In a recent article about a warm up gig for Boom Bap 2015, I made a point of restraining myself so that I didn’t rattle off into a tangent about the general state of UK hip-hop. I make no such promises here.
In fact, that’s pretty much what this piece is going to be about, because if you haven’t noticed, the scene is breaking out in a pretty massive way. Turn the clock back even 10 years and hip-hop in the UK was a scattered discipline, overshadowed by MC-led drum and bass, jungle and later on grime. There were some isolated success stories, Roots Manuva, The Streets, Goldie Lookin’ Chain, Blak Twang and others but it always felt like genuine, true home-grown hip-hop didn’t really have any kind of unifying force behind it.
Now though, it does. The scene is growing at an alarming rate and is being championed by a growing family of diligent, dedicated labels like High Focus, Stones Throw, Eatgood Records, Bad Taste, Lewis Recordings and others provide a rock-solid platform for the ever-increasing army of artists to put their work out. In a live setting, it’s moved beyond the odd nights at Brixton Jamm to far greater territory, with venues nationwide playing host to fantastic, unique shows. The funny thing about UK hip-hop shows is that they haven’t really changed their formula, despite the expansion. You’ll still get at least half-a-dozen different acts coming on, MCs will still run on stage even when their number isn’t up and start hyping, you still get impromptu cyphers and the whole thing feels less like a gig and more like a party that just happens to have a really good soundsystem and a cash bar. Then you have Boom Bap, the absolute epitome of it.
I went to Boom Bap for the first time last year and I was very impressed. It was the first genre-specific festival I had ever attended, but you have to bear in mind that hip-hop isn’t just a music genre, it’s a culture, consisting as much of break-dancing and graffiti as it does of DJing and rapping. All four were present in earnest at Boom Bap, equally and effectively catered four across the small, bustling Mildenhall grounds. “I felt there was a lack of dedicated festivals representing the music and culture of Hip Hop.” Says founder Ivan Andrade, who was kind enough to speak with me earlier this month. “There’s something that doesn’t sit right with me when you see Nas sandwiched in between Katy Perry and Disclosure on a festival line-up. We also wanted to create a platform for Hip Hop from the UK to grow alongside international acts.”
It makes a great deal of sense, the hip-hop community is grounded in exposure and support, if you build it, they will come. Last year, despite the tiny festival still being in its infancy, Ghostface Killah agreed to headline and now in 2015 the line-up is even more muscular. Earl Sweatshirt will be playing, alongside Ratking, Homeboy Sandman, Your Old Droog and even Jeru the Damaja. All the biggest names in the national scene will appear again, Four Owls are coming back, DJ Skitz has a showcase set planned, Lewis Parker is playing, Mr. Thing, Ed Scissortongue and over 100 others but who is Ivan particularly hyped about? “I’d say Ratking – for live energy and innovation in the music. Cult Mountain for the cult status and the fact it will most likely be their first big/festival live set together. Your Old Droog, as it’s his UK debut and he’s killing it right now. Iamnobodi for the party vibes.” He says, “and Foreign Beggars closing the festival Sunday on the main stage!”
Alongside all this, a few non-genre acts are making appearances. Two of the most interesting electronic artists working today, Flako and Hannah Faith are both on the roster, the aforementioned Iamnobodi boasts a similar status, having recently thrown out a set at SXSW and Fatima is appearing with her Live Eglo Band. If you haven’t heart of Fatima, you might want to fix that. Her last album, Yellow, was one of 2014’s musical highlights and her soulful stylings sit comfortably somewhere between Little Dragon, D’Angelo, Young Fathers and Tune-Yards.
In a recent, massively exciting twist, grime pioneer Skepta has also been added to the bill. As with last year, The Lion Pulse sound system will have a space reserved for some bass blasting, the Dead Beat Disco will have their own stage (as well as an adjacent half-pipe) and a host of notorious graffiti artists will be in attendance, such as 3Dom and Tizer. New for this year will be a record fare, attractive to both DJs looking for cuts and fans hoping to snap up signed copies of classic LPs. There will also be a hip-hop cinema and an independent streetwear market, tantalizingly.
Is this a sign of continued rapid expansion for Boom Bap? Well, yes and no. According to Ivan “We want to continue to build on each year but there will be a limit to where we want to take it, we don’t want to be a 50k festival. I think you lose a vibe and aura once you get past a certain number, but for now we are enjoying continuing to grow each year.” It’s a wise mindset to take, with a movement expanding at the rate UK hip-hop is, there’s a very real danger of going supernova, as many small scale festivals have done in the past once they started growing. Anyone heading to The Big Chill 2015? Oh, I made myself sad.
With Boom Bap though, it’s never really been about money, the acts, promoters and fans share a common interest in spreading the message, nobody wants it to become some bloated, rudderless cash-cow, just more artists, more great music and more great art. “Musically it’s been incredible, there are so many talented and ground-breaking artists really pushing things forward and it’s only getting better. It’s been a dream, in such a short space of time Boom Bap has travelled the world on the strength of how much of a fan base there is out there.” Ivan recounts. “I think that says a lot. Let alone the fact it’s been in company of friends and family. It’s safe to say it’s all been a blessing and mad inspiring to say the least. We have so many plans yet to unfold.”
But, at a fundamental level, just what is the appeal of UK hip-hop? Hip-hop is a product of a time-and-place which needed it, the African-American community. Since the turn of 20th century that oppressed, mistreated demographic has been innovating music and using it as a platform, from gospel to jazz to funk and finally to hip-hop. Much of the time when this art is imitated elsewhere, it doesn’t really carry much weight. UK hip-hop is not an imitation of its American parent, it’s not trying to recreate anything. The Four Owls are not ‘the British Wu-Tang’, Pete Cannon is not ‘the British Grandmaster Flash’, the bones may be the same, but the cultural context is different, the approach is different, everything is different.
This isn’t a tribute to the originators, it’s a movement in and of itself. The rapping in particular is uniquely inventive, I haven’t encountered flows as storied and esoteric as Ed Scissortongue, as raw and unapologetic as Dirty Dike or as hauntingly beautiful as Cyrus Malachi anywhere outside of the British Isles. Influenced? Naw, influential. Ivan finds all this as exciting as I do. “Each year we get new heads reaching Boom Bap for the first time, so it continues to evolve and develop, every year new music surfaces and with that brings a new breed of fan. You know, the first year we didn’t have the likes of Problem Child, Cult Mountain, Strange U & Dead Players. So in that sense it keeps expanding and changing.”
More than this though, despite the constant, exponential growth, the scene still feels like a family. A very big family full of colourful characters, mind, but still a family. “I think people see what we are doing with the festival and respect the approach we take to make sure we keep it fresh and progressive. We get a lot of feedback from artists and label bosses so I feel we move as a unit. We also try and keep the fans happy and often ask them what it is they want to see change and improve.” Everyone is helping to carry everyone else, the fans support the artists, the artists support the fans, it’s kind of amazing that such a strong connection hasn’t ever faded, and isn’t ever likely to. In that sense, Boom Bap is like the big gathering, the annual family celebration. Is it going to carry on like this? Ivan seems to think so. “I think the fan base and quality of the music is going to continue to grow and innovate. It’s so healthy right now, the styles and artists are so diverse and it is bigger than it’s ever been.”
Boom Bap Festival takes place from the 5th to the 7th of June in Suffolk, grab your tickets here before they sell out.
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