Loukia Constantinou on angry MCs…

The thing I love most about Grime music is the abundance of rudeboys the scene is made up of and the abundance of rudeboys which are it’s cult followers. I heart them. I really do. In the raves the stench of weed and sweaty Air Max 95s, the lack of any remotely good looking females and the aura of man-might-shank-man, are all just the icing on what seems to often be a very angry cake. And as for the music? Well that shit’s obviously amazing as well!

But aside from the moody beats, the ingenious bars and the D.I.Y videos, it is becoming increasingly evident to me that Emcees are very, VERY angry human beings. And much like these badboys that serenade me daily, going to a grime gathering or listening to the stuff blaring out of my speakers or earphones has begun to induce an odd sense of rage deep inside me which I actually rather embrace. These days, nothing satisfies my anger more than smashing any object within reach or unwillingly projecting a torrent of filth from my mouth and aiming it very precisely at a specific person. (I think I may have found my new vocation).

Why all this rage though?

One of the hypest songs the grime scene has brought us so far this year comes from none other than Mr. Swiiiiing and Baaaaaax himself, the one with the worst temper of them all, the one who is aptly called Tempa T of course. His song Next Hype has raised his profile by a million trillion percent and it is quite simply about demolishing somebody’s house and belongings and then swiftly continuing to beat the said person to a pulp. Yowzer! As much as I love the song and as much as I love the video, the sane part of my whole being tends to wince at lyrics that suggest causing extreme pain to a person for no justified reason…Ouch much?!

Now I’m not one of these wastecadettes that’s going to start blaming music for crime and violence and blah blah blah and neither am I going to suggest making grime less grimey (because let’s face it once a grime artist hits the charts their music becomes more slime than grime), all I’m saying is, CALM DOWN DEARESTS! And anyway I can’t help but remain unconvinced that they are truly THAT enraged. According to their lyrical flows all of them have “bare P”, get “nuff gash and ting” and are the biggest, baddest best spitters that have ever graced our bass-raped ears. If this is truly the case then SURELY there is no need for so much vexation?

I realize it is all in the name of entertainment and a bit of light hearted shanking never killed anyone (it just badded them up a bit) but if these rhyme-rapping, brap-brapping sex gods have such amazing lives despite their ghetto upbringings then surely they should start emceeing less about shanks and more about pranks, less about hustlin’ and more about bustlin’ less about leng and more about the fact that they’re so peng. You get my point don’t you my fellow parrers. Just CHILL OUT BABEZ!

Words: Loukia Constantinou

Hot 110 NB: For further help and advice for MCs on anger management click here

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