Drake signs to grime label Boy Better Know
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dontdiedontkillanyon wrote: »Skepta and Boy Better Know don’t need Drake – but he can help grime conquer the USA
BY TOMAS FRASER, FEB 25 2016
For the first time, a British grime label has signed a hip-hop megastar.
It’s fitting that Drake announced his signing to Boy Better Know, the London label and crew responsible for some of grime’s biggest early hits (including Skepta’s ‘Doin’ It Again’ and group effort ‘Too Many Man’) on the same night as the Brits – an awards ceremony rightly maligned for its failure to recognise grime’s contribution to UK music over the past decade.
It was easy to see which event was the bigger deal for Drake, too. Rather than stick around at the O2 Arena after performing with Rihanna, he took himself off to the much more modest surroundings of Shoreditch’s Village Underground where, alongside BBK co-founder Skepta, he joined Section Boyz on stage as a surprise guest. For those who paid £10 for a ticket to see Section Boyz – one of 2015’s breakout acts, thanks to singles like ‘Lock Arf’ and ‘Trapping Ain’t Dead’ – it would have been a memorable night, but the ramifications for both British music and the wider industry should stretch far beyond the brick walls of Village Underground.
Grime has often found itself unfairly positioned as the UK’s answer to hip-hop, a condescending view reinforced by the mainstream media, with journalists still referring to grime artists as ‘rappers’; at times, it’s felt like the grime scene believed that too. But that was before last year’s DIY grime resurgence. In 2016, after huge UK chart success and a rising profile in the US, Boy Better Know doesn’t strictly need Drake – but they can welcome him into the stable to no doubt scale even greater, more global heights of fame.
British artists have always been under pressure to ‘break’ the US at all costs, even if that means changing their image or even their musical output. Drake’s alignment with Boy Better Know is a sign of how that relationship – albeit at a scene-specific level – has not only changed, but been reversed. Some people have accused Drake of jumping on the grime bandwagon – mocking him adopting London slang (“Top boy getting waved with the man dem”) and getting inked with the BBK logo – but he’s the first hip-hop artist to not only publicly back the music, but to try and become a part of it – and on grime’s terms, too. Drake isn’t trying to turn Skepta into a hip-hop artist, nor is Skepta trying to make Drake a grime MC. This feels like a meeting of minds, a mutual respect – an understanding that neither needs to appropriate or validate anything. As Drake put it to Fader last year, “I was a Skepta fan, but after meeting Skepta…we were brothers immediately.”
That said, a multi-million-selling rapper like Drake “signing” to Boy Better Know has to be taken with a pinch of salt. Though it functions as a fiercely independent record label, BBK is built on its crew foundations – Skepta and JME are brothers, Wiley, Frisco, Jammer, Shorty and DJ Maximum have been friends for years. They’ve made BBK a success together. Much of BBK’s output has come from the crew’s individual members, with each release backed by the others through social media, creating a grassroots promotional cycle that doesn’t require the might of a major label. Skepta, Jammer and Frisco’s Instagram accounts are littered with posts shouting out new music from the rest of the BBK camp, regardless of whether those tracks, mixes or freestyles are available to buy – you won’t find many listed on Discogs.
It’s this brotherhood that sets Boy Better Know apart. They may not have the budget or the infrastructure for a massive album rollout, but like many US rap labels, such as Gucci’s 1017 or French Montana’s Coke Boys, they bring something money can’t buy – a sense of belonging and, more importantly, self-worth. Drake’s affiliation may therefore be more symbolic than musical for the time being – particularly as he’s still technically signed to Cash Money. The release of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late and What A Time To Be Alive as albums rather than mixtapes has led to speculation that Drizzy is trying to fulfill his contract with Birdman as quickly as possible; Views From The 6, set to drop in April, could be the final album he owes to the label.
