Grime and UK rap 2018

That Lady Leshurr track is excellent btw

it is indeed, and what a hilarious U2 bar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK40q7PJkJQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMkK4JR-pho

Have some drill

Are there any Americans making beats like this? I know drill's originally from Chicago but as far as I'm aware the UK guys have made it into their own thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYCD05L9NSk

Skepta on another American beat, with Suspect this time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR2nAb-mpGY

Suspect going solo. This beat >>>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4eo_KZMU1Y

Sini Sayso on the second beat in this is I think the only time I've heard a drill MC rap about anything apart from violence or drugs. Obviously these are popular subjects in rap and grime but in drill it's just relentless, literally every song is about stabbing and/or shooting opps and/or paigons. And selling drugs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAS8zQt6Wik

New Dave, doing his conscious thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruu9DwzVyJ4

Another Lady Leshurr freestyle. Absolutely kills it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uIc1GQL2XE

New Octavian. Got a bit of a James Blake vibe and a bit of a UK funky vibe, so that's a first

Any good grime tracks recently? Because I haven't heard any. What I've heard of Wiley's new album has been a bit average

Have more drill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUzTBbaoqSE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRq19nq67p0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeFxSP7EfoY

(This one has a puppy in the video, so that's another first)

enjoyed that Octavian song a lot! which genre would you say it is?

first UKG song to mention beryllium?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr9yJgE6v4k

I think that's the first song in any genre to mention beryllium

xp no clue. That one could easily fit in the afro-bashment/afro-swing/UK afro thread I guess but it's a bit housey so who knows. With that stuff it feels like we're at one of those awesome 'wot do u call it?' points where it's all a bit up in the air

omg did u just diss tom lehrer

that song is cool but jme kills it too much compared to yung fume

"Hands" by Octavian is one of the best songs of 2018

thoughts?
http://www.complex.com/music/2018/04/grime-needs-a-shake-up/

for every genre there's an article like that every once in a while?

Yeah pretty much. It's been a bit quiet recently and maybe it'll come back and maybe it won't

Have yet more drill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkWPX3ztO_c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlw2as9Dito

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EENME8JiB90

(this one has another dog in it)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dADdmUl8qE

A new grime tune that actually bangs!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6hXSSo1pYY

The return of Stush and Shystie!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av0of6vRn-0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btxVTZ0VE8U

Drill!

ygg - “strikers”

All blacked out on the road like emos
Leave man stressed, lose hair like chemo
Try test the YGG trio
Must be on bobby like Valentino
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f7uxcxqi8M

That one's good, liking the old skool beat. Slightly disappointed by YGG's lack of tekkerz though

So drill's getting quite a lot of coverage in the news now. I don't remember this with grime back in the day (or not as much anyway)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzBF8C80lYs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jVobNKFWh8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7omtQnMB_E

I feel like the producers in this scene have upped their game this year

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/london-gang-members-to-be-treated-like-terror-suspects-under-new-measures-to-tackle-violent-crime-a3850626.html

The gist is that drill artists are going to get targeted with laws similar to those used for incitement to terrorism even if the songs aren’t related to specific violent incidents - which seems like a legal stretch and massively open to misuse.

but this law won't apply to Movies, West End theatrical productions, shit Nick Cave albums etc containing depictions of violence.

This will only serve to "glamourise" drill. Best publicity it could have possibly gotten, surely

https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/nek3qm/drill-knife-crime-violence-london-long-read

This is good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoFhf7p4RX0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEZ56ro-05M

Couple of grime tunes produced by former UK Funky dudes. Beat on the first is by Lil Silva (and Sampha), second is by Champion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuZxccRqB5M

New Octavian!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwPkKs6X9_0

New Yxng Bane!

this is just karma for you guys clowning me about chief keef

My understanding is that UK drill is a different thing from the US version now. I've seen a few people online saying that it needs a new name because it's not just like Chief Keef but with British accents. I don't really follow US rap though so I don't know

YouTube are taking down drill videos, one of the ones above has gone so watch em while you still can. More of them are having comments disabled on police advice as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwUiE5pJTKM

LD from 67 with Dizzee. First time I've heard him on a drill beat, he kills it (obviously)

Goddammit that's the wrong video. Bugzy Malone is rubbish on the one above btw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMmnf6RrmeQ

I know it sounds different — for a long time it all mostly sounded like lil herb’s “kill shit” or variations — but I haven’t been compelled by much of it yet personally

The karma comment still relevant

You haven't been compelled by it because its mostly fucking boring.

