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Skepta: Grime’s Global Ambassador

With the release of his new album ‘Ignorance is Bliss’, we chat to five of our favourite local acts about Skepta's impact down under.

There’s no denying Skepta’s influence when it comes to UK music. From his days as a DJ in Tottenham’s Meridian Crew, to forming the iconic collective Boy Better Know with his brother JME, Skepta has been repping grime music since its humble beginnings. “ ’

Skepta’s early work as a producer with beats like ‘DTI (Pirate Station Anthem)’ helped shape the aggression and authenticity that solidified grime’s place in the London streets. He continued this with his classic clash with Devilman in 2006, an iconic radio set in 2008, and his fan-favourite album Microphone Champion in 2009. In 2015, he positioned the genre for global expansion with Konnichiwa, an album that featured hit singles like ‘Shutdown’ and ‘That’s Not Me’. He’s also stormed the BRIT awards with Kanye West, crashed Drake’s Wireless Festival set in 2015, and stolen the show on ASAP Rocky’s ‘Praise Tha Lord’. He never conforms to trends, and continues to push both the sounds and ideologies of grime on a worldwide scale. Now with the release of his fifth studio album Ignorance Is Bliss, and dozens of new grime movements starting around the world, it’s safe to call Skepta both a pioneer and a progressive.

In Australia, the hip-hop scene has evolved into a stomping ground of grime-influenced youth. All around the country there’s small, grassroots musical movements doing large, mainstream numbers. From acts like the fast-spitting, fierce-witted Wombat, who is channelling the aggression of grime in a uniquely Australian fashion to OneFour from West Sydney, a collective that’s already been labelled as Australia’s answer to drill music. The group have so far demonstrated a progression of style that showcases Australia’s unique culture, yet shares that sense of authenticity that is integral to the UK’s rap scene.

It seems the love is mutual, with Skepta himself telling Triple J “I love all the Australian drill artists doing their own thing out there. OneFour, there’s a lot of vibes out there”

In celebration of Skepta’s new album, we’ve rounded up five of our favourite Australian acts to touch on the influence of Skepta, and the impact grime music has had on the local hip-hop scene.

‘Ignorance is Bliss’ is out now.

01. Slim Set (Sydney)

Do you remember when you first heard Skepta?
It was in the club in early 2014 I think, that was when we really started getting into dance music and grime. And it wasn’t long until ‘That’s Not Me’ and ‘Shutdown’ came out and they just always crushed dancefloors here.

What was it about Skepta and grime that inspired you to make music?
Just the raw energy, hearing music with an MC that’s made for big systems in the club got us so hyped to make our own tracks.

How do you think grime has impacted the Australian hip-hop scene?
I mean it’s led to the birth of a whole scene, there’s such a strong UK influence out here now.

How do you see grime continuing to grow over the next decade?
I think that more hybrid trap/grime sound will stay hype thanks to people like AJ Tracey and the younger gen of MCs like YGG, Mez, Capo lee will keep pushing things forward too.

What’s your favourite Skepta song?
‘Private Caller’.

02. Lekks14 from OneFour (Sydney)

Do you remember when you first heard Skepta?
Back in 2016.

What’s your favourite Skepta song?
‘It Ain’t Safe’.

What was it about Skepta that inspired you to make music?
He played a part in the beginning when we were finding our sound.

03. Moonbase (Sydney)

Do you remember when you first heard Skepta?
One of my earliest memories of hearing Skepta was on his Too Many Man tune. It was at some house party and was one of the dopest things I had heard all night.

What was it about Skepta and grime that inspires you?
Aside from Skep’s long-running commitment to the grime scene, I reckon his forward-thinking hustle is most inspiring. The amount of younger MC’s that he continues to put on is really refreshing to see.

How do you think grime has impacted the Australian scene?
The grime sound continues to impact Aus hugely. There are countless MC’s, collectives and producers (myself included) that wouldn’t exist in the same form today without the UK sound.

How do you see grime continuing to grow over the next decade?
It’s cool to see a lot of grime artists experimenting in new sounds. I think we’ll see a lot more collaboration happen across the globe over the next few years.

What’s your favourite Skepta song?
‘Greaze Mode’ from his new album is definitely a front-runner at the minute, but I’ll always have a special place in my heart for ‘Ed Hardy Party’.

04. Sophiegrophy (Melbourne)

Do you remember when you first heard Skepta?
I was literally on YouTube one day and Shutdown was in my recommended videos. Knowing me I decided to click, he had a cool bravado that I liked and when I become curious about an artist I tend to end up liking their art.

What was it about Skepta and grime that inspired you to make music?
Skepta’s wordplay is dope and his energy is amazing. Grime music comes with a massive energy, it’s a requirement when writing and performing .

How do you think grime has impacted the Australian hip-hop scene?
Grime has impacted us here not only in music but also fashion. Hip hop artists used to be all about big jewellery and accessories but Grime’s influence now means that you can just chuck on a waistbag, track pants and a jacket and you’re ready to go.

How do you see grime continuing to grow over the next decade?
Everything recycles itself so Grime will be around forever.

What’s your favourite Skepta song?
My Favourite Skepta song is ‘No Security’.

05. Nerve (Brisbane)

Do you remember when you first heard Skepta?
I first heard Skepta a while back after my mate from London was showing my rinse FM grime sets on YouTube at a party. I ended up doing a huge trawl through the internet for more grime and inevitably came across Skepta’s tunes and was instantly hooked on his sound, as well as other sounds in the scene.

What was it about Skepta and grime that inspired you to make music?
I think the main inspiration I took from grime was that it allowed me to shift from old-school sounding hip-hop into a completely new genre of production and vocals. I wasn’t too into what was going on in the USA but I felt that grime perfectly bridged the gap between a New-School sound and the Old-School core values of being able to hold down a set/cypher consistently in a live setting. I started drawing influence from all sorts of grime and my whole style of production was taken to a new level. Needless to say my beats for live shows have gotten a whole lot more intense since then.

How do you think grime has impacted the Australian hip-hop scene?
Grime has had an insane impact on the Australian scene over the last 5 or so years. I have to shout out Fraksha and the Smash bros for helping bring the sound over from the UK and build it from the ground up to where it is now. They’ve been smashing sets consistently for over a decade and gave me and others a platform to perform with no hesitation. I think the sound of grime has helped broaden Australian Listener’s taste to all types of sounds, and bridge the gap between “Old” and “New” school sounds.

How do you see grime continuing to grow over the next decade?
I think Grime saw a massive worldwide explosion after Skepta ‘Shutdown’ and since then I think a lot of “sub-genres” have branched out due to the expansion of the genre. I think true ad original grime will always have its home in the UK, but its influence can be seen worldwide and across multiple other genres and will only continue in leaps and bounds.

What’s your favourite Skepta song?
Tough one! but right now his new joint with ‘Inglorious’ has helped me officially blow out my Car’s sound system. Other than that probably ‘Reflecting’.

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