M9 - Knowledge and Overstanding

An affiliate of Terra Firma's Skribblah Dan Gogh, rapper M9's debut album High Fidelity is a dizzying information-burst, combining the brooding atmosphere of Chemo and Beat Butcha's fearsomely underground productions with the breathless, apocalyptic wisdom of M9's verses, covering everything from granite-hard street reality, to the end of the Mayan Calendar's Long Count on December 21, 2012, to David Icke's theories about pyramids.

His name is often mistaken in reviews for a motorway or gun reference, something he is keen to correct: "M9 stands for Melanin Nine, which is what I have in my body as a black person. It's the colour that I am. So the nine is the number that represents me, and my people. People are mistaking me for some ignorant dude who only spits about guns or some shit, so I need to change that, and let everyone know I'm Melanin 9. I'm here to represent what my people stand for, and our trials and tribulations, our struggle."

A student of Supreme Mathematics, sometimes referred to as the Five Percent Nation, M9's approach to religion is one of learning and knowledge, rather than faith: "Supreme mathematics is in the Qur'an – it's a scientific doctrine that represents black people. It's facet. It's not a code. What really got me onto it was Wu-Tang, other artists from Queensbridge like Nas, rappers like that put me onto it through certain things they would put in their rhymes, which I didn't quite understand or 'overstand' (a Five Percent term). I got put on to it by a friend who was already going to the Five Percent Nation and doing classes, studying the doctrine. I started buying books; reading about lunar astrology and solar biology; started learning about society today, and what they know about these things – how they are using it against us. It was hip hop that put me on that path. We're in a position where we are all thinking the same things, all going through the same things, but no-one thinks beyond those things. No one thinks about the reasons behind certain situations. We have something inside us that wants to spark, but we don't know how to spark it. Through these teachings, you can learn."

He's reluctant to bash anyone else's beliefs: "There's a lot of strong beliefs. People will die for religion, you know? I'm not here to knock anyone's beliefs, all I'm saying is – religion, to me, is like segregation. There are so many different beliefs, coming off one story. No one's connected any more. Everyone wants to beef each other over the same belief, so it turns into a division. That's why I don't believe. It's about who is pervading these divisions - who is trying to divide us as people. Especially my people – who's trying to divide us? What's their purpose? I believe there are a whole lot of answers within yourself. You don't have to believe, or turn to some sort of external force that you can't see for answers. It's already within you. There are a lot of hidden keys to self that they've kept from us."

He is keen to point out that his rhymes are not works of fiction or conspiracy theory: "In terms of my lyrics, and how that influences me, it's all fact. Never fictional, never romanticised. Not adventure. I talk about things which may seem like a dream, but it's all straight fact. It's oppressed knowledge. That's what I based my philosophy on – opening up, revealing suppressed knowledge. I mean, my whole rhyme aura isn't about that – it's about my life. You'll hear about murders, robberies. I put everything in there. But there's another side to life."