Nick Grimshaw on Madonna, Rihanna and ‘The Nixtape’

Nick Grimshaw has hosted The Radio 1 Breakfast Show for two years now, so it’s about time he released a compilation album featuring his favourite jams and bangers. Thankfully, The Nixtape is worth the wait, serving up dance monsters like Kiesza’s Hideaway and Florence’s Spectrum (Say My Name) alongside throwback tunes including Only U by Ashanti and Nelly’s deathless Hot In Herre. Nick even manages to slot in a classic So Solid Crew track. #NeverForget

I met up with Nick recently to find out more about the album – and to find out what he’s hoping for from five massive pop albums that may, or may not, be coming out this autumn. Madonna, if you’re reading this, the boy’s got some solid advice for you…

How did you go about choosing tracks for The Nixtape?.
“It was really hard to do – because my musical taste is so broad. I don’t really have a favourite go-to sound or artist. I pick the music for The Nixtape [segment] on the radio every Friday, so I went through all the playlists from that and picked favourite songs that we’d played on the radio that people had really liked. I think we had to get down to about a hundred songs, because obviously then you’ve got to check really boring stuff: is it licensed? Is it going to be out by then? Did someone use it in a compilation already? It was quite a hard job, you have to be quite cut-throat, but I think it’s ended up pretty perfect.”

It seems like each disc has a theme – how would you describe the theme of each disc?
“Well, I didn’t want it to be too themed, but I also wanted the compilation to be free-flowing, so we kind of kind of had to separate the album into two things – the dance stuff, I guess, and the hip-hoppy stuff.”

The first disc seems to have more throwback jams. I love that it leads off with TLC’s Creep.
“So good! I love that song – it’s a proper classic, and I have good memories of that song. It always reminds me of when I was little, being with my sister and getting really into the [CrazySexyCool] album. And I remember having to DJ at this quite fancy fashion event, everyone was sat down having their dinner, and it was quite a weird setting, quite stale. I played, like, three songs and no one was getting up and dancing. But when I played Creep, Rihanna, who was at the dinner, got up and started dancing with gun signs and stuff. And then other people followed, so Creep was the song that made everyone get up and dance.”

If you’re DJing at a party, and it’s kind of stale, do you have an ’emergency banger’ that you pull out of the bag?
“An emergency banger? I mean, I never plan a DJ set now because I’m so fickle with music – I love a song one day, then I hate it the next day, and then I really love it again. I just take as much music as I can, but I think stuff that really gets people going is Dr Dre, or maybe some old-school Dizzee Rascal. Fix Up, Look Sharp is a good one, it’s one of my favourite records ever and it’s on the album.”

I wanted to ask your thoughts on some of the big pop albums coming this autumn: what do you want from them, what do you think they should sound like? First up: Taylor Swift, who releases her fifth album, 1989, at the end of October.
“I’m a really big fan! She’s one of those artists that I never used to get, but my friend Gillian always loved her and now I’ve got into her too. I like it when she does those really good, fun, smart pop songs like Shake it Off We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. She can write such good songs, so I’d like proper pop, less country. That must just be more fun to do – I mean, out on stage every night, it must be more fun dancing than holding a guitar.”

On to Rihanna – who releases an album most Novembers, but hasn’t confirmed one this year… yet.
“I hate when Rihanna does cheesy club songs and I really like it when Rihanna does stuff like Pour It Up – like, really gangster songs. So I’d like it to be gangster. I like it when she’s a bit more of a dirty stripper: I think it really suits her and I don’t think other popstars can get away with it so convincingly. I feel that’s the sort of music Rihanna would actually listen to, so I believe that more than, like, when she did that thing with David Guetta. I don’t believe that Rihanna listens to David Guetta. I think that she listens to proper hip-hop, so when she does hip-hoppy songs I’m like, ‘oh yeah!’.”

How about Adele – who’s hinted that she’ll be releasing her follow-up to 21 this year?
“I listened to Adele on holiday – I’d not listened to her album 19 for years but I found I still really loved it. I really like it when she does that guitary stuff that she does on the first album: just her and a guitar, I love that. I mean, I love that giant Bond production as well because you can’t really go wrong with that voice, but I love when she does that bit more acoustic, heartfelt stuff… is there a song called Daydreamer? That one is great. But I quite like with Adele that you really know who she is – she doesn’t really collaborate or do vocals for someone else – so I just think she should stick to her own path, really.”

Cheryl Cole, whose fourth solo album, Only Human, is due in November.
“I have no idea; I don’t really listen to Cheryl Cole. I mean, we play her every day on the radio, but album-wise I don’t know what I’d expect from a Cheryl Cole album. I have absolutely no idea… When she’s been on the radio show, she’s sort of always vibed out when we’re playing hip-hop or something, and she’s really good at dancing, so I’d love to hear not hip-hop, but more R&B-influenced stuff from Cheryl. Fight tor This Love: that was a great record.”

And finally, Madonna, whose new album apparently won’t be coming out until 2015 now.
“Madonna I’m concerned about, because I’m a big Madonna fan – she’s the staple, the blueprint for a popstar. The last album was not for me and I’m concerned that the new one might not be either. I’m really happy that I keep seeing her tweeting about Disclosure, though, because that sort of classic house sound that they do so well is, I guess, what Madonna came from; she came from the New York club scene. I hate her working with lesser pop stars – I hate her working with Nicki Minaj. I just don’t know why she would do that. I like her being at the forefront and not just working with a popstar that she things is current. I don’t think she should go down the Avicii route, either. That American EDM music, I find it really throwaway, and I don’t think Madonna should do anything throwaway because she’s got the rep and heritage to look after.”

Do you still think Madonna can have a massive hit?
“Yeah, I think so. I think Madonna has gone past… like, you love so many Madonna songs that if she does a dodgy one you just forgive her; you forgive and forget. So I think she can definitely have a hit – never lose faith in Madonna! It kind of sounds like I’m in love with her, doesn’t it, haha! You know, Madonna is still definitely cool, she is an icon. When you’ve got that standing, kids would still get into new Madonna music, if she did it right, in the right way.”

Nick Grimshaw’s debut compilation, The Nixtape, is out on September 29 on Island Records.