The Hype behind British-Cypriot rapper A.M. SNiPER Ayia Napa’s secret weapon

A.M. SNiPER is a British-Cypriot rapper and producer and businessman who has been very active in the European scene and has been involved in platinum selling projects in the UK since he was a teenager. A.M. is renowned for teaming up with some of the biggest names in music across both the UK and US scenes from his base in Ayia Napa (the original hotspot and mainstay for UK Garage, Grime and Urban music in Europe), hosting and collaborating with bona fide stars including Chris Brown, Tyga, Rick Ross, Akon, 50Cent, Wiley, Julian Marley, Dj Jaguar Skills, Dj Green Lantern and Memphis Bleek to name just a few.

Hype is the first single from A.M. SNiPER’s upcoming debut album. The track features Curren$y, and samples Phife Dawg vocals from “Butter” by A Tribe Called Quest. The visual elements focus on the roots of HipHop and urban culture with a back to the future twist; from Juke-Boxes and Low-riders to Segways and Jordans. The track also pays homage to Bob Marley, who is an inspiration through his devotion to art rather than celebrity attention. The joint crashes the boards for Hip-Hop and the culture is well served by this serious MC.

From the outside looking in, who is A.M. Sniper

A.M. SNiPER is a British-Cypriot rapper and producer and businessman who has been very active in the European scene and has been involved in platinum selling projects in the UK since he was a teenager. A.M. is renowned for working with some of the biggest names in music across both the UK and US scenes from his base in Ayia Napa (the original hotspot and mainstay for UK Garage, Grime and Urban music in Europe), hosting and collaborating with bona fide stars including Chris Brown, Tyga, Rick Ross, Akon, 50Cent, Wiley, Julian Marley, Dj Jaguar Skills, Dj Green Lantern, Memphis Bleek, and most recently Curren$y, to name just a few.

What brought you to the entertainment industry, music specifically?

As stated in my crash course bio above I was born into it, Club Black & White (the first club we opened in Ayia Napa) has been spinning the sounds of Soul & Swing and R&B since 1985 which eventually turned into R&B, Rap, Bashment/Dancehall, and Grime. Not many clubs have kept an identity and have kept running with the same name since then… And me growing up in the environment it was only natural that I would somewhat play my part, just could never know as to what extent but now we can see it has led to a debut album.

What do you want people get from your music?

Originality, Authenticity, and Emotions, we built everything we own today out of pure love for music and entertainment, we have fun with it then we know our audience and new audiences can do the same, we are not held down by perceptions, cliches, or current trends. We are not trying to emulate any artist however we are trying to emulate a lot of inspiring platforms from Island Records to ROC Nation, we are purely self-sufficient so anything outside that is a blessing.

We know we want people to revert back to our sounds in 20-30 years from now and still relate to it, we will not be lost in the mass media content that is being produced daily, I want people to grow old with us and have their kids vibe with us, easier said than done, but if not for that then we have absolutely no other incentive…

Tell us about your current project.

I’m currently in the studio wrapping it up. It’s my first album so there’s a lot of work, dedication, passion and history that has gone into it. We have no set release dates yet, we are on single number one with Hype featuring Curren$y, one of the greatest new classic rap artists, who values sound over commercially branding himself. It is available for pre order now set to release in June, it will stand the test of time.

For new listeners, what song of yours would you pick as an introduction to you as an artist?

Well, Hype is the first single to my first full body of work everything before that was just building blocks through a very anti-hip hop society here in Europe and thank God we got to the stage where we felt ready to release our own sound and have the ability to keep growing with it.

As a UK artist, how do you think your perception and interpretation of Hip-Hop differs or aligns with the originators of the art form?

You can never knock the influence of the originators and pioneers, you can never knock the past or the present, you embrace it and become part of the future, the whole UK vs US convo is dead, UK is like a size of a state, makes more sense to say East Coast vs UK vs West Coast vs Canada vs Australia vs Dirty South etc. And in the end what is it all for, I’ve been crafting in the basements since the So Solid Crew which were UK pioneers and Memphis Bleek since Rocafella days, and now with pioneers like Cool & Dre, I’ve been blessed, the Universe has blessed me with wise people that help me discover myself as a craftsman in music, and they are all my family to this day. I know when someone sounds different than others it feels too new at times, but hey Kanye was frowned upon… On a wider scope so was U2… Music is music and when it comes from the heart it will reach the heart of others… Hip Hop has gone global, the originators have done a great job, making a living with words and rhythms, what a God sent gift…. It’s a beautiful time now with technology bringing the world together

Tell us a bit about your work and passions OUTSIDE of music…

Nothing is Free, they say love is free but even freedom has a price… The resort of Ayia Napa is a constantly evolving so our vision has no limits, started from a family night club to multiple venues, one of the best waterparks in the world, a radio station and much more, and there is still a lot of room for improvement… I always knew we had to be self sufficient in order to be able to control our own destiny, but revolving around that has always been music, there is no life outside of it, it is a beast that consumes you and just when you think you have tamed it, a new challenge comes, living is about challenges, challenges are life!

Last but not least, HYPE wants to know…What’s your CRAZIEST “Where they do that at?!” aka WTF?! moment…

I shot another video with a huge feature that i do not want to reveal just yet, love to Cool & Dre for that one, but anyway, our vision with my boy Arezki from Paris was to shoot the video outside Lagos, Nigeria in the jungle, where the tribes actually lived with animals, so you had a tribe that lives with snakes (animals not the serpents you come across in life), a tribe that lives with monkeys and hyenas, a tribe that lives with crocodiles etc. I was in awe, these guys and that world is real but unreal, we locked off a bridge and these guys were real life mercenaries, no acting vibes, it was crazy bruv!

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About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.