A speed rapper who delivers lines so quickly he even beat Eminem to a Guinness World Record has told UNILAD how he went about doing it.
Harry Shotta knew from a very young age he was destined to rap, even spitting some bars in front of his classmates back in the day at 20p a pop.
Throughout his school years, Harry rapped at school concerts before he had his big breakthrough at Notting Hill Carnival in London.
While a little nervous, Harry jumped on stage to perform drum and bass – something he was not too familiar with coming from a rap background.
But what happened next Harry could have never expected.
“The crowd went crazy,” he tells UNILAD. “I realized that my speedy rap lyrics work on drum and bass.”
Harry says that speed rapping has some very important fundamentals those who take part in it should follow.
Harry Shotta was destined to be a rapper. Credit: Community Fibre
He explains: “There’s some MC’s that can rap fast but you can’t hear what they are saying. I’ve always tried to work on the clarity and getting really sharp.
“It’s almost like being a scientist to know what words will work and what words will go at that kind of speed, because you are going to breakneck speed sometimes. It’s almost like muscle memory when you’re rapping that fast.”
While Harry has obtained many awards in his career so far, his most impressive is certainly the Guinness World Record for most words in a track.
In 2015, Harry broke Eminem’s record as he squeezed a whopping 1771 words into his track ‘Animal’.
Before that, Eminem rapped 1560 words in the 2013 hit ‘Rap God’.
Speaking of how the record came about, Harry says: “We were doing a festival called West Fest. And Eminem had just released this record, ‘Rap God’.”
At the festival, they played Eminem’s part before cutting to the instrumental when Harry would rap ‘even faster’.
“We did it and got such a crazy reaction at the show,” Harry adds.
Harry targeted the Guinness World Record. Credit: Community Fibre
Harry knew at this point he wanted to try and break the record and this is when ‘Animal’ came to fruition.
“I wrote the rap, highlighted it and saw that I’d actually beaten him [Eminem], it just naturally came that I’d beat him in the same amount of time.
“I went to see my friend Jamal Edwards and he put together a big marketing plan for us.”
The video quickly went viral to the point where big music stars in the US were talking about Harry’s new track.
“Eventually Guinness gave us the record for most words in a song, it was a crazy achievement.”
So now that he’s beaten perhaps the most well-known rapper on the planet, does Harry fancy a rap battle with Eminem?
“I’ve never been shy of a battle [but] I’m not a battle MC,” he explains.
“But I am an MC by trade and if Eminem was to call me out on it tomorrow, then I wouldn’t be afraid to have a battle with him.”
Harry says he would have a rap battle with Eminem. Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Nowadays, Harry has just released a new track that packs the history of the internet in just 60 seconds.
Speaking of when he was approached by Community Fibre about the prospect of the song, Harry says: “They sent me a load of facts about the internet. It was a challenge to write it because so much has happened [with the internet].
“But the main thing I wanted to get across is how far it’s come in our everyday lives.”
Harry also hopes the track will help all generations learn about sides of the internet they are not too familiar with.
“I think all generations can get something out of this in the space of 60 seconds,” Harry explains.
