We Talked to Chronik About Hugging a Crocodile in his New Video

Earlier this month we premiered Chronik's new video for "Deepest Darkest" in which he fumbles around with a crocodile and slews across an African nation. The video was pretty exciting, especially since crocodiles are the most dangerous animals on earth. Anyway, we sat down with Chronik to ask him a couple of questions.

Noisey: Who came up with the idea?

Chronik: For starters, Magic from No Hats No Hoods got me the beat from Keyboard Kid. We didn’t have the bars for the song yet, so I kept on playing over it. I sprayed through the song and Magic said to whack a big chorus on it because then it would be a big single. I issued an open contract to some MCs on Lord Of The Mics and there was a bar on there that was getting a lot of love in raves. But it wasn’t really on anything. So, I put that on there and it was a whacker from there. We wanted to plan a special video, because “Man In The Boot” was a big video, and we wanted to take it further and try to get away with more madness.

What’s the concept behind the video?

It’s basically a revolution. I’ve got an album coming out called Rise Of The Leng Man, so it was just playing off that character really. We wanted to do things that any normal person wouldn’t be doing.

Where was it filmed?

We filmed it in Ghana. But to follow up on my last point, it was mainly to make the banger of the year, really. “Ring” was 2011 and “Man In The Boot” was 2012, and with this year just starting we wanted to go as hard as we can and beat everyone before they could even start.

The crocodile in the video is fucking scary. Is that real?

Yeah. It was definitely real.

Were you not scared?

Nah. There were times that I was wary of it. But if I were going to go there to be scared I wouldn’t have got on the plane. I left the fear behind me.

They kill more people than any other animal, you know that, right?

Yeah, I suppose so. It was a scary experience and I can see why people would be scared. Because, some people are scared of dogs and some people aren’t, you get me? But it was a totally different experience to any animal that I’ve ever really been around, because it’s not really an animal. It’s the closest thing we’ve got to a dinosaur. So, when you start hearing those dinosaur noises and getting those dinosaur looks, you get me? I definitely looked it in its eye and knew that it was something that I wouldn’t meet on a regular basis.

Who’s the crocodile of grime?

It’s gotta be yours truly. There’s no point with me prancing around with poodles, you know what I’m saying? I have to get things that are more with my character. The song is called “Deepest Darkest” and I respect the crocodile because it lurks in the deepest and darkest areas. It fitted the character of the song and of the person that I was bringing out on the track. I’d compare myself to a crocodile all day.

Did you try any of the weed out in Ghana? I heard it’s horrible.

We’re from East London and we’re where it’s all at. Obviously there are places in the world like Holland or Columbia, but if you’re not there you know what you’re going to get. It’s going to be commercial, seeded-out, dryed-out weed. I don’t advise anybody to import or carry any weed with them. But, like…. We were out there on business and we knew we weren’t going to get the greatest of weed. The sun is the high out there. But anyone who watches my behind the scenes video will see that we were definitely blowing!

What’s your favourite weed?

My favourite weed? Boy! As you can probably guess, I’ve smoked a lot of weed! My favourite weeds are my favourites because they’re not around anymore, like your old school chocolate weed, original purple haze and on a new school ting we’re straight about this lemon and cheese. But, when I’m in Dam I’m like a kid in a shop. Because everything is nice. I’ll blow everything. New York Diesel, whatever you can name, we’re putting it in the blunt.

If you stopped smoking, would you have to change your name?

Well, I don’t suppose that I’d have to. But, if I stopped smoking weed…. I dunno. I’m Chronik. I couldn’t stop you from calling me Chronik and whether I stopped smoking weed, I’d still be called Chronik to you and my fans.

Fair enough. Compared to other people in the UK scene you seem really selective in what you put out…

You have to be, innit. It’s like a filter. I make a lot of songs and they’re all big to me, but they might not all be for where music is at right now. It’s all about where your music is being distributed. If you make a banger as a single then you’re just going to make a radio edit, innit. But, if you haven’t got an outlet and you’re just on YouTube, you’re going to make them type of songs and there is no boundaries. So, what gets heard and what gets made are two different things. It’s not a selective ting, it’s just a ting of what’s beneficial for now. Because we’ve got bangers for days! But it’s not about things flying over people’s heads. Right now, “Deepest Darkest” is the mood we’re trying to set for the entire year and that’s where we’re going for now.

The video’s are a lot more creative too.

Yeah, music is about elevation. I’m just trying to beat myself. My last video was hard to top, in England, and with this one, I knew that I had to take it overseas. Hopefully, for now, though, I hope that you don’t like any other video more than you like “Deepest Darkest”. But, if I ever beat it, then praise to me. Right now I’m in a competition with myself and I believe that I’m trying to be in my own lane. I don’t see many people in the same category as me or who have the same insane views or lifestyle as me. I’m just trying to make a good thing out of a bad thing, that’s basically it, in a nutshell.

Follow Chronik on Twitter @DaRealChronik

Follow Ryan on Twitter @RyanBassil