Rudimental do a ska version of Paramore's "More"

Congratulations to Rudiment scoring their second UK chart #1 with the anthemic "Waiting All Night".

They touched down at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge to perform a ska version of US pop/rock band Paramore's "Now". You can see the similarity between pop-punk and ska. Bit like with a few of No Doubt's earlier stuff, especially "Just A Girl".

Anyway, check out the cover below. They also put a bit of Bob Marley's "Sun Is Shining" which is always a win. Oh, and Ella Eyre's voice is a super win.



You know what, I'm gonna post "Waiting All Night" because the video is awesome.

I wrote this about when UK Garage met Ragga #Raggarage

Today I'm using this space to share some of my favourite UK Garage tunes. To this day, I believe it was the best time of UK music. It was also the last time when it was just about the vibes. Nobody was interest in if it had potential to top the charts or if the makers were making money. It wasn't visual and mainstream were more concerned with boy and girl bands than the dance floor.

All you judged was how it made you feel. Did it make you wanna dance, sing along and buss gun finger? That's the only criteria. This isn't nostalgia speaking either. We all highlight certain aspects, forgetting that there was a lot of rubbish when hindsight takes over but it's actually the truth. MC's didn't have to be lyrical, because nobody wanted to hear deep lyrics when we were dancing.

Now it's the complete opposite; punchlines and image of success take precedence over the music in many cases as far as underground black music. We here at Marvin Sparks blame America and hip hop for that, but that's another blog post.

Back to why we are here. UKG was never rubbish, it just improved to another level in about 2001. When the reggae and ragga (bashment) influences hopped in, next ting! [Disclaimer: ragga wasn't the only element obviously, but they demonstrate when UKG began leaning in that direction]. These are most of my favourite UKG songs.

If you wanna know the history, UKG was the second room at jungle raves, jungle raves got gassed a lot, girl were going to garage, man dem followed the girls and so on and forth. Check Wiki for a proper explanation.

Let's kick things off with Miss Dynamite "Boo!" Probably the most successful of this Raggarage (I'm playing about with the fusion name until I settle on one that doesn't sound absolutely crap. Still not there yet. Stay tuned.) fusion. Produced by now famed producer Sticky who went on to own this lane. Dynamite is the reason most UK female MCs picked up a mic. This anthem detailing the politics in the dance still runs dance. Her lyrics are crazy in this and the Yardie flow is on point.



Dynamite really helped bring the ragga vibe out of this riddim, "Envy" with So Solid a.k.a. "They Don't Know" remix.



Maybe you never heard the influence in "They Don't Know", but I'm telling you it is. Double kick bass for instance. Listen to how similar it sounds to the one below. Romeo and Lisa Maffia use a similar vibe on "Deeper". "Skyla" also, in fact, that ones more obvious.



Prior to all the above, M Dubs ft. Richie Dan on vocals produced a big tune called "Over Here". I think this was about 1999. Give or take a year.



M Dubs blessed us with a couple more Richie Dan tracks like Call It Fate, but the Lady Saw-assisted "Bump and Grind" was ran the roads in 1999. I remember a song that sampled Jamaican film Dancehall Queen. The iconic moment when Priest says "Walk and live, talk and..." in the cult classic.



Which reminds me, Jamaican songstress Chrissy D and early 90s female deejay Lady G teamed up on this B15 Project garage vibe. Sonically, it isn't ragga at all. Collaboration still surprises me, 'cos as good as both are, neither were hot property at the time. Lady G had her first hit ("Breeze Out" in about '96) in a long time and Chrissy D never quite made it. Lovely voice though.

Hit UK top 40 in about 2000.



Earliest, ragga vocals on UKG I remember is UK ragga artist Top Cat on Double 99 "Rip Groove". Used to play this on The Box: Music Television You Control. I think this is from '97, give or take year.



Not sure if it was the first UKG #1, but Shanks & Big Foot "Sweet Like Chocolate" is one of the first three, hitting top spot in 1999. The bass pattern is very similar to reggae. Two-step drums and r&b vocal and there you have it.



