I sat down, opened GarageBand and remembered the tune I made on Music 2000, recreated it on GarageBand and just spat on it for the whole rest of the lesson. Everyone was like, “Yo, that is sick!” There were two teachers, both called Marc, “Marc & Marc,” two white dudes, and they were like, “That’s sick. We love what you’re doing but the music programme is full. But listen, if someone is really serious in that matter, we’re ticking the box.” When I got my timetable and it said double music, I was like, “Yes!” I made a mixtape in jail, that’s circulating in there right now.

Do you have the files?

K9

I left it in Onley in Coventry. It could still be in Coventry, or it probably left the prison with someone else. I kinda wish I still had the files… I don’t know. Everything I made in prison, I just left behind, y’know, making a fresh start. A lot of people keep going to prison. I came out of prison and I never went back.

How long were you sent away for?

K9

I was in for just under a year. I came out and haven’t look back ever since. That was in 2007 and I came back out in 2008. And I’m glad I went to prison then. I met some people in prison, like Delusion, do you remember the grime MC Delusion?

Sure, people on Grime Forum wondered what happened to him.

K9

He’s my friend, I met him in prison. After jail I linked him up with people in the West. You know he’s from East London. We’re cool, I actually met a couple of people in there. It’s crazy, the people you meet in a place like that.

I think what people found so compelling about Mad in the Cut is your willingness to speak about these topics so bluntly.

K9

In a way that was me leaving behind certain things, too. It’s me trying to come to terms with loss.

Dark0

Yeah, I suppose that was the running theme of the whole mixtape. Trying to put all of that behind you and coming out stronger than that?

K9

When I write bars I really put myself in a certain time and place. So when I speak about Vager I put myself into the times when he was alive. What we used to be up to. And when I talk about the pain inside, that is obviously today’s perspective on it. When a person dies it’s just too hard to deal with – for me, I can’t look at his pictures. It’s hard to think about him, but then I just spit about it. Cause that’s what I do, I spit about it, I have to talk about it. I’ll be sitting with Dark0, talking about all the depressing times, and then the mood’s low – after a while I just start channeling it into a positive energy and I can spit about it. I don’t like keeping it inside. When I keep it inside, I get angry, I snap on people for no reason.

Dark0

You snapped on me a couple of times, too.

K9

I did, a couple of times, yeah. But then I would talk to you about it a minute later, like, “Bro, it’s this, it’s that.” [laughs] And then we’re cool again.

Dark0

Yeah, that’s how we’re wired though, you get me. I’ve got a short temper, too. I might say something that 9 or whoever doesn’t agree with, and we’ll just get into it. [laughs]