Go on then.. who's the best UK MC?
- Thread starter DannyL
- Start date
lol this must be some kind of joke
re: voices / grime was much more personality/character orientated, by that i mean there was a lot more tolerance for being this super cartoony guy with a noticeably energetic/lethargic flow. in fact it was probably needed to distinguish certain ppls from their counterparts. i remember having bars (hard bars) but being pissed cause my mandatory sound fx catchphrase was too boring/normal sounding.
there was a lot more scope for that kind of stuff where as i guess if rap is the antithesis of the grime scene (busta rhymes tekkers, audience suspending belief every other punchline) then ofc certain additives get taken away. ive read on here ppl talking about a braindead uk rap voice but to me it sounds more natural than some grime ever did. only thing is that if you aint familiar with certain artists it does sound like an assembly line of rappers all sounding the same but ppl do find other ways to standout whether its flows/lingo/beat or even just the way they present their shit.
re: piff gang n their peers - smh
nah id disagree
in grime you guys rapping about shanking u up meanwhile their balls aint dropped, some of the most notoriously soft people ever talking a bag of grease, insane mortal kombat style finishers etc
everyone was a lot faker in grime simple as, not that road rap is all realism but if u know u know the levels r not similar
/
parts of islington r 'scary'
luka
Well-known member
i think how it was presented makes the difference though. you werent supposed to actually believe that hyper really is gunna cut out your tongue and send it in the post back to your mum are you? music made by teenage boys for teenage boys is always gunna be a lot of hype. i dont buy the argument that rap is made by a different breed of people than the people who made grime and it is titch that is in prison for murder and not giggs or whatever.
south london is a little bit differrent from east culturally and i think rap is basically a south thing and grime was bascially an east thing and north will just jumpon whatever regardless
also if you do anything naughty in islington you have to go and apologise to the adamses so its the safest part of the whole city bascially
south london is a little bit differrent from east culturally and i think rap is basically a south thing and grime was bascially an east thing and north will just jumpon whatever regardless
also if you do anything naughty in islington you have to go and apologise to the adamses so its the safest part of the whole city bascially
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droid
Well-known member
Ye-ah... only thing that comes close is US hip hop. Dancehall artists traditionally went through a crucible of intensive live sessions with some of the most unforgiving crowds you'll find anywhere, as well as participation in (what was once at least) the most prolific, competitive and creative music scene on the planet.
One area I find even the best hip hop or grime MC's let the side down is live performance, but check out any of the classic Sting or Sunsplash videos - almost every syllable from every deejay is clear and correct, all the nuances are there, be it over a band or a selector... Ninjaman here for example, total control over the band and the crowd, vocally clear and coherent, endless semi-improvised lyrics, a perfect mix of hype and content. Consummate professionalism.
CrowleyHead
Well-known member
Musicians are mentally sub-sufficient and are the type of people who drool a little excessively when they sleep though. It doesn't take much to control a musician.
"YOU! STOP PLAYING ON THE FOUR, PLAY ON THE THREE!""Oh, ok!"
"Do you know what the three or four is?""Not a fucking clue, but if you yell it with enough realized passion he thinks you know what you're doing."
CrowleyHead
Well-known member
Grime had a lot of superiority to a lot of its progenitors. Dancehall wise, the MC controls everything and that's stupid. That's the same shit that destroyed rap, letting the music all become the backdrops to a rapper breaking out the Bootsy Collins shades and going "YEAH BABYEEE *coke snorts* CHECK ME OUT GIRL, 'CAUSE I'M A STARRR!!!" That really ruins rap and early dancehall because they'll do whatever whatever on some of the corniest riddims/beats. Grime, you have a DJ who knows that "OK, these idiots will spit acapella if I'm not careful, I have to pull the beats around and make the MC change up otherwise he'll disappear up his own ass".
