I have grown up being a father. When my first son was born I was 17. I was a child bringing up a child. I was not capable of understanding what a dad was meant to be.
I heard stories about my dad. I wondered why he never protected me. I loved the man and I have still not got over the fact he wasn't there for me.
I never wanted my kids to have the experience of not knowing me or where they came from. I never want them to wonder, 'Did he love me?' I want to be there at the pivotal moments, for them to know how proud I am of who they are becoming.
There's a lot of negative things which happen in the show we're not trying to lie about that, that's the beauty of 'Top Boy,' it's unapologetic.
The strength of 'Small Island' is the fact that it deals with heavy issues in a way that is appealing to watch, and it's a story that people can relate to no matter what colour you are.
I'm not a comedy guy. I don't do comedy shows.
I stayed well clear of roles like 'Top Boy' for years before I did it, but I had to do it because the script was amazing. It was the most authentic thing that I've ever read when it comes to that sort of life.
So Solid was more to me about the camaraderie, the unit between me and the other boys.
Top Boy' isn't the type of programme that is trying to be righteous and have a happy ending, it is just real.
I remember at a very early age ringing up record labels I found in the Yellow Pages, and asking them for a record deal.
With So Solid, we had overnight success and I bought stupid stuff with my money, I bought a 35k car while I was still living in a council flat.
Drake and his camp are people of their word. I've never seen them say they're going to do something and not do it.
In my opinion, gentrification can sometimes affect what's happening on the ends. You're placing people in different places, moving them around, and you're taking them out of their comfort zone and into places they're not used to being in.
Once you've been at the top, you're always gonna know what it's like to be at the top. If you've never been at the top, you're not worrying about what it feels like being there.
As a rapper, you're taught and you practice being hard all the time. You're not crying on your tracks, you don't sound like Neyo singing an R&B song about what you've lost or whatever.
Politics isn't about helping people, it's about maintaining whatever people have got, whatever it takes to maintain their position at the expense of us.
I'm inspired by the fact that for every kid we see committed to crime, there's kids determined to go to uni and not follow their peers.
There was a danger when I was in So Solid and we made '21 Seconds.' But we're just showing a slice of life.
I used to eat under my grandmother's dining room table. I wouldn't eat at the table ever until I was about 10.
I hoard and buy loads of the same things over and over - DVDs, clothes, trainers.
