UK Road Rap
tagStarted 2006Peak 2007-2013Last big hit still activeFrom London, United Kingdom
Located in 1 route
British gangsta rap from South London estates: deep, menacing low-register flows over slow, ominous beats, gritty firsthand accounts of road life, violence and surveillance. Born as a backlash to grime going pop, it trades hyper-tempo for a stalking, heavy swagger, raw mixtape production and gun-talk delivered in a thick London drawl.
History
Pioneered in Brixton and Peckham around 2006-07 by crews like PDC, SN1, North Star and Mashtown as a reaction to grime's mid-decade commercialisation. Giggs broke it nationally with Talkin da Hardest and the SN1 collective; K Koke, Sneakbo and later Nines carried it forward, laying the DNA for the UK drill that followed.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://www.factmag.com/2015/05/27/20-essential-road-rap-tracks/
- https://www.theculturecrypt.com/posts/giggs-the-godftather-of-road-rap
- https://www.complex.com/music/a/joseph-jp-patterson/the-best-mixtapes-from-road-raps-early-reign