Re-upload (Original article created 21st June 2022)
Music has always been one of my first loves and main interests from a young age, ranging from traditional Congolese songs my parents and family members would be playing in the house and parties, to UK and US rap, RnB, gospel and many others. In terms of UK rappers, I grew up heavily listening to Giggs, Skepta, Section Boyz (now known as Smoke Boyz), Tinie Tempah, Tempa T, 67, J Hus, Dave, as well as many others.
I thought about if I were to make a list of ‘UK street anthems’ that gained huge popularity when I was growing up, which tracks would make the list, so that’s what I’ve decided to create for myself and you the readers.
This list will be in no particular order, and will range from when I was growing up (so for the sake of argument, I will select tracks that were anthems when I was 10 years old - 2011, until 2019). Thank you and I hope you enjoy.
(DISCLAIMER! - this list was not made to cause any upset, the critique and opinions are solely my own and this article was made for entertainment and debate purposes only)
Kennington Where It Started:
Bis x Blanco x Active x MizOrMac
We’re kick-starting this list with arguably one of the greatest and most influential drill tracks in UK history, which dropped on YouTube in 2017. The track felt as if it went viral overnight, with everybody quoting Bis’ (rest in paradise) lyric, “if gang pull up, are you gonna back your bredrin?” - a line questioning if people who claim they are about that life, would they leave their friend in confrontation or hold it down.
The collective known as ‘Harlem Spartans’, who are from the area of Kennington, in South London, were making a serious name for themselves in the UK drill scene, with tracks such as ‘Call Me A Spartan’ and the Loski and MizOrMac track ‘DJ Khaled’. Everything changed when they dropped Kennington Where It Started, which has gone on to rack up around 19 million views on YouTube alone at the time of this article. A track name fitting of the legacy the collective have left.
Track(s) that I recommend you listen to:
No Hook - MizOrMac x Blanco x Bis
Money on the Road - TG Millian x Naira Marley x Blanco
Don’t Waste My Time:
Krept & Konan
For the next track, I’ve selected the Krept and Konan anthem ‘Don’t Waste My Time’, which was their leading single for their independent 2013 mixtape ‘Young Kingz’.
This track became a UK street/cultural anthem that resonated with people all over the country, whether you were a trapper, a businessman, a gyalist, a punctual person, no matter what end of the spectrum you were on, this track resonated with everybody and was played everywhere. The track and mixtape also catapulted the two artists into the mainstream and enabled Krept and Konan to gain a wider audience of listeners, with Young Kingz charting at number 1 in the iTunes Hip Hop charts and number 10 overall - resulting in a remix with fellow UK rappers Chip, Wretch 32, Fekky, and US artists French Montana and Chinx Drugz.
The original upload for Don’t Waste My Time has around 32 million views on YouTube at the time of this article.
Track(s) that I recommend you listen to:
Wo Wo Wo - Krept and Konan
G Love - Krept and Konan (ft. Wizkid)
1011 (CGM) Next Up Freestyle:
Digga D x Sav’O x T.Y
My third entry for this list is not a track but a freestyle that has been debated by many to be one of the greatest UK freestyles and proclaimed by many as the UK’s ‘national anthem’.
This Next Up freestyle was released in 2017, and introduced the 1011 collective and prominent artists Digga D, Sav’o and T.Y to the mainstream. Many were taken back by how well the 3 were able to flow on the freestyle and how creative they were with their lyrics, especially with them being so young. One of the stand out and most quotable lyrics used in the freestyle is T.Y’s ‘friend of a opp is a opp’ - which is still being quoted and referenced, near enough becoming a part of pop culture.
The track has been taken down many times due to beliefs that the freestyle encourages violence and that the genre of drill should be banned, scrapped and censored altogether. It’s estimated that the original upload received around 11 million views before being taken down, with the reupload having around 7.5 million views at the time of this article on YouTube.
Track(s) that I recommend you listen to:
Bine - Digga D x Horrid1 x Sav’O
Pump 101 - Digga D (ft. StillBrickin)
Shut Up:
Stormzy
Next up on my list is Stormzy’s groundbreaking ‘Shut Up’ freestyle that dropped on YouTube in May 2015, a freestyle that was inescapable in the UK.
