British hip hop
Encyclopedia
British hip hop is a genre of music
, and a culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music
made in the United Kingdom. It is generally classified as one of a number of styles of urban music. British hip hop was originally influenced by the Dub/Toasting introduced by Jamaican immigrants in the UK (60s/70s), who eventually developed uniquely-influenced rapping (or speed-toasting) in order to match the rhythm of the ever-increasing pace and aggression of Jamaican-influenced Dub in the UK and to describe street/gang-violence, similar to that in the US. UK rap, or speed-toasting, has also been heavily influenced by US Hip-Hop, although not to the extent many assume. UK hip hop has been widely replaced with grime
, however, many British hip hop artists remain producing tracks of this genre.
In 2003, The Times
described British hip hop's broad ranging approach:
Following an initial flurry of interest from major record labels in the 1980s, by the early 1990s the scene had moved underground after record companies pulled back. In the mid-1990s hip hop in the UK started to experiment and diversify - often mutating into different genres entirely, such as trip hop
and began making inroads into the US market. The artist known as Knowledge, was England's first documented rapper (Black Echoes Magazine January 1980). While many rappers such as Derek B
could not help but begin by imitating the styles and accents of their U.S. heroes, there were many who realised that to merely transpose U.S. forms would rob U.K. hip-hop of the ability to speak for a disenfranchised British constituency in the way that U.S. hip-hop so successfully spoke to, and for, its audience. Attempts were made by U.K. rappers to develop styles more obviously rooted in British linguistic practices - Rodney P
of the London Posse
deliberately chose a London accent - although many succeeded only in adopting a slurred hybrid that located the rap somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
and breakdancing, and then through to DJing and rapping
live at parties and club nights, with its supporters predominantly listening to and influenced by American hip hop. Unlike in the US, it should be noted that the British hip hop scene was cross-racial from the beginning. This is due to the fact that various ethnic groups in Britain tend to not live in segregated areas, even in areas with a high percentage of non-white individuals. These places allow youth to share a cultural interchange with one another including musical genres such as hip hop.
Cross pollination through migrating West Indians helped develop a community interested in the music. There were, however, British tunes starting to appear - the first ever British hip hop tune released on record was actually "Christmas Rapping" by Dizzy Heights and released on Polydor in 1982, and not (contrary to popular belief) "London Bridge" by Newtrament
released on Jive records in 1983, though prior to this British artists were rapping live or recording amateur tapes.
There were earlier pop records which dabbled with rap - such as Adam and the Ants
' "Ant Rap" from the 1981 album Prince Charming
and Wham's "Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)" (Inner Vision, 1982) - but these are often considered pop appropriations of US rap.
Malcolm McLaren
's "Buffalo Gals
" (Charisma, 1982), featuring the New York hip hop group World's Famous Supreme Team
, was the breakthrough hit that introduced the genre to Britain, as well as several other tracks from McLaren's Duck Rock
album. The album used techniques that have been established in hip hop in the United States
, such as sampling
and scratching
. Over the next few years, more UK hip hop and electro music was released: Street Sounds Electro UK (Street Sounds, 1984), which was produced by Greg Wilson and featured an early appearance from MC Kermit, who later went on to form the Wilson produced Ruthless Rap Assassins
; The Rapologists
' "Kids Rap/Party Rap" (Billy Boy, 1984); DJ Richie Rich's "Don't Be Flash" (Spin Offs, 1985). Releases were still few and far between, and the scene remained predominantly underground.
Although record labels began to take note of the underground scene throughout the 1980s and 1990s, radio play and publicity were still a difficulty in helping the fledgling scene to grow, and the scene only managed to survive through word of mouth and the patronage of pirate radio
stations around the country. Mainstream radio did play British hip hop on occasion, and instrumental in giving the scene wider recognition were DJs such as Dave Pearce
, Tim Westwood
, and John Peel
.
' Music of Life
label was home to rapper Derek B
- the first UK rapper to achieve chart success.
Building on Derek B's success, Music of Life
went on to sign groups such as Hijack, the Demon Boyz
, Hardnoise
(later Son of Noise) and MC Duke
. Their Hard as Hell series mixed homegrown talent like Thrashpack and the She Rockers
with US artists such as Professor Griff
. Music of Life
was swiftly followed by other labels such as Mango Records and Kold Sweat. Another successful British hip-hop artist that emerged from Music of life, was Usher D Asher D (Jamaican-British rapper), due to being originally from Jamaica, he would often mix hip-hop with reggae music.
Moving away from its US roots, British hip hop started to develop its own sounds: acts like Hijack, II Tone Committee
, Hardnoise
, and Silver Bullet
developed a fast and hardcore
style, while many other acts took influences from elsewhere.
Caveman
and Outlaw Posse
developed a jazz influenced style, whilst MC Mell'O'
mixed jazz
and hardcore. London Posse
and Black Radical Mk II
were more influenced by reggae
, whilst the Wee Papa Girl Rappers
, Cookie Crew
and Monie Love
achieved chart success with more radio friendly hip hop.
Other acts and styles developed from the hip hop scene, resulting in new genres to describe them - for example Massive Attack
with trip hop
, or Galliano
US3
and Urban Species with acid jazz
.
and Young MC
, who all moved to the US at an early age - the majority of the scene was still underground and small scale.
In 1987 Positive Beat Records
http://www.discogs.com/label/Positive+Beat+Records came out of the hotbed of early UK Hip Hop, Ladbroke Grove, London with two releases. The label followed up the single 'Its Getting Rough' by 'Rocky X and D-D Dance' http://top80.pl/disc/release/1338179/RockyX/(It%27s+Getting)+Ruff with the bold and seminal 'Known 2 be Down'http://www.raphistory.net/database?inc=records&operation=details&ID=3078 album. This featured Sir Drew (of KREW and Newtrament
), MC Flex, She Rockers
, Rapski and more of West London's finest rap talents.
In 1988 Rapski released 'The Connection' http://www.discogs.com/Rapski-The-Connection/release/963594 on 12" http://top80.pl/disc/label/Positive+Beat+Records. The track was taken from 'Known 2 Be Down' and was an early example of mixing Hip Hop
and Reggae
in a (London) Style. More was to come in the early 1990s in the form of MC Reason aka Voice of Reason with 'Symbolise / HouseQuake' and Jonie D with 'Which Base / Ride On' which was performed live on ITV
in 1991.
A mindset began to develop - typified by the Gunshot
tune "No Sell Out",1991 or Son of Noise
's tune "Poor But Hardcore", 1992 - that distrusted successful artists who did not utilise the hardcore style most associated with the scene. Silver Bullet
's chart success was applauded due to an uncompromisingly rapid delivery, whereas Derek B and Rebel MC were scorned when their more pop influenced styles earned them success. Such artists were often branded "sell outs".
Hip Hop Connection
- the first major British hip hop magazine - was founded in 1989 and by the early 1990s the British hip hop scene seemed to be thriving. Not only was there a firm base of rappers in London - such as Blade
, Black Radical Mk II
and Overlord X
- but many distinct scenes developed nationally.
Bristol's scene (specifically, the St. Pauls
area) produced The Wild Bunch (later better known as Massive Attack
), and major crews like the Scratch Perverts
and Smith & Mighty
, and later became the home of trip hop
.
Nottingham was the birthplace of the Stereo MCs
, whilst Leeds spawned Braintax
and Breaking the Illusion (who both founded Low Life Records
) as well as Nightmares on Wax
.
Greater Manchester gave birth to the Ruthless Rap Assassins
, Krispy 3 (later Krispy), the Kaliphz
, Jeep Beat Collective
and MC Tunes
.
As the scene grew, it became less common for British rappers to imitate American accents (those that did were often ridiculed) and British rap became more assured of its identity.
Caveman
signed to a major label - Profile Records
, the label home of Run DMC - and Kold Sweat came into their own, discovering groups like The SL Troopers, Dynametrix, Unanimous Decision
and Katch 22, whose "Diary of a Blackman" was banned by Radio 1
for using a sound clip from the British National Front
.
