Born in the Armenian quarter of Iran, Blade came to London aged 7. Within months of arriving, he felt the effect of the Islamic revolution back home. Unable to send money out of the country, Blade’s family could no longer support him. So, with no money, no family, alone in a strange country, Blade’s self-reliance and determination were all he had to see him through. The microphone, the studio and the stage provided his only release.

1989 saw Blade’s first release with which he took to the street and sold direct to the punters. This became the blueprint for future ventures. A string of 12’s, ep’s and a massive double album followed, all of which were released on his own “691 INFLUENTIAL” label. Selling via mail order and on the streets, he amassed sales of up to 60,000 units. His one-man record operation quickly became the stuff of rap mythology.

And then it all went quiet. There were some rumours, most of them invented by Blade himself, concerning retirement, emigration and a particularly bizarre one about a chicken farm. The truth – more mundane, perhaps, but undeniably real – was that he needed to take time out after the death of his father and the birth of his son.

Teaming up with producer Mark B was a departure for Blade. On the duo’s Hitmen For Hire EP, released in 1998, he allowed another man to produce the music he rapped on for the first time. The partnership became the focus for both men, and for two years their names were inseparable. The album they recorded together, The Unknown, remains one of the best selling LPs in UK rap history, and it brought the pair to a new peak of prominence. They spent most of 2000 and 2001 on the road, playing hip hop gigs, rock festivals, indie tours and rock clubs. They even got to support the biggest star in hip hop, Eminem, on his UK tour in 2001.

The album’s first single, You Don’t See The Signs, was re-recorded with a guest appearance from Grant Nicholas of Feeder, who Mark & Blade toured with; crash-landing in the top 20, it earned them their first bona fide hit. But Mark B & Blade was always meant as a side project for both men. It was no surprise when they announced that they would be working on their own records in the future. Unfortunately, the label that had released The Unknown, the Virgin France-funded Source, wasn’t in a position to act. Internal restructuring meant that key people involved in the first record had left the company, and control of operations had reverted to the corporate parent. The only thing that was certain was that Blade and his new bosses did not see eye to eye and it was only a matter of time before they parted company.

A track laying bare his frustrations with Virgin is in the can, but may never see the light of day for legal reasons; yet what’s left is phenomenal. Pop Idol, a tirade against those who’ve turned the music business into a game show, is spat from the heart, while tracks like Slapping Egos and Keep On Running show Blade getting back to what he does best – reinventing himself, keeping the hip hop skills quotient high. There’s humour, pathos and anger, just like there was on his double LP a decade ago, only this time Blade is no longer The Unknown, south London’s worst-kept rap secret: he’s a man on the verge of becoming a star, an acknowledged hip hop great whose time, surely, is now.