British hip hop from an American's perspective

[jsills]

just throwing this out there, id dont know if they are popular in the UK at all but S.A.S. was signed with dipset at the height of their success and those duded could rip.

[sirsnaf]

I think it's a matter of dialect and flow suiting tempo.

For example, in general, US MCs sound better on 85-100 bpm type tracks, where as UK guys sound better on the 70/140 mark. Put a US MC on a grime beat and then you get goofy.

nnaahh, really? nearly all those videos i whacked up are in the 90-100bpm category.... and theyre all definitely hiphop with british accents....

and, just for arguements sake, dead prezs song 'hiphop' is about 76ish bpm, and jayzs big pimpin is 70ish too....

though i agree, british accents suit 140/grime/etc beats better than american, that said i dont think ive every heard american grime.

[Matt3r]

a dope mc will flip it over whatever tempo, no matter where he was born.

[saba]

Put a US MC on a grime beat and then you get goofy.

If their a good MC (& have skills) tempo, rhythm or whatever shouldn't make a difference.

[2tall]

brand new uk bizness


tempa t is grime not hiphop.

[hoya]

If their a good MC (& have skills) tempo, rhythm or whatever shouldn't make a difference.

yeah I know that a good MC should be able to rock any tempo, but I'm not actually dissing MCs here... I'm saying it's simply a dialect issue...

[godflesh fiend]

and just because Life MC has the sickest flow of any rapper here or anywhere yet remaisn criminally overlooked - heres loads more Phi Life Cypher....

Yeah they friggin kick-ass.

That Cordless Mics song on the Skitz "Countryman" album is insane. The lyrics are awesome and the flow is incredible.

I caught them live up here in Edinburgh a few years back and they were great.

[kalorific]

a dope mc will flip it over whatever tempo, no matter where he was born.

[slugabed]

Life MC has the sickest flow of any rapper

i disagree

[voxnn]

brand new uk bizness

this is simply a masterpiece, at least 10000 views of this track are hit by me.

now guyzzz pls have a look and give some feedback on this British-Polish collab:

[deadstock mind]

The average British rapper (Not Grime) is better than Lil' Wayne and some were considering him the greatest rapper .

Then again, the average american rapper is "better" than a lot of grime rappers. But I'm not judging, especially when I've never fully bumped to a british hip-hop song/rapper. I definitely relate to the guy who started this topic.

[deadstock mind]

I think it's a matter of dialect and flow suiting tempo.

For example, in general, US MCs sound better on 85-100 bpm type tracks, where as UK guys sound better on the 70/140 mark. Put a US MC on a grime beat and then you get goofy.

Naw, because I bet a lot of major american rap/hip-hop artist would be able to deliver as good on a dance/jungle/electronic beat that normally measures up to the higher 100 bpm's. It just wasn't common until it gained some popularity in the 2000's where 808 kits are being more commonly used and in the 73 bpm range as well.

Like Kid Cudi,Crooker's mix of Day n night, and the Tim Westwood freestyle where tim played a garage/funky instrumental which btw, would anyone know the name of??

[oni]

Brit hop is just like any other hip hop... I listen to stuff from all over the world. Even some french stuff where I can't understand a word coming out of the emcee's mouth still sounds amazing just because of how he says it.

[oni]

I don't care if you are from the center of the planet, this is almost too amazing. My head almost exploded.

[deadstock mind]

I don't care if you are from the center of the planet, this is almost too amazing. My head almost exploded.

This is nice, I just like Noisia's breakdown

[clovework]

I've never really thought most (good) Grime or British MC's ever sounded all that bad. Once you listen to enough of it, you can start to understand what the slang means and how it's used.

American MC's, on the other hand....90% of them are absolute rubbish. IMHO, MF Doom, Clipse and The Cool Kids are the only MC's worth mentioning these days. I don't understand what the fascination with Southern Rappers is. They can't actually rap. At all.

[oni]

I agree with you completely, Clove. I listen to a lot of Aesop Rock, but as far as mainstream American "Rap" it's 99% bullshit.

Hence why I rhyme more over heavy house, grime, and dub tracks than I do on traditional hip hop tracks.

[Matt3r]

i disagree

for me

oddisee
worsmith
unknown
aceyalone
john robinson
j-live
raekwon
ghost
busta
q-tip
blu
r.a.
trek-life

are all pretty sick. though no-one represents at all on distributing dope digital us hiphop, so i'm probably sleeping on a load more too..

[Mad_EP]

I listen to a lot of Aesop Rock, but as far as mainstream American "Rap" it's 99% bullshit..

Perhaps... but if you knew anything about hiphop, you'd know its never been about the mainstream. Yeah, it might be easy to say "Souljah Boy sucks"... but you would have to get in line behind Ice-T, Method Man, Snoop, and the countless other legends who have dismissed that little shit. If you are looking for quality in the charts, you are looking in the wrong place.

Just remember- terrible mainstream rap is not just an American problem. It is a worldwide problem. For every Souljah Boy & Flo Rida in America, there is a Tinchy Stryder and Chipmunk in England, etc etc...

[slugabed]

and for every eli porter theres a kersal massive


i.e. the GOATs