In 1991, Hijack released The Horns of Jericho (Rhyme Syndicate Records, 1991) on Ice-T
's recently formed Rhyme Syndicate label. The first single, "The Badman is Robbin'", was a top 40 hit and they went on sell more than 30,000 albums.
British hip hop was affected by the record industry clamping down on sampling
, beginning to charge for the use of samples and prosecuting those who used them without permission. Larger US acts could afford to licence samples and still turn a profit for their labels, a luxury not available to many smaller UK artists.
One such victim of this was the Milton Keynes
formed The Criminal Minds. Their first two releases in 1990 and 1991 were bogged down by potential sample clearance problems and thus were only ever made available in small numbers, yet rate amongst some of the finest pieces of UK hip hop recorded. As breakbeat hardcore
music started to become very popular in the UK in the early to mid 1990s, The Criminal Minds turned their attention to making this type of music instead.
The predicted UK hip hop boom never achieved its predicted success. The Horns of Jericho (Rhyme Syndicate Records, 1991) was never released in the US, while record companies dropped artists, citing poor sales and lack of interest. Mango Records closed down, and the British public began to turn their affections to jungle
, a fusion of breakbeat hardcore, hip hop and reggae.
In the period between 1992 and 1995 the only group to make much impact was The Brotherhood. They released their first record, simply called 'Brotherhood EP', as a low level white label in 1991 on Trevor Jackson's Bite It! label. They went on to release 'Wayz of the Wize' in 1992, then 'Untitled 93' and 'XXIII' in 1993, and 'Hip Hop N' Rap' in 1994, all on the Bite It! label. None of the records sold huge numbers but they managed to gain good air play on the Tim Westwood show and DJ 279's show on Choice FM, gaining them a solid following across the UK. Bite It! also released quality tracks from artists like Pauly Ryan and the Scientists of Sound.
, was coming of age: The Herbaliser
released Remedies (Ninja Tune
, 1995), Mr Scruff released the "Frolic EP Pt 1" (Pleasure Music, 1995), Mark B released "Any More Questions?" (Jazz Fudge, 1995) and DJ Skitz
released "Where My Mind Is At/Blessed Be The Manor" (Ronin Records, 1996) featuring a young rapper called Roots Manuva
on guest vocals who had previously released the single "Next Type of Motion" (Sound of Money, 1995).
Record labels that attempted to merge British hip hop style and sensibilities with modern dance music began to emerge, like Mark Rae
's Grand Central
(home to Aim, Rae & Christian, and Fingathing, among others) or DJ Vadim
's Jazz Fudge. Increasingly, these artists managed to avoid the issues surrounding sampling by making music themselves (bands such as the Stereo MCs
began playing instruments and sampling their own tunes) or searching out more obscure records where a most cost effective licensing deal could be arranged.
British hip hop began to go through a renaissance, its style shifting from the hardcore template of its youth and moving into more melodic territory.
The Brotherhood managed to break a major deal with Virgin Records in 1995. Continuing their relationship with Trevor Jackson as their producer, they released 3 singles ‘Alphabetical Response’, ‘One Shot’, ‘Punk Funk’ and their album Elementalz, all in 1996. Their work was met with critical acclaim and they toured solidly with American artists including Cyprus Hill, The Roots and WuTang, but big record sales seemed to be very elusive and they parted ways with Virgin in 1998.
In late 1996 Will Ashon
starts up his new Ninja Tune
backed label Big Dada
and plans a roster of performers. Bandit of Birmingham's MSI/Asylum crew informs Will of Juice Aleem
as he is contemplating who can truly represent the ethos of the new label. Ashon is impressed with the demo and agrees to have Aleem on board. The results of this is the first release of the now iconic record label: in 1997 Juice features on Big Dada record label's first ever release[2], "Misanthropic", under the pseudonym "Alpha Prhyme", a collaboration between himself and Luke Vibert
.
In 1998 Mark B and Blade
released "Hitmen for Hire EP", which featured guest appearances from Lewis Parker and Mr Thing
(of the Scratch Perverts
). The EP was a success, and led to the successful 2001 album The Unknown, which despite never charting in the UK top 75, was still a top 100 success and an even more bigger success within its genre. Also, the album spawned the 2001 top 40 single "Ya Don't See the Signs", which was a remix by Feeder
frontman Grant Nicholas
, after the title track was a top 75 hit and Blade with Mark B supported Feeder. The same year, Bristol's Hombré label released the "2012 EP" from Aspects
, a benchmark release within the movement. Roots Manuva
, Blak Twang
, Mud Family, Task Force
, Phi Life Cypher
, MSI & Asylum, Jeep Beat Collective
and Ty all came to the public's attention, while veteran acts Rodney P
, Mike J
, and MC Mell'O'
returned to the scene.
A new generation of artists emerged following the turn of the century, including Jehst
, Idyllic, Nicky Spesh
, Bion
, Whitecoat, Ricta, Foreign Beggars
and Usmaan. At the same time a new style of electronic music
emerging in the early 2000s, influenced heavily by hip hop and UK garage
. The new genre was dubbed grime
(sometimes called eskibeat or sublow). Notable grime acts include Dizzee Rascal
, Bashy
, Wiley, Skepta
, Sway DaSafo
, Ghetto
, M.A., Kano
and Giggs.
Other commercial hip hop influenced artists who have recently emerged include N-Dubz
, Tinchy Stryder
and Chipmunk
who each are notably established in England as pop artists.
Arguably the most successful of the grime acts, Dizzee Rascal, has also crossed the Atlantic to release music in the US on indie label Definitive Jux
, and has recently been at the centre of some controversy regarding British hip-hop. His embrace of the "gangster style of hip-hop" has brought about criticism from political figures like David Blunkett
, who worries that British hip-hop may perpetuate violence. Records such as Pow (Forward Riddim) (2005) by Lethal Bizzle
have made numerous references to guns and subsequently been banned from receiving air play. According to leadership, hip-hop may often glorify gun culture and violence. Dizzee Rascal has spoken back, claming that his existence and the music he made was “a problem for Anthony Blair
.” However, there are British artists who argue that British hip-hop should not be lumped together with American hip-hop and the various stigmata attached to it. British hip-hop, claims Roots Manuva, "is more healthy" than American hip-hop, and is about making the music, not exploiting wealth or hitting it rich.
Success followed The Streets
' 2002 album Original Pirate Material
, and he became one of the first of the new breed of British hip hop artists to gain respectable sales, though his verbal style resulted in him being shunned by many artists in the scene. Such success has caused a surge in media exposure of other British hip hop acts. Welsh rap group Goldie Lookin' Chain also achieved chart success with their tongue-in-cheek take on hip-hop.
A new generation of young socially conscious hip-hop musicians has emerged as a counter to the grime scene that many in the UK Hip Hop Scene perceive as commercial. These rappers strive to bring attention to both positivity and lyricism as well as the injustices of war, gentrification and racism, following in the tradition of conscious rappers such as Nas
, Mos Def
and Talib Kweli
. Amongst these artists who proudly define themselves as "Hip Hop" rather than "Grime" are the likes of Klashnekoff
, Akala
, Wackman, Swag Blanket and the Poisonous Poets
. Perhaps the rapper with the biggest underground support not getting coverage by the mainstream media is rapper, political activist and poet Lowkey
who has toured America and worked with such esteemed acts as Immortal Technique
and Chuck D
of Public Enemy.
At the turn of the decade, UK hip hop started to dominate the UK single and album charts. Acts such as N Dubz, Tinchy Stryder
and Chipmunk
emerged in 2009 to wide commercial success. Tinchy Stryder
scored two number ones with songs Number 1 and Never Leave You
and became the best-selling British solo artist of 2009. The following year continued the success of the previous, with acts like Professor Green
and Tinie Tempah
breaking through to even bigger commercial success and also critical appreciation. The debut album from Tinie Tempah
called Disc-Overy
went to number one in the UK album chart and was certified platinum on 1 March 2011. He also won a Brit Award for his number one single Pass Out
. And soon to be and up coming hip hop artist 'MARC C' was signed out of albuquerque New Mexico in early June of 2011.
