D Power Diesle Talks Graphene, Vol. 2 And How To Stop Music Being Missed

Words and interview by @naimasutton

D Power Diesle’s recent form has seen him release an avalanche of bangers, displaying the unshakeable quality of the new material he is creating. ‘Graphene, Vol. 2’ is a 10-track album, filled to the brim with impressive features from D Double E, Frisco, Big Narstie, Footsie, Shorty, Jammer, Manga St Hilare, Jammz, President T, Deadly, Lil Narst, and Jookie Mundo, not to mention a spine-tingling production. Delivering classic grime energy in full effect and matching the high calibre that he delivered in the first project - Graphene Volume 1.

D Power Diesle has created a legacy that stretches back to the origins of grime. The British music scene wouldn't be what it is today without these grime pioneers, they helped craft, develop and curate the sounds we hear as distinctly British now. He also helps new and upcoming talent through his own label named, ‘EB Records’. Speaking on the label, he commented, “It’s important for vets to guide and show love to the youth, to keep them committed, it motivates them to know that people who have been there before can do it.”

I spoke with D Power Diesle about his recent release ‘Graphene, Vol. 2’ and how to make the music industry work to your benefit when you’re an independent artist.

As he finishes up rolling a spliff, Diesle tells me he hasn’t been sitting on anything during the lockdown. He and Skepta dropped Sniper back in 2020. As well ‘as Graphene Volume 1’.

“And that was that, bam. Lockdown. So we didn't even really get to do no dates, the tune was massive! But we never did any shows, you know.” Trust me when I say he doesn’t sound disheartened or even angry. He speaks like a musician knowing that it was done then and it will be done again. Possessing the energy of a man with nothing to prove.

An attitude that is unsurprising considering he’s a veteran of the grime scene, having been there since its early days, from the formation of Lord of the Mics through to GRM Daily - the platform that helped facilitate underground British music reaching a worldwide audience. He’s put his hand to so many different projects and worked alongside a long list of talented creators. But he’s most excited to talk to me about his recent project ‘Graphene, Vol. 2’ and where he wants to take his music this year.

“What this project represents, for me personally, is just growth within myself as an artist. On the EP, there's so many different flows, no tunes that are identical. I didn’t want to overthink what was going into it. I just really wanted to put a grime EP together. The project is about showcasing the best of what you can do with grime. You know what I mean?”

“The most enjoyable thing about putting this together was just being able to kick off 2022 with some grime, getting some good placements, getting some grime done properly. Being able to share the features and the people within the grime scene and get everyone a bit gassed up ready for the year.” He wanted to jump out early, setting up 2022 for a whole slew of new tracks & live shows.

Diesle released ‘Graphene, Vol. 2’ through his own label, EB Records. “Everything goes out from my label and I like having the creativity. But I'm still in a good distribution label deal. I have been, even with Graphene Volume 1, but I still own the masters. I'm still in control. I spend my money, they spend their money.”

He hits on why it’s so important to know the music game when you get into it “It's always good to have your masters and be in control, especially if you want to take money from a label. If you take big money and you go into a deal, then you have to listen to them about what they want you to sell and they want to see the data, that you’re gonna make them money.”

“The reason I say you need good distributors is to get your music to the places where it needs to go, there are people who are working with major labels, but they've got distribution deals. So they’re independent. They are with a major, but the major gets a bit of what they make, and then make it bigger release and get it to more platforms and spread it out so their piece becomes worth more.”

Diesle explains that it’s important for him to be able to retain creative control over his work and its trajectory but that his relationship with record labels as distributors is beneficial for him and the people around him. “I can go back, give other people deals, help them, push them through the label. Just keep the music coming and not have to try and rope people into unfair situations. So much music comes out, if you're not doing something properly with your release, it's just going to get lost in all the traffic.”

“If you want to go anywhere to promote your music you can do it and they're going to help you. When you're on your own or if you're struggling with debt. It's very hard. Like, it's very hard. That's why a lot of people's music is getting missed because they can’t deliver the records properly.”

“Where the kids are taking over with YouTube and things like that, a kid with a million views could walk into a label and get a 50k deal. A single deal. If you've done a million views on your own when you link up with the label, what are they going to do for you? So they give you 50k. The kid runs away with 50k back to the hood? What's he even gonna do with that? Where do you think some of that 50k is gonna go back?”

“It takes time, I learned a lot from Skepta as well. You just can't say yes to everything. That's the main thing. You got to know what works for you. What your plan is long term, you can't just say yes.”

“It’s going to be hard to find an artist that just started today, that is young, who is going to want to go through any of the hard roads that we went through, they're going to say what for? And I would say what for! The music has to be good enough, it has to be mixed and has to be mastered. It has to be pushed properly. It has to be promoted. A lot of people that do grime don't have the money to do this. There's a lot of good people that have given up too early, or they start doing drill instead.”

The landscape of Black British music has changed so much over the past two decades, I ask him when was the most noticeable tipping point towards it being the powerhouse it is now?

He responds to me with a certainty that would make it impossible for anyone to disagree “Stormzy. Yeah definitely. I know he gets grief, he didn't come through with loads of sets on radio. There wasn't as much radio going on at that time. He didn’t have that relationship with us to see who's the funny guys and who's not. So that's the thing you miss out on going through records. But what he was doing was making records. He was killing records, Big For Your Boots is a massive tune. I think what happened with Stormzy is everyone wanted him to do what he was doing and then come back and jam within the grime scene but what he did was more worldwide.”

“He's done grime and he's done grime on a massive level. He has taken grime to places where some of us have been trying to take it for 20 years. Between him AJ Tracy, Dave and the rest of them, they sent the UK to another level.”

And what’s next for D Power Diesle and the UK grime scene? “Next week, we’ve got Da Roof coming back. I'm gonna select like 15 to 20 MCs and DJs back to back and we're gonna live stream next week. Next time, Graphene 3 I'm going in and we're gonna go after the girls.” He says, holding a smile on his face as he lays out his method to me. “We want to mix up the beats and mix up the flow, slow it down a little bit but still have it be grime. Without trying to imitate nothing else.”

LISTEN TO ‘GRAPHENE, VOL. 2’ BELOW