Tinchy stryder why

When you've gone through the struggle and you see a better life, you don't want to just lie to yourself and say you're still in the struggle, because if you ask for that it might come true.

Anyone who's still in the struggle would love to be out of it. Stryder already has a successful clothes line Star in the Hood, record label Takeover Roc Nation co-owned with Jay-Z and is planning to expand the empire.

I ask him how he would hope to describe himself in 10 years' time: musician or entrepreneur? The walls at Vessel Works are covered in handprints and messages of self-belief. One poster lists words beginning with C. You can come here and use the facilities and learn … ". As she talks, a drum kit goes flying. Charlie bursts out laughing. That's Josh! Josh apologises. Ethan's a proper don. I won't lie — it's quite rough around here. And Ethan does his thing.

I mean, he's hooked us up to see you in the flesh — it feels a bit like Madame Tussauds right now! We're not just sitting on our beds or playing video games. At the moment I'm on bail for something quite serious, and there's a chance I could go to prison, but Ethan's helping me with building up a better image.

Stryder goes round the room asking everybody what they do. We hear from aspiring DJs, musicians, producers and film-makers before he reaches Josh. Stryder cracks up. I'm going to say I spit verbalism! After they all have their pictures taken together, Stryder and I head off to a small studio to chat. He says he loves coming to places like this, mentoring. What's the most important thing he can tell the kids here?

A lot of people just give up, thinking, 'OK, I make music just like him, why's my song not getting played on the TV? What I want to give them is the motivation. He nods. You can't blame them for thinking, 'I'm trying to get a job, but there are none. According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics , the youth unemployment rate for black people has increased at almost double the rate for white to year-olds since Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for young black men has almost doubled to a horrifying Why does he think this is — a lack of role models, or simply racism?

He probably comes as close as he ever does to bristling. A lot of people go to uni, they pay so much to study and come out with a degree, and they still can't get a job. That's the bit people can't understand. They think, 'What was the point? Can he understand why so many young people rioted last summer? But what I do understand is that there was a lot of people who weren't being heard before, and that was their way of getting attention.

People felt the police spoke to them in wrong ways, did so much wrong to them — this was their way back. This was how they were going to be heard. In interviews afterwards, you could really hear their anger and frustration. They try to get jobs, but get nothing, so what are they supposed to do? He says he hated the way the riots were reported, as if it was simply an uprising of black youth.

He looks at the production desk in front of him in the studio, says this is great, and that the trouble is so few places have got facilities for kids. Does he think there will be more riots? You might want to go to a youth club or a park with a football goal, facilities, music studios, but there's nothing there for a lot of people. Right now, no one I know would agree with anyone voting for this government.

What are you happy about right now? Kwasi Danquah, aka Tinchy Stryder, is trying to manage the most precarious of balances: commercial success and personal integrity. Let us explain, it's been quite a 12 months for the Bow, east London rapper. To the wider public's eye and ear he's a relatively new artist but he's been immersed in the east London grime scene since the age of 13 - now, at 22, he's already a veteran. Yet has seen the diminutive lyricist scale new heights, including a Number 1 single with N-Dubz.

With all the glory and riches that brings, he's been careful to not forget the supportive community which gave birth to his talent. Indeed, Tinchy's path to stardom is a reminiscent of an accelerated version of another local rapper, Dizzee Rascal. Indeed, the swirling debate surrounding 'selling out' is an issue he tackles on new single Never Leave You.

Early indications suggest the song will join Tinchy's previous singles Number 1 and Take Me Back, in hitting the top ten on Sunday [Aug 9]. He can't quite believe it. What is more important? But at the same time when I go into the studio I've been trying to develop and expand so I don't feel like I'm trapped in a box. Pigeon Detectives back after break. Slipknot scoop Kerrang! Backstage at the Kerrang! In pictures: Kerrang!