Loyle Carner caught up with NME on the Mercury Prize red carpet and reflected on the inspiration behind ‘Hugo’, the live response he receives from festival crowds and the impact his son has on his music.
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00:00 - Loyal Karner, welcome, how are you doing?
00:02 - Yeah, I'm good, I'm happy.
00:03 - What's it like to be here, second time round?
00:05 - Yeah, second time round.
00:06 Like I was just saying,
00:07 I feel like I'm able to maybe enjoy it a bit more.
00:10 So yeah, I feel like I'm here happily, like part of it.
00:15 - Does it feel like this is your year?
00:16 - I don't know, every year feels like my year,
00:18 like not for awards, but just,
00:20 it has to feel like that,
00:21 otherwise you're gonna get stuck, right?
00:23 But yeah, no, I just,
00:25 to me, like being here is more than enough.
00:28 - I'm gonna tell you a little secret now.
00:30 You are the bookies' favorite, so--
00:32 - Someone else said this to me,
00:32 and I didn't know about this until someone else said it.
00:35 Yo, whatever, man.
00:36 - Does that play any difference?
00:38 Does that put the nerves in?
00:39 Does it just make you more excited?
00:41 - No, do you mean like, I've, you know,
00:43 I've put money on Liverpool to win games many times
00:45 when they've been the favorite,
00:46 and they've lost, and I've lost a lot of money like that,
00:48 so it means nothing to me.
00:49 - So looking back at last time you were here
00:52 with "Yesterday Is Gone,"
00:53 how would you say that you've changed then?
00:55 How would you say the album is different now
00:57 and reflects you in a different stage of your life?
00:59 - I don't know, man.
01:02 I guess like, you know, every time you're making an album,
01:03 you're making it in response
01:04 to the one that you've just made before, right?
01:06 And I think that's been true
01:06 of what I've made up until this point.
01:09 I can't really tell how different I am.
01:11 You'd have to ask my girlfriend or my mom or,
01:13 but I don't know, I feel, like I say,
01:14 I feel like I'm able to, you know,
01:15 take myself less seriously a bit
01:17 when it comes to stuff like this,
01:18 which means I'm able to enjoy stuff.
01:20 I'm also a father now.
01:21 I get less sleep.
01:22 That's how I'm different.
01:23 I'm knackered all the time.
01:24 That's the real difference.
01:26 - I feel like there is so much love for you here tonight.
01:28 Everyone who I've spoken to
01:29 has been singing the praises for your album.
01:31 What's it feel like to have your album resonate
01:33 with so many people?
01:34 - That's gonna make me cry.
01:35 I don't know why it hit me that.
01:37 Yeah, deep, man, because like, you know,
01:39 I always felt like, when I came in before,
01:41 I always felt like an outsider looking in,
01:42 you know what I mean?
01:43 And to be what I loved about being here last time
01:44 was like feeling part of the conversation.
01:46 That's all I ever wanted,
01:47 was just to be in and amongst like something, you know?
01:50 And yeah, that's deep for me.
01:51 'Cause I'm, you know, these are people I really respect,
01:53 Ezra Collective, those are my guys.
01:54 Olivia Deen, I love so much.
01:56 Young Fathers, I never really chatted to,
01:57 but I'm a big fan, you know?
01:58 Like to be around these people,
01:59 shy girl, like, it's sick for me.
02:01 - We have to talk about Reading and Leeds.
02:04 I feel like you stole the show there.
02:06 You were NME's like highlight.
02:08 What was it like for you to play to that crowd?
02:10 - Yeah, moved.
02:11 Do you know what's crazy is that like, you know,
02:13 Reading and Leeds is a young crowd, right?
02:14 And sometimes, you know,
02:15 I've been doing this for 10 years, man.
02:17 Doesn't mean I'm not old, but like,
02:19 you know, I don't know, it was so nice to see
02:20 like a next generation of kids
02:21 still be rocking with my shit.
02:23 And yeah, I don't know, I felt so moved to see kids.
02:26 Like when I first played the show,
02:28 it was like the same crowd,
02:28 but just like they haven't aged.
02:30 It was amazing.
02:31 - What was it like for you to spread that message
02:33 of combating toxic masculinity?
02:35 I feel like that really resonates with so many people.
02:38 And I feel like so many people look up to you
02:39 as like a new generation of rap.
02:42 What's it like to have that impact on people,
02:43 especially when you see it
02:45 with the crowd looking back at you?
02:46 - It's magic, man.
02:47 You know, I feel like the conversations I have
02:48 after the show, those are the bits that mean the most,
02:50 you know, when kids go, "Thank you,"
02:51 or, "I got a beautiful message from my mom,"
02:53 just a random mom on Instagram saying that, you know,
02:55 her son, whatever, went through some stuff.
02:56 I don't need to disclose it,
02:57 but it was the first time he was able to say to her,
02:59 "Yo, that shit I went through, it hurt me."
03:01 You know, and I think, you know,
03:03 giving kids a space to talk like that,
03:04 especially young men, 'cause it's not allowed,
03:06 you know, when I grew up, is important.
03:07 It was funny, man, like that video got posted
03:09 on some bullshit Instagram called
03:11 the Archbishop of Banterby, fuck you guys.
03:13 And the comments on it were like so toxic
03:15 saying all this shit about me
03:16 and how I should just shut my mouth.
03:17 And it was so nice 'cause it made me realize
03:19 how important it is to say that shit,
03:21 'cause those kids are just as lost as, you know, I was.
03:24 - Did you have your son in mind
03:25 when you were writing this album?
03:27 - Yeah, hell yeah, like, when I made most of it,
03:30 I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl,
03:31 or, you know, I just was hoping it would be healthy,
03:33 so I just had like embryo in my mind, you know?
03:36 But yeah, I did, I had a hope of, you know,
03:38 doing all the things, yeah, yeah, put in,
03:41 yeah, I did have him in my mind.
03:43 - Okay, last question, going forward,
03:45 if you were to win tonight, how would we celebrate?
03:47 What would celebration look like for you?
03:49 - How would I celebrate?
03:50 With my son, I don't know how that's possible,
03:52 'cause he'll be asleep, but I'll just go wake him up,
03:54 wake him up, take him to the park,
03:55 maybe watch the sun, the sunrise, I don't know.
03:58 - I feel like that's a good excuse to wake him up.
03:59 - You know what I mean, do you know what I mean?
04:00 He won't care, he won't understand.
04:02 All he cares about is that I wore his necklace,
04:04 that was the only important thing.
04:05 - Did he make that for you?
04:06 - Oh yeah, yo, he designed the jeans as well,
04:07 look, look at the back.
04:09 Get a little, yo, get a little action on that.
04:11 Yeah, man, designed by my son.
04:15 Well, designed by my friend Bentley, actually.
04:17 But my son, I was like, draw the sun for me,
04:18 and that's what he drew, so that's what he put on the jeans.
04:21 - Hey, I'm glad we managed to get you to like,
04:23 moon for us for the end of this interview.
04:25 - I mean, it's my best asset, so I'll get it out sometimes.
04:28 - Thank you so much, congratulations again.
04:30 - Appreciate it, thank you so much.
04:31 - We can stumble.
04:32 (beep)