Music
Seven of the best MCs from outside London -- selected by Young T & Bugsey
The Nottingham duo behind TikTok's latest viral challenge highlight peers emerging from their neck of the woods.
Where sounds from the UK are often polarised into north versus south, there’s a burgeoning crop of rap talent emanating from the Midlands and its surrounding regions. Nottingham’s Young T & Bugsey are just one of these acts proving you don’t need to be within the M25 to make it in rap.
Flaunting their Notts accents with pride, Ra'chard Tucker (Young T) and Doyin Julius (Bugsey) recently dropped their Plead The 5th mixtape, saluting the melodic strands of UK rap popularised by the likes of J Hus and Kojo Funds.
Five months on from its release, mixtape single Don’t Rush has gone viral on TikTok with its own challenge. The bouncy afropo cut has become the de facto anthem for living life at a slower pace during self-isolation. It has since spawned versions from flight attendants, Native American girls in traditional regalia, women serving in the military, and Birmingham NHS workers promoting hand sanitisation.
Despite this global attention, Young T & Bugsey are in no hurry to forget their roots. Nottingham’s Community Recording Studios in St Ann’s district was where it all started for them. Fronted by Nick Sterrett (aka “Nick Stez”), the studios are a grassroots spot where pretty much every artist from Nottingham has passed through. “It's a place where anyone could still go to and feel welcome there, whatever's going on in your life,” Bugsey says.
While the pair have ticked off collaborations with some of London’s biggest rappers -- including Headie One and Fredo – they’ve also gone on to work with other artists from neighbouring cities like Manchester’s Aitch, with their joint effort Strike A Pose going platinum.
“There's bare people outside of London making an impact on what's popular in the UK,” says Bugsey. Below, the pair guide us through the finest acts their corner of the UK has to offer, giving honourable mentions to Leicester’s Trillary Banks, Sheffield’s Coco, and Leicester-born Mahalia too.
1. M1llionz
Bugsey: “What M1llionz is doing right now is sick to watch. Even though he’s from Birmingham he's really involved in the UK drill scene. We have a lot of mutual friends and he’s just a calm bredda. Certain artists you feel like they're gonna be a superstar, and he's got all the right ingredients to do that. He's got those street credentials there, and even if you're not super into street rap, you listen to him and you're like, 'The boy can rap, though!' He's got a lot of cheeky one-liners, too.”
2. Jaykae
Young T: “Jaykae's been going for time, innit! I've always known of him from way back in the day. I really like that he's just kept going and he's grown and is still here, still relevant. We've been banging Jaykae for time -- he's from the era in grime when people were doing clashes and freestyling in front of the camera. He's sick still. I like Moscow because I think it's a wave that a lot of people didn't expect him to come on.”
3. JB Scofield
Bugsey: “JB Scofield’s our guy, we've known him for years now. When we were coming up in Nottingham he was coming up as well in Leicester, so we've both seen each other's journeys. We did a track together (Say No More), but once JB dropped Stretch It, that gave him a bit of love in the London scene as well. He just needed that one song to prove how talented he is.”
4. BD
Young T: “He's an upcoming artist from Nottingham. I’m plugging, I'm plugging right now! He's wavey, but it’s his own wave. He's very versatile and makes his own beats, he can just come up with flows and everything. Would a collaboration be on the cards? With Nottingham artists I think it's nice for them to build their thing first [then do collaborations], ‘cos I think that makes it way more effective.”
5. Pa Salieu
Bugsey: “Coventry's bubbling, and it’s just gonna continue. We met Pa at a show when Frontline had just come out. He was just a cool brudda: composed, relaxed, level-headed. He gets a lot of comparisons to J Hus, but I feel like if you get compared to someone so great, that can only work to your advantage. As he grows and drops more music, he's gonna carve out more of his own lane. He can have a real long lasting career where he’s got his own sound. A lot of people vibe with him.”
6. Mastermind
Bugsey: “Mastermind’s from Manchester, and he sounds really different on everything I’ve heard from him. He's doing the melody thing, but the way he's doing it -- 'cos he has kind of like a human voice, even when he's mixing it with the auto-tune – it just sounds like him. I don't think he sounds anything like GeeYou, D-Block Europe, or Nafe Smallz. Even though he does a similar style of music, he sounds like himself. He's got an identity.”
7. Aitch
Young T: “Aitch is doing his thing, innit. He's going higher and higher, he just keeps on growing. I like Mice because it's just bars. One thing about Aitch is that he can always deliver a nice verse. We made Strike A Pose together but not in the same place at the same time. When we met up, we realised that we're just so similar. We can bust jokes, he's a very nice guy! Yeah, he’s a joker.”
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