 Example has claimed in interviews that the main reason he started rapping was due to his introduction to hip-hop through albums by Wu-Tang Clan and Snoop Dogg – the latter's album purchased primarily for "the cool cover art", and to the fact that he was not particularly good at any sports, so started rapping to fit in socially.His first experience of rapping was through a rap battle at a house party in Shepherd's Bush in 1994, when he was 12 years old.In that battle, he, in his own words, "completely destroyed a useless wanker and a fight broke out so (he) sprinted home".