, dancehall
, and drum and bass, however 1Xtra does not play exclusively British hip hop.
The cable and satellite, Channel AKA also has the profile of British hip hop and grime.
, Baby Blue, Shystie
, and Mercury prize winner Ms. Dynamite
.
Women in hip hop often confront a large amount of sexist stereotyping. Recently, many female British hip hop artists who confront this stereotyping have become popular. Grime artist Lady Sovereign
has achieved huge success both in the UK and the US. Ms Dynamite (also known as Lady Dynamite), who released her first album in 2002, has become known for the political and social commentary in her music. Singer, songwriter, and rapper Estelle said of the difficult position of female rappers “I think they get a tough ride because some of them don’t see themselves above and beyond the bullshit and no one’s really given them that break.”
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
, and a culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
made in the United Kingdom. It is generally classified as one of a number of styles of urban music. British hip hop was originally influenced by the Dub/Toasting introduced by Jamaican immigrants in the UK (60s/70s), who eventually developed uniquely-influenced rapping (or speed-toasting) in order to match the rhythm of the ever-increasing pace and aggression of Jamaican-influenced Dub in the UK and to describe street/gang-violence, similar to that in the US. UK rap, or speed-toasting, has also been heavily influenced by US Hip-Hop, although not to the extent many assume. UK hip hop has been widely replaced with grime
Grime (music)
Grime is a style of music that emerged from Bow, East London, England in the early 2000s, primarily as a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop...
, however, many British hip hop artists remain producing tracks of this genre.
In 2003, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
described British hip hop's broad ranging approach:
"...'UK rap' is a broad sonic church, encompassing anything made in Britain by musicians informed or inspired by hip-hop's possibilities, whose music is a response to the same stimuli that gave birth to rap in New York in the mid-Seventies.
Origins of British hip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
and began making inroads into the US market. The artist known as Knowledge, was England's first documented rapper (Black Echoes Magazine January 1980). While many rappers such as Derek B
Derek B
Derek Boland , better known by his stage name Derek B, was a British rapper. His most commercially successful releases were "Goodgroove" and "Bad Young Brother" in 1988.- Biography :...
could not help but begin by imitating the styles and accents of their U.S. heroes, there were many who realised that to merely transpose U.S. forms would rob U.K. hip-hop of the ability to speak for a disenfranchised British constituency in the way that U.S. hip-hop so successfully spoke to, and for, its audience. Attempts were made by U.K. rappers to develop styles more obviously rooted in British linguistic practices - Rodney P
Rodney P
Rodney P is an English MC who entered the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s. He started out as a member of the London Posse, one of the UK's first home grown hip hop acts who were highly influential in the development of the genre. Rodney P has had one of the longest and most respected careers in UK...
of the London Posse
London Posse
London Posse was one of the earliest groups in the British hip hop scene. It was formed by Sipho the Human Beatbox, along with Rodney P, Bionic and DJ Biznezz. They formed for a tour of the US to support Mick Jones' new group, Big Audio Dynamite...
deliberately chose a London accent - although many succeeded only in adopting a slurred hybrid that located the rap somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Early years: 1980s
As in the US, British hip hop emerged as a scene from graffitiGraffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
and breakdancing, and then through to DJing and rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
live at parties and club nights, with its supporters predominantly listening to and influenced by American hip hop. Unlike in the US, it should be noted that the British hip hop scene was cross-racial from the beginning. This is due to the fact that various ethnic groups in Britain tend to not live in segregated areas, even in areas with a high percentage of non-white individuals. These places allow youth to share a cultural interchange with one another including musical genres such as hip hop.
Cross pollination through migrating West Indians helped develop a community interested in the music. There were, however, British tunes starting to appear - the first ever British hip hop tune released on record was actually "Christmas Rapping" by Dizzy Heights and released on Polydor in 1982, and not (contrary to popular belief) "London Bridge" by Newtrament
Newtrament
Newtrament is a London DJ credited with releasing the first British hip hop record in the UK - London Bridge is Falling Down by Jive Records. He recorded it in 1983, and it was based on the nursery rhyme with a political message that electoral politics were a sham.- External links :**...
released on Jive records in 1983, though prior to this British artists were rapping live or recording amateur tapes.
There were earlier pop records which dabbled with rap - such as Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...
' "Ant Rap" from the 1981 album Prince Charming
Prince Charming (album)
Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated Prince Charming three-and-a-half out of five stars. He explained that it was "a markedly different record than [Kings of the Wild Frontier], intentionally so", and that "the songs just aren't there." However, he concluded by stating that it "simply has style...
and Wham's "Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)" (Inner Vision, 1982) - but these are often considered pop appropriations of US rap.
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...
's "Buffalo Gals
Buffalo Gals (Malcolm McLaren song)
Buffalo Gals is a hip-hop single released by Malcolm McLaren & the World's Famous Supreme Team as a single in 1982 and on their 1983 album Duck Rock. The song is composed of extensive scratching with calls from square dancing...
" (Charisma, 1982), featuring the New York hip hop group World's Famous Supreme Team
World's Famous Supreme Team
The World's Famous Supreme Team was an American hip hop group founded in the 1980s. Members included Larry Price and Ronald Larkins Jr., among others. The group joined forces with Malcolm McLaren on a number of early hit hip hop records. Among the group's most well-known works were the singles...
, was the breakthrough hit that introduced the genre to Britain, as well as several other tracks from McLaren's Duck Rock
Duck Rock
Duck Rock is an album released by British impresario Malcolm McLaren In 1983. The album mixes up styles from South Africa, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, and the US, including hip hop. The album proved to be highly influential in bringing hip hop to a wider audience in the UK...
album. The album used techniques that have been established in hip hop in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, such as sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
and scratching
Scratching
Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
. Over the next few years, more UK hip hop and electro music was released: Street Sounds Electro UK (Street Sounds, 1984), which was produced by Greg Wilson and featured an early appearance from MC Kermit, who later went on to form the Wilson produced Ruthless Rap Assassins
Ruthless Rap Assassins
The Ruthless Rap Assassins were a British hip hop group from Hulme, Manchester, England. The group was formed by MC Kermit La Freak and brothers Dangerous Hinds and Dangerous C .-History:Kermit grew up in Moss Side, Manchester - where he learnt to play violin at the age of 6 - and was...
; The Rapologists
Herbie the Mastermind
Herbie the Mastermind is a DJ who has worked under a variety of pseudonyms, including The Rapologists and Mastermind...
' "Kids Rap/Party Rap" (Billy Boy, 1984); DJ Richie Rich's "Don't Be Flash" (Spin Offs, 1985). Releases were still few and far between, and the scene remained predominantly underground.
Although record labels began to take note of the underground scene throughout the 1980s and 1990s, radio play and publicity were still a difficulty in helping the fledgling scene to grow, and the scene only managed to survive through word of mouth and the patronage of pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
stations around the country. Mainstream radio did play British hip hop on occasion, and instrumental in giving the scene wider recognition were DJs such as Dave Pearce
Dave Pearce
Dave Pearce is a British dance DJ and record producer, who has played gigs across the UK and the world, although he is perhaps best known for his work in radio. He currently works for the BBC 6 Music...
, Tim Westwood
Tim Westwood
Timothy Westwood is an English DJ and presenter of radio and television. He also presents the UK version of the MTV show Pimp My Ride...
, and John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
.
