24.11.14
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In late October, Red Bull corralled together four separate crews on four separate stages in London’s Earls Court. Custom dubplates burst system stacks as volcanic MCs spat scorn towards opposing teams. This year’s Culture Clash seemed different to those previous. The format hadn’t changed, but the climate was furious.

Faux-vogue blowhards A$AP Mob floundered in the early rounds, their acclaim instantly pillaged by a crowd hungry for something homegrown. The night belonged to Rebel Sound and Boy Better Know. Tongue rolls, fingers pistolling the air, bars deading bars. Rebel Sound may have taken the trophy but BBK took the glory. It was a poignant moment for 25-year-old producer, Preditah. “That was the best night I’ve ever been to, period. The energy there was unreal. People came out to see a show, and they got a show.”

Birmingham-based Preditah has every right to eulogise the event. Within a concentrated timescale he has forged an idiosyncratic production standard indebted to early grime, vocal-led garage and sugary pop music. He speaks with earnest veracity on the genres he takes heed from. “Whether we won or not, we just loved the fact that we gave them grime at its purest and everyone received it well,” Preditah speaks with a supine delivery, “But 20,000 people? That’s just crazy. It was scary.

“Big up to Rebel Sound though. They came for war. They were well prepared. Their dubplates were very direct. Then they brought out Tempa T. I’m not going to lie, that broke my heart a bit. I realised they were there to get real.” Despite crew controversies, Preditah holds fast to his allegiances. Having flourished during grime’s inception, he’s seen the genre through its testy highs and lows. Most recently, the genre has seen what could be lazily labelled as a ‘resurgence’. “I think German Whip got everyone excited again. It found its way everywhere. Before that there weren’t any grime tunes that had that scope, especially in terms of vocals. The last track to achieve that kind of notoriety was (Tempa T’s) Next Hype. Obviously Skepta and Stormzy are still being well received. There’s just loads of small projects that are finding their public grounding. It’s so open right now. But really, it doesn’t matter what it is, grime or not. If it’s exciting people will take to it.”

Preditah’s vested heritage within grime is duly noted. Yet his motley sonic pallet shows greater breadth than your archetypal selectors. “I used to care about genre. Now, I just care about if it’s quality or not. It’s all about energy. I care more about the energy of the tune regardless of genre. As a producer, I’m more critically concerned about what I play out. That’s what I’m attempting to do with my future releases. I don’t want to bring out anything that isn’t exciting. It’s about perfecting that energy.”

As Preditah drafts out his future ventures, club-centric intentions become evident. “I’ve grown bored of MCs. I grew up on MCs. Currently, I’m just focussed on working with singers. I still want to make tracks that stimulate but I’m more interested in appealing to the general public rather than purely for a small group of amateur MCs that want to spit a few bars. There’s already too much of that. I just want to experiment.

“I tweeted that I’m not bringing out anymore grime instrumental EPs in particular. For example, that tune I wrote with Solo 45, Feed Them To The Lions. That’s got a lot of hype at the minute. But people keep asking for the instrumental. Why would I do that? The vocal and the beat go hand in hand to make the hype. A lot of MCs and producers are ignoring that there’s a bigger road out there. When you’ve got a singer’s voice you can really relate to the tune. For me, my heart’s not in just dropping grime beats anymore. No specific genre, just genuine songs.”

Preditah’s true to his words. As we speak, his latest remix collaboration with pop belle, Jessie Ware is prepping to manifest online. “That was the first time I constructed a remix in front of someone’s face. I’ve done remixes for years but that was the first to be called in for someone who is already established. You can always make a sick tune in your bedroom, but when you’re in front of someone and you’re using their vocals, the pressure is very real.”

This visionary burden inflicted upon the young producer seemingly explains why he has paused his music degree in Birmingham. His spearheading objective to revive club music is most likely taking up the majority of his time. “I’ll be everywhere next year. I’m still doing beats for Skepta, JME, C4 and those guys. And despite my opinions, I’m never not going to do grime. I just want everything to mature rather than do the same thing over and over again.”

Preditah appears at The Warehouse Project as part of Annie Mac Presents, Store Street, Manchester, 28 November