Drake’s signing also feels like a huge ‘? you’ to the music industry. Five years ago, if you could have predicted grime’s mainstream resurgence, you might have imagined the scene’s biggest MCs being cherry-picked for feature appearances on a Drake album. They’d have been treated like superstars, flown to far-off recording studios to lay down verses over beats they had no input in selecting, dealing in subject matter already decided for them. They would have been told the opportunity would be great for their careers, or that this was “just the start”, only to find that this is an industry that specialises in false promises.
It’s this cycle that has spurred on grime artists to go it alone, to voice their discontent, to loudly believe in themselves, to get political, to rebel – and ultimately, make the best music of their careers. In the case of Boy Better Know and Skepta, the results have been emphatic. Not only have they empowered themselves, they’ve empowered the culture with it – and it’s no wonder artists like Drake want to be a part of that movement. It’s exciting and, perhaps more poignantly for a genre that prides itself on lived narratives, very real.
So on the night that the Brits ignored grime artists for another year, Boy Better Know and Drake were busy making their own history down the road – without anybody’s help. More power to them.
http://www.factmag.com/2016/02/25/skepta-boy-better-know-dont-need-drake-can-grime-conquer-usa/
Who is that ? in your avi COTT DAM -
Doesntmatter wrote: »Brooklyn and Toronto both have very high populations of Jamaicans. Brooklyn got some good ass Jamaican food out there..So does TO but I think BK edges them out. Some of the best I've had anywhere. Shout out to Canarsie. I think their populations are pretty close.
TO has approximately 180,000 Jamaicans according to Wiki
And NY state has 305,000 Most of which i think are in Brooklyn. But Queens also.
toronto and ontario has more jamaica's then 180k . those toronto are old and # don't include half jamaican, or city around toronto . brampton and sauaga alone will add another 80k. all jamaicans in ny don't live in bk. Toronto by far has the most jamaican influence of either bk or london . -
lol @ "The Music game has changed differently"
I had to double take on that comment as well, but it is Lady Leshurr so I'll let it slide. -
Tsotsi Cape Town wrote: »dontdiedontkillanyon wrote: »Skepta and Boy Better Know don’t need Drake – but he can help grime conquer the USA
BY TOMAS FRASER, FEB 25 2016
For the first time, a British grime label has signed a hip-hop megastar.
It’s fitting that Drake announced his signing to Boy Better Know, the London label and crew responsible for some of grime’s biggest early hits (including Skepta’s ‘Doin’ It Again’ and group effort ‘Too Many Man’) on the same night as the Brits – an awards ceremony rightly maligned for its failure to recognise grime’s contribution to UK music over the past decade.
It was easy to see which event was the bigger deal for Drake, too. Rather than stick around at the O2 Arena after performing with Rihanna, he took himself off to the much more modest surroundings of Shoreditch’s Village Underground where, alongside BBK co-founder Skepta, he joined Section Boyz on stage as a surprise guest. For those who paid £10 for a ticket to see Section Boyz – one of 2015’s breakout acts, thanks to singles like ‘Lock Arf’ and ‘Trapping Ain’t Dead’ – it would have been a memorable night, but the ramifications for both British music and the wider industry should stretch far beyond the brick walls of Village Underground.
Grime has often found itself unfairly positioned as the UK’s answer to hip-hop, a condescending view reinforced by the mainstream media, with journalists still referring to grime artists as ‘rappers’; at times, it’s felt like the grime scene believed that too. But that was before last year’s DIY grime resurgence. In 2016, after huge UK chart success and a rising profile in the US, Boy Better Know doesn’t strictly need Drake – but they can welcome him into the stable to no doubt scale even greater, more global heights of fame.
British artists have always been under pressure to ‘break’ the US at all costs, even if that means changing their image or even their musical output. Drake’s alignment with Boy Better Know is a sign of how that relationship – albeit at a scene-specific level – has not only changed, but been reversed. Some people have accused Drake of jumping on the grime bandwagon – mocking him adopting London slang (“Top boy getting waved with the man dem”) and getting inked with the BBK logo – but he’s the first hip-hop artist to not only publicly back the music, but to try and become a part of it – and on grime’s terms, too. Drake isn’t trying to turn Skepta into a hip-hop artist, nor is Skepta trying to make Drake a grime MC. This feels like a meeting of minds, a mutual respect – an understanding that neither needs to appropriate or validate anything. As Drake put it to Fader last year, “I was a Skepta fan, but after meeting Skepta…we were brothers immediately.”