Rappers of the 1980's
Kinetic Effect hit the scene in the early 1980's and was part of the rap outfit 2 the Top as D-Koy. In 1981, he teamed with Insane Macbeth to record "Borderin' Insanity," which was released in 1993, and had a limit 500 green vinyl availability. In 1995, Kinetic Effect recorded 'Man Bites Dog'/'The Effect of Fear' Their song "The Rhythm I Give ‘Em," made the UK Top 10 Hip Hop chart. Other notable rappers of this era include Cash Crew, Shogun MC, Hijack, MC Untouchable and Dee LawalThe first British hip hop labels
The first UK record label devoted to releasing UK hip hop acts was founded in 1986. Simon HarrisSimon Harris
Simon Harris , is predominantly known as the owner and founder of the record label Music of Life and writer/producer of most of its extensive catalog of songs, although he is also an influential DJ, award winning producer, remixer of several Grammy Award winning artists and pioneer of electronic...
' Music of Life
Music of Life
Music of Life is a British independent dance music label formed in 1986 by two influential DJ remixers, Froggy and Simon Harris. Following several successful productions, one of which reached No3 in the UK pop music charts Harris and Froggy decided to launch their own label, they were offered a...
label was home to rapper Derek B
Derek B
Derek Boland , better known by his stage name Derek B, was a British rapper. His most commercially successful releases were "Goodgroove" and "Bad Young Brother" in 1988.- Biography :...
- the first UK rapper to achieve chart success.
Building on Derek B's success, Music of Life
Music of Life
Music of Life is a British independent dance music label formed in 1986 by two influential DJ remixers, Froggy and Simon Harris. Following several successful productions, one of which reached No3 in the UK pop music charts Harris and Froggy decided to launch their own label, they were offered a...
went on to sign groups such as Hijack, the Demon Boyz
Demon Boyz
The Demon Boyz were an English hip hop group formed in London by Demon D, Mike J and DJ Devastate. They began rapping whilst in their early teens, performing at the Rebel MC’s Beat Freak gigs. Their big break came when they won a competition on Dave Pearce’s rap show, their prize being to perform...
, Hardnoise
Hardnoise
Hardnoise were one of the founding fathers of the British hip hop scene, and - along with early label-mates Hijack - set the template for the UK hardcore sound...
(later Son of Noise) and MC Duke
MC Duke
MC Duke was a British rapper from the East End of London, who recorded with DJ Leader 1. He was one of the pioneers of the early British hardcore sound and later went on to record as IC3.-Biography:...
. Their Hard as Hell series mixed homegrown talent like Thrashpack and the She Rockers
She Rockers
The She Rockers were a female hip hop trio from London, the most famous member of which was Betty Boo .-Career:...
with US artists such as Professor Griff
Professor Griff
Professor Griff is an American rapper and spoken word artist. He is a member of the hip hop group Public Enemy and head of the Security of the First World.-Early years in Public Enemy:...
. Music of Life
Music of Life
Music of Life is a British independent dance music label formed in 1986 by two influential DJ remixers, Froggy and Simon Harris. Following several successful productions, one of which reached No3 in the UK pop music charts Harris and Froggy decided to launch their own label, they were offered a...
was swiftly followed by other labels such as Mango Records and Kold Sweat. Another successful British hip-hop artist that emerged from Music of life, was Usher D Asher D (Jamaican-British rapper), due to being originally from Jamaica, he would often mix hip-hop with reggae music.
Moving away from its US roots, British hip hop started to develop its own sounds: acts like Hijack, II Tone Committee
II Tone Committee
II Tone Committee a.k.a Tones of Twice, composed of Mista Bohze, Defy, Sace and DJ Krashslaughta and emerged from the Glasgow Hip Hop scene of the late 80’s-History:...
, Hardnoise
Hardnoise
Hardnoise were one of the founding fathers of the British hip hop scene, and - along with early label-mates Hijack - set the template for the UK hardcore sound...
, and Silver Bullet
Silver Bullet (rapper)
Silver Bullet was a rapper born in and raised in London, England. He went to school in Buckingham and then was moved to Leighton Buzzard and then to Aylesbury in 1988...
developed a fast and hardcore
Hardcore hip hop
Hardcore hip hop, also referred to as hardcore rap, is a sub-genre of hip hop music that developed through the East Coast hip hop scene in the 1980s. Pioneered by such artists as Schoolly D, Spoonie Gee, Boogie Down Productions, and Kool G Rap, it is generally characterized by anger, aggression and...
style, while many other acts took influences from elsewhere.
Caveman
Caveman (Hip Hop)
Caveman was a British hip hop group originally from High Wycombe, consisting of MCM, the Principal, and Diamond J. They were the first British hip hop group to be signed to a major U.S...
and Outlaw Posse
Outlaw Posse
Outlaw Posse was a British hip hop group formed by Bello B and K-Gee . They also recorded together as Outlaw and Brothers Like Outlaw, before the group finally split in 1992.-Biography:...
developed a jazz influenced style, whilst MC Mell'O'
MC Mell'O'
MC Mell'O comes from Battersea in south London, and was originally known for his bodypopping skills rather than his rapping, going under the tag Moomin...
mixed jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and hardcore. London Posse
London Posse
London Posse was one of the earliest groups in the British hip hop scene. It was formed by Sipho the Human Beatbox, along with Rodney P, Bionic and DJ Biznezz. They formed for a tour of the US to support Mick Jones' new group, Big Audio Dynamite...
and Black Radical Mk II
Black Radical Mk II
Black Radical Mk II is a British hip hop artist from Tottenham, England. He was one of the pioneers of the British scene, releasing his first single in 1987 and continuing to release records until 1998...
were more influenced by reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, whilst the Wee Papa Girl Rappers
Wee Papa Girl Rappers
Wee Papa Girl Rappers were a British female rap duo, who found chart success in the late 1980s. They were twin sisters Sandra and Samantha Lawrence.- Overview :...
, Cookie Crew
Cookie Crew
Cookie Crew were a rap music duo formed in Clapham, South London in 1983.-Career:Their career took off after winning a national rap championship and recording two sessions for the John Peel BBC Radio 1 show...
and Monie Love
Monie Love
Simone Riscoe , better known by her stage name Monie Love, is an English emcee and former radio personality in the United States...
achieved chart success with more radio friendly hip hop.
Other acts and styles developed from the hip hop scene, resulting in new genres to describe them - for example Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
with trip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
, or Galliano
Galliano (band)
Galliano were a London-based acid jazz group, which started in 1988. The group was the first signing to Eddie Piller and Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud label. The original members were Rob Gallagher , Constantine Weir , Michael Snaith , and Crispin Robinson...
US3
US3
Us3 is a jazz-rap group founded in London in 1991. Their name was inspired by a Horace Parlan recording produced by Alfred Lion, the founder of Blue Note Records. On their debut album, Hand on the Torch, Us3 used samples from the Blue Note Records catalogue, all originally produced by...
and Urban Species with acid jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
.
Development
Despite the chart success of some British born hip hop artists - for example Slick RickSlick Rick
Richard Walters , better known by his stage name Slick Rick is a Grammy-nominated English-American rapper...
and Young MC
Young MC
Marvin Young , better known by his stage name Young MC, is an English-born American singer and actor. He is best known for his 1989 hit "Bust a Move"...
, who all moved to the US at an early age - the majority of the scene was still underground and small scale.
In 1987 Positive Beat Records
Positive Beat Records
Positive Beat Records an independent record label formed in West London Ladbroke Grove in 1987. The label presses and sells recordings of local artists.-History:...
http://www.discogs.com/label/Positive+Beat+Records came out of the hotbed of early UK Hip Hop, Ladbroke Grove, London with two releases. The label followed up the single 'Its Getting Rough' by 'Rocky X and D-D Dance' http://top80.pl/disc/release/1338179/RockyX/(It%27s+Getting)+Ruff with the bold and seminal 'Known 2 be Down'http://www.raphistory.net/database?inc=records&operation=details&ID=3078 album. This featured Sir Drew (of KREW and Newtrament
Newtrament
Newtrament is a London DJ credited with releasing the first British hip hop record in the UK - London Bridge is Falling Down by Jive Records. He recorded it in 1983, and it was based on the nursery rhyme with a political message that electoral politics were a sham.- External links :**...
