Skepta - Mike Lowery (Video)

Having linked with Diddy recently, Skepta now has a DJ Whoo Kid-sponsored mixtape in the works. The G-Unit DJ seems to be showing the UK a lot of love of late.

P Diddy - Hello Good Morning (Skepta Remix) (Video)

When I heard about this previously, the cynic in me just thought it was hot air. I didn't 1) realise it got made (a couple of months ago) and 2) think they'd put together a video for it. Seeing the man behind Biggie Smalls, and everything else in the years since then, bopping about with Boy Better Know's Skepta is just...odd. Impossibly, Diddy actually sounds even worse over grime, but this is harder than the original, so props to BBK.

Does Chipmunk's mummy know he's started drinking vodka? And straight from the bottle - unhygienic.

P Diddy Calls On Skepta For Remix

The mogul behind one of rap’s most celebrated artists (and, incidentally, a giant dick), Duff Paddy is now looking over here for a new style that can add something refreshing to the mix.

With his recent single, Hello, Good Morning, doing the rounds, P Did He? asked his legion of Twitter followers who in the UK should remix the song. Apparently, he was then inundated with votes for Skepta, the MC/producer who’s part of Wylie’s Boy Better Know camp. Now the two are collaborating.

This is pretty interesting. I can’t help but feeling the US has got bored of itself, commercially speaking at least. When it first started gaining traction and popularity, the southern sound was accused of not being hip hop. Why? Basically because it sounded different. The exact same thing happened when West Coast rap rose to eclipse New York. Every time a regionalised interpretation/reinterpretation of hip hop springs up, fans act like it should only be done like it was previously, for tradition’s sake.

Today, southern rap isn’t fun and exciting. It’s not refreshing and new anymore, it’s the norm and more ubiquitous than any style that preceded it. I’ve got an inkling the US is going to start looking outside of its immediate surroundings more and more to update its sound. It could just be for the sake of an overhaul, or a clever ploy to gain more popularity from overseas fans. Or both.

I don’t listen to either of these guys’ music but am keenly watching how the UK continues to figure in the States’ often baffling rap/hip hop world.

Don't Stay In...

If you're fortunate enough to have a sex life and reckless enough not to use protection, you might want have a test to check your bits are kosher. If this is you, you're a nipper (15-24) and you don't mind occupying a venue full of people who have pissed into a cup for entry, you should get yourself to this event featuring top grime MCs Wylie, Scorcher, Skepta and Griminal.

Despite my age, I would rather have chlamydia than put myself through the pain of listening to Ironik, who is also billed. But Eski is heavy and although I'm not really up on Scorcher and Griminal, they command a lot of respect in the grime scene.

Click the flyer for more info.