Chima Anya has worked alongside the likes of Jehst, Soweto Kinch and Jay Electronica. He has been labelled the saviour of UK hip hop and has received great acclaim over his latest release ‘New Day’ - however Chima refuses to be pigeonholed, and continues to rip up the rules in order to deliver music with both style and substance. Chima is not your usual hip hop artist; I caught up with him after a busy shift in his day job as a doctor at a hospital in central London, curious to ask the doctor of hip hop what his remedy for good living and good music is...:

So you’ve been nailed as the doctor who’s going to save UK Hip Hop? You ready..?
If I’m honest with you - this is a bit controversial - but I hate being labelled as UK hip hop. I hate the stigma. My shit is a lot more vibrant, a lot different to what is traditionally considered UK hip hop. But if people could get over the stigma, I’m sure they would enjoy it and it would spark new interest. But as long as I’m enjoying it that’s the main thing, and I’m grateful that’s how they feel about my music.

How would you describe your music in three words?
Soul, substance and style.

So you’re proud your music has substance as well as style - how important is it that there’s a message in your music?
Really important, what’s important is that you make some contribution. Yeah, going to work every day being a doctor, you make a contribution but it’s very mechanical; music is the easiest way to reach people and it’s important there’s a message in there. I don’t like preachiness, you can’t be beating people on the head with it (that’s the kind of skill in writing a song that’s important to me). Look at the ‘New Day’ album, there is some sort of underlying message in there. Almost to my detriment, I should just write an empty party song! Just something you can play in the club [laughs].

Who have you most enjoyed collaborating with?
Soweto Kinch man, he’s a legend - a well renowned saxophonist. He’s a bit of an activist as well, he does this show called the ‘Flyover Show’, and this year he dedicated it to black females where the likes of Miss Dynamite, Speech Debelle played. The Flyover Show III featured emerging voices that aimed to both entertain and challenge perceptions, exploring the specific theme of black female identity, with examples of strong black females who don’t have to rely on sex to sell.

"It’s so unjustified, just because you were lucky enough to be born in a particular part of the hemisphere shouldn’t entitle you to a higher standard of living."

What most inspires your music?
It changes, as an artist, I go through periods. Earlier in my rap, and it would be like I wanted to prove I was better than everyone else. It’s all bragging about how much money you make, who the best mc is, who rocks the party the best - but as I grew and became aware of my surroundings it became a form of social commentary. When I became a doctor, a demanding career, it shifted more to health related issues. I’m in a job where I promote quality of life, so I’ve come to realise what’s important in life and what isn’t.

What’s the most important thing in life?
You only get one life, you should enjoy it, none of us can be sure what happens in the after life. The best way you can live is to make sure what you’re doing enriches the world in some way - don’t just take stuff away from the world, otherwise no one can make an argument for your existence.

What is the closest you’ve come to experiencing poverty?

NOTE: Chima’s dad is Nigerian and his mum is from Romania. He was born in Romania, lived in Glasgow up until about 1995 and then moved to Oxford where he says is where he became the person he is today…

I’ve visited Nigeria, Romania. There’s lots of poverty in both those countries. I mean, I’ve seen it first hand in Nigeria. We go out to the villages, and we live in a village (we’re cool as we’ve got a generator, not that reliable, but it provides electricity, and every now and then we’ve got some water). Seeing first hand, it’s difficult, you can’t help but feel sorry for the situation. At the same time, lots of people are impoverished but these people were really happy. It re-affirms that there are more things in life than material substance.

What’s the worst type of corruption you have personally experienced?
Well my dad went through a little situation… I don’t know all the ins and outs but I was affected in a second hand way. My dad has a PHD but lost his job in Metallurgy as a research scientist when corrupt officials made him redundant; he was forced out of his job and had to work in a factory just to survive. When you think of corruption, you think mass scale - governments, politics, and corporations. Corruption can just be one person though; a person can be corrupt just by exploiting power for their own benefit.

What single thing would improve the world?
I definitely feel like people have too much. There needs to be a more effective re-distribution of the world’s wealth. What’s that statistic… the richest 10% of adults account for over 85% of the world’s total wealth? It’s so unjustified, just because you were lucky enough to be born in a particular part of the hemisphere shouldn’t entitle you to a higher standard of living. What I struggle with is the concept of you can come to this country but (in some places) you can’t work here even if you’re better; whoever’s best at the job gets the job. Everyone works hard. I know people who work really hard in Nigeria, come here, standard living is higher, but they can’t progress in society because of passport issues, immigration laws - I can’t get my head around it. It’s all God’s green earth, so who’s to say ‘that’s my part’ and ‘that’s your part’. Maybe that’s naive but that’s sometimes how I feel.

What is your stance on volunteer and charity work?
I think it’s great, as long as the money being raised is being channelled in the right directions. I don’t expect to see a charity HQ in Canary Wharf, see what I mean. Not long ago I signed up for a charity, got three letters a year, but I thought ‘why are you paying for this shit if I’m not reading it?’. They could have sent me an email - it doesn’t cost anything, no printing costs, stuff like that has got to be done in the right way. I think there needs to be a review of charity laws too; someone told me schools like Eton are still considered a charity; they have the same tax benefits a charity does, but people are using it as loophole in order to get the benefits. This needs to be regulated so that they don’t become infiltrated by corruption themselves. But charity work is good, it’s essential.

What’s next for Chima Anya?
I’m promoting my new album; I’ve got a new single, new mixtape, new video coming out. I’ve got a band as well; it’s an exciting experiment, mixing jazz, hip hop, classical, pop and rnb. It’s a little bit different but I believe in it - I don’t believe I’ve compromised myself at all as I’m still bringing my lyrics. People say “What’s man doing, underground rapper doing classical pop shit?” - but the reaction to the album has been really inspiring to the point I want to do another one now…

Words: Holly Davis
Photos: Flickr user F.A.P. 

'New Day' is Chima Anya’s latest album, released in April 2010 and is available to buy from all good record stores.

For more info visit www.myspace.com/chimaanya