), MC Flex, She Rockers
She Rockers
The She Rockers were a female hip hop trio from London, the most famous member of which was Betty Boo .-Career:...
, Rapski and more of West London's finest rap talents.
In 1988 Rapski released 'The Connection' http://www.discogs.com/Rapski-The-Connection/release/963594 on 12" http://top80.pl/disc/label/Positive+Beat+Records. The track was taken from 'Known 2 Be Down' and was an early example of mixing Hip Hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
and Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
in a (London) Style. More was to come in the early 1990s in the form of MC Reason aka Voice of Reason with 'Symbolise / HouseQuake' and Jonie D with 'Which Base / Ride On' which was performed live on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in 1991.
A mindset began to develop - typified by the Gunshot
Gunshot (band)
Gunshot was a British hip hop group, formed by MC Mercury, MC Alkaline, Q-Roc, DJ White Child Rix and DJ/MC Barry Blue in the area of Leyton in east London.-Career:...
tune "No Sell Out",1991 or Son of Noise
Hardnoise
Hardnoise were one of the founding fathers of the British hip hop scene, and - along with early label-mates Hijack - set the template for the UK hardcore sound...
's tune "Poor But Hardcore", 1992 - that distrusted successful artists who did not utilise the hardcore style most associated with the scene. Silver Bullet
Silver Bullet (rapper)
Silver Bullet was a rapper born in and raised in London, England. He went to school in Buckingham and then was moved to Leighton Buzzard and then to Aylesbury in 1988...
's chart success was applauded due to an uncompromisingly rapid delivery, whereas Derek B and Rebel MC were scorned when their more pop influenced styles earned them success. Such artists were often branded "sell outs".
Hip Hop Connection
Hip Hop Connection
Hip Hop Connection is the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. HHC has earned international recognition and was described by Chuck D as "the best magazine in the world".-History:...
- the first major British hip hop magazine - was founded in 1989 and by the early 1990s the British hip hop scene seemed to be thriving. Not only was there a firm base of rappers in London - such as Blade
Blade (rapper)
Blade is a British rapper, born in the Armenian quarter of Iran and came to London when he was 7. His first single, Lyrical Maniac recorded in 1989, soon brought Blade to prominence in the fledgling British hip hop scene....
, Black Radical Mk II
Black Radical Mk II
Black Radical Mk II is a British hip hop artist from Tottenham, England. He was one of the pioneers of the British scene, releasing his first single in 1987 and continuing to release records until 1998...
and Overlord X
Overlord X
Overlord X was one of the earliest British hip hop artists to receive national acclaim in the UK, with his most well known song still being his second single release, "14 Days in May" about Edward Earl Johnson. He worked with DJ Sir Preme T as well as other members of the "X Posse"...
- but many distinct scenes developed nationally.
Bristol's scene (specifically, the St. Pauls
St Pauls, Bristol
St Pauls is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, situated just north east of the city centre and west of the M32. It is bounded by the A38, the B4051 and the A4032 roads...
area) produced The Wild Bunch (later better known as Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
), and major crews like the Scratch Perverts
Scratch Perverts
The Scratch Perverts are a collective of turntablist DJs from London, formed in 1996 by Tony Vegas, Prime Cuts and DJ Renegade.-Biography:The Scratch Perverts originally consisted of 4 members; Tony Vegas, Renegade, First Rate and Mr Thing. The Scratch Perverts later expanded to an 8-member...
and Smith & Mighty
Smith & Mighty
Smith & Mighty are a Drum and bass/Trip hop group from Bristol, consisting of Rob Smith and Ray Mighty. Their first releases, in the late 1980s, were breakbeat covers of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "Walk on By"...
, and later became the home of trip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
.
Nottingham was the birthplace of the Stereo MCs
Stereo MCs
Stereo MCs are an English electronic dance group, which formed in Clapham, London in 1985. They are best known worldwide for their 1992 transatlantic Top 20 hit single, "Connected"...
, whilst Leeds spawned Braintax
Braintax
Braintax was a British hip hop artist and producer. Joe Christie had also recorded or appeared under the pseudonyms Brando Flux and Joey Brains. All of his releases were on his own record label, Low Life Records....
and Breaking the Illusion (who both founded Low Life Records
Low Life Records
Low Life Records was an independent record label promoting UK hip hop music. It was founded in Leeds by Joseph Christie, Aaron Harrow, Tomas Stewart and Paul Edmeade before being relocated to west London by Christie. The label came to an abrupt end when Braintax announced his sudden retirement from...
) as well as Nightmares on Wax
Nightmares on Wax
George Evelyn, better known as Nightmares on Wax and also known as DJ EASE , is a DJ from Leeds, UK. His music is released on Warp Records and was one of the first releases on the label. Evelyn got his start in the music industry through an interest in hip hop and on joining a local breakdancing crew...
.
Greater Manchester gave birth to the Ruthless Rap Assassins
Ruthless Rap Assassins
The Ruthless Rap Assassins were a British hip hop group from Hulme, Manchester, England. The group was formed by MC Kermit La Freak and brothers Dangerous Hinds and Dangerous C .-History:Kermit grew up in Moss Side, Manchester - where he learnt to play violin at the age of 6 - and was...
, Krispy 3 (later Krispy), the Kaliphz
Kaliphz
Kaliphz were a British hip hop crew formed in Rochdale by 2-Phaan and Jabba da Hype. They began as part of the breakdancing scene in the early 1980s, before branching out into spoken word and rap as other members joined the group. The group had a constantly shifting membership, and various name...
, Jeep Beat Collective
Jeep Beat Collective
Jeep Beat Collective is the best known recording name of British hiphop DJ Dave Davies. He has also recorded under the names Mindbomb, Godfather of Weird and Dave the Ruf. His music carries a heavy emphasis on scratching, but he also raps. In 1999 Spin magazine included Jeep Beat Collective in...
and MC Tunes
MC Tunes
MC Tunes is a British rapper from the suburb of Moss Side in Manchester. His name was legally changed to Lockett in 1981. Tunes was one of the big promoters of the Madchester-era during the 1980s and 1990s.-808 State:Tunes first worked with 808 State on the 1990 album, The North At Its Heights...
.
As the scene grew, it became less common for British rappers to imitate American accents (those that did were often ridiculed) and British rap became more assured of its identity.
Caveman
Caveman (Hip Hop)
Caveman was a British hip hop group originally from High Wycombe, consisting of MCM, the Principal, and Diamond J. They were the first British hip hop group to be signed to a major U.S...
signed to a major label - Profile Records
Profile Records
Profile Records was a record label that specialized in many types of urban-oriented music, such as hip hop, active until 1996..- History :In 1980, at 23 years old, after working briefly for MCA, Cory Robbins was looking to start a record label. He invited his songwriter friend Steve Plotnicki to be...
, the label home of Run DMC - and Kold Sweat came into their own, discovering groups like The SL Troopers, Dynametrix, Unanimous Decision
Unanimous decision
A unanimous decision is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking in which all three judges agree on which fighter won the match....
and Katch 22, whose "Diary of a Blackman" was banned by Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
for using a sound clip from the British National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
.
In 1991, Hijack released The Horns of Jericho (Rhyme Syndicate Records, 1991) on Ice-T
ICE-T
* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...
's recently formed Rhyme Syndicate label. The first single, "The Badman is Robbin'", was a top 40 hit and they went on sell more than 30,000 albums.
British hip hop was affected by the record industry clamping down on sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
, beginning to charge for the use of samples and prosecuting those who used them without permission. Larger US acts could afford to licence samples and still turn a profit for their labels, a luxury not available to many smaller UK artists.
