The Movement are one of the most respected grime collectives, despite only ever releasing one album. Its members have included some of the scene’s finest lyricists with the likes of: Ghetts, Devlin, Wretch 32, Mercston and Scorcher making up the all star roster.
Despite their debut: Tempo Specialists, being released well over ten years ago, the calls for the supergroup to make a followup have been unrelenting. Individually, all the members have achieved great things, with Scorcher’s pending mixtape release; we thought now would be the perfect time to run through some of our favourite tracks from Scorch.
“My Diary”
One of the standout tracks from Scorcher’s debut mixtape Simply the best. The album was released in 2006 on Logan Sama’s label Adamantium music. Scorcher’s vulnerable self reflections on this track, were certainly a rarity at the time of release. It’s a stone called classic that fans of Scorch still return to 13 years on.
“Its All Love Remix” Feat Kano, Bashy, Wretch 32 & Talay Riley
Fast forward six years, to when Scorcher dropped one of the hardest remixes by enlisting some of the scene’s finest pens. His Top Boy rival Sully (Kano), comes through and undoubtedly delivers the sickest verse on the track.
“Sandpit”
Scorcher’s at his reflective best once again on this one. The classic pitched up vocals make up the body of the instrumental, which provide Scorch the perfect melancholic backdrop to lay down his introspective vocals. It was the opening track on his 2007 tape Leader of the New School, which featured Loick Essien, Big Narstie, Wiley and Ghetts.
“HMP”
Although Naughty Boy has now gone on to work with the likes of Sam Smith and Beyonce, we should not let ourselves forget his grime roots. On this one Naughty Provides a slick soundscape which Scorcher blesses with his silky smooth flows. The track is one of three Scorcher solo outings on the legendary Movement album Tempo Specialists.
“Not No Talker”
So far we’ve only heard Scorcher on polished instrumentals, as opposed to the rugged soundscapes that characterised much of the genre’s early production. Scorcher pays homage to his alter ego, Skywalker – with a sample from the 80s classic Star Wars – The Empire Strike Back movie. Scorcher was regarded as being at the top of his game around the time this track was released, which will certainly take some of the old heads down memory lane.
“Its My Time”
Scorcher switches it up on this one bringing some motivational vibes as opposed to the greeze he came with on “Not No Talker”. The visuals and content of the track proved that Scorcher is more than capable of making that much coveted crossover into the mainstream.
“Let Me Fly” Feat Wretch 32
The penultimate track from the final instalment in Scorcher’s Simply the best mixtape trilogy. Scorcher opens proceedings with an incredibly insightful verse, hopefully we’ll get more of this from the veteran MC now that he’s home. The tape came out in 2012 and features some heavyweights of the scene, aside from Scorcher’s Movement comrades, Krept and Konan, Fekky and Loick Essien all make guest appearances.