Standup is tough; if you are going through a hard period in your life, it is very hard to get up in front of people and be the happy guy in the room.

I'm sure that in 1985, plutonium is available in every corner drugstore, but in 1955, it's a little hard to come by.

I'd always written rhymes but I was scared to share them. They stayed on paper or in my head, until I started going to watch battles and eventually thought to myself, "I'm definitely as good as some of these guys, and maybe even better than them".

When I slid into comedy, naturally the first thing I said was, "hello, I am a washed up rapper."

There is no better education than rap battling in terms of performance. It makes you fearless.

I never gave up rapping - it gave up on me. There was no industry and no appetite for UK rap back then and I had a daughter to feed. I couldn't keep doing something full time that didn't pay the bills.

I don't have the desire to be the best standup in the UK but I do have the desire to be the best at everything else I do in terms of writing and acting.