Still, it's giving the press something to talk about while they continue to ignore the British rap music that's actually popular.

Last Sunday I was in the park and I heard Yxng Bane out of car windows, mobile phones etc maybe seven or eight times.

liked that Darth Vader, decent bars and a relatively original beat

look forward to the Octavian album, guy has a really cool sense of melody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0DhPBfOLSQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJGiKujP02c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaRmIyCxHt8

Headie One and Skengdo and AM from 410 are most likely to blow from the drill scene right now, both seem to be going in a more pop direction (relatively speaking). Not really feeling the Skengdo and AM tracks tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFFng39VAK4

Silwood Nation coming different again with pop drill done properly. T1 is one of the best MCs around and should be a lot bigger than he is. Nobody goes in as fast as him, he sounds more like a grime MC than a drill MC

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/22/the-war-against-rap-censoring-drill-may-seem-radical-but-its-not-new

Another good article by Dan Hancox about the police vs drill. I can also recommend his book 'Inner City Pressure' about the history of grime and the social issues around it. If you want more books about grime history (and why wouldn't you?) check Wiley's autobiography and 'This Is Grime' by Hattie Collins

Hancox book is particularly notable for what it leaves out as well - a lot of the soap opera stuff, who was beefing with who etc is barely touched upon, Crazy Titch aside. You wouldn't know that Dizzee and Wiley had even fallen out from reading it. That shit is a minefield and by and large an unwelcome distraction so I see why he left it out.

I like how pretty much everyone gets a mention except, pointedly, Big Narstie.

Big Narstie sold out by appearing on This Morning and not cussing enough!

Yeah I noticed that it made it sound like the grime scene was one big happy family back in the day, which was obviously not the case

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUif6C_uJgk

Drake on a drill beat. He's not bad tbh, been practising his UK slang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8AHnQrDcbo

And some non-Drake related drill

SO @YouTube and @metpoliceuk CAN YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY YOU HAVE TAKEN DOWN ATTEMPTED 1.0 YOU ACTUALLY DONT WANT TO SEE ANYONE BECOME SUCCESSFUL YOU SAY YOU CARE ABOUT THE COMMUNITY AND WANT ARTIST TO PROGRESS IN MUSIC WHAT A BULLSHIT LIE

— SKENGDO X AM 🐰 (@SkengdoxAm) July 10, 2018

Attempted 1.0 by AM has been taken down. One of the biggest drill tracks this year

This is absolutely nuts. Obviously there have been plenty of panics about the effects of music on the youngsters but I'm not aware of this type of censorship taking place anywhere in the Western world in recent years. Taking down videos from YouTube doesn't really achieve anything either, someone will just reupload them

And I know that drill isn't just harmless fun and that putting these tracks on social media can have real life consequences (and I do get middle class guilt about watching these but that's another story), but if you want to stop violent crime is this really the best way to go about it? Better to have guys making money off rapping about this, making videos, getting gigs than making money through crime (it is all guys by the way. I don't think there's any women involved in drill at all). I realise I'm probably preaching to the converted here

do they take down white supremacist videos

You know, I don't believe they do. Looking forward to hearing the right wing media having a go at those snowflakes at the Met for stopping freedom of expression because some people might find it offensive

FFS it makes no difference, if someone's really intent on publically issuing a specific threat there are plenty of other ways of doing it.

Like I'm aware that some drill tracks do contain very particular threats to individuals but taking a video down will do nothing to stop anything, especially if a lot of completely blameless artists are censored in the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toupivpKpPM

Short BBC documentary on links between drill and violence. It's pretty good tbh, also features some Scouse drillers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaQHYgphfqs

This lad's a decent MC but that mask makes him look like an absolute berk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzbPJGpKP3c

More Yxng Bane. I love this guy

DJ Target's book 'Grime Kids' is being made into a TV series. The book's worth checking out for an insider account of the grime scene from day one - http://trenchtrenchtrench.com/news/dj-targets-grime-kids-book-is-getting-adapted-into-a-tv-series-1

Diesle D Power explains why grime is having a quiet spell and what needs to be done about it - http://trenchtrenchtrench.com/features/a-letter-to-the-grime-scene-by-d-power

