is only programmed to say pre-recorded names of actual football players, so the closest name to Mennar (my real name) was Maniry, then the name stuck!

How would you describe your sound?
Real Hip- Hop with that U.K. touch. But by that I don't mean double G belts and bootleg trueys, spittin' 16's on the 65 to Ealing Broadway. I mean that Big L flow with that suave LDN demeanor lol!

Who are your musical influences?
Obviously I grew up on artists like Big L, Cormega, Canibus, Wu Tang, Pharoah Monche, Noreaga, Mobb deep and all that gangsta ish. But recently I've been listening to alot of lighter Hip-Hop like Jay Dee, 9th wonder, MF Doom, Slum V, Khrysis, Mad villain and all of those guys. But I don't only listen to Rap and Hip- Hop I kind of grab influence from everywhere. When I was around 18 I went through a massive Indie phase where I didn't listen to any Hip-Hop and just educated myself on Alternative new music. I found myself in record shops in Camden copping 90's rock vinyls and I didn't even have anything to play them on. But its cool because that was when I started taking music seriously and decided to take Rap from a different angle and not follow the rest of the U.K's depiction of it.

You’re releasing an EP soon, what can we expect from it and why should we download it?
I'm on it, talking poo and having fun doing so. I believe that music passes energy, I keep mine positive so it'll have you feeling that way too. Plus its fully produced by VersaBeatz who is an amazing producer, he has worked with many major artists from both the U.K and the States producing bangers left, right and centre, download his free instrumentals mixtape "Imogen" now! There is also a feature from Krept and my darg Boss Blacks also.

What inspires your music?
Everyday stuff... well what I see as 'everyday stuff' as a 20 year old living in London who misses the younger, reckless days because he's seeing little glimpses of that 9-5 adult life that he doesn't want to be dragged into. So instead he keeps on the bright side where the weed is green and the alcohol is brown and sweet :D

R-Kelly and Jay Z teamed up to do ‘Best of both worlds’ if you could do the same thing and collaborate with an RnB artist on an album who would you choose?
I don't want to sound like another Odd Future groupie but Frank Ocean.

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?
The area I live in influences my music so much because environment plays a major factor when it comes to song writing. But I don't worry at all because Hip-Hop is all about understanding new cultures and new areas. So I think "outsiders" will be intrigued to hear about how we're living over here.
 
What’s the biggest/best show you’ve done?
So far I've only performed at 3 shows in 3 different venues, But I'm really looking forward to my next one on the 11th of May at "Push the Tide" in Brighton which is part of the massive Great Escape festival, so that should be mad crazy. I'm looking to go nuts on stage so try get down for that one.

If you could bring back 1 era of Hip-Hop which one would you choose and why?
The times where Cormega brought out the album 'True Meaning' around 2002 and had that beef with Nas also when Jay Z dropped the 'Blueprint' and Dre made '2001' then Eminem gave us 'The Eminem Show', that Era of Hip-Hop was lyrical. There was a lot more meaning behind what people said back then and that for me is when Hip-Hop was at its peak.

What’s next for you?
Very soon I'm going to release a song called "Virus" featuring Krept from the U.K. rap duo Krept & Konan. This song is on my E.P. Then once that is out I shall release the E.P. so make sure you stay locked because during that time, I'll be doing performances, freestyles and dropping more and more videos and songs. So look out for me and check out the rest of the 2.4.2.O.P.E. team: Motive105 (rapper), Boss Blacks (rapper), Casper Jones (rapper), VersaBeatz (producer) and My Panda Shall Fly (producer and DJ)


For more info on Maniry:
www.twitter.com/Maniry242
www.facebook.com/ManiryLondon