Go on then.. who's the best UK MC?

benjybars

benjybars

village elder.
wiley. obviously. (dizzee at his best was better but he didn't last long enough)


also, different kettle of fish, but no denying how much i've enjoyed Poax, Crazy D and Task over the last few years.
 
S

Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
bandshell said:
Doogz
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The thing about Durrty Goodz is that although there is no denying he is one of the UK's most technically gifted MC's and, if you don't want to use the word creative, at least one of its most ambitious, I find that he still finds a way to make some terribly boring and stale music. He's kind of like the Mos Def of grime.
 
D

daddek

Well-known member
Corpsey said:
This is what I was saying about road rap, didn't see your comment before. I love Gucci and Jeezy though. Maybe I have an anti-UK-MC prejudice.
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the uk coke rap guys take the emotionless and unpracticed delivery to a further extreme than the us ones tho.. to the point where they can actually sound lobotomized. I actually quite like it, it has an ice cold intensity about it.. but yes it certainly falls flat on its face sometimes, especially on youtube for some reason. It takes a lot of swag to pull it off on camera. Funny how they've taken the exact inverse approach to the previous ukhh mcs, which was to distinguish themselves from US rappers by intensifying the emotional delivery, all very angsty and shouty.

Personally i prefer the later, coke rap-ish school. It's the first time uk rap has sounded like it didnt have an identity crisis imo. late90s-00s ukhh was very studenty, preachy & traditionalist, mcs sounded somewhere between krs one and the pub, beatwise it was endless repetitions of a mid 90s NY sound, it was quite suburban in a way that it wasnt comfortable with. For the most part, it just didnt sound authentic to itself. Whereas Krept & konan, giggs, etc, they just appear to have less difficulty defining themselves.

Grime helped sever the link between old ukhh and new i think, as grime absorbed all the school kid mcs, while alienating all the old ukhh ones. But the problem that grime mcs face is that when they try to work outside of uk rave music.. eg do a crossover rap tune.. your left with these ex-rave dibby-dibby delivery devices that just sound a bit naff when hung out to dry over a slow hip hop beat. Even worse when dnb mcs try to do it.
 
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S

Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
daddek said:
the uk coke rap guys take the emotionless and unpracticed delivery to a further extreme than the us ones tho.. to the point where they can actually sound lobotomized. I actually quite like it, it has an ice cold intensity about it..
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I totally agree with this. I don't think it can really can be said that rappers that Giggs and Fix Dot'm are unoriginal. Even the most lackadaisical of the southern trap rappers still have a certain rowdy, tear-the-club-up crunk energy to them that is typical to Southern music, whereas the UK guys reduce the style down to a steely-eyed nihilism. It takes the trap rap attitude but combines it with the cold, calculation of some classic New York hardcore rap and mixes it with a very distinct UK hood swagger. At times, like you said, it can just be emotionless, lifeless garbage, but when it's good, it is like nothing else out there.
 
D

DannyL

Wild Horses
Sick Boy said:
but when it's good, it is like nothing else out there.
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Linkz pls.

I listened to some more K-Koke stuff last night, better than I first thought, lyrically. I don't know how much bad man attitude I could tolerate over repeated listens but that's a prob with any hip op derived music, obviously.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
I think Daddy Freddy deserves a mention just for getting on Record Breakers.
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he did gt a mention. ive got a good westwood freestyle with him and keith murray togethr on tape somewhere.
 
S

Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
DannyL said:
Linkz pls.
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<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ryDKisEh-FQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
out to mistersloane!

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/E7iVKTCFfyY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
out to slackk!

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2JrJSVR_1Uc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I think in order to understand Giggs you really just need to listen to this until you like it
 
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Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
daddek said:
the uk coke rap guys take the emotionless and unpracticed delivery to a further extreme than the us ones tho.. to the point where they can actually sound lobotomized. I actually quite like it, it has an ice cold intensity about it..

Personally i prefer the later, coke rap-ish school. It's the first time uk rap has sounded like it didnt have an identity crisis imo. late90s-00s ukhh was very studenty, preachy & traditionalist, mcs sounded somewhere between krs one and the pub, beatwise it was endless repetitions of a mid 90s NY sound, it was quite suburban in a way that it wasnt comfortable with. For the most part, it just didnt sound authentic to itself. Whereas Krept & konan, giggs, etc, they just appear to have less difficulty defining themselves.
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Great post, and I think I'm in agreement with you on most of this. I was listening to 'Hard in Da Paint' by Waka yesterday and realised that he doesn't actually shout as much as I thought he did, it's more that he's got this very husky and somehow quite detached voice. Compare this to Wiz Kalifah over Lex Luger beats - I thought the main difference was in volume/energy but (leaving aside Waka's ad-libs/ violent/street subject matter) I think its actually something to do with the quality of his voice - Wiz sounds too chirpy and excitable, it doesn't fit the imposing ultra-agginess of the beats for me. Getting back around to road rap, that version of Hard in Da Paint by Sneakbo that Slackk posted was one of the most convincing versions of it I've heard outside of Waka, and I think it's that detached, calm-in-the-storm delivery that makes it work.
 
S

Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
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luka

luka

Well-known member
ESCO. INTENSITY.
SIMON SAYS UK REMIX WITH ROOTS MANUVA AND RODDERS.
GHETTO AT HIS BEST. FIRST VERSE.
Desert Storm - Mampi Swift - Stevie Hyper D, Ragga Twins, MC Moose, Five -O, Navigator


DID I SAY RAGGA TWINS? IF NOT IM DUMB.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
DETTWORK SOUTHEAST
SKINNY- COUNCIL ESTATE OF MIND.
first black twang thing i heard-queens heads
black twang-real estate

none of these songs are really all that good but i got a lot of affection for them.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
So Solid Crew Oldskool Sidewinder Valentine Showcase 2001

PAUG Vs Heartless Crew Destinys 2001

wiley vs kano lord of the mics

asher d vs dizzee on choice
 
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