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqju6QeVoPc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt7T8CKci0E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCxNrRk74PU&t=213s

I'm not sure if you've had enough drill yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sN8jnVuTD4

Kenny Allstar tries producing instead of DJing. Turns out he's dead good at it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n33AgYqEUXc

D Dubz has been looking rough as fuck for a couple of years now. I'm not sure how I feel about this track

Some good things on this thread, many thanks for maintaining. The Drake clip shows he’s just clowning with his normal musical output

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCxNrRk74PU&t=60s

One of the tunes I posted yesterday isn't showing so let's try again. About half of the drill tunes above have disappeared, it's form 696 all over again, I know that I've been banging on about this but it really gets on my wick that the police are trying to kill off another music scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFfhbvPz1Y4

This guy's made a drill track about being an estate agent. It's about goddamn time

xp you're welcome :) That track above that isn't embedding is called Wicked and Wassss by TG Millian, coming with a more minimal beat and a sort of restrained type flow that I'm really feeling. It's one of those videos that's all old footage and clips from violent films because the MC is otherwise engaged...

stop trying to make drill happen!

j/k it's a shame they've been pulling vids

totally dig Renting!

"Honestly mandem can rap about legit stuff and it will bang I want to see more like Sports, construction , Retail , Catering etc big up "

xp drill's happening whether you like it or not ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV2XvQ9c7Rs

This track has been posted a few times by different accounts but it keeps getting taken down, not sure when it's getting a release (or how Wiley feels about it). Features a sample from Terrorist by Renegade which is a big plus. The track is Money Right by Skepta and Dizzee in case it gets taken down again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX__eLsb88k

The video for this features Lethal Bizzle trampling on photos of various senior Tories. I think we can all agree that's a good thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeJ9UD1_ERI

The beat on this sounds like a Rapid production from back in the day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__jsNnusOu0

Foreign Kash is a producer to watch, this beat is coldddd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWuc5iguUY

Flohio is the only female driller I'm aware of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC64GdXM0bo

This lad could well be blowing up sooner rather than later

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEPyPHxO8YE

23 Drillas coming a bit different with this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zseTslaXxBE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrnACpUhe98

I might be wrong but it seems like the tempos in drill are getting faster recently, some of them aren't far off 140

Drill in Pitchfork - https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-moral-panic-against-uk-drill-is-deeply-misguided/

Ciaran Thapar's been writing a lot of good stuff about this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgwwMPiWavk

67 on Newsnight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wECZVI_jiq4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2thsT6cW2FY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiNfJo2OpeM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv3JdnBhXkM

Last one is wavyyyy

So Octavian has as an album out?!!!

(apropos of the wavy one)

octavian tape is 🙏🏻

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTRXhsSVcn0

While we're talking about Octavian

he has so much presence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxns_n9q0f4

New Dave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsXJ1td4lOE

I think that this is the first link up between UK and US drillers and it's a bit good. More of a US beat than a UK one

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bmq2tq/beats-bass-and-bars-the-story-of-grime?suggid=b0bmq2tq

Grime gets the BBC4 treatment. No input from the biggest names but pretty good overall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdCddvN7EUI

Wiley is absolutely FUMING at Skepta. What is he like?

looks cool, thanks!

a bit sad to see that wiley clip

Wiley gonna Wiley. It's not his first unhinged rant and it won't be his last

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEdOFOJxYMA

Skepta goes drill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spJoRLpDLLM

Political drill commissioned by Channel 4 news. It's actually quite good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIA4wdReWk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ_oXmoNwhc

Feeling the beat on this one, nice and minimal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K53_MOexCf4

This one's a banger. These lads can properly dance as well, so that's a bonus

Got my YG's talking brexit
That's no more red light district
No more subtitles on Netflix
!

Man Can't is a banger

what's the minimal one? violated smth...

appreciate your updates Paolo!

You're welcome! It's Still On The O by Harlem Spartans, let's try again, this one went up last week I think and it's been taken down about three times now. I know I've moaned about this but it really gets on my wick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AukTXV5XNls

"You know what that needed? Someone going SKRRR" 🤣@louistheroux reviewing Dave, Headie One and Unknown T is too much 😂 #Splish @Reece_Parkinson #1XtraTalks pic.twitter.com/Olxb3HZUpe

— 1Xtra on BBC Sounds (@1Xtra) November 4, 2018

So it turns out Louis Theroux is into drill. Makes me feel better cos he's even more of a middle class nerd than I am

haha

I guess the Harlem Spartans vid is removed because it contains... threats towards another gang/group?

