Cheeky chappie extraordinaire, adopted Northener and perhaps the greatest, reality-fuelled MC of his generation, Mr.LEIGH STEPHEN KENNY recently demanded our attention with his NIGHTMARES ON WAX collaboration, the magic, Two-Tone influenced "70s/80s". That was phenomenal enough, but now he's back with his own album, the startling "Outlaw." With curiosity suitably primed, Whisperin' & Hollerin' got on the phone to Leigh at home to find out more about everything from "Grange Hill," to Lovers Rock, Buster Boodvessel and, er, Rod Hull and Emu. Oh, and what he'd do if he REALLY took over Radio 1. Intrigued? You will be...
Hiya Leigh. I must admit that while I know you have something of a history (Leigh once fronted manic Leeds outfit BEDLAM A-GO GO and released his debut album "LSK" in 1999 - ed), you really came to my notice via NIGHTMARES ON WAX's fantastic single "70s/ 80s" earlier this year. Has that collaboration really opened doors for you?
"Mmm, I dunno really," considers the chirpy Leigh, his Kent accent still cutting thru after all these years.
"I mean I got my first break with them (N.O.W) and it helped push my profile when I went out to Australia with them, so yeah, it has bridged a gap for me, definitely."
I was discussing the lyrical content (mostly written by LSK) of "70s/ 80s" with NOW leader George Evelyn recently. Certainly for those of us of a certain vintage, Two-tone and that whole period was an important time of life. Why was it so important for you and is it true you originally wanted to call "Outlaw" by the name "Two Thousand And Two-Tone"?
"Yeah, I did wanna call it that, but I didn't get my shit together in time," says Leigh with typical frankness.
"Actually, I was havin' a rant about the industry around me this morning. I mean, my album's out on Monday and I don't even have any copies of it meself. One thing about makin' music that really bothers me is the further up the ladder you get, the more disheartening it gets..."
"But rant over..." he says, switching tack instantly...
"No Two-Tone was so cool, so positive. I mean, The Specials, The Beat....wicked stuff man, wicked! It was such a big thing for me, growing up and becoming a teenager. Before that period the things I remember most as a kid were Johnny Rotten, Rod Hull & Emu and Dr.Who & The Daleks. Brilliant..."
Leigh trails off in reverie, which he has a tendency to do. He's so charming and witty, though, it soesn't matter. Besides, he's soon back on the case...
"But yeah, Two-Tone celebrated unity in young kids, regardless of their background. It was really great in that it taught White Kids it was the system we should be fighting against and it really raised levels of awareness. Besides, it was all from outside London, apart from Madness obviously...and that was very healthy. All of a sudden bands from places like Coventry could make a difference."
Talking of raising levels of awareness, the first track on "Outlaw" and it's absolute tour de force is the brilliant "The Takeover" in which LSK and is cohorts stage a spoof takeover of Radio One. It's superbly portrayed, but there's a reference to Mike Skinner from The Streets in there and the track itself is very close to The Streets. Do you feel Mike Skinner's hi-jacked your style, Leigh?
"No, it's not meant as a dig at him," Leigh corrects.
"When The Streets came out, everyone I knew thought it WAS me! I knew people would see this reference in the song, but I think Mike Skinner's fuckin' amazing! I've no problem with him at all."
"Funnily enough, when I was doin' my thing with NOW, he was on the same plane going to Australia and he's such a sussed young fella. Very talented kid. Have you seen him live? He's like the young Beastie Boys. There are similarities in our style, but there's room for us both. I'm well into him, I'm not dissing him at all."
To take the subject one stage further, most of us really WOULD like to take over Radio One, it's so massively conservative these days. So come on Leigh,imagine you're in control in there....what you gonna do now?
"Ha...well at the moment Radio One is just a fuckin' London station for London people and that'd have to change. I mean, I've been livin' in Leeds since I was 14 and it don't play nothin' that means nothin' to me."
"The thing is, my record company (Sony) were shocked...they were like "you can't tell Radio One to fuck off", but why not? It's crap. If I DID get in, I'd play summit that would educate 20 year olds. I'd be playin' The Clash and Hendrix. I mean, people younger than me are intelligent and love music, stop insulting their intelligence. They need to be energised, not just hear someone ranting about the size of someone's tits or whatever..."
