T IN THE PARK
SWAG VS This year’s TITP is heavy on the hip hop, with an impressive line-up prefer their T served with more indie rock? Malcolm Jack and
HIP HOP E ver since Noel Gallagher got his arse handed to him by Jay-Z, following the rapper’s triumphant 2008 headline set at Glastonbury – a booking the Oasis rocker labelled as ‘wrong’ – hip hop’s centrality to Britain’s biggest music festivals has become as good as a given, and the T20 line-up confirms it. From top to bottom there are top-pedigree MCs fit to prove that whatever guitar-toting types can do, guys and girls on the mic can do better – from a schizoid ex-LA gang member and cuss-word loving Harlemite to the members of a mob of taboo-flouting young tykes currently tearing rap culture a new ‘un.
If you run into Snoop Dogg around Balado, avoid a potentially awkward situation by addressing him on first name terms, for the herb-loving hustla recently went through a conversion to Rastafarianism – which included changing his moniker to, um, Snoop Lion. It was presumably just a temporary thing – and we can surely expect the hits, from ‘Gin and Juice’ to ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ between stuff off his recent Diplo-produced reggae album. Let’s call him Snoop, to be sure; the allegedly drug dealing, murder-charge dodging and ‘Doggystyle’ porno collaborator is nothing if not a sensitive soul. And we can confidently leave the offending people to Azealia Banks. Despite still not delivering an album, two years since arriving on the scene, the most hotly-tipped thing since 50 Cent’s tattoo needle, continues to hog the limelight by virtue of abusing people on Twitter, from Lil’ Kim to Perez Hilton and The Stone Roses. Which annoyingly earns her more attention than the fierce flow which has lit-up what few electro-banging cuts we’ve heard to date, ‘212’ and ‘Yung Rapunxel’ included. Banks could take a leaf out of Kendrick Lamar’s book when it comes to work ethic – the idiosyncratic Compton MC has released a string of high-performing singles and two albums since 2011, the second – the intoxicating good kid, m.A.A.d city was one of last year’s very best hip hop sets. Proving that the Brits can confidently mix it with their US cousins, Dizzee Rascal will fly the flag, getting T bouncing en masse with his hyperactive, grimy hip-pop thing, debuting tracks from e Fifth . Finally, coming team-handed to T ar ThT new LP new LP The Fifth. Finally, coming team-handed to T are several of LA’s amorphous alternative w OFWGKTA, who, while not due to perform rew hip hop cr hip hop crew OFWGKTA, who, while not due to perform as a collective, will appear in their more g s olo guises. De-facto ringleader Tyler, The Cre olo guises. De-facto ringleader Tyler, The C rewarding rewarding solo guises. De-facto ringleader Tyler, The Creator brings third solo album Wolf, which ee es him cool on his more nauseating lyrical ten gladly s gladly sees him cool on his more nauseating lyrical tendencies in favour of a more cartoonish rew of bile. The enigmatic Earl Sweatshirt, the cr d o brand brand of bile. The enigmatic Earl Sweatshirt, the crew’s most-gifted rhymer, returns from exile forced by his Mum) at a school for wayward b boy ted enf (e (enforced by his Mum) at a school for wayward boys in Samoa to preview highly-anticipated m G Doris. Finally, performing tracks from ece new LP n new LP Doris. Finally, performing tracks from Grammy-winning future-soul masterpiece Channel Orange, don’t miss Frank Ocean n, e’s Channel Orange, don’t miss Frank Ocean, who climbed higher still in everyone’s with Chris Brown. Call this lot ‘wrong’ w estimations this year by getting in a scrap at etting in a scrap estimations this year by getting in a scrap with Chris Brown. Call this lot ‘wrong’ at di
your own risk, Noel. your own risk, Noel.
16 THE LIST 13 Jun–11 Jul 2013