Soul II Soul raised Wookie understood the power of reggae bass line, so it features heavily in Sia "Little Man (Exemen remix)" possibly the greatest remix ever. For int'l readers, yes this is Sia from David Guetta's tunes and Rihanna "Diamonds" songwriter back in 2001.

Another vocal tune was Brasstooth - "Pleasure". Ragga drums and bass

But anyway, bringing it back to proper ragga and garage link up 2001/02, More Fire Crew "Oi". The crew named after reggae artist Capleton's famous catchphrase blessed us with a straight classic, floor-filler guaranteed to make everyone scream "Oi!" Both Ozzie B and Neeko utilise the Yardie flow but with a London accent. Both merk it. Stormed the UK, reaching #7 in the pop charts.



Sticky lined up the late UK dancehall artist Tubby T with reggae at 140bpm. Tubby laid down some powerful words spreading peace and love as well as warning about the dangers of the streets. True to his reggae roots except in a UKG setting.



Beginning of the Tubby T video features another Sticky production, "Dollar Sign" by Stu$h.



The man dem from the barber shop in Tooting otherwise known as K2 Family achieved top 40 success with "Bouncing Flow".



HeartLess Crew - Heartless Theme. Not even sure if this touched top 40, you know. I'm guessing it did though. They were the elite raving crew at this point. Big up Bushkin, Mighty Moe and Fonti.



Pay As U Go experienced their only top 40 success with "Champagne Dance" in 2002. Big up Wiley (Kat) on the third verse.



Maxwell D appears on the fourth verse on the above. He dropped a hard ragga tune at UKG tempo called "Serious" which ran the roads heavy.

(Starts playing from 0:14 secs)


PAUG also dropped this anthem, "Know We" which Wiley recalls as his earliest memory of trying to make ragga-inspired music (in the interview I did with him about bashment).



Ultimate "rep your ends" anthem, imaginatively titled "Are You Really From Da Ends?" by Da Ends. Dirty banger



Unorthodox MC Flirta D scored a top 40 in 2005 with Van Damage and Lady Envy better known collectively as SLK. The Sticky-produced "Hype Hype" remains a club-stomper to this day. Flirta got a big sing along going at Eskimo Dance in like Jan/Feb this year



I think the above is when they were calling it grime, but it was garagey. But ragga meeting garage laid the foundations for grime. But that's another blog post. But you can see what I'm saying by this post though, 'cos songs like More Fire "Oi" is classified a grime in retrospect.

Hmm... maybe the grime edition is another blog post.

I'm posting the moment when Miss Dynamite walked out onstage with So Solid again. Happens at around 3:09mins. Nowhere else in the world has a culture produces genres which have gun fingers and reloads/forwards for appreciation other than London and Jamaica. No coincidence.



If I missed couple songs, holla at me in the comments section. These were the first that came to mind. Bless

Video: Chronixx - "Smile Jamaica"

If you haven't heard of Chronixx, he's the hottest new kids pon di ends, uzeen? One of the most exciting in the new wave of reggae musicians in Jamaica. Very versatile, can deejay, sing or a bit of both. (Tumblr'd about him so check that song too.)

The song we are here for today is "Smile Jamaica". (It isn't a Bob Marley cover.) Chronixx sings about falling in love at first sight with a woman from the tropics called Jamaica who has been abused and taken for granted even though she offered a lot. Sounds like someone or should I say somewhere I know... Hmm...

Anyway, check out the potential Jamaica Tourist Board soundtrack and they may as well use the video as an advert too. Knowing JTB and their short-sightedness they won't, but hey, still for us to enjoy. Funnily enough, it's produced by Silly Walks Discotheque, a sound system from out of Germany.



And while we're posting sunny songs with sunny videos on a really cold day in London, check this one by Chronixx that I never posted before, it's called "Beat and a Mic" prod. by Special Delivery from France.

