"Me And My Music"

Me And My Music

UK Rap is in a great place at the moment, better than it has been in a long time. Back in the day when I was at school, I used to live and breathe UK Hip Hop from like 2000 onwards I've been all about it. Clearing out my old room yesterday I had to take down the posters and flyers off the wall, some classic UK promo up on there; it made me reminisce. I used to want to break into the UK media and music game so badly and I have since accomplished some of my dreams (no homo) not all of them I must admit but I have worked on classic UK rap records, put on heavyweight nights, and been schooled by pioneers in the scene. I'm not gonna lie, my love has somewhat diminished in recent times, but now the scene is as healthy as its ever been in my opinion. Although, those of the "Kung Fu" era and before will doubt this, I truly do believe its as good now as when Task Force, Jehst, Skinny, Braintax et all were leading the way making their own classic records with a uniquely British take on Hip Hop. I understand that their sound is distinctly different from the sounds of today, the influences and parameters have certainly changed, but London is doing a lot right now.

While many have fallen away, new talents have emerged and the stalwarts are as strong as ever. Here are a few of those doing it right now, alongside what I think of them, some have been featured here before, others haven't - I'll keep it brief:

Roots Manuva
Performed tonight on Jools Holland and his latest record 'Slime & Reason' is as good as anything he has done before, the most consistent recording artist in UK Hip Hop.
Newham Generals
Soon to take Grime and Street Dance Music (for love of a better phrase) to a new plateau.
Wretch
The most talented wordsmith in the country, steadily building a strong following, with unique videos and style to boot, his album 'Wretchrospective' released October 6th is about to break new ground for Hip Hop in this country.
Dizzee Rascal
He's had a No.1 record, pioneered music on an independent level, and simply taken UK Rap to new ground, places, hemispheres, and defined what a British rap is to a whole new generation of kids across the country. Whatever you think of him, he is the greatest rapper to ever come out of the UK, I for one must admit he has done more for UK rap than any other artist, and I still rate him higher than Rodney P, Skinny, Roots Manuva and all the early pioneers just for the simple reasons that he's achieved more than any other rap artist in this country, ever. However you grade that; money, exposure, awards, RECORD SALES.
Sway
He changed how the UK Hip Hop and Grime scenes function, he was the King of the Mixtape. Taking that work ethic and independent ethos to full releases, his second album is set to be bigger and better than anything he's done before, Lil Derek is certainly doing more than O.K.
Sincere
He's been around for a long time, features with Wan-Cee, killed the Itch FM mixtapes back in the day and definitely put in his ground. Now doing it independently he's one to watch, built up a wealth of industry contacts, making moves on MTV Base etc and all on his own label, Y.E is gonna be pushing boundaries, hooked up with Natty on a heavy track he is one to watch.

I could go on and on, about several other artists, but this is a quick blog post and I haven't really thought too much about it, so here are a couple of videos of those less known above, I've missed so many artists out, but thats whats good about our scene right now, its flourishing. Whether grime or rap, it doesn't matter... as long as the swagger is there and the beats and rhymes are on point, I'll continue to support, and will always hold hip hop in this country in high regard... eeerrrrmmm maybe a classic UK Hip Hop post could be on its way... for now enjoy the vids, and hopefully you've enjoyed the rambling rant.

Sincere feat. Natty - 'Once Upon A Time'

Newham Generals - 'Westwood Freestyle'

Wretch 32 - 'Punctuation'




DISCLAIMER: THIS BLOG WAS INSPIRED BY MARK HENRY'S HEAVY TRACK AT THE TOP OF THE POST.

Witness The Newness

DJ MK today posted a short mix of cuts off of the new Roots Manuva album 'Slime & Reason' cop it here

I'm more than excited after listening to this 15 minute mix. It's sounding incredibly fresh, I wasn't initially convinced by 'Buff Nuff' but its certainly grown on me, and after having heard this mini-mix I'm eagerly anticipating the full release.

Roots Manuva is some what of an enigma, a fascinating character both on and off wax, I had the fortune of working with him a couple of years ago at Itch FM's 5th Birthday Bash. Rodney killed it, I was helping run the stage that night and it was quite an experience. Performing with his entire Banana Klan, consisting of about 9 or so members, affiliates, musicians and MCs it was quite the task getting them all on stage! It was a heavy show and Mr. Manuva was as humble as ever, a real nice bloke.

He is easily in my top 5 UK MC's of all time! He broke barriers with 'Run Come Save Me' and shifted an awful lot of units, with die hard hip hop heads, students, broad sheet readers and a few in between taking heed of his South London, yard-slang driven raps.

Two videos off 'Slime & Reason':
Again & Again


Buff Nuff


For those of you who have been a sleep for the last 10 years here is a selection of classic Roots Manuva material:
Witness


Dreamy Days


Too Cold


Cold Cut feat. Roots Manuva - True Skool


Go cop the full release when it drops later this month on Big Dada.