Being Bradford - The secret behind Bad Boy Chiller Crew

Playing successful beforehand of fans astir the state is the breadstuff and food for immoderate musician.

But erstwhile Bradford rap trio Bad Boy Chiller Crew bespeak connected performing successful beforehand of their location crowd, it hits different.

"They've seen america turn from the streets, astir the country oregon from the estate. They've seen the enactment we've enactment in," Gareth "GK" Kelly tells BBC Newsbeat.

The radical honed their infectious, humourous and bass-heavy dependable successful their hometown, and person proudly worn their roots connected their sleeves ever since.

GK says things person changed drastically successful Bradford since Bad Boy Chiller Crew's aboriginal days, with nightclubs they utilized to execute astatine closing down and a consciousness that "the bosom had gone" from the section scene.

There's besides a consciousness that absorption has shifted towards different cities - peculiarly Leeds, which is conscionable 10 miles away.

A awesome of this is Bradford Live - the erstwhile performance hallway and cinema that has been redeveloper into a £50m euphony venue.

It presently sits, unopened, successful the mediate of the metropolis aft the relation lined up to tally it pulled retired of a woody with the section council.

"It's a beauteous building", says GK.

"It's immaculate, they've truly worked hard connected it. I conscionable don't understand."

GK hopes the authorities backing from Bradford's twelvemonth arsenic UK City of Culture volition assistance to boost and regenerate the area.

The attraction it brings to the metropolis and immoderate of its undiscovered artists is the large wish, though.

"There's truthful galore races, religions and antithetic inheritance - tons of talent," helium says.

"And I deliberation if everyone pushed unneurotic and worked together, it could beryllium truly good," helium says.

GK says helium and chap radical members - MCs Kane Welsh and Sam "Clive" Robinson person ever tried to enactment authentic, and believes that helped them to find success.

"I deliberation backmost past it was the rawness, the naturalness of ourselves," helium says.

"We won't effort to beryllium anybody else."

The radical accidental radical successful the euphony manufacture tried to get them to code down their "Bradfordness", but they weren't having immoderate of it.

"That isn't us," says GK.

"We couldn't accommodate to that."

Clive adds: "Because we were that earthy and that genuine, that's what made america basal retired to everyone else."

The brace besides recognition the section euphony country with allowing them to experimentation and find their signature dependable - but besides enactment connected their trademark consciousness of humour.

"It was the amusement broadside of our set that caused the breakthrough for us," says GK.

"It was laughs, jokes, parody songs. Pranks, stunts, skits."

"We've had a fewer problems arsenic well," GK admits.

The rap trio person lodged a ineligible claim against their grounds statement and accidental they are owed astir £400,000 successful unpaid royalties.

They accidental they had "no different option" but to instrumentality tribunal enactment against House Anxiety, which signed the radical successful 2020 and released their Full Wack No Breaks mixtape that year.

It included the band's breakthrough way 450 and follow-up Disrespectful, reaching fig 2 successful the UK medium illustration successful 2022 nether a licensing woody with Sony's Relentless label.

House Anxiety has antecedently powerfully rejected the assertion and said it welcomed the accidental to "clarify inaccuracies" successful it.

GK describes the concern arsenic "heartbreaking" and says it's paused everything for Bad Boy Chiller Crew.

"We got belittled and utilized and manipulated," helium says.

"As it stands, there's nary aboriginal due to the fact that we're not allowed to merchandise music.

"We're not allowed to enactment thing retired there. We couldn't adjacent spell connected circuit due to the fact that we couldn't merchandise music."

That's contempt them "trying and pushing" to bash so, says GK.

Clive tells Newsbeat: "It's stopping america from working, stopping america from doing what we bash best, what we love."

House Anxiety has yet to respond to a further petition for comment.

On a idiosyncratic level, GK says it has taken "a monolithic toll".

"We've enactment successful a batch of hard work, sacrificed a batch of things," helium says.

"It makes you privation to really debar radical totally.

"Because I don't privation to get asked that question: 'Where's your songs? Have you divided up? Have you fell out?'"

But, erstwhile this is each resolved, fans tin expect a batch of caller euphony from the group.

"We've got a catalogue stacked up," says GK.

"Some tunes punctual maine of erstwhile we started.

"So there's a batch of songs we've got to release."

And the boys accidental they cognize the cleanable venue to debut their caller worldly - Bradford Live, which utilized to beryllium the cinema they'd regularly sojourn arsenic children.

"Absolutely," says GK.

"We'd beryllium looking for the nachos and the popcorn."