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By Angharad Williams

"The Nigerians are here to show you how it's done." JJC spits down the microphone during his appearance as part of the Respect festival 2003 at the Millennium Dome. Clearly proud of their homeland, JJC and the 419 Squad have brought Afro hip-hop to the limelight of the UK urban music scene and are determined to take it to a wider audience. Still on a buzz from performing, I spoke to JJC aka Skillz from Big Brovaz, along with S.O. Simple and Masta Plan - two members of the 419 Squad.

The multi talented JJC, is 26-year-old Abdul Rasheed Bello. Born in Kano, Nigeria, he moved to England aged 14. As founding member and producer of Big Brovaz, he achieved number 3 in the UK charts with 'Nu Flow' and number 2 with 'Favourite Things'. So, what about Big Brovaz? Does this mean an end for Skillz as part of one of the biggest groups on the UK Urban scene in recent years? "I'm still doing the Big Brovaz thing, I mean. I first started Big Brovaz as a production company, it was set up as Big Brovaz for young people to get into the music industry to help them get recognition, and the first people I found on the streets became Big Brovaz so the work continues. I have a Ragga group called Tru Flex and I've got rappers, but this here is what we do at home this is JJC and 419, this is African; R&B, hip hop, Garage, Salsa and everything!" With such a range of styles I asked how he would describe the music. He says simply "Hip life - in Africa we have High Life which is feel good music, but what we do is hip hop high life, so Hip Life."

For these young and friendly Africans, bringing something different to the scene must be a daunting task. Masta Plan suggests in his warm Nigerian accent, "From the African perspective we aren't scared to experiment... somebody's got to do it. Initially we were a little bit nervous but as time goes by we could see the reaction of the crowd an' they are lovin' it, so it's quite exciting, I'm lovin' it, everyone is lovin' it!" JJC revealed that "Before we came out as Big Brovaz, we were very nervous because in the UK there is not a band with 3 rappers and 3 singers, actually in the world there is nothing like that and we just try to push the limit, to see what we can do, and get away with it! Big Brovaz has worked and I definitely believe JJC & 419 will work."

The 419 Squad are eight young Nigerians who are aged from 18 to 25. S.O. Simple explains how the group got together "I joined about two years ago and most of them got to know each other long before I did. Ever since we got together we're just like one family.... everyone wants to put energy into everything we do." Like the rest of the group Masta Plan is proud of his heritage; "I'm still representing Africa, I might not be at home, but I'm still African. We're trying to take it to another perspective. As Nigerians we are lawyers, we are doctors, we are pilots and we are musicians as well, so that's what we are trying to do." JJC is short for Johnny Just Come, a term used to describe naïve Africans who have just arrived in countries like the UK, can't speak English and aren't very streetwise. Although this is usually an insult, it has been turned on its head as are many stereotypes within the album 'Atide'. The term '419 Squad' refers to a particular type of advance fee fraud associated with West Africans named after the Nigerian statute (419) that makes it illegal. Again JJC and Co. challenge the status quo by re-branding the term to stand for new levels of truth as their attack on the charts would appear to mirror a profile more reflective of the diverse streets.

Pride in their heritage is clearly not the only factor in their drive for success, JJC explains the party feel in the group. "Growing up in Africa, what we do is mainly dance and make music. It's all about a feel good vibe and dancing till you can't dance no more, right now my knees are weak! When we get on stage we just give everything that we have and perform." S.O. Simple feels that they are going to go far beyond a Nigerian/black audience, "We believe it's not only our people who can listen to the music, 'coz we're about to take it to the next level right now 'coz the more your doing stuff the more your enjoying it and when you see people showing appreciation, you know what I mean, it's just something that's giving you courage to keep going.... it's gonna come to a stage whereby even Jay-Z or any top American artist right now will come to us to do business with us and that's the level we're gonna take it to."

Breaking America is something many UK bands have failed at. "We got a couple of things that we're discussing and hopefully we can get a tour going on. We have an African tour in the pipeline this year and then we are going to America...its all go go go!" On a more personal level JJC hopes to develop more in the future. "Right now it's all full force, all time is concentrated on JJC and developing more artists is what I'm doing. Music is my first love - all aspects, performing, production, writing, putting groups together, working with artists and developing things. Just trying something new that we ain't got yet is what I crave the most." It's
this love of music that keeps the group together.

JJC has a surprising musical background: country music. "My dad had me listening to Dolly Parton, Don Williams and Kenny Rogers. That's what helps me with my song writing and my pop music, because country music has a lot of depth, it has a lot of meaning and I think that's why I became a musician." As for Masta Plan he recalls "A variety of music from every where, Nigerian bands, Nas, Jay -Z - a lot of different music." According to S.O. Simple, "When it comes to singing it's R.Kelly." But he insists that "We have music in our soul."

However there is a deeper message behind their music which is particularly poignant at the Respect festival. "The main thing we are trying to convey in our music is that everyone is the same and if you don't understand my language here's a step to you understanding my language, like, instead of being oblivious to my existence .... we broke it down into pieces like a song
called 'Kilonshele' and it's like you say Wha's up, they say Wha' g'wan and we say Kilonshele, so you learn my language. We're trying to spread ourselves, the world is getting smaller and if the youth don't teach other youths about themselves, the next generation will be blind. That's what we're trying to do. We're also here to party and this is where that party's at!" JJC continues "Life is too short anything can happen to you, you could die tomorrow, so right now, enjoy the life God has given to you."

JJC extends his uplifting attitude to his aspirations for the future. He hopes "To take African music to a different height to introduce UK, European and African talent to the world and change the whole perspective of the market." Clearly JJC and the 419 squad have the energy and determination to take them far. They are challenging the current music scene, and challenging people's ideas and preconceptions of Africans not only within the UK, but on a global scale. By doing so they give others a feeling of pride in their own heritage, and pride in being part of a multicultural United Kingdom. JJC & 419 squad are fresh and exciting. Their album 'Atide' is definitely worth checking out!

The Album 'Atide' Out Now

Related Site: www.jjc2uk.com