My mum and dad weren't together when I was born. When I was a teenager, dad brought this girl round: here's your sister. She was only two years old, and I never saw her again from that day.

I can clearly hear a lot of grime influence on Timbaland's stuff, on some of Drake's flows.

People used to say if you really want to crack it you have really got to go to America. But with the Internet and the scene how it is... Americans are coming here more and more. They are looking at what we are doing. I think it's important that we all remain here, that we stay here and keep this scene thriving.

I like table-tennis and I'm good at it.

There are too many kids who don't think they can make it to the top. They give up before they have even started, but in my eyes everyone can succeed and it's really important that young people believe in themselves.

I know how important imagery is.

Probably as young as 10 I would take songs and just change the lyrics.

In most of my music it's firsthand experience, and some of the same rules apply in TV. The difference in music is the control, whereas doing this, it's someone else's words that you can play in your own way.

I don't want to be a preachy person.

It's fine to keep releasing tune after tune if you can keep up with that pace but I can't. I'm not the guy that will have the hot tune every month. That's not me!

I just have no interest in the industry of acting, I don't want anything to do with it. But I respect the craft.

It's really important to me to still spend time in the ends - I'm there all the time. I do my videos there, I still talk about it. It's important for me to be an inspiration to the youth of the area and not just leave now I've blown up.

If you're going to do something, it should be fresh and it shouldn't have been done before.

If I looked back on 2019, in ten years' time, and I'd only made club tune after club tune, what's the purpose?

New Banger' is a statement, but it is more about giving the DJs something for the clubs. I think it should have a lot of club longevity as a tune.

I think, generally, it is always good to be aware of what is going on.

The first time I ever played Glastonbury I would have never have thought that a grime artist would have ever headlined it.

I need to make the album that deserves attention. Everyone's busy. I need to really be saying something.

Initially we were spitting lyrics over garage beats, in that eight-bar gap where there wasn't a vocal. But we were rebellious towards garage because they were rebellious towards us; a lot of their gatekeepers said grime was too violent.

He will go down as a legend along with Elvis and the Beatles and Michael Jackson. Bob Marley is right up there. He was a leader for reggae music - he really made it appeal to a world audience.

I would love young girls to look up and see my string section or my brass section or the steel band and be like, 'Wow! I never thought I could do that, that's wicked! I want to be up there doing that.'

I'm not into releasing throwaway music for the sake of it.

You may think it's weird working with a cartoon band but there are a lot of characters in grime, especially since the early days.

When you come out, and if you're saying something worth taking note of, then people will give you their ears. If you're not, it's whatever.

I'm just used to having so much control in music and in acting you have to give that up a bit. Sure, our voices are heard on set, but at the end of the day you can lose an argument. Whereas in music, if I feel the second verse needs to be changed I can change it. I find it really hard as an artist to give up some of that control.

I'm just trying to humanise situations and represent voices that aren't being represented.

There's so much talent around here, east London in particular is full of talent. Whether that be boxing or football or music.

I'm always working out how people perceive me, and that's a hard thing to navigate sometimes.

I would be extremely surprised if David Cameron watched 'Top Boy.' But maybe he should. Maybe he should.

I feel a lot of hip-hop videos are all about portraying a lifestyle that the artist doesn't even live.

You fight for your character in the script. It's part of our job to evolve them, show all sides of them.

For me, writing and creating music can be quite a solitary thing.

My first bars were about wrestling! That was basically all I knew back then.

There's an energy in people coming together and singing.

I think music is great at posing a question. It doesn't always have to give the answer, but it can open the dialogue.

I don't think groundbreaking shows such as 'Top Boy' are made every day.

See, I'm not a very open person, face-to-face. I'm no good at sharing my feelings with others, good or bad. I kind of close up. Music is the only time I can open up and actually say things.

I don't get nervous.

I have to go into the studio to make my second album knowing I'm making an album. When I first started making songs I didn't have an album in mind, that's why a lot of them I like - I'm talking about how I haven't got a deal, how I'm living, you can never really top the first time, but we'll see how it goes.

I'm a big fan of D Double E who always used MCing styles that other people weren't.

Sometimes I feel like distance helps observation.

I feel it's important to create moments, especially in a time where things are so throwaway.

I usually hate the whole process of pitching and making videos. I've had so many made and I only like about two of them.

The key to acting well is to allow yourself to be vulnerable.

Ultimately, I want people to be inspired.

If my way of connecting with the younger generation was to do what they do, they would see through it straight away. I have to keep it real to be who I am, and I think they see that.

American racism seems to be a lot more in the open. The U.K. is different but it obviously still exists.

I probably pay more attention to politics than what I used to.

I don't see myself as a political artist, but certain issues mean a lot to me.

David Cameron? He's not my guy.