Featurings? Well, it's always nice to get a nod from the originators, nahmean. Dizzy's not done too bad in the States has he?
Which brings me onto point two, I'm as disconnected from the streets as could be, but Kano's probably the closest to being on every bedroom wall (and he's a sick emcee too)...obviously, this brings up the question about grime = uk hip hop? but that's a dilemma I try and stay away from...
People always mention the "everyone's an artist" thing, and i'm guilty of it too, but don't you think these people are also fans as well? I make beats for the very same people who's records i eagerly anticipate and buy as soon as they're released... this can't be that much of a minority view, why is it assumed that as soon as someone becomes an artist they stop becoming a fan?
People always mention the "everyone's an artist" thing, and i'm guilty of it too, but don't you think these people are also fans as well? I make beats for the very same people who's records i eagerly anticipate and buy as soon as they're released... this can't be that much of a minority view, why is it assumed that as soon as someone becomes an artist they stop becoming a fan?
true, but i guess (that's what i was told about the UK) and you also have it over here that it's more a thing of people coming to shows not partying with the artist on stage, but rather standing there and thinking "I can do this better" and therefore you get this "no one's a fan no more" thing...
concerning artists from the UK impacting in the US...foggedaboudid...I mean, "Witness" has created some copycats (I remember a beat by e-swift that sounded like that) and yes, dizzy played shows in NYC...but does he even sell records? As far asI know his albums haven't shifted that much units...and who needs a UK posterboyrapper? And regarding Grime, Eski, whateva they call it...I get the idea that alot of UK people from formerly different scenes get together again and just do some good music...someone mentioned it already and I think you can hear it that the UK is pretty vital right now concerning Hiphop in all its forms...even if that doesn't mean that anyone is selling any records...just listen to "download" by Sway....
Why do UK artists even bother getting respect or featurettes from US hiphoppers ?
Yeah, UK heads should just do their thing and forget about benchmarking their music against US styles. Just feed them the pseudo leftovers like M.I.A. and Lady Sov once in a while, so they can feel tardily trendy.
if that was a "try to get me to say i haven't listened to it" attempt, then it worked; i haven't listened to it. i also have no desire at all to check for any overhyped bullshit like this. if one were to post a soundclip, i would listen to it but i ain't going out to buy some shit because someone compared it to illmatic.
I'm waiting anxiously for the album. For anyone who don't have
cop that. It's a UK Illmatic, seriously.
I really wanted to like this album, but honestly I thought it was straight up wack. And while I will admit to not being the biggest UK hip hop fan, a lot of my friends are and I never heard anyone really rave about that LP. Admittedly it made some noise when it dropped but with no stretch of the imagination can it really be compared to Illmatic.
And all ???Bronx??? lingo the the P-Brother use is just silly.
I'm waiting anxiously for the album. For anyone who don't have
cop that. It's a UK Illmatic, seriously.
I really wanted to like this album, but honestly I thought it was straight up wack. And while I will admit to not being the biggest UK hip hop fan, a lot of my friends are and I never heard anyone really rave about that LP. Admittedly it made some noise when it dropped but with no stretch of the imagination can it really be compared to Illmatic.
And all ???Bronx??? lingo the the P-Brother use is just silly.
i'm saying, so the whole basis for this illmatic comparison was the fact that they're both "short and consistent" albums? lol pleeze
And all ???Bronx??? lingo the P-Brother use is just silly.
em...i repeat, I don't think it's silly, as they just want to express a certain state of mind with it. And they master the thin line between being corny with that ish and being fresh...I don't get why "Bronx" and "Loud drums" is a "silly" thing...it's not a lingo imo...but who am i to judge, I got a radioshow running since 99 called "Bronx Traditions"..while I am far away of romanticising or "acting hard" due to the use of that terminology, I do understand why people don't like the use of that. But that's where it all started, so if you like Beats and Rhymes, you got to give it up for the Bronx...my 2...