Hailing from South London, Stormzy was making a name for himself in the grime scene consistently dropping a string of freestyles and tracks, most notably his ‘Wickedskengman’ freestyle series, each reaching hundreds of thousands of views. As soon as Stormzy dropped the freestyle video for Shut Up, the track spread like wildfire online, trending on all social media platforms and unapologetically exposing black and urban UK culture to the masses. The freestyle even managed to become the first freestyle to reach the charts, with its success prompting to make the track into a studio-produced single and later reaching platinum status in 2017.
The freestyle has amassed around 124 million views on YouTube at the time of this article, a true anthem.
Track(s) that I recommend you listen to:
Scary - Stormzy
0 to 100 freestyle - Stormzy
Keisha Becky remix:
Russ Millions x Tion Wayne (ft. Aitch, JAY1, Sav’O, Swarmz)
Next we have the dynamic duo of Russ Millions and Tion Wayne, who remixed their original track of the same name, further acting on the tracks success and adding the penmanship of newcomer to the industry (at that time) Aitch, Coventry’s JAY1, 1011’s (now CGM) Sav’O and ‘Lyca’ artist Swarmz.
The track was a follow up to Russ’ successful single ‘Gun Lean’, which established himself as an artist who the UK should look out for, but it wasn’t until he dropped Keisha Becky with Tion Wayne in 2019 which exposed the two as pivotal artists and songwriters. The track even broke GRM Daily’s record for the most views in 24 hours, which was previously held by Gun Lean, and was being played non-stop throughout 2019, although it was released early in the year.
The track has received around 78 million views on YouTube alone at the time of this article. Russ and Tion Wayne went on to team up again in 2021 for the single ‘Body’, also making a remix for that track, which has amassed over 100 million views, making the duo arguably drills biggest hit-makers, especially when it comes to numbers.
Track(s) that I recommend you listen to:
6:30 - Russ Millions
Cages to Stages - Tion Wayne
Thiago Silva:
Dave x AJ Tracey
We’re going to take a breather from drill for this next entry, and dive into the grime-styled track ‘Thiago Silva’, featuring two of London's most recognisable artists, Dave and AJ Tracey.
The track samples Ruff Sqwads iconic track ‘Pied Piper’, where Dave and AJ Tracey modernise the instrumental to make it more in-tune with today's sound. Dave had been blowing up with tracks like ‘JKYL + HYD’, and AJ had been doing the same with his ‘Packages’ freestyle.
Both artists were already making a strong buzz in the music scene with their genre-bending styles and choice of beats, but when the two decided to link up for this track, they tapped into a market where it was suitable for all ears, from new-age and old-age grime and garage fans, to hip-hop and pop fans, due to the delivery of the beat accompanied by their machine gun-like flow when rapping. The chemistry Dave and AJ showed on the track was electrifying, where it seemed as if they had been working together for years, and were in-sync together like Xavi and Iniesta - [AJ Tracey] “Man will get banged in the face by me, not my bredrin, banged in the face by me…” [Dave] “...And me”
The track has become a monumental and musical treasure for the youth and will always be a UK street anthem.
The track has around 49 million views on YouTube at the time of this article.
Track(s) that I recommend you listen to:
Streatham - Dave
Verdansk survival mode - Dave
Wifey Riddim - AJ Tracey
Butterflies - AJ Tracey (ft. Not3s)
Dem Boy Paigon:
J Hus
Making his way onto my entry is one of the UK’s leading urban and overall artists J Hus, who dropped his street banger ‘Dem Boy Paigon’ in 2015, after consistent freestyles showcasing the East Londoner’s lyrical ability, such as his ‘streetheat freestyle’ and ‘rated freestyle’.
Dem Boy Paigon was being spun endlessly in motives up and down the country without the aid of a music video or features, leaving listeners wanting more.
The track was met with such a positive response that J Hus decided to put the track on his ‘The 15th Day’ mixtape that he dropped later in the year, the mixtape that justified Hus as being a artist to look out for, with further hood bangers like ‘Calling Me’ and ‘No Lie’.
