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Idris Elba is taking a year away from acting to focus on his lesser-known career as a musician.
Best known for his Golden Globe-winning turn in Luther and as drug lord Stringer Bell in The Wire, Hackney-born Elba has already released material as a hip-hop artist and DJs under the name Driis.
Elba, 40, who is the frontrunner to replace Daniel Craig as the next James Bond, recently took up a weekly residency DJing at a Kilburn nightclub.
“This year, I’m not going to work as an actor and I’m going to put my mind into music,” he said. “It’s a progression thing with me. I want to make music but I don’t want to shove it down people’s throats. People are just barely getting to know me as an actor. But I do it from the heart, I’m not doing it for money — I just enjoy doing it.
“I’ve been asked to do lots of collaborations. I did something with Milk, which is a great band and an odd collaboration, I’ve done stuff with Jay-Z on his album American Gangster, so there’s bits and pieces that I’m just going to keep moving forward with.”
Elba recently finished filming what could be his seminal acting role, playing the title part in the biopic Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. Naomie Harris plays his wife Winnie in the movie, which is due to be released this year.
But Elba returned to his roots to get behind the decks at Kilburn club Love & Liquor every Friday night and is halfway through a seven-week residency.
He said: “Love & Liquor’s been amazing. I’ve had some brilliant guest DJs — Roger Sanchez, Seth Troxler came through, and we’ve got some big surprises coming up in the next three weeks. I’m only doing seven of them and it feels like each one has been a mini event.”