Interview

Live and Lost series 2 returns to T4 with young rapper Chipmunk also known as Jahmaal Noel Fyfe agreeing to take five days out of his busy schedule to travel up and down the length of the country to take part in the only interactive tour!  With only £20 in his pocket and a BlackBerry Bold 9900 smart phone he has to depend on his fans to give him lifts, bed for the night, food to get from one side of the country to the other for a final gift to everyone who has helped him along the way at a private venue to say thankyou! Along his journey he got to spend time with fans which he doesn’t usually get to experience.

    Two girls from Birkenhead Marley aged 17 and Danielle aged 17 got the once in a lifetime opportunity to give the rapper a lift from Keele services to Solihull challenging him on the journey.  We question Marley now on the car journey she shared with Chipmunk.

How did you get involved in Live and Lost? Basically I entered a competition on facebook which was just to fill a form out on why I wanted to help Chipmunk. Once I entered I just had to wait to see if I got a phone call.

What was your reaction from being told you had been selected to help Chipmunk? I was totally in shock when I found out that I had been selected. I didn’t believe it at first.

What is Live and Lost? Live and Lost is basically were a celebrity relies on their fans to get him to different locations across the country, with only his blackberry and £20.  He tweets his fans or phones them and asks whether they can pick him up. At the end of the Live and Lost the artist does a private concert for free for the fans who have helped him out along the way.

Does the event get shown on TV? Were you on it? Yes, the event was shown on T4, it took the audience through the adventures and the goings on the Live and Lost tour. We also got shown on the TV for a couple of seconds.

Did you have to travel far? Where did you pick him up from and take him to? We travelled for about two hours; we picked him up from Keele services on the M6 and gave him a lift to Solihull which is in Birmingham.

What did you get in return for helping him? In return we got to spend a hour and half with Chipmunk in a car which he fell asleep on my shoulder. Also he was doing a gig in Newcastle where he ended the Live and Lost tour which we got free tickets to but was unable to attend. I also got signed pictures off him.

How was the experience for you spending time with Chipmunk? It was great to spend time with him. It’s not every day you get an opportunity to spend a lengthy time with a celebrity.

Was there any funny moments while you were with him? What happened? Yes we had a funny moment while in the car. We had to go through a toll to get into Birmingham. The toll cost £5.10 and Chipmunk only had £20 the entire week, we tried to get him to pay for it. Instead he tried to blag to get through for free. This didn’t work and the woman who takes the toll money wasn’t happy and shut her window and told the camera man to turn off his camera. At this moment in time me, Danielle and Chipmunk were all in stitches in the back of the car.

Did you get to speak to any of Chipmunks celebrity friends? Who? How did this come about?Yes, I managed to speak to Jack Wilshere who plays for Arsenal. This happened because we were talking about football in the car about how much I love football and then he said he knew Jack who I idolised. For me to speak to Jack I had agreed a deal with Chip, which was that I paid for the second toll and then he let me speak to Jack.

If you had the opportunity would you take part in Live and Lost again? Yes definitely it was such a good experience!

We know that your only 17 years old, how did you manage to get hold of someone to give him a lift? Did they mind?  Well we phoned round quite a lot of people who we knew to see if they were willing to take us but no one would agree. So I asked my next door neighbours nephew which thankfully he agreed taking us and he also enjoyed the experience.

What was Chipmunk like as a person? Is he like how we see him on TV? Chipmunk is very down to earth and lovely! He also shown interest in what we were saying and asked us questions about ourselves. He is the same as how you see him on TV.

What did you talk about in the car? We talked about a lot of things in the car such as how well he is doing and what his next steps are. Although he talked about what was going on in his life he also asked us what was going on in our lives.

How would you sum up the once in a lifetime experience? Amazing would love to do it again if given the opportunity.