Music
Grime: not just a London thing
From Nottingham to Birmingham, Sheffield to Glasgow, these MCs run the road.
Why do London rappers seem to get more than their fair share of the spotlight? Whatever the answer, lack of talent outside the M25 certainly isn’t an issue.
While Dizzee Rascal was making records with Robbie Williams and Tinchy Stryder was hanging out with the Chuckle Brothers, grime crews across the country – from Nottingham's LRG to Birmingham's Invasion Alert, Sheffield's Scum Fam to Glasgow's G20 – were keeping the faith. Now there’s a new generation building on the foundations and pushing the sound forward. Here are some of the best.
Snowy
© Jemma Tilley
Snowy
From: Nottingham
Check out: Knots EP
Styles himself as Nottingham's saviour. Might be right. Snowy was first spotted in 2012 on Logan Sama's Generation Next mixtape, where his track Late Nights was an introspective highlight. But it's his more recent material that signals greatness. Snowy himself combines a cocksure confidence a hint of the kind of sober realism you'd expect from Novelist or JME.
SafOne
From: Birmingham
Check out: She Wants A Man From Brum
SafOne's crew Stay Fresh have been reliably great for at least a couple of years now but She Wants A Man From Brum breaks new ground, artistically and, if there's any justice in the world, commercially too. Its levels of machismo are pumped up to cartoonish levels. Are men from Birmingham really that sexually magnetic? Does it matter when they're this entertaining?
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Grim Sickers
From: Bristol
Check out: Black Bin Bag Him
A Bristol MC who, going on the cover of his recent 100 Bags mixtape, draws influence equally from Gucci Mane, pickled onion Space Raiders and Sports Direct. From the sample of Neal Hefti’s Batman theme forward, Black Bin Bag Him mixes ominous delivery with commercial potential, its eight bar rally of old and new school MCs – from Izzie Gibbs and Row D to Snowy and No Lay – maintaining a flow of adrenaline to rival Lethal B's grime classic Pow.
Bugzy Malone
From: Manchester
Check this: JDZ Elite Sessions
Interested folk without a 24/7 commitment to grime should be forgiven for any surprise over the recent Top 10 chart success of Bugzy Malone's Walk With Me. Until recently Bugzy was an introspective sort, releasing troubled but intriguing mixtapes like with enigmatic titles like The Journal Of An Evil Genius. Thankfully he's managed to hang on to the more analytical side of his art while drawing on the resurgent energies of grime, and this freestyle from late last year goes some way to explaining why and how.
New Camp
From: Nottingham
Check this: More Than Rastas
An underappreciated classic from Wariko's post LRG crew New Camp featuring Kamar, JDot and Splinta, who confesses: “Sometimes I sit there monged out my face/just thinking about putting skittles in my tummy” and gives out his actual phone number. Possibly. Word on the street is that New Camp have gone their seperate ways, but this Beat Geeks-produced slice of exuberant yet pained stoner celebration is both worth a rewind and a valuable glimpse into the alluring breadth of Nottingham's grime heritage.
Lady Leshurr
From: Solihull
Check this: Queens Speech 3
Leshurr's been around since at least the end of the last decade but this year's Queens Speech series has re-affirmed her status as the reigning head of provincial grime. Consistent in both her wickedly sharp flow and her witheringly sarcastic advice – the instructions to “change your panties” and “brush your teeth” on the third and fourth Queens Speech instalments hark back to the suggestion her enemies “should have ate their Weetabix” way back on 2009's The Last Second.
Levelz
From: Manchester
Check this: LVL09
Manchester crew featuring Chimpo, Black Josh and 12 others, aged between 14 and over 40. FACT described them as “Wu-Tang meets Happy Mondays” which is a fair take on their attitude, although musically they seem more Foreign Beggars meets So Solid in a house party with refreshments supplied by Bez. Can be seen performing an almost tuneful version of the Home & Away theme tune at the Rinse studios in eight minute mini-doc The Twisted Melons Trip To London.
Smithy Boy
From: Telford
Check this: Smithy Boy And Crew
Not the greatest freestyle ever but further proof of how far grime has spread, going as far out as Shrewsbury. Smithy Boy's talents may be raw right now, but check back in a few years time. For sure.
Keep it grimy and get clicking...