Context is; one part 2 step vibes and two parts funky house rhythms, with a smattering of lyrical finese that's as relatable to little league teens from Burnley as it is city-lads on a mid-week bender. He's been putting out a variety of lowkey releases over the past year, "Listening To Burial", "1.4 at 12", but it's his new track, "Small Town Lad Sentiments", that is really the tour de force in Context's repertoire. So much so, in fact, that Mike Skinner jumped at the chance to remix it, adding a new laid-back groove to the song, giving it a more euphoric uplifting dance feel, reminiscent of Mike's Original Pirate Material days.
Context: For me, like, the remix is great both musically and conceptually. Musically, its got that classic Mike Skinner/The Streets vibe, especially that piano loop. He said that he wanted to do the remix because the original track made him nostalgic and its that quality in the production reflects that. Conceptually, various people had drawn parallels between my music and his — I guess the kind of topics we both speak about and stuff like that — and so for him to remix my stuff was like a nod of approval by him.How did you hook up with him?
MistaJam premiered the original track on 1Xtra and about 2 hours later Mike tweeted :Small Town Lad Sentiments" and DM'd me saying "can I remix Small Town Lad Sentiments?" I sent him my acapella and the parts and he did it in about three days.Favourite thing on your iPod right now?
SpectraSoul recently did a mix for Drum and Bass Arena. Been playing that a lot recently Most annoying music question a journalist can ask?
Nine times out of ten the questions are fine. The only time it’s a bit annoying or awkward is when the person interviewing you has absolutely no idea who you are so there's no context to any of the questions. That’s a surreal experience! Awk. What do you think you'd be doing if you had a proper job?
I actually once filled out the application form for the graduate scheme at Price Waterhouse Cooper. The thought of it now fills me with dread. I've done the office job thing before at Norwich Union. Not good. Can you sum up your music in a haiku?
Lol. I just had to Google what that was. Here's my attempt:Parochial lout,
Scribbling imagery,
rap forgot about. What's the best thing you've been in fancy dress?
Honestly I've only ever done it once because usually it cringes me out massively. I went as Sailor Jerry but just because it gave me an excuse to smoke a pipe and drink rum straight out of the bottle. What would your death row meal be?
Curry. Lamb madras, chips, rice and beer. Do you fold or scrunch?
…Scrunch. What did you get your mum for Christmas?
Some jewellery - a little silver necklace. And what did you do for Valentines day?
We were both so broke this year we couldn’t afford to do anything. I think we just ordered a pizza and stayed in. It’s cool though; I’m taking her to Paris next month, which should make up for it! What's your favourite memory of public transport?
I was once on a bus in Norwich and saw a girl vomit all over the girl sitting in front her. The girl in front had this mad big curly hair and the girl behind was so hung-over and looked properly awful. Nice. Finally, who's your favourite person on Twitter?
Hard to beat Big Narstie when Eastenders is on!
Advertisement
We cornered Context for some quickfire questions and found out about vomit on buses, haikus and why your hero remixing your song is always a good thing.Noisey: Why is this remix great?
Context: For me, like, the remix is great both musically and conceptually. Musically, its got that classic Mike Skinner/The Streets vibe, especially that piano loop. He said that he wanted to do the remix because the original track made him nostalgic and its that quality in the production reflects that. Conceptually, various people had drawn parallels between my music and his — I guess the kind of topics we both speak about and stuff like that — and so for him to remix my stuff was like a nod of approval by him.How did you hook up with him?
MistaJam premiered the original track on 1Xtra and about 2 hours later Mike tweeted :Small Town Lad Sentiments" and DM'd me saying "can I remix Small Town Lad Sentiments?" I sent him my acapella and the parts and he did it in about three days.Favourite thing on your iPod right now?
SpectraSoul recently did a mix for Drum and Bass Arena. Been playing that a lot recently Most annoying music question a journalist can ask?
Nine times out of ten the questions are fine. The only time it’s a bit annoying or awkward is when the person interviewing you has absolutely no idea who you are so there's no context to any of the questions. That’s a surreal experience! Awk. What do you think you'd be doing if you had a proper job?
I actually once filled out the application form for the graduate scheme at Price Waterhouse Cooper. The thought of it now fills me with dread. I've done the office job thing before at Norwich Union. Not good. Can you sum up your music in a haiku?
Lol. I just had to Google what that was. Here's my attempt:Parochial lout,
Scribbling imagery,
rap forgot about. What's the best thing you've been in fancy dress?
Honestly I've only ever done it once because usually it cringes me out massively. I went as Sailor Jerry but just because it gave me an excuse to smoke a pipe and drink rum straight out of the bottle. What would your death row meal be?
Curry. Lamb madras, chips, rice and beer. Do you fold or scrunch?
…Scrunch. What did you get your mum for Christmas?
Some jewellery - a little silver necklace. And what did you do for Valentines day?
We were both so broke this year we couldn’t afford to do anything. I think we just ordered a pizza and stayed in. It’s cool though; I’m taking her to Paris next month, which should make up for it! What's your favourite memory of public transport?
I was once on a bus in Norwich and saw a girl vomit all over the girl sitting in front her. The girl in front had this mad big curly hair and the girl behind was so hung-over and looked properly awful. Nice. Finally, who's your favourite person on Twitter?
Hard to beat Big Narstie when Eastenders is on!