Keeping with the B-iLLa vibe tonight. We recently did an interview with the Cambridge-based duo ‘B-iLLa’. If you’re not aware of who these guys are well then I suggest you click below and use those eyes and ears that God gave you eh? We’re big supporters of these guys, and they’ve been working non-stop this year. Thanks once again to the boys in B-iLLa for doing this really in-depth interview, much love. Enjoy!
For fans of Shotstoppa, B-Dee, Big Dutty Deeze, Ruthless, Jehst and all the good stuff.
1) Standard generic question first. Who are you and what is this noise you make?
We are B-iLLA – and we are a rap duo from Cambridge, made up of 2 brothers; Mistah Biggz & Dillah. Specialising in making ILL sounds – primarily ride for the UK Hip-hop scene but we’ve been known to diversify with some Drum N Bass among other things!
2) What got you into hip-hop, and made you want to make it yourselves?
When we listen to hip-hop we are both very much in touch with lyrics and masters of lyricism; we love deep music with a meaning, and hip-hop is about a unification of strugglers and bringing people together for the love of the music, and it’s a geat way to express yourself, there’s nothing better than having a bad day then taking it out on a few beats! … also keeps the crime rate down!! hahahaha
3) It’s not a rarity in music and hip-hop, but not a common occurrence that it’s family thing. What made you two decide to go at it together?
Well, Biggz started out emceeing about 8-9 years ago, and originally was solo – He made his first album “The Darkness” and released it in 2008, with VerticalRoom Records (Studios – hold tight ZombieBoy).
Back in the day, “Brothers in Bars” was originally going to be the name of the crew that was Mistah Biggz & Diggy Don Walshie with the hope that Dillah would soon follow suit and start rapping – which he did, and “Brothers in Bars” became the name of our first proper mixtape! … And “B-iLLA” came from a simple joining of our names Biggz / Dillah ….
4) In the same vein of questions; could you give us a little bit more insight into what B-illa Productions is? Do you plan to help other artists out through it?
Of course this is one of our main priorities, as the old saying goes there’s no “I” in team, and we firmly believe in helping others who might not have the same advantages as ourselves. Currently – B-iLLA are partners in a Cambridgeshire based promotions company called “Syndicate Promotions” who work closely with Parkstreet PR (a leading uk urban PR company), and they are currently starting to put hiphop and urban showcases on in their home city of Cambridge – look out for “RAP IN DA BOX” – SYNDICATE PR
5) So I initially heard about you guys through Tricksta at Park Street PR, I know you and Big Dutty Deeze are fam, was it through him?
Nah it wasn’t actually – we’ve been buying and bumping UKRunnings mixtapes for a good few years now, so we know all about Tricksta – it was just a matter of time after we changed gear when we hit 2012 before we contacted Tricksta / ParkstreetPR for some promotion and production…
We met up one day to film the “Paper Thugz” video in Wolverhampton, had a big brandy session afterwards, and the rest … is history! Lol!
6) Talking of Deeze, are there any plans to do anymore collabs with him or other artists you rate?
Most certainly! There are a few new tracks with Deeze on both of our latest solo mixtapes “That’s Mistah” / “Natural Born Dillah” … and we have Deeze featured on our recently started youtube channel “B-iLLATV” … we are always looking to support Deeze and we work quite close together!
Other than that, there’s tooooo many new collaborations to tell you right now, so you’ll just have to keep It locked ..
We’ve got 2 E.Ps dropping soon – one produced by J.Flames and the other by Inspecta Morze… so watch out!
7) Your album “Brothers In Bars” came out recently. It’s a pretty eclectic mix. ‘Paper Thugz’ and ‘Home Sweet Home’ for example are pretty different in relation to lyrical content. Can you give us a little insight into the record, and your ideas behind the album?
Brothers in Bars – basically, we wanted to cover all bases. We wanted to give every different type of listener something to lock into and appreciate, whilst at the same time keeping it strictly real, but I think we achieved it quite well. It was our first co-signed BIG release, and we are really happy with it, and the response its had so far. It’s been an idea of ours since we joined up together and started dropping bars several years ago, so we done it!
8) Straight after you guys hosted ‘iLLA Than Most’, do you ever rest? What was the response like for iLLA and Brothers In Bars?
The response from “iLLA THAN MOST” was good, we feel like it was greatly received and it also gave us another opportunity to support artists we like, which is something we are always looking to do, so we teamed up with Tricksta & UKRunnings to drop that online mix for people to enjoy. Brothers in bars is still getting major props from every new person that hears it, so that’s definitely a plus, seeing as we’ve dropped 3 new projects since, and we have 3 in the vault waiting to drop!
9) With the record out, any plans to do some shows further afield from Cambridgeshire?
We’re always looking to go further afield – recently we performed at “Beats & Bars” in Wolverhampton, alongside Deeze, Tenny Ten, Broken Dialet, Suparnovar and more … hopefully we will be back in wolftown at some point. And as mentioned before we are currently trying to establish our own hiphop night in cambiidge at the moment, so we’re working hard for that to take off right now!
10) Talking of your hometown, what’s the local scene like? With the obvious ones like Dirty Dike, any dudes we should be on the look out for?
Definitely – there’s some sick artists coming from in and around the area right about now – we’ve got Mr. Melta, DubbleG, Subtrax, Inja, Skuff, Xidus Pain, JackyB & loads of other unearthed talent – keep watch on B-iLLATV!!!!!
11) What are your plans for next couple years? B-illa and/or solo projects in the works?
We have literally just released a solo mixtape each last week – “That’s Mistah…” & “Natural Born Dillah” both hosted by Tricksta and presented by UKRunnings!
You can download the digital versions from http://mistabiggz.bandcampm.com for just £3 and/or order the hard copies complete with artwork from http://brothersinbars.bigcartel.com for just £5 …
We are currently working on 2 new EP’s – and a brothers in bars Volume 2 …. So watch out for that, a whole bunch of live shows to come, and potentially a B-iLLA album next year!
Shout-outs?
Everoyne supporting us and the family movement right about now, the whole Cambridge scene – AliiDizzle – also part of B-iLLATV
Tricksta….
Parkstreet PR!!!!
1 love to all the supporters
Words: Aimee
@brothersinbars @mistahbiggz1 @dillahdoesthis @beillatv
http://mistabiggz.bandcamp.com/
http://soundcloud.com/mistahbiggz
http://soundcloud.com/dillahman
Park Street PR
hiphoplifeandtimes 