'Goldie Lookin Chain's success defies analysis'

"Maybe it's us, maybe it's the beats, maybe it's the leisure wear - who knows? Maybe it's the combination of cheap cider and fags."

Chris Edge, aka Mystikal, has been a member of Welsh comedy rap group Goldie Lookin Chain for more than 20 years.

The band came to prominence in the early 2000s with their top 10 hit Guns Don't Kill People Rappers Do and are still performing to this day.

Speaking to BBC Radio Stoke as he prepared to perform with the band in Nantwich, Cheshire, on Friday, Edge said: "It keeps grinding on like a train flying downhill with no brakes or means of control."

He said the band still attracted a range of people from different age groups and backgrounds.

"I think people understand that it's nice to have a party for a change and that it's nice to have an excuse to go out, have a rave and put all your troubles behind you," he said.

Edge, who was born in Stoke-on-Trent, said he remembered little of his time in the city as his family moved to Middleton in Greater Manchester and then on to Newport, Wales, when he was still young.

Edge said the band's ability to attract a diverse audience "defies analysis" and put it down to "some kind of magic ingredient".

"I gave up trying to analyse what it is, how it came about, what we get from it. All I know is that it creates a lovely buzz and a lovely connection for people involved," he said.

"If you can go out and make a difference to someone and put a smile on people's faces, then so much the better. If you can do it while swearing in time to music, then even better still."

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