Title: Keep It On A Low
Artist: Dot Rotten
Produced by: TMS
Label: Mercury
Release date: 20th November 2011

Lazy journalists, insert “British Nicki Minaj” or “The UK’s answer to Missy Elliot” here…

Track name: Lego
Artist: Lady Leshurr
Release date: 21st November 2011
Label: Gutter Strut Recordings
Produced by: Wizzy Wow

Check all the pictures from the night courtesy of Rodrico here.

You can download the mix for free here and before you ask, here’s the tracklist:

Hudson Mohawke – Thank You (Warp)
Zero G – Stamina (High Culture)
Chimpo – More Bounce Riddim (Dub)
Stenchman – Western Riddim (Dub)
Schlachth of Bronx – Chambacu Remix (Mad Decent)
Caspa – Champion Skank (Dub Police)
Benga – Acid Lie (Kapsize)
Walsh & Kutz – Wanted (Biscuit Factory Dub)
Skream – Exothermic Reaction (NonPlus)
Nitin Sawhney – The Devil & Midnight (Engine EarZ Experiment) (Positive-ID)
Benny Page – Tempo (High Culture Dub)
Swindle – Ringworm (Swindle Productions)
Faze Miyake – Take Off VIP (MistaJam Special) (Woofer Music)
TRC – Sex Master (Dub)
Gemmy – They Live Under The Stairs (WOW)
Dismantle – Clones (Biscuit Factory Dub)
Zed’s Dead – 1975 (Dub)
Gemini – Elevate (UKF)
The Others – Planet X (Dub Police)
The Others ft Dread MC – Kick Start (MistaJam Dub)
Joker ft Silas – I Can Take You Out (4AD)
Little Dragon – Ritual Union (Peacefrog)
Soap Dodgers – No 6 (Wheel N Deal)
Goldie –The Core (Metalheadz)
Silver & Prophecy – Turn U On (Metropolis)
Nero – Crush (MTA Records)
The Jets – Crush on You (MCA)
Alan Braxe & Fred Falke – Intro (Roule)
Time Takers – She Blows (Whistle Tune) (Wookie Remix) (MOS)
ViceVersatile – Havana Club (Dub)
Rusko – Jahova (Sub Soldiers)

MistaJam.com’s Sam Moir spent an afternoon in Birmingham with up and coming artist Slick Don. The 1Xtra supported artist spoke about his musical influences, support from the UK scene and what he makes of artists such as Chipmunk, Dizzee Rascal and Skepta crossing over into the mainstream.

How did you get into making music?

I got into making music through someone I classed as a friend at the time, I’ve always had a passion for music deep down but one day my friend said he was going to a local studio to record a track and asked me if I wanted to ‘Jump on the track’.

I just went with my natural instinct as I’m the type of person who likes to try new stuff out and experience new things and I think it’s safe to say it was one of the best decisions I’ve made as music is all I want to do, as a profession, career, hobby and so on.

At school I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do or be, I think I said I wanted to be a doctor once but that was because I just didn’t know what I actually wanted to be so I think I just said that to shut my teacher up.

But seriously experiencing things in life and going places make you realise you can be whatever you want to be and now things are going quite well for me so my mentality is to just keep it going and do the one thing I love doing.

Who influenced you?

I get influences from a various amount of artists from all over the world, genre wise I get influenced from grime, bassline to rock music, I could never stick my influences into one box and I like the fact that I can get influenced from everywhere and everything and then incorporate it into my music, that’s important to me.

When did you first try your hand at making your own tracks?

I made my first track when I was 14 which was unplanned and I didn’t have a clue what I was doing but like I said earlier I’m the type of person who likes trying different and new things.
I’m glad that I did go to studio that day because ever since then I knew being a part of the music industry was for me and I haven’t looked back since.

What’s the best piece of musical advice you’ve ever had?

You will always get haters doing music, not everyone is going to like you but just keep going because if you really love and enjoy what you’re doing then nothing and nobody can stop you.

You’ve been heavily supported by the grime forums, radio and UK producers such as Toddla T, what do you make of the support?

I’m grateful more than anything because I just appreciate all the support and love I’m getting off fellow artists in the UK and the exact same goes for Toddla.

He’s down to earth and ever since we met he’s shown me a lot of love and the fact that he’s feeling what I’m doing means a lot because I’ve been feeling his stuff for some time now.

We have a mutual respect for each other so when we get together in the studio the linkup is a madness, we have a few bits out at the moment one being his Gucci Mane remix with me featuring and we have much more music to come.

What do you make of crossover artists’ success such as Skepta, Chipmunk and Dizzee Rascal?

As a musician you can only respect them because all of them have kicked down doors not only for themselves but for other artists as well and that is a huge thing in order for the UK Scene to grow and expand which is why we are in a good place at the moment.

