In the past four years, ‘People Just Do Nothing’ has made the gigantic leap from being a YouTube show to a BAFTA-winning comedy.
As it charts the lives of the Kurupt FM gang, the BBC Three hit manages to perfectly balance the hilariously funny with the surprisingly hard-hitting, with MC Grindah leading viewers on a journey through pirate radio, Brentford and beyond.
So, the question of who would be perfect for our next WISE WORDS interview - where stars from a whole range of fields share the important life lessons they’ve learned along the way - was an easy one.
Who better to provide some wisdom, in these tough times, than Grindah himself? (Yes, the actual man himself, and not actor Allan Mustafa, whoever that is).
Here’s what he had to say...
How do you deal with negativity?
Basically, just crush anyone in my path with lyrics. I can just write a lyric about you and destroy you, but nobody ever tries to test me because it’s obvious that I’m better than them. So everyone just leaves me to it really. I’ve never done anything in my life that hasn’t worked out perfectly.
What about your failed relationship with Miche?
Alright, fair enough. With Miche yeah, obviously, like, some people don’t know what they’ve got in front of them until it’s gone, d’ya know what I mean? I feel like she’ll learn one day.
What do you do to switch off from the world?
Just smoke loads of weed, basically.
When and where are you happiest?
Probably at Kurupt FM surrounded by all of my best mates. I’m at my happiest when I’m at radio, surrounded by men.
I don’t boss people around. It’s delegating. Apart from MC-ing, I pride myself on being a top delegator and people love me, they thank me for that.
When I’m at my happiest, at my zen moment, is when I’m in the middle of a like, 132-bar verse or something.
What has been the hardest lesson you’ve learned?
I suppose the hardest lesson I’ve learned is that sometimes you can do too much drugs. But that’s not my fault, that was more Steves’ fault... so actually the hardest lesson I’ve learned is just to not hang around with Steves too much.
In one sense yeah, I got really close to Steves and now I get what he has to go through all day. People just look at him and think, ‘oh he looks like a mess’, but when I was like that it actually felt really fun in my head but it looked bad and life is about what you look like.
A lot of people got let down by me because I am gorgeous, green-eyed and best-dressed. I wasn’t just letting myself down, I was letting everyone down. You was probably let down.
What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
I would say, ‘don’t wait to show the world your lyrics’, d’ya know what I mean? Because funnily enough, the lyrics I had when I was 13, I am still spitting now. I should have started radio years ago but instead I started at 15.
What did you do between 13 and 15?
I was mainly just MCing at myself in the mirror and getting my lyrical sword sharpened.
What three things are at the top of your to-do list?
Get a better aerial so that Kurupt can reach further out. Get back with Miche and then third, is finish writing a screenplay about my life where I play myself in the past, present and the future.
The aerial will probably be easiest. I don’t have to actually do that, I can just send Fantasy up on the roof to sort it out.
What do you think happens when we die?
Basically I’ve already clocked it, we go to a version of heaven yeah, it’s all reggae music and a lot of rastas all sit on a hill and just blaze there basically. Bob Marley is in charge, probably.
Of course they have garage and if not, like, then me and Beats will be bringing it through. I guarantee you, if I’m dead then he’s been dead a long time before because whatever situation we got into, I would have been the one that survived.
When do you feel a sense that we live in the presence of something bigger than ourselves?
When you’re in a rave yeah, and there are literally hundreds of people staring at this big, long dark figure, which is me, obviously. And I’m dripping with sweat and I’m MCing for an hour straight, you know, that ain’t coming me from me.
That’s coming from some next power, d’ya know what I mean, like? It’s spiritual and all that. It’s something entering me and then I am puking it out onto the crowd.
What do you try to bring to your relationships?
I try to inspire them. I inspire people just by being around them and if that means screaming at them, it’s just because I want the best for them, d’ya know what I mean?
It does work because everyone has always wanted me to be round them, Steves begged me to live with him, like, obviously Miche hasn’t really clocked that yet but… The funny thing is, I don’t even shout at Miche. D’ya know what I mean? I do that to my best mates because I care about them.
With her it’s more like, maybe I wasn’t passionate enough. I should have been more of a passionate lover, thinking about it. More experimental.
What keeps you grounded?
What keeps me grounded? Erm… Probably knowing that I’ve got at least 20+ listening every Friday night on Kurupt FM. It keeps me, not even grounded, just keeps me going. D’ya know what I mean? Just knowing that I’m here to brighten people’s lives up with my lyrics and that.
It’s mad, people don’t usually talk to me about stuff like this. I did DMT with Steves a few months back and since then, I’ve never really been the same. It’s made me think of things from a new angle, like.
What was the last good deed or act of kindness you received?
Fuck loads of drugs from Steves off his Nan’s inheritance.
How’s he dealing with the loss?
She was as good as dead anyway, really. D’ya know what yeah, we had a proper deep night one night and actually this relates to all the spiritual shit you’re talking about.
We stayed up all night and felt like she was in the room, we kept an empty space in the corner of the room and just chatted to her, d’ya know what I mean?
We acted like she was there, making her cups of tea and that, and just like, really getting spiritual with it. But now he thinks she’s Beats’ kid Robin and I think that’s mental to be honest. I preferred it when it was just an invisible spirit.
‘People Just Do Nothing’ series 4 is currently airing on BBC1 and available to watch on BBC Three.