Video: Charly Black & J Kapri - "Whine & Kotch"

Dancehall artist's have a way about these male-female combination songs that no other genre seems to do as well. From songs like Shabba Ranks & Krystal - "Twice My Age" in the '80s, Terror Fabulous & Nadine Sutherland - "Action" in the '90s and Sean Paul & [insert female] - "[insert song choice here]" (we'll say Cecile - "Can You Do The Work?". And who can forget incredible (and infamous) Spragga Benz & Lady Saw - "Backshot" and Vybz Kartel & Spice - "Ramping Shop"?

Female to male conversation songs aren't done on the same scale in any other genre and to this quality.

Ok, so now I've set the scene, get those out of your head or your expectations will be too high. Went on a little reminiscing/informative bit there, I wouldn't even say this is a classic jam like the above HOWEVER, the song is a floor filler, bumper-to-front type song. Instantly caught my ear on a mix CD in November and is my dark horse (I tipped Vybz Kartel - "Weed Smokers" and RDX "Broad Out" too on Tumblr) as neither artist is as big as Kartel or RDX.

According to LargeUp (where I got the video from), it has already topped the reggae charts in France (big reggae market), so check out the video below. Oh, and forget twerkin', dancehall girls whine better than any twerker. Been in the culture a lot longer.

 Charly Black & J Kapri - "Whine & Kotch"



Available to buy on iTunes here.

From So Solid & Dizzee Rascal to UK Rap...

Three things this week showed me the decline in our (influenced but) individual London culture.

We know music is a good indication of what's going on in certain regions. Not always 100% correct, but an alright indicator.

First thing: So Solid concert

In the run-up to the concert, Twitter was awash with people reminiscing on those days, 12 years ago when the southwest London collective were the hottest property on underground and crossed over to the nation through #1 single "21 Seconds" and platinum-selling album, They Don't Know. The 35+ member crew won MOBO and a Brit Award for best video, performing at both. They weren't only trendsetters for music, the movement spearheaded fashion on the ends. We all wanted Avirex jackets and Audi TT's.

During the reminiscing sessions, we discuss clothing: Nike TNs to Reebok Workouts on our feet, clima fit hats, cloud Moschino jeans, Iceberg History shirts, Patrick Cox loafers... those were a few things we wore 12 years ago. It dawned on me that my American followers would have no idea about these things. None of those items were in American videos. They were still wearing baggy clothes then from what I remember.

Let's go to 21 Seconds (below)



American videos had the similar high quality gloss and budget, they didn't dress or sound like that though. Take the first few MC's, Megaman channels American hip hop blatantly even saying the n-word (wasn't frequent then at all), Asher D fuses a style closer to a Jamaican deejay in the way he has melody and rides the beat (Americans don't rap to the beat), Mac is straight up UK Garage rave MC. Kaish on the chorus is singjay (bit rap, bit sing style) while Lisa Maffia is r&b.

The beat consists of a hip hop/breakbeat style drum pattern with a reggae style bass line and pop melody at about 140bpm making it UKG/grime. Influences reflecting genres which were on pirate radio stations, black owned legal commercial station Choice FM and our clubs. All these different elements come together to make a uniquely British, or more to the point, London experience. Despite drawing American and Jamaican influences, fans of the original genres wouldn't and couldn't claim it and in most cases will hate it.

The album pretty much follows the template of dancehall, hip hop and r&b  influences at UKG tempos on bangers Deeper, They Don't Know, Skyla etc.

Second thing: 10 years since Dizzee Rascal's seminal grime album, Boy In Da Corner.

Anyone who's someone rates this album.  Fact mag revisited the Mercury music prize winning debut album to mark its 10th year since release. Yes, it came out a decade ago. Where did time go? Once again, many people identify its hip hop influences, but once again, it most definitely is a London experience. His timing is impeccable, most American rappers don't have that. That's a London thing which can be traced through UK Garage, Jungle and UK dancehall sounds like Saxon Sound who pioneered the fast chat style back in the '80s. Rhyme schemes are definitely hip hop influenced.

