Aitch has opened up on how his debut album will reflect the sounds of his native Manchester, as well as the city’s burgeoning rap scene.
While he’s yet to announce a debut album, Armstrong has said the record will be “100,000 per cent a proper Manchester album” and reflect the city’s rich musical history.
“I’m a proud Mancunian, 100 per cent,” he told NME. “It always feels good to be in my hometown. It might be a bit selfish of me to say, but I also really like it when everyone from London has to come up north for a change!”
Discussing the city’s rap scene, he said: “Manchester has always had a good little scene but it’s never had that proof that things are possible until people like me and Bugzy Malone made it. Now people look at Manchester and people from London want to come here and see what’s going on. So I suppose in a way we pulled that cover off Manchester and made it be seen.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Aitch revealed that he’s been working on an indie-style track, inspired by the “original sounds” of his home-city.
“I suppose it’s just as simple as I’m a rapper,” he added of his own music.
“Actually, no – that’s lame; I’m more than a rapper… I’m an artist… Actually, no, call me a pop star! I like that. Yeah – why not? For the super rap fans who think that’s bad, think again, because all I’ve ever done is rap for the last four years, and I’m still a pop star. Stuff is changing!”
Aitch will release ‘Learning Curve’ on June 24.
Back in April, Blossoms interviewed Aitch for an episode of their ‘Pubcast’ podcast.
As part of the episode, the rapper chose his top 5 songs from Manchester, which have been collated into a Spotify playlist.
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