Tom Bowles caught up with Kano, an hour before he performed at The Plug in Sheffield, one of the final dates of his solo UK tour. He spoke candidly about his new album, his refusal to compromise his music, and why he feels hip-hop is ‘broken’.

“In the past few years more and more people have become mainstream,” he tells me. “I wouldn’t say it’s grime music; it’s pop music, music made for radio stations. My position is to make music that I feel, I don’t try and chase the charts or do what’s current at the minute. You can tell with the record right now, it’s not the most commercial record I’ve ever made, but it’s honest music from the heart and it’s interesting, experimental; real quality.”

He’s right, too. Method To The Maadness is far removed from his classic grime debut Home Sweet Home, released five years ago. Looking to escape his comfort zone, Kano headed into the lab with German producer Boys Noize. Unaware of what direction the music would take, the rapper believes those studio sessions ultimately laid the foundations of the entire record, with the producer landing four of the album’s thirteen tracks.

“We got in the studio and were like, ‘let’s not be scared of not knowing what’s going to come out here, let’s just go for it’,” he says. “Working with him was the best move I made I think. He made the backbone of the album.”

Method To The Maadness also features two production credits from electro-pop band Hot Chip, the soulful All + All Together and Lady Killer, with the band contributing vocals on the former. On the surprise collaboration, Kano admits, “I didn’t know how that was going to go either, but the more and more I got speaking to Joe [Goddard], I could tell that we weren’t from completely different worlds like I thought. He’s a big garage fan, talking about Sticky or Wookie, and these are people that I grew up on, so we made a song like All + All Together. It’s something that I didn’t expect to come out, but thinking about it, I understand how it did.”

Having spent time locked away in the studio, I wonder how it feels to finally tour and perform these new songs. “With this record it’s weird,” he says. “With the last one, it’s not that I wasn’t looking forward to being on the road, but I was just so into the studio. But maybe, because this album has taken a couple of years to make, I just can’t wait to get out there. I’ve never been so excited to go on the road. Travelling is hard but performing these tracks every night in front of people and seeing their faces, makes you realise why you do it and who you’re doing it for.”

With the album only three months old, I’m intrigued as to how his original followers have embraced the new material. “It’s crazy,” he tells me. “Some of the new stuff is going down just as well as some of the old songs.” In particular, Spaceship, the album’s next single, produced by Chase & Status. “They just go crazy for that one,” he says. “The whole audience just sings that one back. It’s obviously one of their favourites, the people’s choice.” Having worked together for their Against All Odds single in 2008, Kano was keen for the duo to return the favour. “I always said I wanted to work with them again on this record and then got the opportunity to do so. I just think they’re amazing producers and are becoming a great live outfit as well. They’re smashing it at the moment.”

Interestingly, Damon Albarn was originally slated to executive produce Method To The Maadness, but ultimately was unable to do so because of time constraints. He did produce one track on the album, but having featured on Plastic Beach, the latest Gorillaz LP, and toured with the band throughout the year, I ask Kano how those studio sessions and live sets have influenced his album’s eclectic sound.

“Most of the music was done before I recorded White Flag, but Damon, as a producer on my album and as a friend that I would just play music to and he would give me his opinion, has definitely been a help on this record,” he says. “Travelling with the Gorillaz to places like Syria, Beirut and playing Benicassim festival and headlining Glastonbury, just being around those guys is definitely a plus. It can only be something positive, they’ve got so much experience and are such great musicians that you can only learn from them. It’s something I’m very proud of.”

Prior to releasing his album, Kano returned to public consciousness in March by dropping the outstanding Jack Bauer: The 7 Day Edition mixtape. “That was for the fun, and just because I could,” he says of the tape, inspired by the lead character from the popular US television drama 24. Comprised entirely of original flows, I query if it genuinely took seven days to complete. Kano smiles and looks to a member of his entourage, who pauses his Pro Evolution Soccer game (FIFA 11 was yet to arrive) and tells me it actually took around four days, with the rapper continually putting off recording until the very last moment.

So, with the deadline looming, did he ever come close to reneging on his promise? Kano admits to having his doubts on the sixth day, but following an emergency call to producer Mikey J, finally got it done. “Literally up until the last hour of the deadline before we put it up online, the clock was counting down, but we finished it and put it out.”

Jack Bauer not only built hype for his upcoming album, it also served to remind fans and critics there are few better lyricists around. “People loved that,” he says. “I think they could just tell that I had a different kind of hunger. It was so immediate and urgent and effective. Every line was like fire. It was just lyrics; rapping for rapping’s sake.”

With Kano due on stage in less than 30 minutes, I’m aware our time is running out. However, I cannot leave without asking him to explain his introspective lyrics on album closer Dark Days, more specifically, his assertion that hip-hop is ‘broken’. The rapper takes a moment to ponder, before reciting the song’s lines, explaining his thought process behind each sentence.

“‘Hip-hop went from party’, you know Afrika Bambaataa, it was just about good vibes. ‘Party to political’ when it was Public Enemy days, to ‘vulgar’ when it was Puff Daddy and that shiny era. Then ‘Vulgar to soulless / Money’s taking over’. I think people saw that money could be made from it and I see a lot of similarities in our scene.”

He continues, “When we were on the pirate radio, we didn’t know what we could gain out of this, so we were completely naive, we weren’t chasing anything. We were just doing it because we loved it.”

Naturally steering clear of naming names, Kano believes some UK artists have since sacrificed substance for style, and uses artists Chingy and Flo-rida, much derided for their sub-par lyrics, as examples from across the pond. “I think we’ve got a lot of them in our scene right now. That’s why I say, ‘So we did it over / A whole new culture’, which was the movement we started, but it went ‘From art / To the heart’, people loved it, and now it’s broken. I think people are in it for the wrong reasons. There’s some poor music out there right now.”

On his prodigious debut, Kano questioned whether it would ever be possible for the underground to go mainstream. Five years on, to a certain extent, that is exactly what has happened. In a climate of artists watering down music in exchange for chart success, I finish our conversation by asking Kano to assess his role within the UK scene. Typical of our entire interview, his response is both thoughtful and considered.

“That’s why I say, ‘Because when you love it / You can’t leave it / Because you need it’. I’m trying to steer it in the right direction and show people this is the way you should be making music. That throwaway music, that music that’s for today but gone tomorrow, it’s not going to last. It’s very scary, because I don’t want to see people in three years with nowhere to go. In three or four year’s time, only the strongest will survive.”

Spaceship, the second single to be taken from Kano’s fourth album, Method To The Maadness, is released on November 29.

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