Mr.B The Gentleman Rhymer

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 13th June 2025

It was the first of times, it was the worst of times.

This time we welcome hip-hop's most mannered MC, it's Mr.B the Gentleman Rhymer, who in mid-July will head to Idler Festival, the magazine-spawned weekend of 'philosophy and merriment' which takes place at the plush-sounding Fenton House and gardens, in Hampstead.

Also chewing the fat will be Emma Thompson, Stewart Lee, Sally Phillips, Michael Palin, Miranda Sawyer and a host of other entertaining thinkers, including at least two Rowans; one an ex-Archbishop of Canterbury, the other the former editor of Erotic Review. Quite a mix. As a Gentleman Rhymer, does Fenton House sound his sort of place?

"Somewhat," he concedes. "I should be playing here every week instead of sticky floored rooms at the back of provincial pubs."

That's comedy clubs for you. A few weeks after that Mr B will be taking a new show to the Edinburgh Fringe, and there's a new album of the same name out now too. Are Idler-goers likely to hear samples from both, in Hampstead?

"I will certainly be playing a few numbers from my new long player B-Curious," he says, "and perhaps some old tunes suitable to the Idler theme, such as How Many Brilliant Minds Are Lost To Work? or Digressing Gown."

A rap for every occasion. Now let's reminisce over his previous rhyme times.

First gig?

A little festival in Suffolk called Frogstock in the late summer of 2007. It was my first show and I was the headliner, so I was a tad nervous, never having performed alone on stage before, but it went down a storm, we sold out of the CDs we'd burned (the young audience of the Idler may have to ask their parents about that sentence).

The soundman used to do sound for some of my old bands. He approached me afterwards and said 'This is the best thing you've ever done', which encouraged me to pursue this nonsense.

What's the single favourite gig of your career?

Crikey, there have been a few, but really I would have to say supporting Sparks at the Royal Albert Hall wasn't too bad.

And the most horrendous gig?

Also many, but playing a Brit Awards afterparty in a big marquee inside the O2 Arena was awful.

Largely because whoever booked it was clearly given a lot of money to lob at it and just packed the place with performers and DJs and dancers and sideshows and didn't think to timetable anything, they just opened the doors and told us all to do everything at the same time.

I was playing near the DJ station and when I asked when the DJ would finish so I could start my set the chap said 'He's not'. I played one song and left. Best paid gig ever though. Often works that way.

Which one person influenced your comedy life most significantly?

Reggie Perrin. Just escaping suburbia. That was the plan. Luckily I didn't have to walk into the sea. Not yet anyway.

There are so many others though, from George Formby to Ronald Frankau to Chuck D.

And who do you have 'beef' with in the business?

Nobody at all! You may, of course, be referring to the Great Chap-Hop Beef of 2011 with Professor Elemental, but we're all chums now. With a little eye on each other of course.

Is there one rap/track/gag you loved, that audiences inexplicably didn't?

I tend to find if a rap or a gag doesn't land one night, it may well do so the next. With me it's a case of whether it sounds good. You can tell physiologically if a tune is working from the movement or not of the audience. Gags are tougher, so I just play as loud as possible and hope nobody notices.

Michael Gove is apparently a fan - any other awkward ones?

Is there any other more awkward? He said he liked The Correspondents, Professor Elemental and me, but I got singled out. Turns out it was because of what the Daily Mail called my 'Tory-baiting lyrics' so if that's why I ended up on Newsnight and not the others then that's fine with me.

Any reviews, heckles or post-gig reactions stick in the mind?

Mr B tends to get very polite heckles. The harshest one was in between a couple of numbers somebody bellowed 'Adequate!'.

Another time, and you may never have heard this from a musician before, but this lady offered to have sexual intercourse with me. Most peculiar. We'd not even met her parents.

How do you feel about where your career is at, right now?

May I offer another 'crikey'? The independent, small-scale music industry is in trouble at the mo, fewer people are going to shows (and that's not just me - others have said this too), the algorithm makes it harder and harder for independent artists to get anyone to find out about their work and art is having its value squashed.

But I've been, for want of a better word, a 'professional' musician, largely on my own terms for over thirty years now and people are still just about interested enough, so I have to celebrate that.

As Julian Cope once said 'I may be a has-been, but if I keep at it I'll be a legend'.

Mr.B the Gentleman Rhymer plays Idler Festival in Hampstead, London, from July 11-13. Tickets