One such victim of this was the Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
formed The Criminal Minds. Their first two releases in 1990 and 1991 were bogged down by potential sample clearance problems and thus were only ever made available in small numbers, yet rate amongst some of the finest pieces of UK hip hop recorded. As breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore is a derivative of the acid house and techno, of the late 1980s and early 1990s, that combines four-to-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats, and is associated with the UK rave scene.-The rave scene:...
music started to become very popular in the UK in the early to mid 1990s, The Criminal Minds turned their attention to making this type of music instead.
The predicted UK hip hop boom never achieved its predicted success. The Horns of Jericho (Rhyme Syndicate Records, 1991) was never released in the US, while record companies dropped artists, citing poor sales and lack of interest. Mango Records closed down, and the British public began to turn their affections to jungle
Oldschool jungle
Jungle is a genre of electronic music that incorporates influences from genres including breakbeat hardcore, and reggae/dub/dancehall. There is debate as to whether jungle is a separate genre from drum and bass as many use the terms interchangeably...
, a fusion of breakbeat hardcore, hip hop and reggae.
In the period between 1992 and 1995 the only group to make much impact was The Brotherhood. They released their first record, simply called 'Brotherhood EP', as a low level white label in 1991 on Trevor Jackson's Bite It! label. They went on to release 'Wayz of the Wize' in 1992, then 'Untitled 93' and 'XXIII' in 1993, and 'Hip Hop N' Rap' in 1994, all on the Bite It! label. None of the records sold huge numbers but they managed to gain good air play on the Tim Westwood show and DJ 279's show on Choice FM, gaining them a solid following across the UK. Bite It! also released quality tracks from artists like Pauly Ryan and the Scientists of Sound.
The next generation
As the old rappers left the scene, a new generation, raised on hip hop and electronicaElectronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, was coming of age: The Herbaliser
The Herbaliser
The Herbaliser is a jazz rap band formed by Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba London, England during the early 1990s. Although currently signed to !K7 Records, they were one of the best-known acts from the Ninja Tune independent record label...
released Remedies (Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune is a London-based independent record label started by DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More, better known as Coldcut and managed by Peter Quicke. The label has a strong leaning towards mostly Electronic Music...
, 1995), Mr Scruff released the "Frolic EP Pt 1" (Pleasure Music, 1995), Mark B released "Any More Questions?" (Jazz Fudge, 1995) and DJ Skitz
DJ Skitz
DJ Skitz or Skitz is a British DJ and music producer. He was born in 1970 in Cambridgeshire and started DJing in 1991. He has compiled a number of British Hip Hop compilations and other Hip Hop compilations. Along with Rodney P he produced the first track to ever be played on BBC Radio 1Xtra in...
released "Where My Mind Is At/Blessed Be The Manor" (Ronin Records, 1996) featuring a young rapper called Roots Manuva
Roots Manuva
Rodney Hylton Smith , better known by his stage name Roots Manuva, is a British rapper from Stockwell, South London. He is currently signed to Big Dada.-Biography:...
on guest vocals who had previously released the single "Next Type of Motion" (Sound of Money, 1995).
Record labels that attempted to merge British hip hop style and sensibilities with modern dance music began to emerge, like Mark Rae
Mark Rae
Mark Rae, born in Ashington, Northumberland, England, is the head of the highly revered independent record label Grand Central Records and one half of DJ and production duo Rae & Christian.-Grand Central and Rae & Christian:...
's Grand Central
Grand Central Records
Grand Central Records was an independent record label based in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, UK. It was started in 1995 by DJ Mark Rae . Rae started out working as manager of the Fat City Records' store...
(home to Aim, Rae & Christian, and Fingathing, among others) or DJ Vadim
DJ Vadim
DJ Vadim is a prolific DJ and producer, born in Leningrad, USSR , raised in London and currently residing in both New York and Berlin, whose music combines hip hop, soul, reggae and electronica...
's Jazz Fudge. Increasingly, these artists managed to avoid the issues surrounding sampling by making music themselves (bands such as the Stereo MCs
Stereo MCs
Stereo MCs are an English electronic dance group, which formed in Clapham, London in 1985. They are best known worldwide for their 1992 transatlantic Top 20 hit single, "Connected"...
began playing instruments and sampling their own tunes) or searching out more obscure records where a most cost effective licensing deal could be arranged.
British hip hop began to go through a renaissance, its style shifting from the hardcore template of its youth and moving into more melodic territory.
The Brotherhood managed to break a major deal with Virgin Records in 1995. Continuing their relationship with Trevor Jackson as their producer, they released 3 singles ‘Alphabetical Response’, ‘One Shot’, ‘Punk Funk’ and their album Elementalz, all in 1996. Their work was met with critical acclaim and they toured solidly with American artists including Cyprus Hill, The Roots and WuTang, but big record sales seemed to be very elusive and they parted ways with Virgin in 1998.
In late 1996 Will Ashon
Will Ashon
Will Ashon is an English novelist, former music journalist and founder of the Big Dada imprint of Ninja Tune records. Ashon was educated at Countesthorpe Community College and Balliol College, Oxford...
starts up his new Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune is a London-based independent record label started by DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More, better known as Coldcut and managed by Peter Quicke. The label has a strong leaning towards mostly Electronic Music...
backed label Big Dada
Big Dada
Big Dada Recordings is the Hip Hop imprint of London-based independent record label, Ninja Tune. It is best known for being the home of prominent British hip hop artist Roots Manuva. It was started by reputed hip hop journalist Will Ashon in February 1997...
and plans a roster of performers. Bandit of Birmingham's MSI/Asylum crew informs Will of Juice Aleem
Juice Aleem
-Biography:After putting years of energy into the Birmingham Hip Hop scene, Juice's "Ghetto Grammer" Freestyle rap sessions started featuring such other future stars as Ty, Skinnyman and MPHO. In 1996 Will Ashon starts up his new Ninja Tune backed label Big Dada and plans a roster of performers...
as he is contemplating who can truly represent the ethos of the new label. Ashon is impressed with the demo and agrees to have Aleem on board. The results of this is the first release of the now iconic record label: in 1997 Juice features on Big Dada record label's first ever release[2], "Misanthropic", under the pseudonym "Alpha Prhyme", a collaboration between himself and Luke Vibert
Luke Vibert
Luke Vibert is a British recording artist and producer known for his work in many subgenres of electronic music. Vibert began his musical career as a member of the Hate Brothers, only later branching out into his own compositions...
.
In 1998 Mark B and Blade
Blade (rapper)
Blade is a British rapper, born in the Armenian quarter of Iran and came to London when he was 7. His first single, Lyrical Maniac recorded in 1989, soon brought Blade to prominence in the fledgling British hip hop scene....
released "Hitmen for Hire EP", which featured guest appearances from Lewis Parker and Mr Thing
Mr Thing
Mr Thing is a British hip hop producer. He is a former member of the Scratch Perverts. He has worked with such artists as Yungun, Doc Brown and Devise...
(of the Scratch Perverts
Scratch Perverts
The Scratch Perverts are a collective of turntablist DJs from London, formed in 1996 by Tony Vegas, Prime Cuts and DJ Renegade.-Biography:The Scratch Perverts originally consisted of 4 members; Tony Vegas, Renegade, First Rate and Mr Thing. The Scratch Perverts later expanded to an 8-member...
). The EP was a success, and led to the successful 2001 album The Unknown, which despite never charting in the UK top 75, was still a top 100 success and an even more bigger success within its genre. Also, the album spawned the 2001 top 40 single "Ya Don't See the Signs", which was a remix by Feeder
Feeder
-Technology:* Feeder , any of several devices used in apiculture to supplement or replace natural food sources* Feeder , another name for a riser, a reservoir built into a metal casting mold to prevent cavities due to shrinkage...
frontman Grant Nicholas
Grant Nicholas
Grant Nicholas is a Welsh musician, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist of the rock band Feeder, along with bassist Taka Hirose and drummer Karl Brazil.-Early years:...
