Five Questions With Rude Grl:

Rude Grl is 24 year-old Jenna Dickens (the artist formerly known as JLD) and her sole collaborator and musical other-half Ben Langmaid (ex-La Roux). Influenced by early 80’s and 90’s electro hip-hop and post-punk records Rude Grl is a Buffalo Gal for the Milennials.

Jenna was born and raised in South Wales by a single mother struggling with mental illness. Bullied at school for being one of the only persons of colour, hassled on the street by racist skinheads and finding no refuge at home Jenna sought solace in music.

Starting to write poetry aged eight, Jenna moved onto performing her own written songs at 10, before recording in the studio at 11 years old with Marcus Simpson who worked for Promo Cymru.

Jenna came 3rd on 1xtra’s Homegrown Battle of the Nation rap battle at age 12. & was interviewed by Lady Sovereign for a radio show.
At 16, Jenna formed an electro-punk-rap group “the binary kids” with another local MC called KC, touring with Lady Sovereign, supporting N-Dubz & working with Basement Jaxx.

Jenna featured on a few dance records as an MC under the name of JLD and began working with Grime legends Wiley, Bless Beats and Roll Deep.

At 18 she got a record deal with Mercury Records but was dropped soon after without releasing any records). Jenna then signed with Elite Models having previous experience working with the likes of Cassetteplaya, Matt Irwin, Mathew Josephs and Anna Trevelyan.

It was at this time that Jenna lost a close friend who committed suicide and an aunt to addiction and began struggling to find her way with the baggage of the past while her alcoholism raged.

Changing her name to JayEllDee she quit rapping and explored her post-punk influences for a few years, released a few songs and featuring on Sub Focus’ debut album.

In 2015 Jenna met Ben Langmaid. She credits Ben with not only helping develop her as an artist but also helping get her clean & sober.

‘That’s The Way It Is (Survival Of The Fittest’ updates Run DMC’s ‘It’s Like That’ and makes it her very own.

The Hype Magazine caught up with these wild cats from the UK and we got it raw and uncut just like the music they deliver. We are excited to introduce the phenomenal act to our real music lovers.

From the outside looking in, who is Rude GRL as a group?

Rude GRL is the sound of Myself (Jenna Dickens) & Ben Langmaid… we are a British duo here to cause a ruckus :).

What brought you to the entertainment industry, music specifically?

Music was my escape growing up… I was always writing lyrics after I discovered poetry & then rap around 7/8. I witnessed more than I should have at a young age & used it as a coping mechanism. I guess when we lost a close family friend to suicide when I was 17 is when I got into the music industry to really run away from wales & try to make something of the shambles of my life lol.

What do you want people get from your music?

I guess I’d like it to do what music has done for me. Like, the healing I feel when a song connects with what’s going on for me inside. I like to make music that helps release all of that pent up aggression & hurt & pain & just be able to get it all out there like a kind of lil musical exorcism haha.

Tell us about your current project.

Me & Ben have worked on a whole shit load of songs. It’s a real healing journey. I was facing some of the darkest deepest stuff I’ve ever had to face when we first started on these tracks so I guess it’s a real documentation of getting perspective on some really deep subjects I’ve had to deal with, but we’ve managed to push it in a way that it feels fun & not like it’s taking itself too seriously. I can’t wait to release them all! 🙂 We have a new track coming out very soon so look out for that!

The video for “It’s Like That (Survival Of The Sickest)” has a very nostalgic feel, perfectly aligned with the sonics and lyrical delivery…how did you come up with a concept which celebrated the pillars of Hip-Hop but not make the visual seem dated?

Yeah! Aria from House of 27 shot & directed our video for it. He’s such a talented creative visual artist. I spent a lot of time just meeting up with him & chatting about songs & artwork & going through visuals we were both into. & he really got it & in my opinion totally nailed it visually.

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

I always thought I’d be an artist but not the musical kind lol. So I studied fine arts until I dropped out of uni early to write with a bunch of grime artists haha. So I’m still very passionate about all forms of art. I also have battled with alcoholism & trauma & grew up watching my mum battle her mental illness, so I’m very passionate about mental health issues & substance abuse.

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

I have too many WTF moments haha I’ve lived my whole life with crazies. I’ve ended up in Staines, Kent, Wales with no idea how. 1 time I woke up in Wales after buying an art canvas in central london with a tiny memory of raving with my art canvas before launching it at a bouncer after getting thrown out? Hmm… too many to list tbh.

Nothing tops Donald Trump getting elected though. Of all piss takes & stunts I reckon he’s topped us all.