The Answer Is In The Beat

v/a: Lord Of The Mics IV (Lord Of The Mics, 2012)

May 20, 2013 at 1:12 am | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

The UK grime scene is alive and well and underground as ever, even with Wiley releasing poppy major label albums and having #1 UK pop hits. This a fantastic, mixtape-style sampler of the current crop. P-Money shouts out to other grime artists and clubs all over the world. Diesle’s “Shell” is an excellent song about music bringing him out of his shell. Jammer reps Boy Better Know for life. M.I.K. assures that whoever told you he couldn’t do this is a liar. Shorty reps Boy Better Know some more with a nice freestyle over a tight minimal beat by Masro. Sox offers an incredibly sharp, funny rap called “I’m Not Stupid”. “Straight Up” is a huge posse cut adhering to the credo of “no bullshit, no lies, straight up”. “Skyyy” by Frisco (another BBK veteran) is another highlight, and then Wiley kills it freestyling over Preditah’s “Circles”. Discarda and Jammer’s “Banged Your Head Off The Wall” is hilariously drunk and pissed off, flinging insults aimlessly like beer bottles. Lay Z & C4’s “Pride” is another instantly recognizable Preditah production (having a few signature samples dropped in every track you produce will do that), and the rhymes are tight and hilarious as well (“I just turned David Blaine on a bitch”). K Dot’s “Nail In The Coffin” is another loud, brash slayer, opening with a taunt of “are you daft?” and not letting up until the 3 minute mark, after which the track fades out. JME acknowledges Skepta and Wiley as his peers, and everyone else as inferior competition, with a sly, sing-song flow over a minimal, martial beat. I didn’t have time to watch every minute of the DVD, but I watched at least a little bit of all 7 MC battles, and my favorites were particularly fierce battles between Lady Shocker and L.K, Blay and Fangol, and Jaykae and Discarda.