Braynz - The Intellectual One

In your own words, how would you describe Stone Circle? The first words that come to my mind are realness, passion, vision, and drive. We love making music and we’re driven to it by a passion for real art – the type that you can feel.

Tell us more about yourself  and what attributes you personally bring to Stone Circle? I was christened Michael Abiodun Damilola Adeniyi Ojo - nuff respect to all the Nigerians out there! I’m now 20 and I’ve been on the mic for about 7 years now. I bring a slickness to the collective via my precise and accurate delivery – am I blowing my own trumpet here?! But on the real, the way we all fit together still makes me smile when I listen to tracks like ‘Pass the mic’….it’s just raw and from the heart you know?

What is the significance of your emcee name and your alias? My emcee name was attributed to me back in school before I met my SC bruvs because I was pretty good at my studies (without being a geek!). I still continue to try and excel at my studies and now doing a science orientated degree, the name’s never been more appropriate! My alias ‘Intellect’ exists for similar reasons but they call me ‘Captain Hook’ as well for my ability to compose hooks or choruses that really grab you and pull you into the track. Don’t knock it, it’s a gift! 

How about the group name and  the album’s title? One stance on the name is the image of a single solid unit with no beginning and no end, perfectly symmetrical and, in effect, self-contained.Our album intro sums up Stone Circle in a way I can’t in this space.

We were gonna call the album Foundation but it became apparent that we needed a ‘grand plan’ even prior to laying the foundations – hence ‘Infrastructure’. The Infrastructure signifies our internal politics and development before we exposed ourselves to the world. We wanted to be ready….

What are your hopes for the album? I think I speak on behalf of the group when I say it’s about being heard more than anything else.  We love what we do, we want everyone to know about it, just like when you’re in love you want to shout it from the roof tops – a cheesy but appropriate analogy. I’d also like to see some money though, I ain’t no charity worker!

Tell us about the solo cut you provided on Infrastructure? Inverted Reflections was born the minute Pres played the beat to me. Soon as I heard I knew I wanted to do a story on it. 

The idea for the story was one based around situations I come across all the time – snakes in the grass who pretend to know or like  you, but will double cross you for their own benefit., i.e., to get what you got.  It was good fun recording cos I got to play three characters parts and I’ve always secretly wanted to be an actor….sssshhhh!

Outside Stone Circle what other activities are you also involved in? As I mentioned earlier I’m a student studying Chemical Engineering which, as you might imagine, takes up most of my time. But to be a ‘real’ mc you need to be a balanced person so I like to party hard too. You can never party too hard, trust me!

What are your thoughts on the current climate of hip-hop, plus in your opinion what is Stone Circle bringing to the table? Hip Hop has moved in the direction of Hip Pop where the more cars and women you have in your video the better you are as an artist…. bull s**t. I like to see those things too, but by no means are they a reflection of what Hip Hop is all about – expression and reality. These artists may be rapping about what’s real to them, but most of their listeners can’t relate and then they wonder why people hate! Back at home, I won’t be the first or the last to say that things in the UK are messed up, you only need to listen to any UK Hip Hop album to hear the frustration of the artists. But I have faith that things are changing with the success of UK Garage and peeps like Black Twang, Roots Manuva and 57^th getting into the shops (amongst many other talented artists). Stone Circle will bring realness – you can count on that.

What is currently your fondest memory as a member of Stone Circle? My fondest memory is spitting my first verse as a member of the group. I remember the look on their faces and the speechlessness that followed when I spat a verse from ‘Born to Defend’, an SC classic. Their appreciation and support will always be remembered and set me firmly on my way to giving my best to the group and helping to establish us as a credible UK collective.

You got just a few names featured on the album,  tell us something about one of them, ACE. Ace from Da Essence is a rapper I’ve always looked up to and his contribution on the album is reason enough for admiration. He was a year ahead of me at school and I remember he and his fellow group member Roach doing a little song about not stealing at assembly once. I still remember how the hook goes, and they only did it once! His ambition has taken him on to big things including hosting a show on 1Xtra, etc.

If you could only recommend one song on the album which one would it be and why? It would have to be Pass The Mic. This is one of the first tracks we wrote together as group. The track definately shows our ability to work together as a group and not just write separate verses. A track that highlights our individuality and our unity. An all time classic.