You can see what all three have done, Dizzee has won countless awards and been the first artist from the underground to do it which I think is a lot of the reason why Tinie is getting the success he is at the moment.

Chipmunk has achieved a lot and even though he’s from London has showed that you can succeed being young and from the underground and as for Skepta he is doing his own thing and trying to show people that you don’t have to do typical commercial music to make the charts.

You can make it grimey and get chart success and we can all see his still in the process of that but at the end of the day, he has done it and took a risk trying to do it at the same time so yeah man, respect to them cause they’re pushing UK music to the fullest which is just what we need.

Do you think they have sacrificed their music?

Chipmunk & Dizzee have sacrificed their music because they took the commercial route but I don’t really think Skepta has sacrificed his music because from what I can see, he is trying to break that barrier of slowly easing the grime music he loves into the charts, you never know

Chipmunk & Dizzee probably feel their commercial music as much as they did their grime so they might not see it as they sacrificed their music but I’m just assuming as they started out their career doing grime music and the music you start out doing is usually where your hearts at.

Do I have similar ambitions? Yes, I would love to get in the charts with the music I love doing and couldn’t ask for more than that as a musician.

What do you have to offer that’s different in the scene?

Every artist will say they’re different to everyone else but actions speak louder than words and I don’t MC like any other artist I am aware of and I also have a unique voice which is obviously not out of choice but it’s little things like that which make a big difference.

What’s next for you?

I’m just about to drop my very first single which is entitled What’s My Name excited about that as it’s my first single. I shot the video the other day and just seen the first edit recently and I was gassed when I watched it.

I’ve got my debut mix CD out in May and on top of that I’m still doing the odd couple of tracks on the side so I’m just excited for what the future holds right now.

By Sam Moir | Sam on Twitter

Big Dada have confirmed they”ll be releasing another album by Wiley. 100% Publishing is the first album produced and vocalled entirely by Wiley himself.

The first single, Numbers in Action, sees Wiley moving the grime template forward once again, refreshing the genre with an entirely new take. Remixes come from Sticky and Toddla T, and the single is released May 16th.

The full album follows on July 4th.

Tracklist

1 ) Information Age
2 ) 100% Publishing
3 ) Numbers In Action
4 ) Boom Boom Da Na
5 ) Your Intuition
6 ) I Just Woke Up
7 ) Wise Man and His Words
8 ) Pink Lady
9 ) Yonge Street (1,178 miles long)
10 ) Up There
11 ) Talk About Life
12 ) To Be Continued

Wiley has also confirmed a new tour to run alongside the upcoming release. ‘The Elusive Tour’ is set to open in Glasgow on April 5th, before dates in Sheffield, Manchester and London.

Tour dates

5th April Classic Grand, Glasgow
6th April Newcastle Academy 2, Newcastle
7th April The Plug, Sheffield
8th April Club Academy, Manchester
9th April Millennium Music Hall, Cardiff
11th April 02 Academy 2, Birmingham
12th April Concorde 2, Brighton
13th April Waterfront, Norwich
14th April Islington Academy, London

By Sam Moir | Twitter

If you need more info before you download, Sinden has assembled a crack team of British artists & producers to remix everyone’s favourite mentally unstable Southern rapper with a tattoo of an ice cream on his face. It sees Wiley, Tinchy Stryder, Estelle, Slick Don & Dream McLean add verses to remixes produced by Terror Danjah, DJ Swerve,  Toddla T, Mosca & Sinden himself. For me, most if not all of these tracks are better than the originals – so click the back cover below & bloody download it!

Four top five singles, a debut number one album, a sold out UK tour and two MOBO awards: 2010 has been a breakthrough year for Tinie Tempah.

Tom Bowles caught up with him backstage prior to his set at The Plug in Sheffield. The rapper spoke on becoming a pop star, how life has changed, his hopes for the future and being the ‘black sheep of the grime scene’.

It’s been a remarkable year for you, how would you sum it all up?

It was scary for me coming out as a new artist to take on the mainstream. I didn’t really know how it would work out or how it would happen, but I’m so happy how the public have reacted to my music. I couldn’t have asked for anymore.

Five years ago, artists like yourself, Chipmunk and Dizzee Rascal were underground on Channel U, now you’re all achieving chart success. What do you make of the transition?

It’s a whole generation thing. There’s a demographic out there that have grown up listening to the likes of myself, Chipmunk and Dizzee. This is not an overnight thing, I didn’t just decide to pick up a pen and paper last year. I made Wifey in 2006, so the 15-year-old who heard it at the time is now 20. They’ve now become music savvy consumers, who are like, ‘I’ve supported him from the beginning and I’m going to continue to do so’. That’s why I think those artists are getting their shine now.

When an artist becomes successful, there’s always the argument about ‘selling out’, but you’ve said you never felt part of the grime scene anyway?