Yeah, there's a level of violence around drill that just hasn't happened with UK music before

Inner City Pressure by Dan Hancox is being made into a TV series

https://www.residentadvisor.net/news/42794

iamddb has a new song out. carving out a little niche for herself, has a gorgeous voice and needs some ilx love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg_PDZVV2lo

also really like these older tracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJjVBe0zrHs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nTFBKLFXjY

Yeah she's good, feeling the new one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DehpFrLdt-M

Wiley aims a war dub at Dizzee and Skepta

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc9lYgX0lUE

There's only been about five grime tracks this year that I've liked, and this is one of them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUvIs7y9gsQ

New Lady Leshurr freestyle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf4DavFO5Ew

Another wavy one from Yxng Bane

No drill for you this time :(

enjoyed that Wiley "freestyle", would not mind some response tracks from Skepta and Dizzee

"Born On Your Own" is v good, and what a cool video too
some of the lyrics are oblique to me though

can't help but feel that though Leshurr is very talented and a true professional she needs to find a more personal expression for me to really get into it

There's only been about five grime tracks this year that I've liked
is Homerton B one of these? (is it grime?)

Homerton B doesn't feel like it has much to do with grime to me, it's an obvious anthem though.

some of the lyrics are oblique to me though

I'm Scottish so I still struggle with lyrics sometimes even though I've been listening to grime for about fifteen years. The only grime tunes I've liked this year are Athlete by Boy Better Know, that YGG tune that was posted in this thread about March, Born On Your Own and that's about it, I think there's some more but can't remember (unless you count Dizzee's Don't Gas Me EP as grime, which it isn't really)

Homerton B is drill but sounds like it's got a bit of a grime influence to me. I still don't know what the B stands for though :(

All blacked out on the road like emos
Leave man stressed, lose hair like chemo

still 2018's best two lines

I found another grime track that I'm into

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmO6fy-Ezcg

I'll run man's city like Kompany >>>

eoy list from FACT, seems they didn't have time to write much https://www.factmag.com/2018/12/05/best-uk-rap-2018/

That list's OK but needs more drill. These ones are for you Fact

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV8VfZv4dX0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo66SlAUsUo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CV4HUUOsMM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8LspYL0SO8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI9rziDSzvQ

I definitely think the producers in drill are getting better, seems to be a lot more variety in the beats than there used to be. Last one is from guys who were in 1011 and believed to be the first people in the UK who have ever been told that they need to inform the police before they make music. No idea how this one hasn't been taken down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cTrnnImcPg

Have some Ikea grime from Nottingham (I think) as well. Disappointed to hear them call Patrick Vieira a legendary shooter when his goalscoring record was mediocre at best

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR_X57xS_mw

Last drill updates for the year (probably). Beat on this one is so cold, more producers seem to be making beats with synths that sound like early grime tracks, really ominous minimal vibes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi6-DgAtOG4

More political drill from Drillminister

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PUITm7krmc

New Flohio. She did a track with Modeselektor recently as well

Making the playlist rounds. I didn't hear much of any of this stuff this year, so curious to see what's happening in the UK. Here's everything discussed on the thread that's on US Spotify:

ILM's 2018 Rolling Grime + UK Drill Spotify Playlist

Thanks for all the updates this year!

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/22/the-war-against-rap-censoring-drill-may-seem-radical-but-its-not-new

Another good article by Dan Hancox about the police vs drill. I can also recommend his book 'Inner City Pressure' about the history of grime and the social issues around it. If you want more books about grime history (and why wouldn't you?) check Wiley's autobiography and 'This Is Grime' by Hattie Collins

― paolo, Saturday, 23 June 2018 10:12 (six months ago) Permalink

"believed to be the first people in the UK who have ever been told that they need to inform the police before they make music"

...certainly the first since Rick Wakeman. Either way, the balaclava fellas probably wouldn't do well in a lip sync challenge, imo

https://img.discogs.com/Y9isIHsy6E-fb3todmMPfXzfgYc=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-2784395-1520871737-6784.jpeg.jpg