He’s a true Internet-made artist and now even Elton John’s given him his seal of approval, allowing him to sample Tiny Dancer on his new single of the same name. Ironik - or DJ Ironik when he’s behind the decks - is a one-man hip-hop band who’s already garnered awards and acclaim in his first year as an artist. We spoke to him recently about his prolific songwriting, world domination, having far too many sunglasses and getting adopted by Beyonce and Jay-Z…
Hello Ironik and sometimes DJ Ironik - what does your mum call you? Or does she just call you James?
“No, she’s my manager so she does call me Ironik when we’re in meetings. But sometimes she accidentally calls me James and I have to correct her and tell her we’re in a business meeting.” (Laughs)
Your new single is a reworking of the Elton John classic Tiny Dancer - how did that come about?
“I was working on my album with a few hip-hop/pop producers and they played that song to me. It wasn’t planned, but I thought it sounded cool having an old-style pop record mixed in with a hip-hop beat. Then I got a new artist who’s only 18 called Chipmunk to put a verse on it. Elton John’s team are very happy with it.”
So the actual mix was already done when you got it?
“Yeah - we just had to deal with getting the sample cleared and now it’s one of only three samples that Elton’s ever cleared for hip-hop artists - the other two were Tupac and Kanye West which is not a bad list to be on.”
This is the third single from your album No Point In Wasting Tears which came out last year…
“It is, but we’re re-releasing the album on May 11th off the back of the single. It only took a month and a half to do - some people take years to write an album, but I write a couple of songs a day so I can put an album together in a few weeks.”
How come you’re so quick?
“I see music as a hobby so I write every day. Even if I get dropped tomorrow, I’d still be recording in my bedroom - I just love doing it.”
Your success has been fuelled by you being so Web-savvy. You’ve got 100,000+ MySpace friends - how do you keep up with them?
“I’ve also got 30,000 fans on Facebook and 10,000 on Bebo. I control all of them, so it’s a bit crazy! And now Twitter’s come along too and I’m getting quite a fanbase on that too. It’s time-consuming but I do it everyday.”
Is it still you doing it?
“Yes, still me! I leave people comments and send messages.”
What was the last tweet you did?
“Just before these interviews I tweeted that I was just about to do them and that I was really tired - hence the big sunglasses.” (Laughs)
Are you already working on your next album?
“I’ve done loads of new tracks but keep giving them out on my MySpace page because I like people to just listen to my music anyway. But we’ll do it in two weeks anyway so it’s not a problem.”
You’ve been djing since you were 13 and you’re 21 now - thinking of taking a break soon?
“I just recently had my first holiday for a few years. I went to Miami - which was a bit party central - but it was good to get away and forget about music for a couple of days. But after four days, I felt like I had to come back and do more work.”
Calm down dear!
“I know.”
How many pairs of sunglasses do you own?
“I’ve got a whole box full. We’ve also recently done a deal with Police sunglasses so they keep sending them to me - I can’t get away from them.”
What do you do when you hear one of your songs on the radio?
“It’s always a good feeling! Sometimes I just turn on the radio to see if my song comes on. (Laughs) I give it a few moves and sing along like I don’t know it.”
Has anything ironic happened to you recently?
(Thinks for a bit.) “Not really.”
What’s next?
“I’m thinking world domination.”
What’s the most played song on your MP3 player at the moment?
“Heartless by Kanye West.”
If you could be the love child of any two music stars, who would it be?
“Can I say Will Smith - he’s kind of a musician… Or how about Beyonce and Jay-Z - they need to have children.”
Perhaps they could adopt you?
“That would be cool.”
Given the choice, would you rather walk sideways like a crab or jump like a kangaroo?
“Jump like a kangaroo - no sideways for me.”
Ironik’s single Tiny Dancer is out on April 27th - watch the video below; album No Point In Wasting Tears is out on May 11th. To watch the video for Tiny Dancer, click here.
(Clare Lydon)
