In these cold months, we need some new tunes to keep us going, here are some of favourites I have been listening to at the moment….
‘Standout’ by Knucks (ft Loyle Carner)
Knucks, a rapper from North west London, has quickly become one of the UK’s most popular rappers, with the use of his progressive rap sound and style known as ‘chill drill’.
He started making music when he was only 12, making pure grime songs, but it was 15 when he started to change his rap style. He describes his style as ‘smooth, old school reminiscent’, which I think is evident in this polished and soulful tune with it’s use of the cheeky saxophone and the combination between instrumental melodies and a strong, traditional- grime style beat. I first heard of knucks with his most popular tunes ‘Los Pollos Hermanos’ and ‘nice and good (ft SL)’ two fantastic rap songs that see to sum up his unique sound, this was from his album released in 2022. However only when discovering him as an artist I realised his history of tracks that paved the way for him to reach where he is now in his career.
This track features ‘Loyle Carner’ a rapper that has also made a ground breaking gear change in UK hip hop, with his combination of rap, jazz and soul. Both artist’s seem to break the typical conventions of UK hip hop, making this collab even more significant.
The track is paired with a video that follows Knucks and Carner in their element rapping in a North London estate. The video includes other black people there is a definite align with the audio and visuals as the lyrics talk about young black experiences. Knucks states that when working with Loyle ‘everything was natural’ summing up how this song feels to me. The flow, rhythm and rhymes all feel coherent. Released in 2020, this song will forever be a great tune.
Image from: https://notion.online/co-signed-by-tiffany-calver-2021-knucks/
‘Yes, I’ by Chunky
I discovered this song, unusually through ‘The Riot Jazz band’ a jazz group, whose leading singer and front man can also be known as Chunky, an underground Manchester rapper. According to Pitch fork chunky is the ‘unofficial voice of Manchester’s underground club scene’. The MC released his new album ‘Somebody’s child’ this year, and I have to say, ‘Yes I’ is my favourite song on the album. I have placed him as one of the most underrated artists in the Northern grime hub. The song has a slightly enigmatic feel to it, as he raps quite powerful yet ambiguous lyrics over the beat.
At the end of the song, we hear a recording of Chunky talking to his younger cousin about how she feels about her future. Adding a personal level to the song isn’t a new concept for Chunky. On his album ‘ A Long Life to my enemies’ he included a mixes of songs sung by his aunties. He says ‘My family’s a big part of my life. So when my mum went back to Zimbabwe, I asked her to do some recordings with my aunties’ and added ‘they sent me back like eight other tunes they used to sing together. So I mixed some of those in too.’
This genuine and personal side to this song paints a picture of the album and actually, Chunky as an artist, with his songs communicating a specific emotional messages, triggering themes of family and connection, whilst also maintaining typical and infectious grime beat. This song in particular has been on my ‘On Repeat’ Spotify playlist for a while now.
Image from: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmixmag.net%2Ffeature%2Fchunky-manchester-somebodys-child-eglo-records-interview-mc-producer&psig=AOvVaw3y4n8ibN6aREWwZN6rINPk&ust=1704212154426000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBIQjRxqFwoTCMicvs_LvIMDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI
‘For South’ by The Silhouettes project, ENNY, and Nix Northwest
If you are into UK hip hop you will have definitely stumbled across ‘The Silhouettes project’. The Silhouettes project is a community project, that is a new space and platform for Hip Hop, soul and jazz artists. It gives artists a recording studio and a space to connect and create. It disrupts the norms of the sometimes exploitative ways of the music industry and encourages collaborations and modern music-making processes. It is located in East London’s hackney and it is a vital space for music that can culturally thrive.
This month I have been loving the song ‘For South’ by The Silhouettes project, ENNY and Nix northwest.
It has a slow beat and it’s what a lot of rap fans would call ‘ UK chill hip hop’ or even ‘jazz rap’ however I don’t think you can put this song or the Silhouettes project’s music in one particular genre, as each artist featured has a different sound. I discovered this song through my love for the rapper ENNY who I found when watching her Colours performance of her song ‘Peng Black Girls’ with Jorja Smith. She has very tender vocals with aspects of neo soul reflected into her voice. He unique voice is what differentiates her from the huge and growing number of UK Hip Hop artists. She doesn’t just have beautiful vocals as she can also rap and in fact has an incredibly recognisable voice. The song also features Nix Northwest, who features on a lot of The Silhouettes project’s music. Although an up and coming artist Nix has a huge discography of music and he released his first EP in 2019, which received huge and fair praise. This has to be one of my favourite songs to come out of The Silhouettes Project.
‘Still’ by Lil Silva, Sampha & Ghetts
This song is taken from the album ‘Yesterday is Heavy’ by Lil silva, and features both Ghetts and Sampha. Lil Silva is a British Jamaican producer, singer and songwriter who has made a huge crash into the UK hip hop scene working with huge names. He pairs hip and garage with common conventions of funk and jazz which is what we see right here in his song ‘Still’.
Image from: https://ra.co/news/77315
Sampha and Ghetts act as powerful features. Everyone knows the sound of Ghetts voice, its familiarly unique and has roots of original UK Grime. When we pair his rapping with Samphas equally unique and memorable vocals the song creates a perfect match. Lil Silva’s producing, singing and song writing is one to watch out for with vocals I can only describe as soft and smooth, he is a multi-talented phenomenon. For me this tune is perfect.
‘High Planes anthem’ by Jehst
Jehst, UK hip hop artist, born in Kent, has had a strong grip over the UK hip hop scene for decades. His songs are timeless and reflect similar features of old school hip hop. He is known for his often gritty and serious lyrics paired with classic hip hop beats. He was involved in a graffiti group called TCS, who were popular in the graffiti scene in the 1990s. Graffiti is embedded deeply in the UK Hip Hop culture, especially during the time Jehst career began in the 90s to early 2000s.
As an MC, he stands out from my other picks as you would class him in any specific genre of UK hip hop, he feels original. However, similar to other artists I have talked about, his music can be influenced by jazz and funk. If we exclude Jehst’s rapping, the beat of the song doesn’t necessarily fit in with ‘UK’ rap beats, his music isn’t categorised with grime or drill but is still very much included in the UK hip hop genre. This album came out in 2011, so UK Hip Hop has definitely changed and evolved, however many consider him a prolific figure in the rise and expanding of UK Hip Hop. He released a new album in 2023 titled ‘Mork Calling Orson’ which is just fantastic. It’s fresh, modern whilst also maintaining his unique and original sound.
Image from: https://rapnews.co.uk/?p=810