Kano

Safe talks exclusively to East London's hottest MC star about drugs, girls and how to make it big.

What sacrifices did you have to make to get where you are?

"It wasn't major, but I worked hard. I always say I'm £10 ahead of the game, because I don't smoke weed. I've never ever smoked and the studio I used cost £15 an hour, so I was always saving, trying to get £30 together and go in for two hours. My friends were spending their money on weed."

How did you get started?

"My brother was a DJ. The first rave he ever did, he put me and Demon on the flyer. We printed t-shirts with our names on the back. He and my cousin always used to support me. And my friend Simon, I can't forget him. When I didn't have the £15 he used to give it to me."

What was your big break?

"My big break was with 'Boys Love Girls'. I made it, put it on CD and gave to DJs. On the pirates, people were calling to ask to reload the song, and we were getting a good response, so I pressed some on 12" and sold a few. It really felt good, when people were showing me love. It felt like all the hard work had paid off."

Do you get recognised in the street?

"If I'm on the street or in the car, it happens every ten minutes, depending on where I am."

Do girls treat you differently, now you're famous?

"Yeah, some girls want to know you now, but some girls don't! They might think, 'I don't really want to speak to him, he thinks he's this and that, I don't want to let him know I like him'."

Didn't you start out as a footballer?

"When I was 12-13 I was at Chelsea, then 15-16 I was at Norwich City. After I left school, I didn't really stick with it - I gradually got more into music. In my age group there were people like Kieran Richardson, who now plays for Man U, and Justin Hoyte, who plays for Arsenal. These were people we used to play against, and be on a level with or better than."

Do you have any regrets about dropping football?

"Well, music people want to be footballers, footballers want to be rappers. I see people like Shaun Wright Phillips at awards shows, and he always wants to talk. I'm thinking, 'You know how much money you earn?"

Would you ever want to be a father?

"One day, but I'd like the kid to just drop in my lap when he's about five, miss all the crying thing. A lot of people I know, they're young and they get girls pregnant, with three different babymothers, but not my close friends. Some of them have got babies but they're only when they're old enough and smart enough."

Five ways to make it as an MC - Kano's guide to getting ahead in the music business

1. Keep it real

"Be real to yourself - don't try to be no one else. I see a lot of people who ain't bad but they want to be bad. They want to be killers and blah blah blah. A lot of people want to be American, people want to be something that they're not, and that's not good."

2. Don't be scared

"Don't be afraid of trying to break barriers and be something that's a bit different. I did a song called 'I Don't Know Why', with a Black Sabbath sample. It's something I've never done before, and it's not really my music, but if you want to do something, don't be afraid what people are going to say."

3. Stay in school

"Don't feel you can be an MC and not know anything, and have nothing else to aim for. Use school - don't let it use you. Get what you need out of it, because it will come up in the real world. You need maths, you need English. That's what I tried to do. When I was 14-15, there were a handful of things I could have been, so keep your options open. Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

4. Work hard

"Don't ever think it's going to be easy. You've got to put in the work. Sometimes you've got to lose money, sometimes you hear people saying, 'You're not good and you're never going to make it.' When I got a record deal, it stopped being a hobby and started being a job, which was hard. I don't ever feel like going to the studio is work, but the other things - photoshoots and promotion - are."

5. Express yourself

"You don't need a computer or a studio to start out, just a pen and a pad. I work a lot on lyrics at home with just a pen and a pad. I work on flows, getting my lyrics right, because that's where it all starts, no matter how big you get. Anyone can express themselves for free - that's why so many people do it."