Made In Manchester: Kanine9

To start our new series, we've met with Kanine9 to talk about what it's like growing up and being from Manchester on a personal level and a music level, speaking on the areas he has grown up in, childhood stories, and how those elements reflect on his music career. Join us as we talk about the pros and cons of living in Manchester. A huge thank you to @Kanine9_ for talking to us, make sure you go over to his Instagram, drop him a follow and keep up with all of his new work this year.

Hey man, please for the sake of the article, can you give yourself an introduction to who you are, what you do, and where you're based?

My name is James but I go by Kanine9 musically, I'm 20 years old from Manny, grew up in Blackley (North Manny) but for the past few years, I've been in Sale (South Manny). I've been making music since I was like, I'd say thirteen, but I've been writing since I was young. I always knew I had something 'cause I was always a massive fan of Eminem, that sort of got me writing at age nine, age ten, poetry and narrative, but you know, over the years that evolved purely just into rap.

Blackley is based in North Manchester, just outside of Middleton. Known for their chemical industry throughout history, and a lot of open space in the area, consisting of Heaton Park, Blackley Forest, and Boggart Hole Clough. With a low crime rate compared to other towns in the area and a low house price score, the area consists of housing estates and a handful of shops and restaurants. We speak with James about growing up in this area.

What was it like growing up in Blackley on a personal level, outside of music?

So Blackley was, you know, quite tunnel vision. when you grow up in a place, you don't really know what else the world holds other than this, so it's not like I could, from a younger perspective, have noticed that the area was quite deprived. I didn't really take notice of that but it is, you know, there's quite a lot of crime and it's quite scruffy, a lot of old shops and people who just look like they've had their dreams crushed and just settling for survival.

But personally, you know, I liked it, I had a lot of family living nearby. At the same time, there were some family feuds, some issues, funerals, and things going on that weren't ideal as a young boy but you've just gotta take it on the chin, and roll. My immediate family, my parents, brother, and sister, we stayed together as a unit, that was the main thing.

Would you say that those experiences and the people you've seen growing up help you when you're making music, being able to tell those stories and refer to things you saw growing up?

Yeah, definitely, I mean especially when I was young, I didn't actually know where to channel my anger. I was a bit angry as I got to my early teens, I was quite angry at the world, for like the situations I was in, it wasn't until I got my mic and my Logic Pro and stuff that I started to channel my anger and energy elsewhere.

My music personally, it's a bit deeper. I don't really make chart music, I don't do braggadocious, materialistic kind of rap, of course, that's an aspect of it that I have done but I'll never release that in my catalog because I always want to speak on something a bit more raw, a bit more real and representative of where I'm from.

Do you think a lot of the other kids that grow up in those areas feel the same?

Yeah, I think 100%, you know, I remember Aitch said in his acceptance speech for one of the awards that it's kind of hard to make it from this side of Manchester. I felt that, 'cause I guarantee there's so much talent in the area, but you know, it's just the facilities and the income is so low that people can't take that step and pursue things. It just leads to cyphers in car parks, on the estates and stuff but I hope that's going to change in the future.

Would you say that a lot of people in Manny look up to people like Aitch, Meekz, and Bugzy Malone?

Yeah, I can speak personally and say yeah Bugzy defo, he's been doing it for the past fifteen years, Aitch has only really been doing it the past five, and Meekz the past few. But yeah, you know, they're great artists and they inspire so many kids around Manchester. There's a picture of Aitch as a kid, as a fan, with Bugzy Malone so, you know, it speaks volumes. but it's not just them three, of course, there are so many other artists as well for me, Shotty Horror, one of the best battle rappers of all time, and then you've got people like Tunde, representing Chorlton and KDon in Moss Side, there's so many.

Moving back to Blackley a bit now, what can you tell me about the move from Blackley to Sale, is it the same sort of vibe or completely different?

