In 2008, Giggs aka ‘Hollowman’ burst onto the UK scene with his raw street freestyle, “Talking The Hardest.” It was like nothing we had heard before – street commentary with a slow flow similar to those located in the South of the States. That same year, he dropped his debut mixtape/album, Walk In The Park, which reportedly sold out in the first day of release. Initially airplay for Giggs was limited, and he was banned from touring by UK police forces for ‘fear of violence.’ Giggs, however, continued to push his music forward, and in 2009, he recorded a tune with Mike Skinner (of The Streets) called “Slow Songs,” which led to a deal with XL recordings and an album released last year entitled Let Em Ave It. A collaboration with B.o.B on the album proved there was no letting up for the UK’s rawest gangster rapper who continues to make moves globally. AllHipHop.com caught up with Giggs in his native South East London earlier this year and talked on a number of subjects: his intro into music, his influences, the opening up of the market here in the UK, networking in the States, collaborations with the grime scene, and more. AllHipHop.com: When and why did you start emceeing? Giggs: I started rapping in 2002; it was nothing serious – just mucking about with my little brother, just spitting in the house. Then I went to jail. I came out [of jail] and got on in the rap thing properly. AllHipHop.com: Did you start off as a Hip-Hop MC? Did you always want to be one, or did you come from garage – as a lot of UK MCs come from garage? Giggs: I used to mix ragga, I used to DJ a lot more and my little brothers, they used to MC on garage and that. I thought “rah lemme give it go.” But I wasn’t serious on it. But when I came out of jail, I wanted to get on the rap thing properly. AllHipHop.com: When was that? Giggs: 2004. I thought, ‘I can make something happen with this.’ But obviously I was still on the roads [‘hood] at the same time, doing my thing. Like, you have to get money. But then when I started progressing in music, I started going at it full time. AllHipHop.com: What artists, UK or U.S., have you been mainly influenced by? Giggs: There’s a lot. When I was in school I used to listen to NWA, Ice Cube was my favourite. Boy – they was running it then! Then I started listening to ragga a lot, rap – I used to jump back and forth. AllHipHop.com: What ragga artists – out of interest? Giggs: Bounty [Killer] was running it back then – but obviously it’s Vybz [Kartel] and Mavado now – but them days, it was all about Bounty and Beenie [Man], Spragga [Benz], them guys. Yeah, but rap-wise, all the way from NWA to No Limit, D-Block, Jeezy. I love the South style of music – the beats. AllHipHop.com: How much has Peckham been an influence – but also London in general – to your style? Giggs: Yeah, just a way of life. To be honest, my style is influenced by the music itself, by the beat. AllHipHop.com: Do you mainly use your own producers? Giggs: Yeah, mostly. AllHipHop.com: I suppose that keeps your work rate consistent? Giggs: Yeah. AllHipHop.com: Back to your influences…your style is very much the street style of rap. Do you gravitate more towards a certain area of the States, or is that general style? Giggs: Yeah, probably more the South – ’cause they mess with man. But I just do my own thing. AllHipHop.com: Did you have any involvement…did you ever go raving to jungle back in the day? Giggs: I used to listen to jungle, but I’ve never really been a raver. If the man dem wanna go out, I’ll roll out but… AllHipHop.com: Your passion really lies with Hip-Hop. Giggs: Yeah. AllHipHop.com: In that sense, would you say that pirate radio has influenced you at all? Giggs: Yeah, of course. They play the rawest sh*t. AllHipHop.com: How much do you think U.S. Hip-Hop has influenced the scene, compared to the more UK based sounds like grime? Comparatively, what do you think has been a bigger influence? Giggs: Everything, man! Everything has been a factor. Obviously, I do the rap thing, and I grew up listening to all of those rappers, but really and truly it was breddas like So Solid that did their thing before. That’s what got everyone on it, trying to take it seriously. AllHipHop.com: How did the Whoo Kid mix tape come about? Giggs: Whoo Kid reached out to me on Twitter. He said he was feeling “Look What The Cat Dragged In.” He just said, “Keep up the good work.” I thought, ‘Rah that’s, man, like Whoo Kid!” You know them ones. I thought, ‘let me build on that.’ As I am always networking in America, went over there and shouted him. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIUL10qOeR8&w=560&h=349] AllHipHop.com: How often do you go to the States? Giggs: All the time. AllHipHop.com: Mainly in Atlanta or New York? Giggs: Atlanta, New York, LA. Wherever the music takes you. AllHipHop.com: The B.o.B thing, “Don’t Go There.” How did that come about again? By just being out there in the States? Giggs: Someone said to me [about B.o.B]…an engineer said to B.o.B [about me], he [B.o.B] said to his manager. We went and met him, and we went down to Grand Hustle and got some work going. It’s all about being on it. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EuI2_pjDlM&w=560&h=349] AllHipHop.com: That was before the last album, yeah? Giggs: Yeah, I’m always hands on – it’s not gonna happen with me sitting down. AllHipHop.com: Yeah, of course. Giggs: I think with America, you have to go out there. AllHipHop.com: This is back to what you mentioned earlier about So Solid and about the evolution of emceeing in this country. How […]