More than 20 years ago British rap was giving way to an increasingly northern move that included J Cristie who, despite a shit line about China and a few dodgy refs, put out relentlessly anti-imperialist UK hip hop for his short, but very solid dominance of what remained of the backpack/conscious UK rap scene.
The next record (2006) brought a sequel to The Grip, written - in part, with some broader context - from the sympathetic perspective of a young auicede bomber. Naturally the UK paying attention shit itself and the rest happily ignored it.
So why is this back again (for fhe feed)? In the UK and online people have spent the whole week being bemused or insensed about Galloway winning an election and becoming a British MP. They reference some shameless performances or reality TV. People on the left rightly reference his chameleon status, socially conservative leanings, and recent TERF shit.
But you know why he won a protest by election? You know why he's not just sampled but distinctive contextual sample for one of the most important non-grime records in 2000s music? Because he was and is one of the only public personas in the UK who has been constant on this issue.
The fact that fucking Galloway was who got endlessly sampled then and is getting elected now is fucking shit, but an example of how much worse the UK was and is in general.
But no-ones reading this anyway on a post about 20+ year old BritHop. So why not ramble?
Bow wow wow bow wow wow