How Idris Elba is inspiring a new generation of musicians

Brut America

"I was too shy to ask producers to work for me. So I just learned how to produce myself."  Idris Elba gets candid with Brut about making music and mentoring a new generation of artists like James BKS.

Transcript

00:00I was lifting speaker boxes and doing the cables, and then eventually I started DJing.

00:06I've never looked back.

00:13Music is essentially my first love.

00:15This is Idris Elba for B.R.U.T.E.

00:30What's up, this is James P.K.S. for B.R.U.T.E.

00:32Yo, stay locked.

00:35I started to DJ with my uncle, who's a DJ on the African circuit in England.

00:43I DJ with him.

00:44I got into music since I was four years old.

00:49I'm 49 now, I'm a grown man, I've been about.

00:53Music has always been in my life.

00:55My dad was a big, big music collector.

00:58My uncle was a DJ.

01:00When I got into my teenage years, I knew that I wanted to be a DJ.

01:04I wanted to be a radio presenter.

01:08I learned to play the drums, I learned to play the piano a little bit.

01:13I didn't think I'd make a career from it.

01:16Even now, I'm a professional DJ.

01:19I do gigs and everything, and it's definitely something that I see as a real career.

01:25I went into a stage where, as an artist, I wanted to use my voice, but I was too shy to ask producers to work for me.

01:31So I just learned how to produce myself, and that's how I got into producing.

01:43I've always thought about, listen man, when someone gives you a new record to play as a DJ,

01:48you're giving that artist an opportunity to shine.

01:51And I wanted to figure out how to do that in a bigger way, so I started a label.

01:55To sort of, you know, diversify my music, you know.

02:01Get out there, see new talent, and explore music in a deeper way.

02:07Yeah, Driz was the one who really provided me with a big opportunity.

02:12He was the first person to really believe in my music, you know.

02:17And he saw something in me that I didn't even see in myself.

02:21One thing I can say, I never considered myself as a mentor, right?

02:25But today, I got to step on stage with someone I was begging, literally.

02:33Literally, yo, get behind the mic, get on stage, you're gonna kill it.

02:39I was at the point in my career where I wanted to express myself more.

02:44I had a message, I had stuff to say, you know.

02:48My music is all about transmission heritage.

02:56I was raised with love, and that's what I wanted to express, you know.

03:01I realized when I was watching on stage, and I realized I was about to come on stage to his show.

03:07Mentorship is an important thing.

03:17You just need to encourage that cultural injection, you know what I'm saying?

03:21Like, I come from England, and for a long time, the UK was in the shadows of America in terms of hip-hop.

03:28You know, French rap was in the shadows of America.

03:31And that was only because culturally, people didn't want to accept culture, you know what I mean?

03:37Fast forward to now, where African music is the biggest, biggest music that you can get.

03:43When you see artists like Burna Boy, Davido, Little Sims, working everywhere in the world.

03:54Expressing themselves, talking about their roots.

03:57They're already doing the job, you know.

03:59They're doing what the Fela Kuti and the Madhu Dibongo did once before.

04:04And I think the future is already here.

04:07We all have to accept, you know what I'm saying, other cultural offerings for music.

04:15Because if we didn't, then, you know, only Africa wouldn't see Wizkid.

04:22Only Africa would see Burna Boy.

04:24But it's because of the acceptance that now we're in a place where this music is growing and growing.

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