Bugzy Malone Envisions Life Beyond Rap

Bugzy Malone pictured a future in which he keeps making music but leaves the rapper role behind, with a TV role in The Gentlemen now on his slate.

In his Modern Wisdom interview, released November 9, he tied that shift to a future second part of Make It Maintain It, Pt. 1.

“I’ll make it and I won’t be promoting it as a rapper because I won’t be a rapper at that point,” he said.

He linked rap to youth and the climb out of a hard life. He expected to be a husband and father by then, whether or not his acting career had taken off. The plan still includes a record for fans who follow his work, though he gave no date for that next stage.

The new TV role builds on his work with Guy Ritchie. His casting in the third season of Netflix’s The Gentlemen was announced on October 23. The crime series was filmed in Britain and Morocco, so his place in the cast was public before the latest interview came out.

He is among the actors playing new characters in the series. The casting announcement did not name his role or give a date for the new season to reach viewers.

His plans for work beyond rap have already changed the way he spends his time. In 2021, Bugzy called his UK headline tour his last as film jobs and his clothing and footwear brands took up more of his schedule.

He marked that step with The Night We Made History, a documentary about the buildup to the final tour date. The tour included a sold-out show at the arena in his hometown of Manchester.

By 2023, his push into film had grown beyond an ambition. He had appeared in The Gentlemen and the spy thriller Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, both directed by Ritchie. He also looked back at his 2019 plans to reach Hollywood, setting that earlier goal against the screen work he had since done.

In the new interview, Bugzy said he had shaved his head as part of his focus on acting.