LEWIS PARKER IS DEFINATLEY THE BEST TO COME FROM THE UK.CHECK THE 1ST JOINT ON THE NEW GHOSTFACE LP ALSO CHECK FOR NOMADIC POET OF THE PLANETS.HE HAS A NEW LP CALLED TRAVELLERS DROPPING SOON AND IT IS ....I LIKE ALOT OF SHIT FROM OVERSEAS BETTER THAN THE SHIT DROPPIN IN THE STATES THESE DAYS..
and skinnyman = lisa leslie, even though his album sucked.
and grime's gettin props in america because we don't have grime in america and its fresh and interesting. british rap isn't because there's no shortage of wannabe 1994 rappers on this side of the pond. we don't need any more.
Ha Ha, typical small minded mentality,the world is bigger than your backyard. Get out and see a bit of it mate...its a bit like me saying...
Americans = overweight ignorant rednecks...
small-minded...
i think you missed my point...i'm not sayin uk hip hop is wack [in fact i like quite a bit of it more than most] only that it's at the status of women's athletics in the us...there's obviously talent there but people aren't trying to pay attention to it.
So, to finish up, a shameless plug - check for the 'Soul Trader' EP by Sonnyjim, featuring two beats by a certain JBC
just thought i would throw in my 10 pence, as far as im concerned the p brothers are fucking dope, they make music that reallyt appeals to me and personally it stands up to a lot of US stuff, the heavy bronx eps are decent too (probably why they are so sought after - the first three are mega hard to get hold of). as far as the general state of hip hop, the UK is on the verge of actually getting quite big (you have people who are now living well off hip hop yet still haven't got to that 'superstar' status and thus are very accessible) but has blown up yet, its pretty good. The grime thing is getting going but there is just too much sheite out there (ever check Channel U), people think that the first track they make is the shit and that it needs a video etc... eventually the weak acts will fall off. people like Kano, Sway, Dizee will last cos they have both skills and cross over appeal. i personally dont see grime surviving in its current format mainly due to lack of organisation and too much closed mindedness but it will be there in one form or another in the future. anyway i think i have ranted too long now and have gone off topic i just want to say big up my man Sonnyjim (decent freestyle mc), Kosyne, English, Kryptonite (part of Creative Juices in NYC) and everyone else involved in the Sole Trader EP. heres some uk artists to check for...
Phi Life Cypher Shameless Plan B Sway Evil Ed Ghost Jehst Blufoot Keith Lawrence Broke 'n' English Dirty Diggers Mr Thing Yungun Mark B Rodney P Skitz Taskforce The Nextmen Asaviour Klashnekov Doc Brown Foreign Beggars Diversion Tactics Lost Souls Aspects Loket Hi Fi
i cant think of any more off the top of my head but theyre there. here are some labels.
Breaking Bread Low Life Boot Zebra Traffic Main Rock Sit Tight Janomi Big Dadda Dented Records
again there are loads more but i cant think - its monday!!!
So, to finish up, a shameless plug - check for the 'Soul Trader' EP by Sonnyjim, featuring two beats by a certain JBC
just thought i would throw in my 10 pence, as far as im concerned the p brothers are fucking dope, they make music that reallyt appeals to me and personally it stands up to a lot of US stuff, the heavy bronx eps are decent too (probably why they are so sought after - the first three are mega hard to get hold of). as far as the general state of hip hop, the UK is on the verge of actually getting quite big (you have people who are now living well off hip hop yet still haven't got to that 'superstar' status and thus are very accessible) but has blown up yet, its pretty good. The grime thing is getting going but there is just too much sheite out there (ever check Channel U), people think that the first track they make is the shit and that it needs a video etc... eventually the weak acts will fall off. people like Kano, Sway, Dizee will last cos they have both skills and cross over appeal. i personally dont see grime surviving in its current format mainly due to lack of organisation and too much closed mindedness but it will be there in one form or another in the future. anyway i think i have ranted too long now and have gone off topic i just want to say big up my man Sonnyjim (decent freestyle mc), Kosyne, English, Kryptonite (part of Creative Juices in NYC) and everyone else involved in the Sole Trader EP. heres some uk artists to check for...
