Why is Jammer Charging £100 for Lord Of The Mics Tickets?

Grime fans won’t need to be told about the significance of Lord of the Mics to the scene. From its humble beginnings 10 years ago to its fifth instalment last year, Jammer’s pet project has always brought through new, hungry MCs and provided us with classic moments like Scratchy and Footsie pre-empting the rise of the bucket hat and the samurai topknot, or Demon absolutely losing his shit while a smirking Bashy tells him his mum looks like Emile Heskey.

In a fairly dramatic change from LOTM’s standard affair, this year’s edition includes a live event which fans can pay to be a part of. Big H and P Money are set to go head-to-head along with Dialect and Opium and two other to-be-confirmed MCs. Tickets to this event cost £100 (yes, you read that right, two zeroes), and there are only 150 available, which has led some fans to question what sort of people Jammer is targeting for the event.

On the face of it, £100 per ticket seems like a ridiculous cost, but the fact is that grime’s fanbase has been changing slowly over the past few years. MCs used to clash each other at events and radio sets all the time, but now that it’s become clear that battling sells and clashes are advertised like Pay-Per-View events with as much build-up as you’d expect from a WWE title match. Even the contract signings for the event are filmed.

Jammer thinks he can market this LOTM as more than a clash, as a “part of history”. I asked him whether he thought anyone would cough up.

NOISEY: Tickets are £100 which is pretty steep, what’s the thought process behind that?

Jammer: I only want people to come that will take the event seriously. If you pay your money you aren’t coming there to play around or interrupt the recording or anything. It’s for people who understand what this clash is, and that you pay the £100 to be a part of that.

That's more than you'd pay for most arena shows though. A day ticket to Wireless to see Kanye, Pharrell, Tinie Tempah and 2 Chainz is only £65.

But at LOTM not only do you get into the event and see the clash live, you get a limited edition T-shirt, you get to meet artists who’ve taken part in LOTM over the years for pictures and memorabilia, and we’re offering the Golden Ticket as well. There’s a lot in there to justify the price of the ticket.

What’s so special about the Golden Ticket then?

If you win the Golden Ticket you get to watch one of the biggest clashes in the world and you get to come with Boy Better Know and be a part of it. I can’t reveal exactly what the rest of the prize is for legal reasons though.

Will the DVD have other clashes on? I’d heard about Villain vs AK…

Yeah we’re recording those, they will be on the DVD as well, and we’ve also got Yannick Bolasie and Bradley Wright-Philips taking part as well.

Grime crowds are always a bit of an unknown. Are you sure it's going to work in an live environment?

The crowd will be enthusiastic; this is one of the most anticipated clashes of all time. When you’re there and you feel the tension and the energy and feel the buzz of the actual clash you’ll understand why you decided to come. I’ve been doing Lord of the Mics for 10 years, and even now when I stand up in between MCs I feel adrenaline, I feel excited. It’s one of the most exciting things in life for me, to watch two MCs lyrically tear each other apart.

You’re selling 150 tickets at £100 each, Can we do the maths and guess how much you paid Big H and P Money from that?

Yeah that’s just a fee to ensure we don’t get ahead of ourselves. 15 grand is a lot but you have to factor in promotional costs and event costs and the rest.

So is Big H fully on this? There have been question marks about him…

Big H is enthusiastic to get things moving. Since he’s signed his contract he’s already come down and put his vocals down for his dub. P Money’s doing his later today. He’s thinking about the clash now, he’s really been playing his part.

Do you think this clash will go down in history like Kano vs Wiley or Skepta vs Devilman?

I think it’s already gone down in history; it’s one of the most anticipated clashes of all time.

Follow Paul on Twitter: @PaulGibbins

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