The consistency from Hus, has enabled him to go from strength-to-strength, dropping bangers and amazing bodies of work, such as ‘Common Sense’ (which features his smash hit ‘Did You See’). We’re yet to wait on more music from J Hus.
The track currently has around 13 million views on YouTube at the time of this article, without the aid or assistance of a music video.
Track(s) that I recommend you listen to:
Spirit - J Hus
No Denying - J Hus
Fire in the Booth freestyle - J Hus
Ambush:
SJ x Bandokay x Double Lz
Next up we have the frontrunners of the new generation of talent from the OFB collective, in SJ, Bandokay and Double Lz for their 2019 breakout hit ‘Ambush’. The trio had previously dropped tracks such as their ‘Next Up’ freestyle, which introduced the new crop of talent within the OFB collective. The new trio had created a name for themselves for being uniquely different, and the faces of drill for the next generation, especially SJ and Bandokay.
Ambush was a track that as soon as it dropped, consumers flocked to it, no matter how many times the video and track was getting deleted, devoted fans kept on re-uploading it and playing it repeatedly. The original video was deleted after getting 2 million views in 3 weeks, showing signs of real influence to listeners.
Ongoing tension and the collective notoriety was increasing, due to well known beefs and street politics, especially with Edmonton (N9), helped further the track's momentum.
The re-upload of Ambush currently has around 28 million views on YouTube, which is insane due to the amount of times the track has been deleted and removed from YouTube.
Track(s) that I recommend you listen to:
OT Boppin’ - Double Lz x Bandokay
Tim Westwood Crib Session - OFB Collective
Youngest in Charge - SJ
They Ain’t 100:
Fredo
West London rapper Fredo makes his appearance on this list for his 2016 street anthem ‘They Ain’t 100’, a track which made Fredo known to the UK’s mainstream but not as much to the exposure he has now. This anthem was played everywhere, from barbecues, to nightclubs and motives, block parties, cars - the track was inescapable.
Still to this day in the UK industry, there’s not many rappers who can rap so nonchalantly about being a trapper in their raps and make it look easy (maybe with the exception of Nines, K-Trap, Blade Brown, among others).
The track has since gone on to clock in around 31 million views on YouTube alone at the time of this article.
Track(s) that I recommend you listen to:
Trapspot - Fredo
Aye Caramba - Fredo x Young T & Bugsey
Whippin Excursion:
Giggs
Many know Giggs’ track ‘Talkin Da Hardest’ and were expecting the track to be on this list but unfortunately that won’t be the case due to the time filter I stated at the beginning (although I did grow up listening to that track heavily as did a lot of you). The track I opted for was the Landlord’s 2016 hit ‘Whippin Excursion’ from his ‘Landlord’ album, with the track showing the newer generation of listeners how much juice Giggs really has.
Everything from the components of the beat, to Giggs’ laid-back flow but hard-hitting lyrics and visuals made the track a contender for the street's summer anthem.
The track has since amassed around 15 million views on YouTube at the time of this article, with its replay value still intact to this day.
Track(s) that I recommend you listen to:
Active - Giggs x Sneakbo
Lock Doh - Giggs (ft. Donae’o)
Thank you for taking the time to read this article and my thoughts on this topic, and I hope you aren’t too upset with my choices. Believe me when I say the nominations I had picked out were never-ending, so let me know what tracks you agree and disagree with, what other street anthems you believe should’ve made the list, and if you would like a part 2 to this article (remember this article was not created to upset or cause harm to anyone).
Also I would love feedback and overall tips on how I can better this for you the listeners!
See below my honorable mentions.
Honorable mentions:
Trapping Ain’t Dead - Smoke Boys (formerly known as Section Boys)
Lets Lurk - 67 (Dimzy x Monkey x ASAP) (ft. Giggs)
Mad About Bars freestyle - 410 (AM x Skengdo)
Homerton B - Unknown T
Robbery remix - Abra cadabra (ft. Krept & Konan)
Airforce - DigDat
Gentleman - SL
Trapper of the Year - Nines