Phi Life Cypher Shameless Plan B Sway Evil Ed Ghost Jehst Blufoot Keith Lawrence Broke 'n' English Dirty Diggers Mr Thing Yungun Mark B Rodney P Skitz Taskforce The Nextmen Asaviour Klashnekov Doc Brown Foreign Beggars Diversion Tactics Lost Souls Aspects Loket Hi Fi
i cant think of any more off the top of my head but theyre there. here are some labels.
Breaking Bread Low Life Boot Zebra Traffic Main Rock Sit Tight Janomi Big Dadda Dented Records
again there are loads more but i cant think - its monday!!!
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
First off, I should make it clear that I'm English.
But, I think British people have to come to terms with the fact that 99.9% of Americans into hip hop have no desire WHATSOEVER to listen to artists from this sceptred isle, and furthermore, artists from the UK can't expect to be given 'a fair listen'. That's just the way it is. Why would an American, bombarded by native hip hop 24/7 ever wanna listen to people rapping in a funny accent? I mean, the big thing about emcees in this country mentioning Eastenders, etc, in their rhymes is so that we can relate better, but that just serves to distance hip hop from these shores from being understood in the States.
This is all true. After years of trying to convince myself otherwise, I'm finally at the stage where I can admit that I'm not really interested in UK hip-hop anymore. The enduring problem, I find, is that British emcees are more preoccupied with being British than they are with being themselves. That may sound like an odd thing to say, but there's definitely a difference, and when you've listened to as many efforts at crowbarring references to Eastenders, Stella Artois and [insert your favourite football team/player here] into a rhyme as I have, you can't help feeling that it's all getting a little bit too forced. There's plenty of UK producers with flair, imagination and an interesting approach, but the same thing doesn't apply to the legions of emcees whose adherence to the dullest of monotones makes Guru sound like a grand master of all styles.
As for the "funny accents" thing, take a look at how long it's taken Southern rap to establish itself on the world stage compared with the NY/LA strongholds - even Americans rhyming in funny accents aren't guaranteed a free pass
There's very few, yet there's where you gotta be to achieve real success, countless French, Dutch and German acts pull this off while keeping there integrity, performing on rock-orientated festivals and shifting units. What went wrong?
With UK hip-hop? The English language. UK rappers will always be compared, rightly or wrongly, with US rappers purely because of the common language, and in 99.9999999% of cases, that comparison won't be favourable. The days of UK acts like the Demon Boyz exerting a huge, uncredited influence on US acts (even if those acts are just Das EFX) are long gone. All those European countries mentioned have strong, self-sustaining local-language scenes that actually receive major label support, simply because of the significant domestic market for emcees rhyming in their own tongue. On my desk right now, I've got a Dutch remix of Akon's "Ghetto" with verses in Dutch and Moroccan that's been commissioned by the local label because they know they can get a hit (or at least a sales boost) with something like that. The artistic merits of it aren't really that big an issue as far as I can see.
as far as the general state of hip hop, the UK is on the verge of actually getting quite big
I wish I had a tenner for every time I've heard someone say this over the last ten years. I've even said it a few times myself. It's not going to happen. Critical acclaim in the blogosphere might create the impression that Dizzee, Roots, Micky Skinner et al are "big" in the US. The numbers tell a different story.
as far as the general state of hip hop, the UK is on the verge of actually getting quite big
I wish I had a tenner for every time I've heard someone say this over the last ten years. I've even said it a few times myself. It's not going to happen. Critical acclaim in the blogosphere might create the impression that Dizzee, Roots, Micky Skinner et al are "big" in the US. The numbers tell a different story.
