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TAKING THE MIC
David Pollock selects ten of Scotland’s brightest hip hop talents
Ic soon 'I' . _‘ Combining fierce K'; vocal ability with commercial versatility. fast- rapping Glaswegian Sumati Bhardwaj has opened for Basement Jaxx and Aphex Twin. and performed diverse styles such as reggae with Mungo's Hi-Fi and folk alongside The Burns Unit. I www.myspace.com/mcsoomt
MEI/MAI X BIGGER Around since the days of the Scotland Yard MCs. Profisee is a solo artist and the former co-promoter of Edinburgh’s Volume dubstep and grime night. His partner Ema Johnson used to be involved there too and the pair now record together as Cloak X Dagger.
I www.myspace.com/profisee
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‘ ‘ ' ‘. Starting out as a boyband in their teens. the Edinburgh trio have grown up (sorta) and grabbed attention in NME. Front. Arena and of course nabbed a List cover for themselves. The commercial face of Scottish hip hop. they're a crew of effortless party-starters.
I www.myspace.com/youngfathers
CAPITOL 1212
A throwback to the good ol' days when a rap single wasn’t a rap single without a massive string sample from an old soul track over the top, Edinburgh producers Fly-T and Professa Fresh make fine music. Also check out their DJ sets around the country and their debut single on Mungo‘s Hi-Fi.
I www.myspace.com/capital1212
new“: Influenced as much by Dr Dre and Ice Cube as they are desi and bhangra sounds. Glaswegian brothers Raj and Pops are fixtures on the local scene and set to go further. Bobby Friction is a fan and they're signed to the Panjabi MC- breaking Nachural label.
I www.myspace.com/tigersty/eonline
NORTHERN XPOSIIIE
This isn‘t a time for Sugababes and Girls Aloud. is it?‘ asks Northern Xposure's Eunice Olumide. ‘But that‘s what the
bourgeoisie want us to listen to. As long as ‘
we don't think about reality while they make their money and ruin the economy and the economies of other poor countries suffering in the world.’
Not the kind of thing a Scots-Nigerian girl from a council estate in Edinburgh's Sighthill should be concerning herself with. right? Wrong. of course. The only one of her peer group who went to university. Olumide would travel to London in her mid-teens and rapped on the same stages as a pre-fame Mike Skinner and Estelle. She's toured the world since wuth her older brother Ibrahim and the Northern Exposure crew - a bunch of kids from the local area who help with performing. production and crewing. ‘This band isn't a youth club.’ says Olumide. ‘though sometimes it feels like it'.
I www.myspace.com/nmxpo
- . " _. HUDSON TV I I mum ~ , 2&1; a. 1'. mm: r'fll‘; " Call it
i' .‘ iL ‘aquacrunk' if
. you like. but ..; °s g there's more than
a bit of hip hop in
the squelchy. space-adventurer sound of
the LuckyMe Collective's most well-
known. Warp-signed artists. Also see: Jay
P. The Blessings. Dema. Nadsroic. Mr
Copy. Eclair FiFi.
I www.thisisluckyme.com
m AID was Also on Crystal Wish. the elusive Kyon and Dyems post only childhood photos of themselves on MySpace. but make atmospheric electronic pop with a large amount of Scots-accented MCing going on. I www.myspace.com/kyonanddyems IIYDIO ‘ The Glasgow-
. born. Bronx- . { raised MC does - = big. beefy. high- “. gloss jams and -‘ 4 .~ . raised his profile
a” previously having
collaborated with N.O.R.E. and Busta Rhymes. I www.myspace. com/hydroglasgow
S-TYPE AID JAISII
Mates Bobby and Olly from Edinburgh work together and separately on a range of old-school productions with an electro edge. which are earning them work with artists like Prince Po and Sha Stimuli. Bobby's older brother is in Found. which is a good eclecticism indicator.
I www.myspace.com/stype
Do you rate someone else’s local hip hop skills? Tell us at reactGlist.co.uk
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hen prolilie lidinburgh gi'al'l‘iti artist lilph started out Ill years there weren‘t many others doing it in Seotland. ‘l)erm was probably the only guy I knew here. him and the liallen Angels erew .\lak| had a huge inl’luenee on (ilasgow graffiti. and there were a few in Dundee. .\lost gral‘liti then was inl'lueneed by the breakdanee seene.'
lilph’s style developed from tagging bus stops in l)rylaw where he grew up. into painting bigger murals under bridges and on building sites.
‘When you're ll or 13. you don‘t really have a voice. so spraying your niekname is a way of leaying your mark.‘ He also started drawing at home and slieking pictures on doorways around town to add to ‘the street l‘urniture‘.
Now lilph‘s art has been exhibited in shows in New York. Berlin and London. alongside artists like Banksy and Adam Neate. But he still likes taking his
ilL'U.
sprayeans to the eapital‘s ey ele paths to
paint with the other members of the Many Styles erew. (Spie. Skote. ('asp. Sole. .-\ser. Nyte. Beat. ligo and Odes.)
‘l.oanhead‘s quite popular for painting. because stul‘l‘ stays up for longer without getting painted over. ()byiously there's more graffiti in (ilasgow. beeause it‘s a bigger eity. but also because tlieies a big train network. whieh means lots ol' traeks to paint along.‘
Through in (ilasgow. artist eouple .-\li Wylie and Amy Whiten run Reeoat. a gallery showcasing street art from new talent alongside that ol' established graffiti artists. Ali. aka Rekor. started painting aged I3.
‘I was heayily into skateboarding so you would always see stull at skate parks and in maga/ines. and I thought it looked eool. So I went into the garage. found some old cans and started painting. I haven‘t stopped.~ He deseribes his eurrent work as. ‘a big mash up of ideas. eharaeters. shapes and forms. patterns. typography. symbols and graphies.‘ while Amy. aka Syrkus. mainly draws eharaeters and 'weird looking l'olk'.
For people looking for good graffiti. Ali says skate parks are a good place to start. and the one in Glasgow‘s Kelvingrove Park has a regular turnoyer of pieces. Tristan
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