Is Britcore coming back? Its hard to tell really. There definitely seems to be renewed interest in it, and with the Criminal Minds active again, perhaps this heralds a return to the UK's golden days? Austerity Britain might be the catalyst for a harder-edged sound in UK hip hop since Grime seems to have imploded and American hip hop sounds like a robot gangster having sex with a chipmunk.
Britcore was a strain of the UK Hip Hop to emerge in the mid-80s and early 90s and unless you are a hardcore hip hop head seems to have been largley forgotten. I certainly didn't know anything about it until last year, and at first I didn't really like it. Generally I prefer classic 80s US stuff and I never really thought much of UK stuff although I liked some Grime here and there.
As for Britcore, I'd heard some of the more obvious ones like MC Duke stuff and Silver Bullet, but that was about it. Once I made an effort to look into it though, I couldn't get enough! I still only know a few tracks from some of the more well-known acts, but they are proper up there!
Britcore was about spitting rapid hard-hitting lyrics over hard beats and sounds (which often had a gothic bent to them), much more raw than the US stuff hapenning over the pond. Britcore acapellas ended up being sampled over and over in the rave scene and practically all of the more well-known ones come from MC Duke or Hijack.
Since I'm hardly an expert in Britcore, I'll stop chatting shit in case it turns out I'm completely wrong, but heres some examples of the gems i've found:
HIJACK - The Terrorist Group Hijack were AWESOME! They got signed to Ice T's label, Rhyme Syndicate, but of course it all went tits-up. Looking like a cross between the Wu-Tang Clan and Slipknot these guys meant business. They have been rated as the best UK hip hop group of all time, although I guess that comes down to personal preference. Very much Brixton's answer to Public Enemy, Hijack put UK Hip Hop on the map. Kamanchi Sly's voice is fantastic.....just don't mention Chuck D.
GUNSHOT - 25 Gun Salute This track is slick - I love how it flows and unlike Hijack (above) its real London accents you can hear. Ruff tuff and wicked stuff.
Hijack: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Hijack+%282%29
Gunshot: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Gunshot
Criminal Minds: http://www.discogs.com/Criminal-Minds-TCM/master/328245
Britcore was a strain of the UK Hip Hop to emerge in the mid-80s and early 90s and unless you are a hardcore hip hop head seems to have been largley forgotten. I certainly didn't know anything about it until last year, and at first I didn't really like it. Generally I prefer classic 80s US stuff and I never really thought much of UK stuff although I liked some Grime here and there.
As for Britcore, I'd heard some of the more obvious ones like MC Duke stuff and Silver Bullet, but that was about it. Once I made an effort to look into it though, I couldn't get enough! I still only know a few tracks from some of the more well-known acts, but they are proper up there!
Britcore was about spitting rapid hard-hitting lyrics over hard beats and sounds (which often had a gothic bent to them), much more raw than the US stuff hapenning over the pond. Britcore acapellas ended up being sampled over and over in the rave scene and practically all of the more well-known ones come from MC Duke or Hijack.
Since I'm hardly an expert in Britcore, I'll stop chatting shit in case it turns out I'm completely wrong, but heres some examples of the gems i've found:
HIJACK - The Terrorist Group Hijack were AWESOME! They got signed to Ice T's label, Rhyme Syndicate, but of course it all went tits-up. Looking like a cross between the Wu-Tang Clan and Slipknot these guys meant business. They have been rated as the best UK hip hop group of all time, although I guess that comes down to personal preference. Very much Brixton's answer to Public Enemy, Hijack put UK Hip Hop on the map. Kamanchi Sly's voice is fantastic.....just don't mention Chuck D.
GUNSHOT - 25 Gun Salute This track is slick - I love how it flows and unlike Hijack (above) its real London accents you can hear. Ruff tuff and wicked stuff.
CRIMINAL MINDS - Urban Warfare Criminal Minds went on to do great things in the rave scene, releasing ground-breaking hardcore and jungle, but before all that they were a straighforward hip hop act. Hailing from Milton Keynes they had thier own style and brought their own sound. Halo is a GREAT scratch DJ, and DJ Spatts was a really talented producer who since became a fantastic one.
Hijack: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Hijack+%282%29
Gunshot: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Gunshot
Criminal Minds: http://www.discogs.com/Criminal-Minds-TCM/master/328245
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