I’ve made a horrifying realization about my dismissal of UK rap and more pertinently, UK grime artists. I was under the impression that they had forged a pact amongst themselves, acknowledging that U.S. hip hop was the true basis of their movement. Regardless of their transplanted Caribbean roots or East London parochialism, the basis was rap music, American music. Essentially, I thought cats like Dizzee, Wiley, Kano and yes, Lethal Bizzle were just the London counterparts to NYC MC’s. Watered down a little they may have been, but these guys were also bringing an alternative perspective, for lack of a better word, a ‘European’ one. So when I listen to this new Lethal Bizzle album, and indulge into his fantasy a little, I’m highly tempted to hate. There’s simply nothing ‘hard’ about it. At least not in Noah Webster’s sense of the word, who knows about Oxford?
I perused this album quicker than a hummingbird busts a nut, but here’s a few tracks to peep before we push forward with this critical analysis.
Lethal B – Money Power Respect Fame (Prod. by Dexplicit)*
Lethal B – Crazy Nightmare ft. 2Face (Prod. by 2Face)
Yes, I am aware that we could stop right here and engage in quantified discourse about the merit of this new Lethal Bizzle LP. It would likely end as a short and sweet judgement, a simple waving of the hand, not worth the download or the 60 minutes. But I promise you 3 things after the jump.
- A video of Lethal B appearing extremely gay (literally) with a clay pigeon expert
- The original “Pow” video (Lethal Bizzle’s biggest tune to date)
- My take on Lethal B, specifically, my reassessment/flip flopping on my original dismissive position of contemporary Grime artists
