david beckham dj'ing at twice as nice. really.
1) Jermaine Defoe.
The half-brother of the late, great Gavin 'Esco' Defoe. Esco was an enigma within the grime scene, undoubtedly lyrically gifted, with an impeccable voice and flow, he remained entrenched within a 'road' lifestyle which hampered his musical productivity but gave him an unimpeachable rep when he did speak. He was a foundation mc within the grime scene. One of the most intriguing things about Esco was that he refused to capitalise on his relation to his England international sibling; it remained a fact of which I was unaware of until his tragic demise, despite the clear resemblance they shared. This knowledge added a great deal of posthumous poignancy to my favourite Esco (big) bars:
Ride fi' yuh family name,
'cah nuttin' ain't stronger than your family name,
certain man don't 'old up their family name,
but I ride like Will (?) for my family name,
buck and bust for my family name,
man feel tough with their family name,
it's cool, I was certain of their families' fame,
'til them get gun shots like Jen (?)'
Esco murkin' clip:
taken from: Esco - 96 Bars of Revenge
Essentially riding for his family name was Esco did on a daily basis, exposed to the jealousy of those who envied his brother yet with little of the benefits that compensated Jermaine for this intrusion, he refused to seek fame through association, instead alluding to it with bars like this; those that knew, knew.
Other quality Esco-related music:
Wiley - 16 Bar Rally feat. Rage, Esco, Jammer, Scorcher & Gods Gift (Esco appears 3rd on this)
Cake Freestyle
This track contains my second favourite Esco lyric:
'Thursdays I do pubs, wine bars and clubs,
'cos I love to enjoy myself 'round people and have a laugh,
I'm fronting, I'm only in there to rid my stuff, pussy'
Pretty much perfect bars, drawing you in with the apparent confession of humanity amongst the straight-up greaze, then throwing it back in your face straight away, yet doing do with such dark humour you can't help but laugh.
Esco grimetapes.com clip:
R.I.P. ESCO. PLEASE RELEASE HIS MIXTAPE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.¹
2) Shabazz 'Terminator' Baidoo.
By all rights T should be top of this list, what with having been an actual professional footballer as well as a semi-famous mc. Sadly, he loses points for being rubbish at both football and mcing. Yet when he was a 17 year-old making appearances in QPR's first team at the same time as appearing on Axe FM with top grime crew Cold Blooded Shabazz/Terminator was the poster boy for the grime/football cross-over. Unfortunately, he was released by QPR in January 2008, one of a number of talented home-grown players (at least according to my experience managing QPR on Football Manager) who suffered following the Briatore/Mittal/Ecclestone takeover of the club.² He is currently playing for Croydon Athletic in the Isthmian League First Division South.
I was of course being ridiculously harsh in my dismissal of him as a rubbish mc, although that was undoubtedly my opinion the first time I heard him spit. Terminator is a totally unique figure within grime, combining a flow so slow it makes Trim look like Twista with undeniably eccentric rhymes, which I suspect he occasionally freestyles (it certainly appeared that this was the case during his recent appearance on a Tim & Barry Street Set). These are intentional affectations designed to emphasise that he 'mcs for fame only' rather than commercial gain, although he made this proclamation during a time when his football career was rather rosier. He has an undeniably amazing mcing voice, an E.T.-like alien croak. My favourite T moment comes from Cold Blooded's appearance on Logan Sama earlier this year, where he completely showers for 2 and a half minutes:
'I'm so darkside that its in my spit,
it comes so natural I don't need to get into it,
I don't need to switch to spit,
I know certain man that need to switch to spit,
I'm in my own world,
I do drift,
I do miss,
thats because I don't liss...
I don't listen,
maybe thats my problem,
maybe its where I come from,
and its T'
Cold Blooded on Logan - Terminator Takes Over
At his best Terminator can say more by staying silent for half a bar than most mcs can by squeezing a load of syllables into the same space.
3) Leon Knight.
Lower-league footballer and cousin of former Roll Deep mc and notable grime Man. Utd. fan Trim.³ Trim dissed Leon on 'Cold World' from his 'Soulfood Vol.3' mixtape for abandoning his family following his rise to 'fame'. I was pleased Trim made this decision as I have held a grudge against his erstwhile cousin ever since I watched him score the penalty which condemned Bristol City to another season in League One in the 2003/4 play-off final, possible my all-time shittest moment as a football fan.
Trim - It's A Cold World
4) Jonathon Fortune.
Useful centre-back and cousin of Kano. Part of Charlton Athletic's not-that-memorable Fish-Costa-Fortune (get it?) Premiership back three. Kano was also on Chelsea's books as a youth, although he failed to get into the 'The Match' celebrity squad: a pretty shameful achievement when you consider Angus Deayton did.
5) Kevin Lisbie.
'They don't wanna two fist me, fist me,
I'm quick,
I used to kick ball with Lisbie'
Wiley - 50/50
6) Harvey.
Admittedly not a grime mc, he appeared on proto-grime classic 'Dilemma' so he gets a bly. Played for AFC Wimbledon and Lewes and even more impressively was featured in 'Football Manager' as a frankly shoddy left-back.
7) Darren Byfield.
His missus (the utterly gorgeous and lovely Jamelia) was shagged by Maxwell D, who proceeded to sell the story to the News of the World.⁴ Not, it can be said, the behaviour of a gentleman. Allegedly Maxwell's car was then shot up the next time he was in Birmingham.
8) Lee Brown.
Bit of a cheat this one, Lee Brown is better known as All-In-One, a grime mc and former West Ham youth player. One of the most purely talented mcs within grime, Lee never managed the achievements his footballing ability warranted and his music career looks to be heading in a similar direction. Sort it out Lee! His position in this list enables me to post this song:
All-In-One - My Music Rocks
Quite simply the best 'Sweet Child 'O Mine'-sampling (or in this case slyly-reinterpolating) song in the world.⁵
9) Marcus Bent.
According to various internet sources he was tangentially connected to So Solid Crew, under the pseudonym 'MC Bender'. At number 9 because of the strong likelihood of this being a piss-take.
10) Aron Winter.
Name-checked by grime mc Scorcher:
'start tackling mans like its the 90's and my name was Aron Winter'
Included simply because I love the lyric. Look out for Daniel Day-Lewis' number one spot in my future 'Top Ten Grime-Related Actors' list, similarly based on a reference from a peak form Scorcher.⁶
Peace.
Footnotes:
¹ A Esco grimetapes.com collection would also be a fitting tribute
² Where are you now Dominic Shimmin and Stefan Bailey?
³ see also: Trim's former Roll Deep colleague Riko
⁴ Pre-their marriage, obviously. Jamelia's to nice to get up to anything like that now... she has never met me though.
⁵ Beating off competition from Ny's 'Sooner or Later' and Fort Minor, Ryu, Celph-Titled & Juelz Santana's 'S.C.O.M.'
⁶ 'I wear Prada shoes, brand new-ish,
I rep for the fam like I'm Jewish,
come from North but I got a few goons in Lewish
If I ain't the dan then who is?
know man locked in cells like apes in a zoo is,
swing for your face like Lewis,
wanna hype up on the phone,
guess what I'ma do is,
'Hello?', that's what the clue is,
yeah, I'm number one like three minus two is,
I know man that'll clap ya,
your just an actor, like Daniel Day-Lewis,
but real man know who who is'
No comments:
Post a Comment