im not even talking about in US terms im just saying in terms of artists now being able to live off uk hip hop, that was almost unheard of a while back, if you wanted to live off uk hip hop it meant you had to be on dole or shotting something or other or both. i doubt we'll ever get to a state where UKHH artists are 'pop stars' so to speak but its all relative, anyway the US scene isn't the only territory Australia, Holland, Germany, Czech rep, etc... are all areas where UKHH has a really good chance of getting some decent exposure and becoming quite 'big'.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
as far as the general state of hip hop, the UK is on the verge of actually getting quite big
I wish I had a tenner for every time I've heard someone say this over the last ten years. I've even said it a few times myself. It's not going to happen. Critical acclaim in the blogosphere might create the impression that Dizzee, Roots, Micky Skinner et al are "big" in the US. The numbers tell a different story.
im not even talking about in US terms im just saying in terms of artists now being able to live off uk hip hop, that was almost unheard of a while back, if you wanted to live off uk hip hop it meant you had to be on dole or shotting something or other or both. i doubt we'll ever get to a state where UKHH artists are 'pop stars' so to speak but its all relative, anyway the US scene isn't the only territory Australia, Holland, Germany, Czech rep, etc... are all areas where UKHH has a really good chance of getting some decent exposure and becoming quite 'big'.
Well, that's a good thing, definitely. The mere fact that it's now possible to walk into the bigger HMV/Virgin stores and see huge sections of the racking given over to UK material has to bear out what you're saying to an extent - it wouldn't be in those kinda places if people weren't buying it, after all. Nevertheless, I'm afraid I'm no longer one of those people, and I speak as someone who goes back to the days of Kold Sweat, MC Duke, Gunshot and all that lot. I still maintain that UK acts will always suffer from the kind of disadvantage that someone like, say, Akhenaton in France will never have to worry about, simply because he knows there's no point in trying to compete with the Nellys and Fiddys of this world on their terms (not while he can regularly shift six figures at home, anyway). There's often a tendency for people over here to claim that UK hip-hop would get a foothold in the US if only it was given the chance, but if the artists themselves are no longer deluding themselves that this is ever likely to happen, then that's real progress.
I wish I had a tenner for every time I've heard someone say this over the last ten years. I've even said it a few times myself. It's not going to happen. Critical acclaim in the blogosphere might create the impression that Dizzee, Roots, Micky Skinner et al are "big" in the US. The numbers tell a different story.
Methinks that this ultimately will be a specialist niche market @ best on this side of the Atlantic; despite countless efforts to trot out the next great British hope, most folks in North America aren't going to expend much energy deciphering an accent that's not regional to the U.S. - it's sad, but true: you need only look @ the consternation elicited by the prospect of having to read subtitles on foreign films amongst the general populace and realize that it'll be doubly hard to convince anyone other than hipster cognoscenti to pay attention sonically to the aforementioned...
Comments
Which brings me onto point two, I'm as disconnected from the streets as could be, but Kano's probably the closest to being on every bedroom wall (and he's a sick emcee too)...obviously, this brings up the question about grime = uk hip hop? but that's a dilemma I try and stay away from...
true, but i guess (that's what i was told about the UK) and you also have it over here that it's more a thing of people coming to shows not partying with the artist on stage, but rather standing there and thinking "I can do this better" and therefore you get this "no one's a fan no more" thing...
concerning artists from the UK impacting in the US...foggedaboudid...I mean, "Witness" has created some copycats (I remember a beat by e-swift that sounded like that) and yes, dizzy played shows in NYC...but does he even sell records? As far asI know his albums haven't shifted that much units...and who needs a UK posterboyrapper? And regarding Grime, Eski, whateva they call it...I get the idea that alot of UK people from formerly different scenes get together again and just do some good music...someone mentioned it already and I think you can hear it that the UK is pretty vital right now concerning Hiphop in all its forms...even if that doesn't mean that anyone is selling any records...just listen to "download" by Sway....
