A thought that occurred to me recently. The eighties saw battle between music fans whether or not to embrace the emergent Hip Hop scene emanating in the US or to stick to the tried and tested rock formula. Obviously the latter won the day, giving us grunge and in Britpop and the new rock revolution. Much as I sang my fifteen year old heart out to Oasis and yes i admit it even Cast, it cant be argued by anyone with half a brain that this has led ultimately to the advancement of the musical form. Britpop despite all its bluster was essentially a backwards looking retro movement, drawing its influence from the sixties both stylistically, musically and lyrically. So too the bands of the noughties with their angular guitars etc owe a huge debt to post punk and new wave.

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In the meantime British MC's have sought to innovate and push the limits of their art in ways their indie contemporaries could only dream of. Through ever evolving styles of rap, hip hop, jungle (renamed drum and bass to appease white kids), gabba, bashment, dupstep, grime and a host of stylings in between UK MC's have been the real vanguard of musical innovation for the past twenty years.

Likewise, lyrically whilst 'indie' artists (when will this term die. The majority of guitar bands are on major labels or at least subsidiaries. I'm on a genuine indie so fuck you!!) have been heralded as genius social commentators this usually amounts to the age old went out got drunk perhaps pulled a girl saga. It is amongst UK MC's that the real commentary of our times lies. It is artists like Skinnyman, Roots Manuva, Blak Twang and Braintax, who are unafraid to talk gun crime, terrorism, drug use etc and the real issues that affect the society we live in. The irony being of course that both Peter Doherty and Alex Turner, arguably the finest social commentators of our times are both self professed fans of Klashnekoff and Roots Manuva respectively.

During the Mongrel project I’ve been working on, I've had the pleasure of collaborating with artists such as Lowkey, Wordplay, Nolay, Tor, Kaiser, Skinnyman, Pariz-1, Purple, and a 17 year old mind blowing British-Iranian called Mic righteous all of whose lyrical prowess blows my mind. The problem being of course that 71% of the British printed press are public school educated, white middle class males, meaning ultimately that the narrative of these talented artists has been largely ignored for the last twenty years, save for the pop end of the spectrum such as Dizzee and Lethal Bizzle.

They quite rightly feel ostracised and aggrieved at what they see as an ignorance amongst the wider public to their art. Why for instance genius' such as Smiley Culture, Skinneyman, General Levy, Blak Twang, Roots Manuva etc have not regularly appeared on the covers of the British music press is travesty. Of course the assumption amongst media moguls is that Black faces don't shift units but surely in 2008 we should push at these taboos and push forward our national music scene and embrace a coming together of musical genres. I sincerely believe that if we are to avoid a further stagnation in British music where Jo Lean and the Jing Jang fucking Jong , a second rate Libertines, who themselves admit a massive debt to The Clash, are considered to be the new black, we must embrace what these artists are doing and champion their cause.

I've been honoured to gain the respect and admiration of these artists and working and hanging out with them has sharpened my game beyond recognition. For proof of what I'm sayng listen to 'Red Letters' by Blak Twang or 'Its Murda' by Klashnekoff, both of which say as much about modern Britain as 'Time for Heroes', 'Same Jeans' or any half decent indie tune of the last ten years.

For an amazing introduction to the history of the British MC buy the excellent parts one and two of ‘An England Story’ on the Souljazz label and revel in the masters at work.

Bless
J x