Instrumentals couldn't have been made anywhere apart from London (except Fix Up, Look Sharp, but his delivery is London). And the slang is London. Words like "Wokked" (sex), "Jezzy" (promiscuous (woman the bird in the bible Jezebel)), "Shines" (oral sex), "Live o" (good time), "Batteried" (girl having many sexual partners in a short space of time), "Get me" etc. are all London, UK-based Jamaican or Jamaican words.



The albums cover shows Dizzee wearing the popular combination of Air Max 90s and Nike cotton tracksuit. Yes, an American brand, but not American or hip-hop-influenced fashion. Dressing up to go raving or link gyal was a Evisu Jeans and Prada sports shoes. However, US endorsed things began creeping in. Timbalands, Air Forces, Akademiks/Ecko tracksuits, New Era fitted hats etc.

There were two points which stood out in the article; they compared the glitzy, American influence of So Solid becoming irrelevant as they went for a more UK rap style with the rise of more gritty London beats and inner city tales coming from grime. The second point was this album proved a turning point when the usually live (event or radio) and sometimes instrumental-driven experience became about album's and plethora or mix tapes.

"Boy In Da Corner was the greatest and worst thing that could happen to grime...  And yet paradoxically, it was also a problem in that it did present grime as a rapper-led, album genre because in the wake of Boy In Da Corner the world, and even grime itself, forgot that the style was deranged, subversive, mental, experimental electronic rave music as much as it was British rap," wrote Joe Muggs. And while it was experimental rave music, they chat on sound systems which

Then I saw G Frsh ft. Sincere & Fekky - "18k" music video.

Ten years later and we're in a space were UK making hip hop in its purest form is the sound of the black kids in London. Jungle, UKG, grime and reggae club nights are full of British and European kids. Once upon a time, all would've been full of African and Caribbean's. Now the perception is they all love hip hop.



Now, remember I mentioned the previous artists songs drew various influences, but were still presenting a uniquely London experience? Can the same be said for the above? They don't have to rep London, "make music the world will appreciate" as they seem to be doing, but I'm just asking a question. No disrespect to this tune, I can draw a number of examples of UK rap, chose this because I saw it this week.

In fact, watch this documentary on UK rap. This post actually started about it:



To put it in context, UK rap has been around since the '80s and every generation prior to this considered it a joke.

I don't knock anyone for going out there to live their dreams, push their talent and most importantly doing something productive. It's not easy. However, I think the general music industry is to blame for London being in this phase of championing imitation and feeling proud of being inferior to a nation that they have no connection to. It seems the whole premise of UK rap, the sounds of the streets, is to be accepted by America. I don't mind people doing UK rap, but come on. And when I say UK rap, I don't mean to insult the good stuff. I mean the knock off American stuff.

Disclaimer: Skinnyman and Klashnekoff released classic material. Council Estate of Mind is one of my all-time favourite albums. Few current man make some good non-rip-off Yank music.

What's changed?

Well my theory is, while mixed genre clubs black people with African and Caribbean background frequent play hip hop alongside house, bashment and afrobeats (in many cases, the latter three prove more popular sets on dance floors), mainstream media doesn't cover any of them. Black became "urban", Choice FM is now owned by the biggest corporation, Global, therefore run top 40 playlist format radio. Most pirate stations have been shut down by authorities and in many cases, like mainstream radio, the internet has replaced them.

UK urban blogs treat everything that isn't American or American imitation as sideline genres despite their popularity (grime, bashment & afrobeats don't receive coverage). Most people gravitate to the culture they have access to. Due to the lack of us controlling our culture and our outlets, even though people that may look like "we" control certain blogs, the culture has been manipulated so much that many forget the actual history in favour of the story we've been told. Everything comes from hip hop. Reggae and grime artists performances were shut down between 2004/5 to about 2008/9 thus closing down the other, truer history we learnt from.

As a result, many artists trying to make a career literally can't make other music as they don't believe there is a market. Radio/TV tend not to play or understand anything that isn't hip hop or r&b, hence why grime artists tend to make it when they get signed. This whole UK rap thing is a product of every other avenue being shut down. Grime's been around for over ten years, yet never had a Radio 1 show. UK rap has been popular for about three years and has a Radio 1 show. That's the levels.

