London rapper/producer VICTIZZLE shared his thoughts with MC Grandad, otherwise known as Tony Cummings

Victizzle

17 year old Victor Akata hails from East London, home of such urban music giants as Dizzee Rascal and Kano. Now, under his rapping moniker of Victizzle, Victor is getting plenty of radio play with his first single "Jam Yourself". For those not familiar with the language of the streets I asked this rapper/producer what "jam yourself" actually means. "To 'jam' means to relax or chill, so in context with the song, it's basically telling the youth of the streets that they don't have to be out on road committing crimes and what not. If they feel the sudden urge to fight or swear or even go and shoot or stab someone, they should find the nearest church and jam there. It sounds silly I know, but just imagine if every youth did that. The streets would be a much safer place."

Intriguingly for a hip-hop artist with such a vital street sound, Victizzle is not a product of the mean streets of London. "I was born into a Nigerian Christian family, went to church every Sunday, grew up in the church really. My father left when I was about seven years old and I haven't seen or heard from him since, so me and my two brothers and one sister were raised up by my mum. Like I said, I was always at church but I never knew God on a personal level, until I met G-Force (God's Force), and a lot of other youths that were representing God through music, that alone inspired me to get to know God properly. Since then it's been hard but life has gotten better and I've been given such a big vision."

For one so young, Victizzle is something of a studio whiz. He produced half the tracks on the 'Destroy & Rebuild' album by G-Force which was recently nominated for a MOBO Award. Amazingly, his funky street beats are home produced. The rapper/producer spoke about his recording facility. "I wouldn't call it a studio, but I've got a little setup in my bedroom, where I record my tracks and make beats and what not. Other artists also pay per hour to get their tracks recorded as well. I'm a perfectionist. Whatever I create I have to make sure that perfection is its standard. Ask anyone, I'm never really satisfied with the quality of my material, eg, I could play it to a friend and he would love it but I would always feel like it's not my best, I'm always trying to make it better and better each time. It's funny because I think God has made me that way so that I don't put limits on myself."

Awake Records have released Victizzle's "Jam Yourself" single and there is already a remix version of the single in the pipeline. Vitizzle is pleased with the response to his exhortation to get youth off the streets and into church. He exclaimed excitedly, "'Jam Yourself' has gone so far it's crazy, and it's still going. The response has been wonderful. I've had grandmas telling me how much they love the song, it's funny because it's actually broken into a lot of different age groups, which is very good. I've heard people playing it in their cars, on their phones and it's such a good feeling knowing that it's having a positive effect on the youth. It's weird because I never knew this song would get anywhere, I remember sitting on the stairs in my house, writing the song and a year later it has a video soon to be out on TV. That's how God works if you humble yourself, trust me."

Despite his enthusiasm for church life, this passionate young Christian is concerned with some of the self-obsessed "bless me" tendencies unfortunately present in a lot of today's churches. He commented, "Personally, I believe that the church are partially to blame for the youth crime on the street and are now picking up the pieces. The majority of the youth on the streets grew up in the church so why have they all left? Well, I believe that the majority of the churches are too busy preaching about how to get money and financial blessing for themselves, instead of focussing on the youth who are the future of the church, especially the young men. They should be teaching the youth about what life is really about and the consequences of their actions (sin), but because they don't teach that, the youth have to learn it elsewhere (from the world). That's why there is so much confusion. But I believe God is using a lot of people to help rectify this problem and many other problems."