That said, a multi-million-selling rapper like Drake “signing” to Boy Better Know has to be taken with a pinch of salt. Though it functions as a fiercely independent record label, BBK is built on its crew foundations – Skepta and JME are brothers, Wiley, Frisco, Jammer, Shorty and DJ Maximum have been friends for years. They’ve made BBK a success together. Much of BBK’s output has come from the crew’s individual members, with each release backed by the others through social media, creating a grassroots promotional cycle that doesn’t require the might of a major label. Skepta, Jammer and Frisco’s Instagram accounts are littered with posts shouting out new music from the rest of the BBK camp, regardless of whether those tracks, mixes or freestyles are available to buy – you won’t find many listed on Discogs.
It’s this brotherhood that sets Boy Better Know apart. They may not have the budget or the infrastructure for a massive album rollout, but like many US rap labels, such as Gucci’s 1017 or French Montana’s Coke Boys, they bring something money can’t buy – a sense of belonging and, more importantly, self-worth. Drake’s affiliation may therefore be more symbolic than musical for the time being – particularly as he’s still technically signed to Cash Money. The release of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late and What A Time To Be Alive as albums rather than mixtapes has led to speculation that Drizzy is trying to fulfill his contract with Birdman as quickly as possible; Views From The 6, set to drop in April, could be the final album he owes to the label.
Drake’s signing also feels like a huge ‘? you’ to the music industry. Five years ago, if you could have predicted grime’s mainstream resurgence, you might have imagined the scene’s biggest MCs being cherry-picked for feature appearances on a Drake album. They’d have been treated like superstars, flown to far-off recording studios to lay down verses over beats they had no input in selecting, dealing in subject matter already decided for them. They would have been told the opportunity would be great for their careers, or that this was “just the start”, only to find that this is an industry that specialises in false promises.
It’s this cycle that has spurred on grime artists to go it alone, to voice their discontent, to loudly believe in themselves, to get political, to rebel – and ultimately, make the best music of their careers. In the case of Boy Better Know and Skepta, the results have been emphatic. Not only have they empowered themselves, they’ve empowered the culture with it – and it’s no wonder artists like Drake want to be a part of that movement. It’s exciting and, perhaps more poignantly for a genre that prides itself on lived narratives, very real.
So on the night that the Brits ignored grime artists for another year, Boy Better Know and Drake were busy making their own history down the road – without anybody’s help. More power to them.
http://www.factmag.com/2016/02/25/skepta-boy-better-know-dont-need-drake-can-grime-conquer-usa/
Who is that ? in your avi COTT DAM
Foxes (Louisa Rose Allen). -
He had BBK tatted on him before the deal. I thought he was going to sign them to OvO but this is a good look for them regardless. Skep been in the game for a minute now longer then drake even.
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The white rapper named morrison who knows of him he from the uk
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I'm wit my ? Giggs and I ain't talking bout Ryan.
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@water ur seeds do y'all guys still have SkyTV?
And I've been looking for a song for the past decade. It went something like
"Im a money man, turn pens into pounds, pounds into....
I'm a money man"
Lmao I need to find that song. It must've been around 2003 some London group. -
Busta Carmichael wrote: »@water ur seeds do y'all guys still have SkyTV?
And I've been looking for a song for the past decade. It went something like
"Im a money man, turn pens into pounds, pounds into....
I'm a money man"
Lmao I need to find that song. It must've been around 2003 some London group.
