Urban music in the UK has become more popular in the last year, bigger than ever thanks to number 1 hits from British R&B, Hip-Hop and Grime artists like Dizzee Rascal, Leona Lewis, Estelle and MIA; as well as top 10 artists like Lemar, Craig David, Taio Cruz, Wiley and Tinchy Stryder. British hip-hop may not be as popular around the world as its American counterpart and probably never will be, but here in the UK we have some exceptionally good rappers who make good quality, lyrically rich music.
Just as Americans created hip-hop and rap, London MCs created their own genre of fast-paced mc’ing, called it “Grime” music, and have never looked back since. The genre has grown ahead of UK hip-hop in terms of popularity with the younger generation because it was created by London’s younger generation, and Grime music is now widely recognized and accepted around the world as it it’s a fresh new sound. Grime artists are now regularly nominated for music awards in the UK and the US. The US’s own BET Awards nominated 4 grime artists and only 1 hip-hop artist for Best UK Hip-Hop at their 2008 awards ceremony in Atlanta. However, that hip-hop artist (“Giggs” from South London) won the award and breathed new life into UK hip-hop. If you don’t know who Giggs is, he’s the rapper who took a beat from Dr Dre (“here we go” by Stat Quo), freestyled it, and made the song the biggest UK hip-hop record of 2008, to the point that hardly anyone in the UK knows the original version! No offense to my American friends..
Without taking credit away from the US, it’s a fact that if their music can break America, it will become popular throughout the Western world. One factor contributing to the success of UK street artists is that they have been accepted in America. Such is the appreciation of UK urban music in the US that 4 of America’s biggest rappers (Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Kanye West, TI) sampled the voice of a British female artist for the chorus of their monster hit “Swagger Like Us.” This sample puts MIA’s single “Paper Planes” at the top of the US charts.
UK R&B diva Leona Lewis’ single “Run” has become the UK’s best-selling digital single of all time. While Leona Lewis was nominated in several categories at the 2009 Grammy Awards and sadly didn’t win in any category, other UK singers like Estelle, Duffy and Adele each took home a Grammy Award at the Los Angeles ceremony. Angeles, proving that the UK street artists have finally gained star status.