![]() What they got was one of the most innovative grime records of the year. When long-time grime videographers Tim and Barry heard that Mez had been freestyling over the epic space jazz of Kamaal Williams, they decided to get them in a studio with Williams’ full band and film the results. TG was already in custody when the tune dropped and Blanco was arrested soon after. It should have been the first step on TG’s road to stardom, but it, unfortunately, was the last thing either he or Blanco did this year. With TG joined on the full release by fellow HS don Blanco and much loved underground legend Naira Marley, the track steadily grew to become a huge club hit. It was testament to just how thirsty young fans were to hear the Harlem Spartans mainstay switch up his drill flow and come with an entirely new sound: a fusion of Afrobeats melody and roadman lyrics delivered over a pretty, tick-tocking riddim. ![]() When the TG Millian-only ‘Money on the Road’ leaked and was subsequently posted to numerous bootleg YouTube channels that thrive on illegal UK rap uploads, the track ended up with hundreds of thousands of plays. It’s just the right balance of calm and chaos. Delivered with a wry grin, Dave’s distinctively melodic delivery is a complement to MoStack’s sprawling, wild flow. Any one of his singles in 2017 could easily have made this list ‘Samantha’ and ‘Game Over’ are particularly great examples of his ability to mix thoughtful lyricism with club-ready beats. While other artists bombard the streets with tracks, Dave carefully spaces out his releases so they feel like real events. With a clutch of videos on her own YouTube channel clocking in at a few million views, it’s almost certain that 2018 is going to be a big year for an artist who currently seems peerless.ĭave has mastered the art of less-is-more. ![]() ‘Shade’ takes its time, its uneasy strings a looping backdrop over which IAMDDB raps, sings and ads-libs she’s a loose-limbed performer refusing to be trapped by song structure. The Mancunian singer/rapper has an effortless cool in her sound, a thrilling mixture of hazy Auto-Tune trap like Young Thug and the blunted trip-hop of Massive Attack. IAMDDB announced herself as a major new talent with ‘Shade’ and the 2016-released ‘Leaned Out’. As with 2016, there has rarely been a time in British MC culture when there has been so much talent producing so much variety for such a wide audience. Away from the massive hits hurtling out of the rap world, there has also been an undercurrent of artists pushing more ostentatiously cerebral sounds, from the resistance trap of Kojey Radical to the electronic experimentation of new favorite Octavian. Grime’s time hasn’t passed, but it may no longer be part of the zeitgeist. ![]() Grime meanwhile provided mainstream radio hits for a gilded few – your Stormzys, Bizzles and AJs – while a world of younger artists struggled to make much impact with their 140 BPM attacks. Despite often eschewing anything as weakly commercial as a chorus – there were at least three tracks released under the title ‘No Hook’ this year alone – drill has evolved into one of the most exciting MC-led sounds of the UK: the fairly rigid sonic palette of doomy bell clangs, 808 bass and rattling snares forces MCs to display real skill and charisma to have any chance of standing out. In many ways drill is to grime as Afrobeats is to garage, with camcorder videos shot on sink estates, violent lyrics, vicious crew beefs and a deliberately obtuse use of slang and numerically-coded gang names that made the scene impenetrable to outsiders. ![]() While there may have been comparisons to the grime explosion of the early ‘00s, this sound is much closer to that of the UK garage era, when commercial success and singalong hooks were the order of the day.Įlsewhere, fans of the UK’s illustrious history of nihilistic rave could find new kicks in the UK drill scene. Afrobeats continued to unite both forward-thinking clubs and mainstream radio. Ian McQuaid picks 10 tracks that shone over the last 12 months.Ģ017 was a strong year for UK MCs. It’s been a massive year for British MCs, whose experiments in grime, Afrobeats and beyond continue to make the UK a thriving space for exciting new sounds. ![]()
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