Since its incarceration, UK rap has been heavily influenced by it’s US counterpart while remaining within it’s own lane. UK rap has evolved over the years and taken many different stems within the genre, leading to a multi faceted and complex landscape. While it is clear that the UK rap scene has certainly built a niche for itself, there are times when the long term influences shine through. In this list, we will look at out top 5 tracks from UK artists who have taken a US rap instrumental and while not just covering it, have made the track their own.
Notable omissions include freestyles [like Dizzee Rascal killing the Lil Wayne’s “Fireman”] and official UK remixes [who can forget when Chamillionaire enlisted Sway for “Ridin’ Dirty” remix]. Also, while Skepta’s version of Drake & Future’s “Jumpman” from his Halloween Mix is certainly list worthy, but we wouldn’t count that as a complete track. So check the list below and comment on any we may have missed…
1. J Spades- Hustle Hard
East London’s very own J Spades made a name for himself for delivering raw, UK rap and his first mixtape ‘More Money More Pagans’ featured tracks such as “Ghetto” and “A Million” [feat. Cashtastic & Squeeks]. One of the stand tracks from the project was “Hustle Hard”, a cover of Ace Hood’s track of the same name. The track, and it’s accompanying video helped Spades regain national accreditation as an artist, and push him as one of the leaders in the UK scene back in 2012.
2. S.A.S Eurogang – Respect My Conglomerate
In 2006, brothers Mayhem and Mega, known together as Streetz All Salute (S.A.S) were signed to Dipset/Rocafella and went out to the states to make a name for themselves. While that plan never worked out, the duo plus a collective known as Eurogang went back to the streets and focused on creating new material. Over the years, Eurogang have gone from strength to strength and this is shown in “Respect My Conglomerate” with Mega, Mayhem and Skrilla Kid Villain went in hard over the Busta Rhymes smash hit from 2009.
3. Squeeks – Big Squeeko
Taken from his ‘Call Me Squeeko‘ mixtape which dropped in 2012, Squeeks had a firm statement of intention and did so on “Big Squeeko”. The beat, taken from Nipsey Hussle’s 2011 “Rose Clique”, gave Squeeks a perfect backdrop for the track and even used some of Nipsey’s schemes to build his verses. Although both tracks have their own style, the similar theme is the honesty of both artists throughout. Both speak of a life on the streets, while striving and hoping for bigger and better things.
4. Yungen, Konan & Krept – The Motto
Before Krept & Konan were making tracks with Wiz Khalifa and Rick Ross and clearing up at award shows, Krept & Konan became viral online stars with their remix of “Otis” in 2011. “Otis” itself deserves a spot on this list simply due to the impact it had on Krept & Konan but the addition of Yungen is what made that choice. The addition of Yungen to Play Dirty in 2012 only made the team stronger and with “The Motto”, there feels like an element of one-upmanship, making for some great punchlines.
5. WSTRN feat. Youngs Teflon – Best Friend
While we eagerly awaited the official release of “In2” [after being signed to Atlantic, over 43 links of the track were taken down], WSTRN kept us going with “Best Friend” featuring Youngs Teflon. While no one doubts that the trio and Tef made the track their own, the track was actually a remix of a Young Thug track by the same name. The track, which features on his ‘Slime Season’ project, has praised of its use of hook, a point that WSTRN only emphasised with the infectious hook sung by Haile.