As everyone knows, grime in its original form was very east-London or north-London based, and a lot of the emcees we know now, they all grew up in the same areas and went to the same schools as each other. For me it was a lot different, I was from south-London suburbia, where there were trees and things like that [laughs]. That’s why I embrace the similarities when people liken me to Kanye West, because I didn’t really come from where they came from, so my subject matter wasn’t the same. I was sort of like the black sheep of the grime scene for a little while. Trying to fit in and getting my shot was everything to me.

I spoke to Tim Westwood in May and he said, ‘Shout out to Tinie Tempah who’s getting hits with real records’. How important is it to stay true to your roots when making music for the charts?

Music is a very creative process, and I feel over the last few years, when you look at pop music, people haven’t been as experimental as they should be. A lot of people are playing the safe card and a lot of people are just making what they think may work. For DJs, that must be a drag. Can you imagine every single week you get a new batch of songs and they all sound the same as the songs that came in last week? And you’ve got to play them, and you’ve got to convince your listener that you love this brand new song.

Pass Out and Frisky were sort of like a breath of fresh air for a lot of those DJs, so I’m very grateful and thankful that Tim Westwood made such a statement. Music is creative, so be creative with it and make it exciting. I just went in [to the studio] and made music I loved, which is why I’m so happy they blew up the way they did. For me those songs are entirely pure; I didn’t try and be safe, I didn’t tone down my language or dumb down what I was saying. I like the fact that people embraced that.

How far do you want to push Disc-Overy? Are there plans to take it overseas?

For me, music is all about organic growth. The same way I’m on YouTube and stumble across a song from Scandinavia that I really like and show my friends, that’s the sort of impact I want to have with this album. With British music, crossing over into other territories is a little bit difficult, so I want my songs to happen organically and naturally. But definitely, globally is always the overall ambition.

Any plans for the next album?

Nothing as of yet, I really want to work with The Script though. I want to do something amazing with them.

You’ve had all this success, yet you’re only 21. How has life changed for you? How does it feel?

It feels weird. I just adapt to whatever change comes my way. You’ve got to. I do miss things though, every time I go to a Students’ Union or look at a campus I always think, ‘Wow, imagine what it would have been like being at university’. But I’m happy to have a young team. My DJ and my tour manager are both young, we’re just lads that like to have a good time. It’s a lot of fun, there’s no greater pleasure than making a living off what you love.

Two number one singles and a number one album, when did it feel that you’d made it?

To a certain degree, it still doesn’t. I’m very much a believer in pop music being disposable; you can be here today and gone tomorrow. It doesn’t matter how much you kill it over a certain period of time, next year nobody might not want to know. There might be something else that grabs everybody else’s attention, so I’m always trying to better myself in everything I do. Now this album is out and released, I want people to fully embrace it and go out and support it, and I’m just going to start working on the next one straight away and just keep going.

You shouldn’t ever feel like you’ve made it. I haven’t won a BRIT Award yet, I haven’t been nominated for a BRIT Award yet, so how could I have made it? I haven’t been nominated for a Grammy yet, my album hasn’t gone double platinum yet. There’s still so much to do.

If pop music is disposable, how do you plan to ensure you stay relevant?

I hope to do that by being a well-rounded artist. As much as making good music, people like to buy into you as a character and as a person, whether that’s by what you wear or what you’re opinion is on certain things. I think that’s what makes a great, credible and influential artist; somebody who’s not scared to cross the boundaries and break barriers.

Invincible, featuring Kelly Rowland, the fourth single to be taken from Tinie Tempah’s debut album, Disc-Overy, is released December 26^th, 2010.

Related Links | Buy Disc-Overy on iTunes | Follow Tom on Twitter

Virus Syndicate consist of Nika D, Goldfinger and JSD – all three of them are rappers, with MRK1 as the producer and DJ. Just this summer, they dropped the The Break Out Trilogy, which is a series of three separate EPs; The Mosquito EP, The Malaria EP and The Antedote EP.

They are fresh from representing Manchester on BBC Radio 1′s Dubstep Takeover Soundclash and Sam Moir caught up with them.

How did you get into making music?

Making music became a by product of doing shows, radio and just the live thing and it came from wanting to develop it to putting it down as something more permanent in a recording so that’s how we got into actually making it.

So when you set out to start making it, did you have any influences?

Not in sound wise, we didn’t want to sound like this person, or that person but we had ambitions of how successful we wanted to be. I think in sound, it was always a case of wanting to be different. Obviously, in our musical tastes, there were loads of different inspirations that you can hear in the songs but as far as our actual music goes, we wanted to always make our own sound and be different.

Coming from Manchester, were there anyone around who you aspired to be like?