Yeah, UK heads should just do their thing and forget about benchmarking their music against US styles. Just feed them the pseudo leftovers like M.I.A. and Lady Sov once in a while, so they can feel tardily trendy.
give it a go:
http://www.juno.co.uk/ppps/products/125159-01.htm&highlight=spaz%20the%20world
all taking-things-way-too-seriously aside, this lp is super heavy. i cant wait for the p brothers lp proper...
why does dizzy sound like ozzy over down south beats ?
I think you missed my point...
well, after you edited your post, your "point"
was a bit easier to catch...
I really wanted to like this album, but honestly I thought it was straight up wack.
And while I will admit to not being the biggest UK hip hop fan, a lot of my friends are and I never heard anyone really rave about that LP. Admittedly it made some noise when it dropped but with no stretch of the imagination can it really be compared to Illmatic.
And all ???Bronx??? lingo the the P-Brother use is just silly.
What's next, YOUNG BLACK TEENAGERS?
em...i repeat, I don't think it's silly, as they just want to express a certain state of mind with it. And they master the thin line between being corny with that ish and being fresh...I don't get why "Bronx" and "Loud drums" is a "silly" thing...it's not a lingo imo...but who am i to judge, I got a radioshow running since 99 called "Bronx Traditions"..while I am far away of romanticising or "acting hard" due to the use of that terminology, I do understand why people don't like the use of that. But that's where it all started, so if you like Beats and Rhymes, you got to give it up for the Bronx...my 2...
is that how bad its gotten?
you are looking through a keyhole and seeing an empty room.
It's only gettin worse, believe me...4 elements anyone?
and skinnyman = lisa leslie, even though his album sucked.
and grime's gettin props in america because we don't have grime in america and its fresh and interesting. british rap isn't because there's no shortage of wannabe 1994 rappers on this side of the pond. we don't need any more.
I wouldn't compare Cappo's LP to Illmatic though... but to certain people I guess it could be, Lewis Parker is that UK dude to look out for.
small-minded...
i think you missed my point...i'm not sayin uk hip hop is wack [in fact i like quite a bit of it more than most] only that it's at the status of women's athletics in the us...there's obviously talent there but people aren't trying to pay attention to it.
just thought i would throw in my 10 pence, as far as im concerned the p brothers are fucking dope, they make music that reallyt appeals to me and personally it stands up to a lot of US stuff, the heavy bronx eps are decent too (probably why they are so sought after - the first three are mega hard to get hold of). as far as the general state of hip hop, the UK is on the verge of actually getting quite big (you have people who are now living well off hip hop yet still haven't got to that 'superstar' status and thus are very accessible) but has blown up yet, its pretty good. The grime thing is getting going but there is just too much sheite out there (ever check Channel U), people think that the first track they make is the shit and that it needs a video etc... eventually the weak acts will fall off. people like Kano, Sway, Dizee will last cos they have both skills and cross over appeal. i personally dont see grime surviving in its current format mainly due to lack of organisation and too much closed mindedness but it will be there in one form or another in the future. anyway i think i have ranted too long now and have gone off topic i just want to say big up my man Sonnyjim (decent freestyle mc), Kosyne, English, Kryptonite (part of Creative Juices in NYC) and everyone else involved in the Sole Trader EP. heres some uk artists to check for...
Phi Life Cypher
Shameless
Plan B
Sway
Evil Ed
Ghost
Jehst
Blufoot
Keith Lawrence
Broke 'n' English
Dirty Diggers
Mr Thing
Yungun
Mark B
Rodney P
Skitz
Taskforce
The Nextmen
Asaviour
Klashnekov
Doc Brown
Foreign Beggars
Diversion Tactics
Lost Souls
Aspects
Loket Hi Fi
i cant think of any more off the top of my head but theyre there. here are some labels.
Breaking Bread
Low Life
Boot
Zebra Traffic
Main Rock
Sit Tight
Janomi
Big Dadda
Dented Records
again there are loads more but i cant think - its monday!!!
one more add:
The Cohorts
Anyone heard of us?
