Innovative grime/metal rising star, Native James fuses his love of rap, grime, rock and metal. The British artist is finally creating the music he has always wanted to make. Get familiar with this VIPER interview…

What five words define your sound?

Rage 

Hunger 

Anger

Passion

Bars

Tell me something unique about your creative process…

I will off the dome the track till I get a hook and then off the dome the lyrics and build around it.

What song of yours would you like people to hear first?

‘Hammer’ which is out now!! 

What inspired you to make that song?

My surroundings and my love for grime music too. I wanted to have a cryptic message but still shout out legends in the process.

What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be while making music?

Probably opening up about depression and anxiety that I face, but more of that to come in later tracks.

Best/worst experience on stage?

My best would have to be Reading and Leeds Festival – the moshpits were insane, and it was nice to come out of my comfort zone and bring people together who have never heard of me. 

Worst would probably be when I was starting out and I remember rapping and I got no response from anything [laughs]. I cut the beat and started freestyling – rule no1 don’t be a crash out.

What is your favourite song to perform?

Probably ‘Field’ which is out now and on my EP! It gets the people going and I love my ragers.

Which artist/song made you want to make music?

I’d have to say Ghetts for Grime; his flow and the way he expresses himself on tracks is insane, and he sparked something where I was like, I want to try this out. For metal, I’d say Linkin Park; when I first heard ‘Crawling’, my brain had a meltdown (in a good way.) 

What’s the meaning behind your name?

I remember sitting in my boy’s room saying I needed a name change. I picked up a dictionary and put my finger on a random part of the page, and I landed on ‘native’. My last name is James, and I thought well everyone is a native and we want to include everyone, so voila, ‘Native James’.

If you weren’t making music what would you be doing instead?

Writing.. I like films and poetry so I’d definitely explore those sectors, but music is me and is who I was meant to be.

What’s success to you?

To be a person that can invoke positive change to a mass amount of people, and can enable growth through my own decision making.

What moment in your career forced you to change direction?

Reading and Leeds Festival. It was the first time I had performed ‘nu metal’ and once I saw the reaction, I said to my manager “this is it.”

Where can people keep in touch with you?

You can find me on Instagram: nativejamesuk, Tiktok nativejames, and all streaming platforms!

Photo by William Jupp