Mixing grime with indie rock to form his quintessentially British sound, the Colindale musician hopes to be the “shake-up” UK rap desperately needs S trolling down Camden’s iconic Chalk Farm Road, JD Cliffe exudes that boisterous cheeky-chap confidence you only find from a North West Londoner. When NME meets him, he’s about to play to a sold-out crowd in the prestigious Camden Assembly. With a bounce in his step and his blinding sterling grin on show, the 29-year-old is a colourful character against the thunderous rainclouds above.
With Camden being his old stomping grounds, Cliffe finds it “sick” that he can play in a venue so close to his heart. “I feel like I’m getting closer to what I envisioned for myself,” he says candidly, tucked into a cushioned booth at the back of the restaurant. He also shares that his next goal is to “build up” to performing huge shows in other prestigious venues in the area like Electric Ballroom and the Roundhouse – the latter being “a dream for man.
” But recently, Cliffe has proven he’s not a follower in the UK rap world, but more so a nonconformist with ‘Buss Ur Head’ – a wondrously boisterous track that has pushed him to new heights. Switching out the frenetic 808s and trippy synths for more thrashing guitar leads and bombastic drums, he uses his undeniable confidence to weld grime and indie rock together and make a unique sound with that same patriotic feel as the ‘90s Britpop stars. They were rebellious.