While I have all three - just looked it up - I only have spare copies of the No 4...if anyone is interested, hit me with a pm...
peace,
s.d.
http://www.britishhiphop.co.uk/
http://www.low-life.fsnet.co.uk/ukhiphop/story/index.htm
This is all true. After years of trying to convince myself otherwise, I'm finally at the stage where I can admit that I'm not really interested in UK hip-hop anymore. The enduring problem, I find, is that British emcees are more preoccupied with being British than they are with being themselves. That may sound like an odd thing to say, but there's definitely a difference, and when you've listened to as many efforts at crowbarring references to Eastenders, Stella Artois and [insert your favourite football team/player here] into a rhyme as I have, you can't help feeling that it's all getting a little bit too forced. There's plenty of UK producers with flair, imagination and an interesting approach, but the same thing doesn't apply to the legions of emcees whose adherence to the dullest of monotones makes Guru sound like a grand master of all styles.
As for the "funny accents" thing, take a look at how long it's taken Southern rap to establish itself on the world stage compared with the NY/LA strongholds - even Americans rhyming in funny accents aren't guaranteed a free pass
With UK hip-hop? The English language. UK rappers will always be compared, rightly or wrongly, with US rappers purely because of the common language, and in 99.9999999% of cases, that comparison won't be favourable. The days of UK acts like the Demon Boyz exerting a huge, uncredited influence on US acts (even if those acts are just Das EFX) are long gone. All those European countries mentioned have strong, self-sustaining local-language scenes that actually receive major label support, simply because of the significant domestic market for emcees rhyming in their own tongue. On my desk right now, I've got a Dutch remix of Akon's "Ghetto" with verses in Dutch and Moroccan that's been commissioned by the local label because they know they can get a hit (or at least a sales boost) with something like that. The artistic merits of it aren't really that big an issue as far as I can see.
I wish I had a tenner for every time I've heard someone say this over the last ten years. I've even said it a few times myself. It's not going to happen. Critical acclaim in the blogosphere might create the impression that Dizzee, Roots, Micky Skinner et al are "big" in the US. The numbers tell a different story.
This is just cold, though.
im not even talking about in US terms im just saying in terms of artists now being able to live off uk hip hop, that was almost unheard of a while back, if you wanted to live off uk hip hop it meant you had to be on dole or shotting something or other or both. i doubt we'll ever get to a state where UKHH artists are 'pop stars' so to speak but its all relative, anyway the US scene isn't the only territory Australia, Holland, Germany, Czech rep, etc... are all areas where UKHH has a really good chance of getting some decent exposure and becoming quite 'big'.
Well, that's a good thing, definitely. The mere fact that it's now possible to walk into the bigger HMV/Virgin stores and see huge sections of the racking given over to UK material has to bear out what you're saying to an extent - it wouldn't be in those kinda places if people weren't buying it, after all. Nevertheless, I'm afraid I'm no longer one of those people, and I speak as someone who goes back to the days of Kold Sweat, MC Duke, Gunshot and all that lot. I still maintain that UK acts will always suffer from the kind of disadvantage that someone like, say, Akhenaton in France will never have to worry about, simply because he knows there's no point in trying to compete with the Nellys and Fiddys of this world on their terms (not while he can regularly shift six figures at home, anyway). There's often a tendency for people over here to claim that UK hip-hop would get a foothold in the US if only it was given the chance, but if the artists themselves are no longer deluding themselves that this is ever likely to happen, then that's real progress.
Methinks that this ultimately will be a specialist niche market @ best on this side of the Atlantic; despite countless efforts to trot out the next great British hope, most folks in North America aren't going to expend much energy deciphering an accent that's not regional to the U.S. - it's sad, but true: you need only look @ the consternation elicited by the prospect of having to read subtitles on foreign films amongst the general populace and realize that it'll be doubly hard to convince anyone other than hipster cognoscenti to pay attention sonically to the aforementioned...