Also, like Trilliam said, style is paramount in grime, even if it usually manifests via crazy voices and SFX. Why do you think modern NYC Rap fell off? It wasn't that they were just unoriginal derivative boors... We'd been unoriginal derivative boors since fucking... 1990. It was because everyone at that period had no stylistically distinguishable qualities. Meanwhile, look at the south! JUST LOOK AT THEM. STYLE, FLOW, VOICES, CHARACTERISTICS.
Also, like Trilliam said, style is paramount in grime, even if it usually manifests via crazy voices and SFX. Why do you think modern NYC Rap fell off? It wasn't that they were just unoriginal derivative boors... We'd been unoriginal derivative boors since fucking... 1990. It was because everyone at that period had no stylistically distinguishable qualities. Meanwhile, look at the south! JUST LOOK AT THEM. STYLE, FLOW, VOICES, CHARACTERISTICS.
luka
Well-known member
oh and scratchy had that funny high pitch war cry. so basically d.e.e and a few weirdos against
wiley, dizzee, breeze, major ace, gods gift, riko, lethal b, kano, ghetto, sharky major, armour, stormin, hyper, doogz, titch, jme, skepta, big h,chronik, jendor, basically everyone in the whole scene
wiley, dizzee, breeze, major ace, gods gift, riko, lethal b, kano, ghetto, sharky major, armour, stormin, hyper, doogz, titch, jme, skepta, big h,chronik, jendor, basically everyone in the whole scene
luka
Well-known member
people try and work out where that brain damaged rap flow comes from oh it comes from jeezy etc but it doesnt. its a function of those beats. theres a lot of space in them, you throw a word in here and there. they're designed for southern people who speak slow, big heavy bodied people from hot climates that dont like rushing
music is a function of culture and culture is a function of everything its the output of every input.
music is a function of culture and culture is a function of everything its the output of every input.
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droid
Well-known member
Not trying to be presumptuous here, but what Im taking from this is that you havent listened to a lot of dancehall records/stageshows/soundtapes.
droid
Well-known member
FLIRTA!!!!!
so what separates us hip from road rap? technique, subject matter, style, all interchangeable really and truly
the criteria you listed there is pretty subjective, inventiveness? vocal quality?
is it harder to ride a slow reggae beat or a skippy 130 production and sit on it like it is a slow reggae beat?
anyway in terms of flow, rhyme structure, lyrics i dont think it's close, ability wise we're talking about different leagues here unless you wanna say sugarhill gang is the pinnacle of rapping
there's certain things dancehall mcs have over grime mcs/rappers most notably stage presence because they're more performers than spitters, i wouldn't even lump delivery in with stage presence so yeah thats it
not to minimise their contribution to uk music or whatever but in terms of technique that shit is pretty much stone age and you could never convince me otherwise, much less that the best uk mc comes from reggae sorry
not saying that they're a different breed at all, just that in grime there was a lot more scope for nonsensical/fictional gas and it was much more tolerated than it is (was) in rap
when it was popping the age demographic in grime was pretty big, you're talking about 13 to just under 30 so this teenage boys thing is not true.as much as you wanna say "it weren't meant to be taken seriously" i dispute that heavily cause while certain guys were obviously on a gimmick, cartoon wave but a guy like hyper for instance or stormin talking grease, thats supposed to be taken at face value until real life proves otherwise. this is what put a lot of people (i know) off grime in the mid noughties (06 onwards)
talking about murder charges etc is stupid, iceman n jmoney from slk r away for a long time, big h is a certified paraody, before boiler room started putting money back in his pocket discarda was looking like a member of the wombats, chronik is atl, conversely giggs done a stretch for firearm offences and countless other (some of my favourites) uk rappers are constantly in and out never releasing music or just never coming out period
you cant try say crazy t is in bin giggs isnt therefore grime is realer than rap like cmon son
whose to say what would've happened if grime didnt start achieving commercial success (not that i consider tinchy stryder collabin with dappy an roll deep making dance tunes commercial success) but by the time them things were happening streets was already looking elsewhere
rap was a very real reaction to the constantly disappointing grime scene of the late noughties
responded to whats relevant imo