, after the title track was a top 75 hit and Blade with Mark B supported Feeder. The same year, Bristol's Hombré label released the "2012 EP" from Aspects
Aspects (band)
Aspects are a Hip Hop group hailing from Bristol, England; the outfit's core members being emcees El Eye, *Mantis and Bubber Loui.-Career:The band formed in 1996 and were once part of a larger collective of artists known as FSH...
, a benchmark release within the movement. Roots Manuva
Roots Manuva
Rodney Hylton Smith , better known by his stage name Roots Manuva, is a British rapper from Stockwell, South London. He is currently signed to Big Dada.-Biography:...
, Blak Twang
Blak Twang
Blak Twang who also uses the pseudonyms of Taipanic and Tony Rotton, is a British rapper who grew up in Deptford, Lewisham, South East London...
, Mud Family, Task Force
Task Force (band)
Task Force are a British hip hop group from Highbury in London, England. The group is led primarily by two brothers Chester P and Farma G...
, Phi Life Cypher
Phi Life Cypher
Phi Life Cypher is a British hip hop group based in Luton, comprising two MCs, Si Phili and Life MC, and DJ Nappa. The trio started making music together around 1996, and since have had much success on the UK underground circuit...
, MSI & Asylum, Jeep Beat Collective
Jeep Beat Collective
Jeep Beat Collective is the best known recording name of British hiphop DJ Dave Davies. He has also recorded under the names Mindbomb, Godfather of Weird and Dave the Ruf. His music carries a heavy emphasis on scratching, but he also raps. In 1999 Spin magazine included Jeep Beat Collective in...
and Ty all came to the public's attention, while veteran acts Rodney P
Rodney P
Rodney P is an English MC who entered the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s. He started out as a member of the London Posse, one of the UK's first home grown hip hop acts who were highly influential in the development of the genre. Rodney P has had one of the longest and most respected careers in UK...
, Mike J
Demon Boyz
The Demon Boyz were an English hip hop group formed in London by Demon D, Mike J and DJ Devastate. They began rapping whilst in their early teens, performing at the Rebel MC’s Beat Freak gigs. Their big break came when they won a competition on Dave Pearce’s rap show, their prize being to perform...
, and MC Mell'O'
MC Mell'O'
MC Mell'O comes from Battersea in south London, and was originally known for his bodypopping skills rather than his rapping, going under the tag Moomin...
returned to the scene.
A new generation of artists emerged following the turn of the century, including Jehst
Jehst
William G. Shields, better known as Jehst or a slew of aliases including The High Plains Drifter, Billy Brimstone and Jay Star, is an English rapper and co-founder of hip hop label YNR.-Biography:...
, Idyllic, Nicky Spesh
Nicky Spesh
Nicky Spesh hails from North London, England. An emerging member of the British hip hop and Grime scene alongside the likes of Sway DaSafo. Nicky Spesh first became recognised when he freestyled over DJ Kool Herc's set at The Scala in London in 2002...
, Bion
Bion
Bion , Greek bucolic poet, was a native of the city of Smyrna and flourished about 100 BC. Most of his work is lost. There remain 17 fragments and the Epitaph of Adonis, a mythological poem on the death of Adonis and the lament of Aphrodite...
, Whitecoat, Ricta, Foreign Beggars
Foreign Beggars
Foreign Beggars are a critically acclaimed British Hip Hop, Grime and Dubstep group based in London. The group consists of MCs Orifice Vulgatron, Metropolis, producer Dag Nabbit and DJ Nonames and are renowned for their eclectic and energetic live shows...
and Usmaan. At the same time a new style of electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
emerging in the early 2000s, influenced heavily by hip hop and UK garage
UK garage
UK garage is a genre of electronic dance music originating from the United Kingdom in the early-1990s. UK garage is a descendant of house music which originated in Chicago and New York, United States. UK garage usually features a distinctive syncopated 4/4 percussive rhythm with 'shuffling'...
. The new genre was dubbed grime
Grime (music)
Grime is a style of music that emerged from Bow, East London, England in the early 2000s, primarily as a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop...
(sometimes called eskibeat or sublow). Notable grime acts include Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
, Bashy
Bashy
Ashley Thomas , better known by his stage name Bashy, is an English recording artist and actor. He rose to prominence in 2007 after the release of his controversial track "Black Boys".-Early life:...
, Wiley, Skepta
Skepta
Joseph Junior Adenuga , better known as Skepta, is an English rapper from London. Originally from and born to Nigerian parents he moved to London aged three....
, Sway DaSafo
Sway DaSafo
Derek Andrew Safo is a Ghanaian British musician who uses the stage names Sway DaSafo or Sway. He is signed to Akon's Konvict Muzik record label and he is also a producer, establishing DCypha Productions.-Childhood:...
, Ghetto
Ghetto (rapper)
Justin Reginald Clarke Samuel , better known by his stage name Ghetts is an English grime artist from Plaistow, Newham, east London of African-Caribbean and Ghanaian descent. His music has been played on national radio stations such as BBC Radio 1, Kiss 100, BBC Asian Network and BBC Radio 1Xtra...
, M.A., Kano
Kano (rapper)
Kane Brett Robinson , better known as Kano and also known as Kane O, is an English rapper and actor. His grandparents came to England as immigrants from Jamaica. He was formerly a key member of east London’s N.A.S.T.Y...
and Giggs.
Other commercial hip hop influenced artists who have recently emerged include N-Dubz
N-Dubz
N-Dubz are a British hip hop group from Camden Town, London. The group consists of members Dappy, Tulisa Contostavlos and Fazer.N-Dubz were previously signed to Polydor Records before joining All Around the World Records...
, Tinchy Stryder
Tinchy Stryder
Kwasi Danquah III , better known by his pseudonyms Tinchy Stryder and Star In The Hood, is a Ghanaian British recording artist, music executive, A&R executive, and businessman...
and Chipmunk
Chipmunk (rapper)
Jahmaal Noel Fyffe known by his stage name Chipmunk, is a British hip hop rapper and songwriter from Tottenham, London....
who each are notably established in England as pop artists.
Arguably the most successful of the grime acts, Dizzee Rascal, has also crossed the Atlantic to release music in the US on indie label Definitive Jux
Definitive Jux
Definitive Jux is an independent record label based in New York City, United States. It was co-founded in 1999 by Jaime Meline and Amaechi Uzoigwe. The label was initially known simply as Def Jux, but in 2001, popular hip hop label Def Jam Recordings sued Def Jux over the name similarity...
, and has recently been at the centre of some controversy regarding British hip-hop. His embrace of the "gangster style of hip-hop" has brought about criticism from political figures like David Blunkett
David Blunkett
David Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...
, who worries that British hip-hop may perpetuate violence. Records such as Pow (Forward Riddim) (2005) by Lethal Bizzle
Lethal Bizzle
Lethal Bizzle, also known as Lethal B , is a Ghanaian British rapper. His songs are known to satirise modern Gangsta rap; much of the humour comes from the adoption of hip-hop style and language...
have made numerous references to guns and subsequently been banned from receiving air play. According to leadership, hip-hop may often glorify gun culture and violence. Dizzee Rascal has spoken back, claming that his existence and the music he made was “a problem for Anthony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
.” However, there are British artists who argue that British hip-hop should not be lumped together with American hip-hop and the various stigmata attached to it. British hip-hop, claims Roots Manuva, "is more healthy" than American hip-hop, and is about making the music, not exploiting wealth or hitting it rich.
Success followed The Streets
The Streets
The Streets were a British rap/garage project from Birmingham, United Kingdom, led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner and has included a myriad of other contributors most notably drummer Johnny Drum Machine, vocalist Kevin Mark Trail and the Italian-American beatmaker Leroy.The...
' 2002 album Original Pirate Material
Original Pirate Material
Original Pirate Material is the debut album by the English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under the name The Streets.The album is a unique take on UK garage and lyrics dealing with everyday circumstances and occurrences...