Sale is based in South Manchester, Trafford, discovered in the Middle Ages. The area has a lot more crime to date than around Blackley, with a lot of Burglaries and high drug status. When talking about things to do around Sale, most people speak of Bridgewater Canal and the Walkden Gardens. Have a read below on what James thinks of Sale in its current state.

I mean on the surface, it may seem nicer. But when you get acclimatised to the area it's no different, I mean, I can say for a fact, there's a lot of crack addicts, a lot of spice head in Sale, a lot more than there were in Blackley. Maybe that's cause a few years have passed and that's just the time, or maybe it's the areas, but yeah, the centers are a lot more built up, there's been quite a bit more investment from the council in Sale, but you're never really anywhere too far from trouble in Manchester, it's different but pretty similar.

Do you prefer one compared to the other?

Honestly, I can't really pick between them, obviously, Blackley and around Middleton, I have fond memories through a child's eyes, the innocent perspective of when you're young, I have some fond memories with family and stuff in Blackley. But in Sale, a majority of my mates are now in Sale, they're never too far, so it's just, I wouldn't say I prefer one to the other, I'd say each has its upsides and downsides.

Do you think the music scene is dying or still very much alive in Manchester?

I think Manny is in a good place right now, I think there are a lot of artists who are finally getting serious recognition, Tunde included, like you said before, Meekz is doing it major. Mastermind ran the show for a bit, Aitch of course is global now. There are lots of producers, lots of studios, so yeah, the music's alive but I still think we're missing something, and hopefully I can try and bring that old school hip-hip style back to Manchester.

Are there any smaller, not very well-known rappers that you feel need more recognition?

I think JLizz has just come out with some heat, I know Jordan took him on tour over the past few weeks so you know, he's getting some recognition, but he's a proper good lyricist, I like to hear the grittiness, and realness he delivers, I think on Instagram it's @the_real_jlizz.

More about you now, what's the goal for you musically?

Ideally, I'd want my music to speak to the people of my city, because a lot of what I rap about is little anecdotes about what I've seen and what's going on in the city. It's been a long journey, I've started to get co-signs from other artists that I used to idolise, but it's still nowhere near where I want it to be. I just want to be a voice for the city really, I know that my lyrically content has a lot more depth to it than a lot of rap music nowadays, my rhymes are a bit more unconventional and I just want to keep growing, evolving, and becoming really the best rapper I can, I'm not really trying to jump on a sound because it's popping.

I prefer to just pave my own sort of mini lane and I feel like you're always going to run into some problems if you're not unique in the music industry, so I try to be as unique as possible but of course, I take aspects from people like Bugzy, just to try and learn and become the best MC I can be, 'cause that's the ultimate goal for me, I know I can spit, I just want to get my bars up and keep evolving, then hopefully one day the city will take me in.

Your sound is very different and refreshing, something we don't hear of in a lot of rappers across the UK, what's next this year for Kanine9?

I got some collaborations loading with a couple of man from Hull, some cold rappers up there, I'm tapped in with a few studios, I've got some sessions over the next few weeks, and I'm planning on putting together my first legit project, hopefully towards the end of the year on all streaming services, maybe do some freestyles on some radio shows but we'll see. I can't rush it and I can predict it, you can never predict the future.

We've got one more question for you, before we ask you, do you have anything you would like to add about anything we've spoken about today?

Simply, go and follow me on Spotify, Kanine9, I've dropped a couple of things on there but the best is yet to come, keep showing love, not even just for me but for everyone in Manny. We're proper workers and grafters waiting on that breakthrough.

For sure man! Finally, do you have anyone you would like to shout out?

From outside of Manny I'd say shout out to Rouk3n from Hull (@rouk3n), them man are killing it, proper unique wave up there, and a cold accent. Big up Keff (@keff.wav), he's a producer, and he's just started making his own music too, he's down near London. Big up everyone in Manny as well, all the radio platforms, MicCheckMedia, everyone.

Thank you, man, big blessings to you and your family!