Skepta’s latest step on his mission to globalise grime music has just materialised in the form of a track list and 6th May release date for his album - Konnichiwa. The LP is a follow up to 2012’s ‘Blacklisted’ and has previous releases: ‘Ladies Hit Squad’, ‘Shutdown’, ‘That’s Not Me’ and ‘Lukey World’ featuring on it.
We felt this an apt time to drop a musical timeline of the infamous MC’s rise to fame…
Skepta – ‘Private Caller’ (05)
Picture the noughties grime stereotype - pay as you go brick phones, hats, hoods, crime, ganja, grey north London tower blocks, and then colour it with a growing itinerary of energetic talent from a few North London G’s and you’ve got Skepta’s 2005 breakthrough track, ‘Private Caller’. Themed around the drug pusher hook of ignoring private callers we experience the beginning of Skepta’s journey.
The production is laced with electric aggression, rough pirate radio and rave vibes with a high energy vocal flow. Defined beats, sample cuts of a phone call, bouncy rolling bass, grime drum patterns and a winding synth that marks each member of the crew stepping to the mic, make the rhythm. The song’s a classic, taking us back to routes it is a product of the meridian environment in every way: starting with the title and followed through to the hard lyricism and noisy sonic aesthetic. Featuring younger brother JME, Meridian Dan, Pres T and Big H on the intro– we hear the early grime formations in their humble North London beginnings.
Skepta vs. Devilman – (Lord Of The Mics 06)
A year later and Skepta jumps up for one of grime’s most infamous musical clashes. Brain child of ‘Murkle Man’, ‘Lord Of The Mics’ was started in his studio basement; a literal underground aesthetic set the scene for Birmingham DnB/grime MC, Devilman and Skepta, as as they met rhyme for rhyme and verse for verse in a heated few underground rounds. It gave birth to a lasting notoriety and legacy between the two that was impossible to anticipate. The same basement saw Wiley battling Kano for a legend set.
Skepta called out Devilman as a Bassman ( Birmingham dnb pioneer) imposter - ‘There’s only one bassman so I gotta lick down any imposters’. Carried through to future Skepta verses, he also notably put the switch on Devilman’s asian lyrics replacing them with made up words - ‘wun mai long son den some win seng’.
Fighting for their place in the grime scene and aware of the implications, both put in work. It boosted Skepta’s credibility and showed him as an MC not to f*ck with.
Devilman picked up the saga again in 2015 after Chipmunk went off on one with, ‘Pepper Riddim’. Skepta dropped ‘Nasty’ in response, it was straight to the point and coldly ended the feuding.
Meridian/ Bloodline – ‘Blinded By The Lights Freestyle’ (Sidewinder 08)
Away from clashing and to the idiosyncratic Sidewinder sets. Sidewinder worked to bring grime collectives to a bigger audience, its name might be overlooked today but the legacy it left is indisputable; not only through creating unrivalled sets and shows across the country, but also in making a platform where the artists could focus on the music away from crime.
In 2008 we heard the meridian/ bloodline crew over The Streets anthem – ‘Blinded By The Lights’. Kano’s just put out his take on Mike Skinner’s ‘Has It Come To This’ but the 08 meridian freestyle is the overlooked archetype.
Rawness takes the flow of each rappers’ rattling bars. Moving away from the flossing younger hood videos you can hear the music take the front seat, putting a grimey turn on Skinner’s euphoric intensity. Meridian Dan and JME recently revived the magic of the original with an acoustic set on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge.
Skepta – Westwood Freestyle (Tim Westwood 08)
In the same year, on Tim Westwoods’ more well known slot we heard some opening verses that cannot be missed as Skepta spat out a comprehensive introduction to everything grime. Set over the instrumental to Wiley’s, ‘Where’s My Brother’, he covered hard graft, violence, drugs and the grime game. Rich in lyrical imagery and with a fiery, visceral narrative going back to his younger days of early morning hustlin’; the flow’s impeccable - it’s undoubtedly one of Westwood’s biggest sets. The Westwood freestyle sessions along with Charlie Sloth’s, ‘Fire in the Booth’ have proved an integral part of the UK rap scene, breaking through talents otherwise slept on.
Skepta – ‘Reflecting’ (Microphone Champion – 09)
Away from the booth and into the studio for 09 LP, Microphone Champion. The album came at a crucial point: just as the Boy Better Know collective was getting credibility, JME was seeing solo fame and Skepta was getting exponential attention. Whilst the LP gave us, ‘Too Many Man’ which got a lot of airtime, and the north-south collab on ‘Look Out’ ft. Giggs is also worth a nod, ‘Reflecting’ earns its place on the list because it’s timeless.
