Wales: LAND OF RAP
Not many people are aware of the fact that Wales has a secret stash of the best rap tunes in the country. This could be patriotic hyperbole on my part of course, but what if it’s not? What if, the ‘Land Of Song’ actually had a sideline in churning out some of the most creative, passionate and skilled rappers you’ve never heard? I’d go so far as to say it has done for a long time now.
In the late 90s, whilst far away from home in the land of Brum, I put a website together to keep connected to my Welsh homeland but also to promote and link up the various Hip-hop crews from around the country, going right back to foundation artists such as DJ Jaffa and Me One (aka MC Eric - check their 1989 track as Just The Duce below) - both of whom are still very much around today. The site, Enta The Dragon, lasted a few years and helped me to gravitate back to Cardiff where I started a regular Hip-hop night with Dregz and Ruffstylz (now Flameholder) called Higher Learning.
We always had Welsh artists perform at our events with an open mic bringing many more. I can honestly say the diversity of styles within such a small scene was inspirational and although it might be a little heartbreaking that many were only recognised within the confines of their local area, it meant that most of them were only in it for the sheer love of their art, in fact they still are.
This was in the noughties, when another group of emcees started to emerge with a whole new approach. Grime hit South Wales hard, especially in Cardiff and Newport. At the time I was running DJ lessons and working with rappers at a community arts centre called Immtech, DJ Oddz, one of early noughties most exciting Grime producers, would come in regularly with an entourage of MCs and they would freestyle in one of the booths for hours, I was hooked from then. I was also the inhouse producer for Beats FM (now Radio Cardiff) which was housed in the centre and so heard tons of the local scene through a show hosted by Chico and Caveman - also MCs in their own right at the time and cornerstones of the Welsh scene to this day.
Towards the end of the decade the landscape had changed a fair bit, I had started a blog and collective called Chrome Kids with Monky and Stagga (rest in power). I’d argue we were ‘Post Hip-hop’ (if it wasn’t such a wanky description) but Hip-hop was still going strong and in 2008 we recorded a fully Welsh Hip-hop mix for Rob Da Bank’s BBC Radio Show which gives you some idea of the sheer assortment of different approaches.
Monky and Stagga were also some of the best Hip-hop producers and DJs in the country, but they had started to become better known for their Dubstep and other more experimental electronic styles. A few of the MCs from the Hip-hop and Grime scenes tried their hand on their new beats, Skamma being the one who stands out the most (and continues to stand out, although he’s probably better known in the Drum N Bass world now).
One of the younger emcees to jump on a Stagga beat was Traxx who would go on to form Astroid Boys with DJ Comfort, Benji (Wild) and their teenage producer Dell ( as well as a revolving band of musicians). I was their manager for a while and was proud to see them break down the barriers between genres, with a sound that took in elements of Grime, Hip-hop, Drum N Bass, Dubstep, Punk and Metal. Although sadly no more, they made a huge impact with national radio play, sold out gigs across Europe and packed festival shows at the likes of Glastonbury, Bestival. Reading and of course Boomtown.
All of the individual members of Astroid Boys are still doing their thing and in fact you can hear both Traxx and Benji on my ‘Land Of Rap’ Spotify playlist which compiles some of the current heavy hitters on the scene. Check it out and see if it proves my original point at the start of this post. Most of the acts on it are very much underground but many such as Juice Menace, Mace The Great, Szwe, Deyah and Luke RV are starting to be accepted by the wider Welsh Music community. Who knows, this time next year maybe the rest of the world might catch on.
Hello, World!
If you wanted to find out more and keep up with this truly blossoming scene, Land Of Rap is also the name of my monthly column on God Is In The TV where I share the most interesting Welsh Hip-hop, Grime, Drill and other rap based tunes from the month. You can read the latest one here.
