Soul Jazz's latest compilation moves the spotlight a few degrees to the left of the DJ booth ¬ and shines a light on the MC. Specifically, it shows how English MC culture owes more to Jamaican soundsystems than to the loose-trousered, diamond-dripping stars of American rap. Or as YT has it on the opening number: 'This is my England story/ A true reggae story.'
MCs may be invisible to the mainstream but individuals such as Eighties MC Jah Screechy and crews such as Nineties hip hop heads London Possee turn general opprobrium about the decline of language on its head. Who cares if the kids want to yank English into their own text-friendly shape when they're spending their spare time writing razor-sharp lyrics and performing dazzling wordplay with line-by-line regularity? In a way, MCs are the equivalent of England's original folk musicians, who would use the cheapest equipment available to entertain their friends and tell their real-life stories. It's as if the idea of passing a fiddle round a pub has gone through a soundsystem blender, where the fiddle becomes a microphone and the pub becomes... well, anywhere.
Soundsystem heritage links a host of different British urban genres, and An England Story - compiled by London production and promotion duo Heatwave - does a good job of showcasing the interlinked styles gathered around the man (or, occasionally, a woman in the shape of Warrior Queen, Stush or Estelle) on the mic. There's mid-Nineties teen Glamma Kid, whose dancehall pop hit 'Fashion Magazine' is the missing link between the obvious Jamaicanisms of Eighties MCs such as Tippa Irie and Papa Levi - whose awesome 'My God My King' contains the genius line 'the sweetest singer is Sugar Minott/ The maddest comedian is Kenny Everett' - and the grime powerhouse that spat out So Solid Crew and Roll Deep.
MCs come in as many styles as bands; there are crooners, comedians and serious-minded heavyweights. Take the difference between Roll Deep toughie Riko spilling thick voiced menace down the mic - 'I love this war and I love gun/ I've always had one from day one' - and the subsequent track, 'Deep', a comedy drum'n'bass cut from Jakes and TC in which they threaten to 'murk', or murder, the recipient's fish, dog and cat. Then there's Stush's UK garage-morphs-into-grime tune 'Dollar Sign', Blak Twang, pictured above, keeping it really real on 'Red Letters' by talking about not being able to pay his bills instead of the usual conservative gangsterisms, and Estelle and Joni Rewind's sweet relocation of Althea and Donna's 'Uptown Top Ranking' from Kingston to London's West Kensington.
There are some heavyweight omissions - new school grime MCs such as Skepta, JME or Flowdan would have been good - but An England Story is a vital reminder of the power of the voice.
Download: 'Dollar Sign' (Stush); 'Uptown Top Rankin' (Estelle and Joni Rewind); 'Red Letters' (Blak Twang)
