AJ Tracey sees Stormzy as a "brother".
The 26-year-old rapper is close friends with the ‘Vossi Bop’ hitmaker, and whilst he would be interested in collaborating with him in the future, he says the pair rarely talk about work when they hang out, because they "talk to each other as friends".
He said: "Me and Stormzy have never collaborated on anything but that’s my actual brother, you know what I’m saying. We have phone calls and talk to each other as friends and when we link up we don’t really talk music and I love that to be honest, it’s good to form relationships not just based on how you met someone. So for me, when the time is right, it’ll get done."
Whilst AJ has never been in the recording studio with Stormzy, he teamed up with fellow grime star Skepta for ‘Kiss and Tell’ last year, which he said came about after the pair toured Europe together.
Speaking about the collaboration, AJ said: "The perfect example that I can give you is when me and Skepta did our European tour, he had me supporting him, and obviously that’s been my favourite artist since day one, everyone knows this.
"I obviously really really wanted to do a tune with Skepta but didn’t want to rush it and I asked him ‘Bro, I need you to come out for me at Ally Pally, please because it’s going to make my year, make my career, literally.’ and he said ‘Of course, but we need a tune first.’ And see he came through and said it. We made kiss n tell and the rest is history. It’s good not to rush anything."
When he’s not making his own music, the ‘Rain’ hitmaker loves listening to rock bands including Lincoln Park and Bullet For My Valentine, and has said his taste in music often shocks people.
Speaking during the final episode of Apple Music’s ‘Agenda with AJ Tracey’, he explained: "I think people are surprised when I tell them I’m a rock fan because I really like rock music. And I think judging by my aesthetic and how I carry myself and if you see me at live shows maybe you can tell I’m influenced by rock music but yeah man, I’ve said before I love Lincoln Park, Bullet For My Valentine, Yellowcard, I could go on and on and on. Obviously 30 Seconds to Mars.
"I feel like when I tell people I like rock music they’re just like ‘Why is this brown guy from the ends listening to rock music?’ but you know that’s what music is all about. You have a nice pool of music to choose from and loads of different things to draw inspiration from."