Charlie Stewart has arguably the most recognisable voice in hip-hop. Better known as Chali 2na from beloved L.A. hip-hop crew Jurassic 5, his rich, sonorous voice and emphatic, articulate flow have not only made him an enduring icon of hip-hop music – they’ve made him rapper of choice for countless fans. Working with a whole host of artists including Blackalicious and Quannum, the Black Eyed Peas (pre-Fergie), Damien Marley, Galactic, Roots Manuva, Talib Kweli, the Breakestra, Dilated Peoples, Rusko and more (the list is endless), the Chicago-born emcee possesses an open-mindedness and appreciation of diverse music that is both rare and admirable. And believe it or not, the man is first and foremost a painter. Fabrice Bourgelle met the gentle giant while he was in Brighton on tour with the Breakestra, courtesy of the good folk at Playgroup.

With a name like Chali 2na, you must get people asking how that came about. Can you tell us a little bit about the story behind it?
It’s been like that forever man, my pops named me that when I was 4. Originally my name is Junior, after my father who was Charles and his father before him. In the streets, peeps used to call him Peewee, ‘cause he was all tall and skinny, but he didn’t want to call me Lil Peewee, so one day he was watching TV and in the States there is this commercial for this thing called Starkist Tuna. Their logo is this big, tall, deep-voiced tuna named Charlie, so he was like “That’s IT! I’m calling you Charlie the Tuna. What’s up Tuna!?!”

You are known for having quite a unique voice. When did you realize you wanted to start rhyming?
Wow that’s a trip because originally I’m a painter man! That’s what originally got me into hip-hop. I mean, I always used to dabble in poetry and stuff, I liked English at school you know. I used to love learning about all the different styles of poetry and all the different little ways of constructing sentences – I would even look at it like painting, you know, putting the blocks together, making the puzzle fit. I didn’t take it seriously at first, though I knew I had an interest in it.
 
Then there was this event that really made me actually write a

rap. I mention it in the track ‘Think Back’ I did with those New Orleans cats, Galactic. Way back when I was 13, 14, I used to have a crush on this girl called Tasha,and in Chicago in the summer it’s hot all night, so we used to hang out under my building, in this tunnel where these dudes used to rap. And they were hard man, just freestyling, making jokes and shit. One night they had a crowd and they were picking people out and rhyming about them, and I fell victim to these dudes, but it just so happened that it was in front of the girl I had this thing for, so I went home and I was crushed. I didn’t know what to do. So I sat down and decided to write a rhyme about these guys and I memorised it. Later on that summer, I got an opportunity. They were drinking and beatboxing, clowning around and freestyling again, and they started on me.  I was like aiiight! Let me bust! And they were like “Whatever man, you don’t” and I was like yeah, I do! So they started clapping their hands and I did my piece, and I just dissed they ass, and the whole crowd was like “Woooooooah!” and I think I got that feeling right there: when I saw the crowd’s reaction, I was like aaaaight, that’s it!

Fast-forward to today and you have had an incredible journey in music. Would you say there have been some big influences in your life and career?
Yeah man, artistically, out the gate, I have an uncle called Detmer Timberlake – he was a poet and a painter as well – and he could play flute and piano too. I used to be amazed by all the shit he could do so I tried to emulate him and I think he was a big part of where I’m at today. Secondly, my father could draw. He wasn’t as good as my uncle or as my other uncle Maurice, who could draw as well. But, without Detmer I wouldn’t have been exposed to those thoughts – you know, like, Yeah! I might be able to do that kinda thing.
 
Later on in life, artists like DaVinci and Van Gogh and other fine artists really caught my eye with the way they could make shit look so real, yet in certain instances so distorted at the same time. But eventually there was this dude named Dave 3, who moved to my hood from the Bronx, and he brought with him these photo albums, full of graffiti, and that was that basically.