British Rap
 

Just kinda watching this download thing on Channel 4,

An MC from Liverpool has won some sort of competition for Ms Dynamite to come to his area and perform.

All good you might think, but the MC and his "mates" may as well be from compton from the way they speak and dress. Now I have no problem with british rap or in no way racist ( The MC happens to be black ) but why the hell does british rap not have its own indentity , it all seem to borrow so heavily from america.

The result of this is the MC guy constantly thows moves, makes gun signs with his fingers basicly every cliche in the book

In most genres of music the UK manages to develop its own spin but not with rap why ?

P.S while Ms dynamite is performing they have a guy breaking on a matress and some guys playing basketball ( if i had a case i would rest it at this point)

Re: British Rap
 

Find the underground acts, or the old ones. Of course there are a lot of people who fell for the whole "compton" thing and think they are from South Central (that's a thing in every country, and happened due to the comerzalization of rap culture), but there are alot of nice british rap that aren't like that, and has it's very distinct style.
Not that I can name names. My head does not work :(

Re: British Rap
 

I've never heard anything by them but isn't there a couple of rappers called 'The Mitchell Brothers' who try and make it a bit more London/British-esque?

p.s. I'd say that national identity probably is of declining importance compared to international cultural values (or something). National identity is probably still the single most important defining characteristic, but if you think about (for instance) geek "culture" it's fairly internationalised. In terms of the music I listen to, the vocabulary I use, the things I read and even the types of things I find funny I've probably got more in common with some geeks from overseas than I do with most of the people on my street, for instance.

Re: British Rap
 

i was just watching that.
I actually thought he was pretty good.

Where does the line between rap and hip-hop go? Because the Herbaliser definately show more britishness than other similar groups. And they're really good.

Re: British Rap
 

Hold ya mouf!

Re: British Rap
 

the answer to your question is simple. It's because rap is big steaming pile of shit

look sharp
 

UK Hip-Hop is a thriving and exciting genre in it's own right, you're making a sweeping statement based on something you just saw on a Sunday afternoon TV show.

There's a rich seam of music that exsists just below the veneer you base this particular opinion on and I don't mean that it's 'underground' or 'oh so alternative'. Act's like Roll Deep and consequently Dizzee Rascal have been intrumental in giving birth to sub-genre's like 'Grime' over the last few years for example. More recently guys like Kano and everything else that goes with whatever mildly amusing genre name someone will no doubt cook up have 'blown up', (as the highly talented (ok I mean he needs shooting again) Tim Westwood would say).

I won't mention The Streets and the UK garage scene tying into the same umbrella of MCing and 'Rap' as you call it for fear of the shitstorm that follows any mention of Skinners music these days. (I happen to like it but then I like everyting)

The scally scousers we saw on TV earlier were amusing but by no means a good representation of everything that goes on and has been going on for a very long time.

coughgoldlielookinchaincough

Re: British Rap
 

I disagree with you that British Rap/HipHop is very American. Firstly there is alot less swearing in UK stuff. Also every other word isnt joint/nigga/bitch/hoe/gun etc.

A small list of UK artists for you
Braintax
Foreign Beggars
Natty
Jehst
Klashnekoff
Rodney P
Skinnyman

More details about (most of) them are on www.karmadownload.com. Direct link to UK HipHop section http://www.karmadownload.com/genre/?13. Enjoy.

Re: British Rap
 

Lady Soverign - 9 to 5 is good.

the version with the Ordinary Boys isn't too bad either.

Re: British Rap
 

The Mitchell Brothers are quite good actually. Mike Skinner writes most of their lyrics though.


The thing is, rappers are really lucky. They all had shit lives. If they'd all grown up in Woking like me I bet they'd have nothing to rap about. I'd have become a famous British rapper, otherwise. That's why we're all held back.

Re: British Rap
 

Some uk rap is awesome. Check out channel U on sky.

Yeh roll deep are up there - but true, a lot of them take the piss a bit, and even go as far as to try and rap in an american accent. its quite funny.

Re: British Rap
 

this isn't limited to rap though. A lot of punk bands have are very Americanised. Even some pop acts, Busted or example owe more to Blink 182 than any British act.

Feeder are the latest example. I don't know if they are planning of breaking America but all the signes of their new album so far sound very Americanised.

Re: British Rap
 

Why is it, that the natural singing accent is American?

It really annoys me, which is why I give so much respect to Solphi Ellis Bextor, Oasis, etc...

Re: British Rap
 

actually rap/hip hop at its 'high end' has been far more creative lyrically and in terms of tracks/beats than other genres (like rock) of late

and id agree with dante, the 'goth' look is as silly as any person adopting a 'rap' look.

Re: British Rap
 

He's amusing.

Re: British Rap
 

If you scratch beyond the radio surface of American Hip-Hop, you will find a culture that has grown far beyond the typical motto of "Guns, Bitches, and Weed." Artists who know that for each slang/street/curse word, there are a couple dozen more extravagant words that meet the same end. It is not all about "slangin' in the ghetto" and "dollar bills y'all"

Artists of note:

Sage Francis
Aesop Rock
El-p
Lyrx Born
Eydea
Blackalicious
Tribe Called Quest

The list goes on.....

Re: British Rap
 

I'd say neither was particularly silly actually (inherently). Although a "rap" image looks infinitely more ridiculous to my eyes, but that's a (racist) judgement call more than anything else.

Why anyone would want to adopt a look which seems to be be at least partially focussed on covering your body with corporate/sport logos and emphasising your wealth (gold, etc) is beyond me. Unless they're all trying to be terribly ironic or something.

Re: look sharp
 

it's funny you should mention a couple of them, cause as it is being portrayed in oz at the moment, acts like Dizzee Rascal & The Streets are the face of what we consider british hip-hop. Whether people here would agree to that tag or not I don't know, but I personally like their styles and think is a positive direction to head and the UK artists are nothing like the Americans at all.

We are undergoing a simular transformation ourselves, many Australian Rap & Hip-Hop artists have broken out of the stigma of immitating the American artists, and have forged a distinctive style for themselves. Examples of these would be Hilltop Hoods, Downsyde, Butterfingers and The Herd.

Re: British Rap
 

Oh c'mon - is that really supposed to be first prize??

Re: look sharp
 

You're brave. If I mentioned him, I'd get a million..... well, you know what you get from bitter people around here.

Re: British Rap
 

As far as British Rap/Hip-Hop goes there is only one artist: Roots Manuva. Run come save me and Awfully Deep are excellent albums.

Roots Manuva's definitely put a UK spin on things.
being good examples.

I can't say anything about mainstream UK Rap/Hip-Hop as I think it's mostly utter crap.