Yeah we still have Sky lol Nah that song doesnt ring a bell... -
I forgot about mack maine haha. And yeah, I know him being the label president don't really mean he's signed to himself but it sounded coollordstanley wrote: »
Drake make more money so thats a moot point. Great line tho
Also Mack Main is president of YM
Pretty sure Freaky Zeekey is/was president of Diplomats
'President' is actually a pretty hollow title anywhere outside of politics
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Doesntmatter wrote: »Brooklyn and Toronto both have very high populations of Jamaicans. Brooklyn got some good ass Jamaican food out there..So does TO but I think BK edges them out. Some of the best I've had anywhere. Shout out to Canarsie. I think their populations are pretty close.
TO has approximately 180,000 Jamaicans according to Wiki
And NY state has 305,000 Most of which i think are in Brooklyn. But Queens also.
toronto and ontario has more jamaica's then 180k . those toronto are old and # don't include half jamaican, or city around toronto . brampton and sauaga alone will add another 80k. all jamaicans in ny don't live in bk. Toronto by far has the most jamaican influence of either bk or london .
Have you ever been to BK?
I'd agree with your Toronto having more than 180 that's why I said it was wiki numbers. And, I forgot to add a comment about Sauga and Brampton adding to those numbers. And, I also pointed out it was NY State. You right about Toronto having a Jaimacan influence over the entire city and people that aren't Jamaican in their slang and on the culture in general. BUT, if you ever been to Canarsie and Brooklyn than you'd know most Jaimacans out there just play dancehall and dont' even play hip hop these days (and it's been like that for awhile) and live in much bigger Jaimacan communities. Even their Labor Day parade is Bigger than Caribana. And, the food.
And, I'm born in raised in Toronto. -
dontdiedontkillanyon wrote: »They’ve made BBK a success together. Much of BBK’s output has come from the crew’s individual members, with each release backed by the others through social media,
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Doesntmatter wrote: »Brooklyn and Toronto both have very high populations of Jamaicans. Brooklyn got some good ass Jamaican food out there..So does TO but I think BK edges them out. Some of the best I've had anywhere. Shout out to Canarsie. I think their populations are pretty close.
TO has approximately 180,000 Jamaicans according to Wiki
And NY state has 305,000 Most of which i think are in Brooklyn. But Queens also.
toronto and ontario has more jamaica's then 180k . those toronto are old and # don't include half jamaican, or city around toronto . brampton and sauaga alone will add another 80k. all jamaicans in ny don't live in bk. Toronto by far has the most jamaican influence of either bk or london .
Toronto has like 70-80k Jamaicans in the city limits. NYC has twice that amount and that doesn't include all the Jamaicans in Long Island , Jersey or Upstate NY. So there are much more Jamaican Americans than Jamaican Canadians but Jamaicans in Canada are overrepresented because there's no native black Canadian culture and the other immigrants up there are swag less and have to leech off Jamaican culture -
Doesntmatter wrote: »Doesntmatter wrote: »Brooklyn and Toronto both have very high populations of Jamaicans. Brooklyn got some good ass Jamaican food out there..So does TO but I think BK edges them out. Some of the best I've had anywhere. Shout out to Canarsie. I think their populations are pretty close.
TO has approximately 180,000 Jamaicans according to Wiki
And NY state has 305,000 Most of which i think are in Brooklyn. But Queens also.
toronto and ontario has more jamaica's then 180k . those toronto are old and # don't include half jamaican, or city around toronto . brampton and sauaga alone will add another 80k. all jamaicans in ny don't live in bk. Toronto by far has the most jamaican influence of either bk or london .
Have you ever been to BK?
I'd agree with your Toronto having more than 180 that's why I said it was wiki numbers. And, I forgot to add a comment about Sauga and Brampton adding to those numbers. And, I also pointed out it was NY State. You right about Toronto having a Jaimacan influence over the entire city and people that aren't Jamaican in their slang and on the culture in general. BUT, if you ever been to Canarsie and Brooklyn than you'd know most Jaimacans out there just play dancehall and dont' even play hip hop these days (and it's been like that for awhile) and live in much bigger Jaimacan communities. Even their Labor Day parade is Bigger than Caribana. And, the food.
And, I'm born in raised in Toronto.
Which ends u frm fam -
