Aitch has told Music Week that emerging artists from outside London “can have an advantage” when it comes to breaking through.
Real name Harrison Armstrong, the Manchester rapper is poised to hit the Top 3 for the first time this week with Taste (Make It Shake). Released via Sony imprint Since ’93, the track has 156,523 sales to date. His new AitcH20 EP is released today (September 6).
Meanwhile, Aitch’s guest spot on Ed Sheeran’s Take Me Back To London, alongside Stormzy and Jaykae, helped propel the single to No.1 in the last frame.
“Being from outside London is a disadvantage but an advantage at the same time. The disadvantage is that it’s harder to get noticed, all eyes are on London really,” Aitch told Music Week in an interview for our latest On The Radar column.
“But, once you get a little big of exposure, you’ve got an advantage not being from London,” he continued. “People from London look at it like it’s even more crazy, ‘Oh this kid’s from Manny, he talks like this, he says this word like this.’ It’s fresh for people’s ears. But you have to get there first and that’s the hard part.”
You can't ignore hard work
Aitch
Aitch works with Northern Quarterz for management, after a meeting at a Manchester show.
“It’s been about two years now,” he said. “In Manchester, we took it a level no one had before. In London people saw what we were doing, Aitch and Nothern Quarterz, you can’t ignore hard work, it was a matter of time before this [success] happened.”
Aitch also praised the influence of Since ’93, the label founded by Glyn Aikins and Riki Bleau in June last year.
“I’ve got mad love for them. They’ve supported us from the get go,” he said. “They’ve made certain links with artists, taking us to places like the BRITs, LA and just supported. When we request something, they are very responsive and get the job done.”
Read the full interview with Aitch here and click here for Aikins’ thoughts on working with Aitch.
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