, and he became one of the first of the new breed of British hip hop artists to gain respectable sales, though his verbal style resulted in him being shunned by many artists in the scene. Such success has caused a surge in media exposure of other British hip hop acts. Welsh rap group Goldie Lookin' Chain also achieved chart success with their tongue-in-cheek take on hip-hop.
A new generation of young socially conscious hip-hop musicians has emerged as a counter to the grime scene that many in the UK Hip Hop Scene perceive as commercial. These rappers strive to bring attention to both positivity and lyricism as well as the injustices of war, gentrification and racism, following in the tradition of conscious rappers such as Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
, Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
and Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...
. Amongst these artists who proudly define themselves as "Hip Hop" rather than "Grime" are the likes of Klashnekoff
Klashnekoff
Darren Kandler, known by his stage name Klashnekoff or Ricochet Klashnekoff, is a Jamaican-English rapper from east London. Klashnekoff was born in Hornsey, but then moved to Hackney in London where he began his career in rapping...
, Akala
Akala
Akala may refer to:* [[ʻĀkala]] or Rubus hawaiensis, a species of flowering plant endemic to Hawaii* Akala , English rap and hip hop artist...
, Wackman, Swag Blanket and the Poisonous Poets
Poisonous Poets
Poisonous Poets are an English hip hop group that released one self-titled mixtape in 2005.The act was founded in 2002 by Reveal. The group also consists of Doc Brown, Lowkey, Tony D, Therapist, Stylah and DJ Snips...
. Perhaps the rapper with the biggest underground support not getting coverage by the mainstream media is rapper, political activist and poet Lowkey
Lowkey
Kareem Dennis is a musician and political activist of English and Iraqi descent, better known by his stage name Lowkey. He first became known through a series of mixtapes he released before he was 18, before taking a hiatus from the music business...
who has toured America and worked with such esteemed acts as Immortal Technique
Immortal Technique
Felipe Andres Coronel , better known by the stage name Immortal Technique, is an American rapper of Afro-Peruvian descent as well as an urban activist. He was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Harlem, New York. Most of his lyrics focus on controversial issues in global politics...
and Chuck D
Chuck D
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...
of Public Enemy.
At the turn of the decade, UK hip hop started to dominate the UK single and album charts. Acts such as N Dubz, Tinchy Stryder
Tinchy Stryder
Kwasi Danquah III , better known by his pseudonyms Tinchy Stryder and Star In The Hood, is a Ghanaian British recording artist, music executive, A&R executive, and businessman...
and Chipmunk
Chipmunk (rapper)
Jahmaal Noel Fyffe known by his stage name Chipmunk, is a British hip hop rapper and songwriter from Tottenham, London....
emerged in 2009 to wide commercial success. Tinchy Stryder
Tinchy Stryder
Kwasi Danquah III , better known by his pseudonyms Tinchy Stryder and Star In The Hood, is a Ghanaian British recording artist, music executive, A&R executive, and businessman...
scored two number ones with songs Number 1 and Never Leave You
Never Leave You
-Charts:The song immediately rushed to the top of the charts, charting at #1 in the UK and #2 in Ireland, the song knocked The Black Eyed Peas's song "I Gotta Feeling" of the top spot on 2 August 2010, but failed to knock I Gotta Feeling of the Irish top spot, and charted behind it.-End-of-year...
and became the best-selling British solo artist of 2009. The following year continued the success of the previous, with acts like Professor Green
Professor Green
Professor Green , better known by his stage name Professor Green, is a British rapper. He was signed to The Beats, a record label run by Mike Skinner and Ted Mayhem, until 12 February 2008, as the label went under. He won the inaugural JumpOff MySpace £50,000 battle rap tournament in July 2008...
and Tinie Tempah
Tinie Tempah
Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu , better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He made his first mixtape in 2007 with 28 songs, freestyles and remixes, the album features Mz Bratt, Chipmunk and G-Unit...
breaking through to even bigger commercial success and also critical appreciation. The debut album from Tinie Tempah
Tinie Tempah
Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu , better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He made his first mixtape in 2007 with 28 songs, freestyles and remixes, the album features Mz Bratt, Chipmunk and G-Unit...
called Disc-Overy
Disc-Overy
Upon its release, Disc-Overy received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71, based on 16 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".-Track...
went to number one in the UK album chart and was certified platinum on 1 March 2011. He also won a Brit Award for his number one single Pass Out
Pass Out
Pass out may refer to:*"Pass Out" , by Tinie Tempah*"Pass Out", a song by Chris Brown from the album Graffiti*Passing out, completing a course by military and other service personnel*Syncope , the act of passing out...
. And soon to be and up coming hip hop artist 'MARC C' was signed out of albuquerque New Mexico in early June of 2011.
UK & US
British hip hop was greatly influenced by United States’ hip hop. Hip hop music throughout the world is influenced by the United States hip hop but none are as similar as are the British and the US forms. The cultural diversity that exists in both these countries seems to be the relationship that makes them so comparable. The different cultures within these two countries are each creating their own form of hip hop individually. The effect of multi-cultural countries on music seems to be cross collaboration with the end result being a blending of all the different cultures. This merging of music puts the resultant hip hop from both the US and the UK on the top of the charts.Media
The growth of British hip hop was given a boost when in 2002, the BBC launched a digital radio station 1Xtra devoted to "new black music" including hip hop, R&B, UK garageUK garage
UK garage is a genre of electronic dance music originating from the United Kingdom in the early-1990s. UK garage is a descendant of house music which originated in Chicago and New York, United States. UK garage usually features a distinctive syncopated 4/4 percussive rhythm with 'shuffling'...
, dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
, and drum and bass, however 1Xtra does not play exclusively British hip hop.
The cable and satellite, Channel AKA also has the profile of British hip hop and grime.
Women
Women have contributed to hip hop’s evolution in Britain from the beginning. The current British hip hop scene features strong women like EstelleEstelle (singer)
Estelle Fanta Swaray commonly known as Estelle, and formerly as Est'elle, is an English R&B singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer.-Early Life:Estelle was born 18 January 1980 in Hammersmith, London, England...
, Baby Blue, Shystie
Shystie
Chanelle Scott Calica , also known as Shystie, is an English female rapper-songwriter and actress. Her mother was born and raised in Barbados and her father born and raised in Grenada making her heritage West-Indian. She grew up in Hackney, East London...
, and Mercury prize winner Ms. Dynamite
Ms. Dynamite
Niomi Arleen McLean-Daley , who performs as Ms. Dynamite, is a double BRIT Award and three time MOBO Awards winning UK garage, R&B and hip hop singer and rapper.-Biography:...
.
Women in hip hop often confront a large amount of sexist stereotyping. Recently, many female British hip hop artists who confront this stereotyping have become popular. Grime artist Lady Sovereign
Lady Sovereign
Louise Amanda Harman , better known by the stage name Lady Sovereign, is an English rapper & grime artist. She is noted for her professional success in performing styles of music generally dominated by males...
has achieved huge success both in the UK and the US. Ms Dynamite (also known as Lady Dynamite), who released her first album in 2002, has become known for the political and social commentary in her music. Singer, songwriter, and rapper Estelle said of the difficult position of female rappers “I think they get a tough ride because some of them don’t see themselves above and beyond the bullshit and no one’s really given them that break.”
See also
- Music of the United Kingdom
- Hip hopHip hopHip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
- GrimeGrime (music)Grime is a style of music that emerged from Bow, East London, England in the early 2000s, primarily as a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop...
- UK garageUK garageUK garage is a genre of electronic dance music originating from the United Kingdom in the early-1990s. UK garage is a descendant of house music which originated in Chicago and New York, United States. UK garage usually features a distinctive syncopated 4/4 percussive rhythm with 'shuffling'...
- Scottish hip-hopScottish hip-hopScottish hip-hop is the Scottish manifestation of the hip hop culture, comprising the five elements of MCing, DJing, beatboxing, graffiti and b-boying.-History:In the 1980s the elements of hip hop culture had spread to Scotland...