Dark in places with organ synths and a smooth monotone flow saying it how it is, you can hear a growing microphone ability. Skepta’s strength in pioneering grime became apparent – making music in the mainstream that worked to accurately reflect the world of crime and violence he grew up in. The portrait that’s painted is brutal yet intelligent and delivered with a lot of emotional capacity.
Skepta – ‘All Over The House’ (Doing it Again 2010)
Slightly less emotional but equally provocative in other ways we got the year of N – Dubz and not the greatest for grime. Skepta dabbled in the more family friendly sounds on this third studio album with singles, ‘Rescue Me’ and ‘Amnesia’. But we haven’t forgotten ‘All Over The House’ and the raunchy video that went with it. Just google the title and you’ll see what we’re talking about.
Skepta – Track 2, ‘Community Payback’ (Community Payback - 2011)
Dipping back to the mixtape style in 2011 and we got given this absolute hidden gem from 2011’s Community Payback . Almost entirely produced by ‘Whoo Kid’, the EP was a collab with fellow Tottenham local Frisco. It’s a fast, rave release, taking Skepta’s new music knowledge back to earlier styles. There’s a sense of cheeky glamour in Whoo Kid’s synth heavy production layered under toned inflections of success, fame and nostalgia.
Frisco delivers on the chorus while Skepta confidently fires the verses out. It was a move away from the radio friendly dabbles and showed the start of Skepta’s musical renaissance. Perhaps the EP format gave freedom away from pressures on studio albums.
Skepta – ‘Castles’ (Blacklisted – 2012)
After going back to the studio to record Blacklisted we heard a very different vibe to previous LP, Doin’ It Again. Spacey samples from Jody High Roller’s, ‘Versace Python Flow’ make the memorable chorus for ‘Castles’- this definitive track on Blacklisted.
Dealing with political, personal and social issues this was a more reflective album. In the video for ‘Castles’, we see Skepta puffing away in an elaborate smoking jacket. Portrayed as a don type figure he mirrors (and references on the album) Jamaican gangster Christoper Coke. The robin hood type work Coke did for the slums in Tivoli is brought to mind indirectly by Skepta’s lyrics with the moral reflections of good ‘bad guys’ and bad ‘good guys’ closer to home.
The track (and LP) explore Skepta’s theory of Underdog Psychosis – coming to the world of popular music from a tough minority childhood. Provocatively using the mainstream platform it challengers pop listeners with an underhanded irony. Narrative tracks gave distance from MC routes and we saw a different piece of his journey placed in.
Skepta ft. JME – ‘That’s Not Me’ (2014)
In 2014 Skepta again went back to his musical origins with, ‘That’s Not Me’ - listing all the things that he’s not. Amassing over 10 million views on Youtube, this was one of grime’s crucial breakthrough tracks. With a budget of £70 the video went on to win a MOBO. It proved the success of a genre and hard work with a clear message of graft and staying true to yourself paying off. No gimmicks, no nonsense, heavy old school production and punchy, aggressive flows. From the recurrent theme of ‘underdog psychosis’, here Skepta seemed to have came to peace with doing his own thing.
It came just after deep house hit the charts and things were beginning to get stale. Mixed with the trap boom in the US and associated fashion growing in popularity,social media worked to help create a snowballing youth audience bringing what was then a relatively fresh sound to the top.
Skepta – Lukey World (2015)
Now at a firmly established place in his career, this personal release had a lot of power behind it. ‘Lukey World’ was made as a tribute to the late Lukey Maxwell. The ability to bring something closely personal to the main stage leaves you feeling touched by the track. Admirably staying loyal to where he came from despite success – this is part of what has driven the rappers popularity.
Skepta – ‘Man’ (Konichiwa)
In the present day and we’ve literally just been given, ‘Man’. Coming shortly after Drake’s signing to BBK - there’s almost a sense Skepta’s becoming the British Kanye. We hear a blending of US and UK production, slightly chaotic beats with a noisy and ominous flow give us this teaser track from Konnichiwa, due May 6th. Judging by what we’ve soon so far expect a mix of raw personality, hype tracks, back to routes and some genre experimentation – exciting stuff. The album’s available to preorder on itunes now. Stay locked in for future updates.
Alec Soames