Fair point, my man. Another song on the new album, "Stick To Ya Guns" continues this theme of not letting people dilute what you're about. It sounds totally autobiographical. Am I right?
"Yeah, definitely," confirms Leigh.
"I mean, like in the song I lived in a bedsit, drinking special brew, and I never had a proper writin' pad, no heatin', nothing. So yeah, it's totally about me and my journey. That all changes when you get into a proper studio, though..."
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I imagine. But you say that really ruefully?
"Yeah, because then it's all A&R men, people you don't know hasslin' you for this and that. It can really fuck you up if you aren't strong enough, which is what the song says. You just want people like that to fuck off, really."
To go back to Two-tone related matters for a moment, why did you choose to cover Bad Manners' "Walking In The Sunshine" on the album? It's a bit of a lost classic that one, isn't it?
"Yeah, it's fuckin' brilliant, ain't it?" enthuses Leigh.
"As a child it was THE soundtrack for me. Recently, I did a version of "Ghost Town" (The Specials) without the vocals and samples and I called it "Ghost Now." I sent it to Jerry Dammers, I was so excited about it.
Yeah? What happened?
"He told me I couldn't use it!" cries Leigh, obviously still distraught.
" I even told him I;d be happy to give the money from it to charity...Shelter or whatever, but he still flatly refused. Bit rich that, isn't it? I mean, he's spent his entire career dipping into old Ska records, Don Drummond and so on and he won't allow me to do the same...Ah well. Bad Manners, though...man, they were ace. Buster's just a huge hero!"
Meanwhile, apart from the Two-tone aspect, there's a real feel of great, golden age 1970s reggae throughout "Outlaw." I know you used to listen to a lot of your Mum's old stuff. Was it things like Marley, Lee "Scratch" Perry?
"No that was more when I got older. Mum was into Lovers Rock...Third World, Janet Kay, stuff like that. It wasn't really the Deep Roots reggae. That came with Punk for me...through the Pac-Man players!"
Leigh laughs heartily, but the old dub'n'spliff interface here obviously came into effect here...
"Yeah, I got into the deep roots reggae thru scorin' a fiver's worth off the old hippy dealers," confides Leigh.
"Before that I used to think white reggae was only UB40. After that, though, and thru me step-Dad gettin' me into The Clash...and The Ruts. What an important band they were!"
Yeah, I second that emotion, big-style. The Ruts were mad for helping to pioneer the Rock Against Racism shows, weren't they?
"Right, yeah. RAR was so important! Everyone seems to forget its contribution now, but a lotta musicians were so pissed off with the situation. At least the punks tried to do something about it, however limited."
In terms of your rhyming prowess and ideas, Leigh, one of the things that strikes is the wonderful combination of positivity and militancy. Something like the song "Rumours And Lies" makes it clear how corrupt the music biz is, like that line about: "I'd rather be screw-faced than two-faced" for instance.
"Yeah, you can easily get caught up in all the bullshit," says Leigh, wisely.
"It can get to the stage where even people in your own family can start to turn funny if you're not careful. It's like...you get flattered by the idea of being offered a record deal and all it entails. Then, the mood changes and people start gving you the "Where's the hit?" line. It's hard, but if you can remember where you came from you'll be OK. You have to keep hold of that."
Sage advice. But then, roots have always been important to Leigh, and he's had enough moves of his own to make. He moved up to Leeds from his native Kent at the age of 14. Obviously Leeds is very much his home now. But was acceptance hard? We tend to be a bit suspicious of Southerners, don't we?
"In my sense it was good," says Leigh, laughing at the memory.
"It was kind've a novelty thing. At the time they were reading "Grange Hill" in my class when I went to school in Leeds and - obviously - they wanted me to play Tucker Jenkins! (Laughs like mad)"
"But, y'know there was a lot of outsiders and I was only one of them, so I soon got accepted and because I used rhymin' slang they always thought I was from London rather than Kent, so it was really funny most of the time, not nasty. In any case, it's true what they say...the further north you get, the friendlier people are. I've certainly survived!"
And thrived, it seems Leigh. "Outlaw" looks set to help you become everyone's favourite wanted man. Don't turn yourself in just yet.
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