Thing is, look at Tinie Tempah "Pass Out" and Wretch 32 "Traktor". Two credible songs from our scene to chart in recent years. They both obey the order of bit of hip hop, dancehall manipulated in a UK way mixed in a bowl made for the clubs. Wiley mixed soca, dancehall and dance in a UK fashion to produce chart-topper "Heatwave".

On a plus note, Tulisa realises this. In an interview with the Daily Star (quoted by MTV The Wrap Up), when talking about her failed album and plans for next she says:

"My first single 'Young' got to number one, and that's because it was a very UK-sounding track – and I realise now that's what the fans want."

She continued: "I've been offered the opportunity to go back to the US and work with massive producers, but I said no as I want to be more urban. I've been saying to ground-level UK writers: 'Send me beats'."

I remember tweeting that last year. Should I put my trumpet away? Anyway, hopefully others realise it's key to have a UK identity. We appreciate US music when it's from the US. UK artists usually fail when they go for a more American sound. Look at Craig David, Chipmunk, So Solid, Shola Ama...? All very good UK artists that went for a more American sounding follow-up that failed to match it's predecessor. In Shola Ama's, a UK garage remix of a song she made with Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins keeps her relevant. Amidst Chip(munk)'s American feature heavy sophomore Transition, the song that keeps him relevant is bashment song "Every Gal" featuring dancehall star Mavado.

Should there be a So Solid type impact now, 12 years on people will reminisce about Jordan's, Chino's, snapback's and UK imitating US hip hop. Definitely something to be proud of [insert sarcastic face].

As Skepta says "I've been keeping my ear to the streets/ The UK run out of ideas, everybody doing covers of American beats/ If it ain't the Ace Hood "Hustle Hard" flow it all sounds like Rick Ross to me"



Anyway, ending on a positive note, this was the highlight of the So Solid concert. Reminds me of a time when we were from London, did things that reflected all forms of culture we were exposed to, but spun in our own unique way. Pull ups, bussing gun finger and shouting "BOOOOO!!!" as a sound of appreciation.



(Plug real quick: Check my interview with Megaman here and here. We talk bringing the streets to UK Garage, money made, making their own lane and more)

(Actually, reggae song to end this

Mighty Diamonds - "We're did we lose our identity? We're running around like a lonely sheep. Whose lost his master and has gone astray. We have lost it."


)

Protoje 'I&I' [Music Video]

New wave roots reggae artist Protoje drops the video for the third single lifted from second album The 8 Year Affair. Appears as the second track on the album, but it's really the first as the opening track is more an intro. Serious bass line on this one reminiscent of 80s reggae/dancehall produced by cousin Don Corleon. Vibes I love.

One of my favourite songs on the album. Review to forward some time soon. I want to fully digest it enough times before I make judgement. My review on first listen would've been a lot different to what it would be right now. May change again, so we'll see. Check back again next week.

In the meantime, check the video captured in the beautiful Kingston, Jamaica as Diggy and friends promote his album listening session which was held at Edna Manley Arts college. I think it's all on Hope Road as you will see the crew walking past Bob Marley museum. Catch cameos from fellow new wave artists Chronixx, Jah 9, Kabaka Pyramid, No Maddz and more.

Whether you rate or hate his music, denying he's one of the few Jamaican artists that understands the art of making and marketing music in the digital age. Get the album on iTunes here.

Jamaican music from UK P.O.V. - 2012 edition

So, I've waited this long to post this entry. I apologise, hopefully you still enjoy it. Here's last years edition

If you wanna read a breakdown of reggae and dancehall from Jamaica, check Erin McLeod's breakdown here

Disclaimer: your favourite song may be missed. That's how it goes sometimes.

2012 was Jamaica's 50th year of independence from Britain, so it's only right I follow up last years post. I wrote a series of posts dedicated to how Jamaica has given back to "Mother Britain" since independence through various styles of Jamaican-infected UK music. You can check that out here. I also interviewed grime god father Wiley on how Jamaican and other Caribbean music influences him and shaped our scenes.

Click read more below to, er, read more.