As kids, we were massively into Trigga. He was the godfather of Manchester when we were kids. Seeing him get all the success outside of the city and to see him, probably, become the first big MC from Manchester was an inspiration for us definitely.

What do you make in difference between north and south?

It’s a weird question because I wouldn’t say there’s a difference in sound. Music’s music regardless of your location and good music is still good music whether you’re in Manchester or London.

The culture in Manchester is going to shape your music as is the culture in London even though they’re similar, they have differences. It obviously has an effect on the music.

But in terms of breaking through, do you think it would have been easier if you were based in London?

If you’re in London, you’ve got all the main establishments. You’ve got the BBC, record labels and the A&Rs. The majority of the music industry is in London so as a musician coming up, it makes a lot more sense to be at the heart of that.

The negative side of me would say, ‘Yeah, it would have been well easier to live in London,’ but the more positive side of me thinks no because we wouldn’t be who we are. It wouldn’t have been the struggle to get to the position we are in now.

That’s made us as people, and as artists and I think it sets us apart from everyone else.

So you’d say being outside of London has made you work harder to achieve your goals?

Definitely because it’s more difficult than being from London, you’ve not got everything on your doorstep. It’s been a motivation for us, when we first started out doing this, we did a show on Rinse FM and we used to go down every week and do our show. We knew we had to go break into the whole London scene in order for the rest of the UK to follow. That’s just the way it is.

We did our show on Rinse and off the back of doing Rinse FM, we did the Sidewinder thing and off the back of that we got our Planet Mu record deal. It just developed from that.

If you look at it, it does boil down to the fact we got on the whole Rinse FM thing and got on the London game.

You’ve seen grime artists like Skepta and Chipmunk not only break through the grime scene but go onto cross over into the mainstream, what are your thoughts on that?

Urban music in the UK has been huge for years and now it’s finally getting the recognition that it deserves. You’ve got guys from our scene who are competing amongst mega stars from America. Look at Tinie Tempah achieving number ones, look where his album charted and then Roll Deep, two consecutive number ones. Then there’s Example and Professor Green.

When people say they’re selling out, what do you make of those accusations?

There’s two ways of looking at it. You’ve got set man in the hood who’ll say, ‘You can’t sell out,’ but, realistically, how much money are you going to make on the underground? Are you going to buy yourself a big mansion one day and provide for your kids and grandkids? Are you going to set up a stream of wealth by being in underground clubs and doing that forever?

It’s not going to happen because the market isn’t there to support that. The only way, ultimately, you’re going to make it is by taking it to a mainstream audience.

In order to do that with the way radio and TV works is the music has to be universal so you can say it’s selling but then again, is it? Is it selling out, or is it widening the market? As long as you’re doing you and as long as you’re being yourself then I think that’s all good.

While on the subject of crossing over, what do you make of Dubstep’s explosion?

That’s been amazing, look at the Katy B and Benga track, top five, that’s a big look. That track was going to be big anyway regardless of the major label support it received. That’s what it’s about but I don’t know realistically how much daytime playlists will allow that kind of music to come through.

How did the Breakout Trilogy come about and then how did it evolve you as artists?

It was basically three EPs; The Mosquito EP, The Malaria EP and The Antedote EP put together with a couple of extra tracks. We released them three separately at the backend of 2009 and early 2010. We packaged them up together to drop them as an album and the Breakout Trilogy which came out in August. It was always going to be the Breakout Trilogy, it was just how we wanted to unleash it to the public was a different sort of plan.

It’s developed us artists because we want to be more for the rave and more for the dance. Our previous albums like the Work Related Illness and Sick Pay were much more conscious related and much more about the actual stories in the song.

But with these, we’ve tried to make it much more about the rave element and getting the audience involved. That’s come from doing live shows and touring constantly.

Would you say your music has developed massively since Breakout then?

Massively, the stuff we’re making now is nothing like Breakout, it’s really different. At the moment, we’re working on all kinds of stuff. We’ve got some stuff that’s more accessible and stuff that’s still really underground and dark. We’re doing both and it’s about keeping that balance in the studio of keeping us motivated and enjoying it. Making the same type of music constantly can get boring and I think you lose creativity by just doing that but we’re working with so many different producers at the moment and trying to create something different.

Who are you working with now?

We’ve been working with Stenchman, Jakwob, obviously MRK1 and we’re doing some work with people based in the states, B-Rich from Philadelphia who works under the alias Kastle.

We’re starting 2011 with a track called Your Life with a house producer called Mowgli. It’s not a house track, something completely different. Hopefully, we’ve got some massive remixes on there and it’s got quite a big backing so I’m hoping that’s going to be a really good start to the new year.

Free Download: Virus Syndicate  – Dunce Boi (Stenchman Remix)

Interview: Sam Moir

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.

Related Links: Buy Method To The Maadness Now | Follow Tom on Twitter