12 Nottingham Grime-Influenced Artists to Watch in 2017

Recently chosen as a supporting act to A$AP mob's A$AP Ty, Jimmy Rocket, Harry Dirtface, Tony Sparkz and Bobbi Glow are creating an alternative hip hop sound like no other.  All four produce and MC, and the person who shoots their visuals with their collectively owned camera is simply 'whoever isn't rapping'.

Their sound is a mixture of glitchy tracks filled with alacrity that feel like they have leaked out of a crash-landed spaceship, and darker, more serious pieces like 140 Ting, where they flex their lyrical muscles. Their YouTube channel is a mix of kaleidoscope visuals and short films that provide a glimpse into their musical processes and everyday lives as Nottingham lads. Having recently been chosen as a supporting act to A$AP mob's A$AP Ty, their work rate is only bound to increase as their fan base grows.

Just as northern MCs Bugsy Malone and Lady Leshurr are reminding London MCs that their competition is not just in the boroughs, Snowy has been doing a lot for Nottingham's independent grime artists, for a while now. Snowy's well-crafted lyricism, content, storytelling and emotional impact are his main strengths, but it’s his ability to flip things back to the hard-hitting grime we love so much that truly separates him from the pack.

After being picked up by Brownswood and Gilles Peterson’s Future Bubblers programme (now backing the massively talented female producer and DJ Missy) Snowy's involvement in the industry... snowballed… and he was quickly featured alongside J Dot, Kyeza and Mez in Red Bull's Grime-a-Side series. Now, having featured on Radio 1Xtra, SBTV, Radar Radio and Rinse FM, he is making serious waves.

One thing that always amazes grime's non-fans is the uzi delivery that artists are capable of. For this reason, J Dot's feature in JDZMedia's Road Rage series is arguably up there with the top five of all time. His faultless pronunciation and cutting wordplay at 140 bpm remain unmatched, and secure his position among the grime veterans of Nottingham.

Trawling through YouTube's grime library will ultimately result in you seeing J Dot featured across GRM Daily, SBTV, GrimeBlog and UGX, and he’s always representing Nottingham. Although he has recorded visuals for Just Wait, you won't find any directed visuals for much else – even the Just Wait visuals are simply filmed in the studio whilst J Dot lays the track. J Dot's primary focus remains to be freestyle grime.

Definitely check out his reboot of Drake's Jumpman, his recent SBTV cypher and his GRM Daily City 2 City freestyle where you can find shoutouts to NCT!

Uncle Mez! He's so tall because he's full of bars. Easily one of Nottingham's most prized MCs, he has already worked with Novelist, Bonkaz and AJ Tracey, to name a few. After proving himself in clashes across the country, and touring as a supporting act for Stormzy, his national rise is well overdue. Mez's quick wit and bombastic character only support the idea that he is a standout MC in a sea of sames.

Mez's ingenuity is his biggest selling point. Most notably, when his performance at Nottingham Carnival got rained off, he started playing instrumentals and seamlessly freestyling out of the passenger side of his mate's car so that the Radio 1Xtra crew who had come to film would still go home with some good material. Having said that, Mez' repertoire of laid tracks featuring the biggest names in grime is only a hint at what is to come.

Having recently been signed to Sony's Black Butter Records, it is inevitable that these two names are about to become commonplace in rap music, the world over.

While their Westwood Crib session and GRM Daily Hardest Out session proves their skill in terms of bars, it was their tracks Mickey Mouse Ting, Show Love and Glistenin which launched them into the big boys' league. The lyrical content is cheeky and memorable, and the hooks take the music from unstructured grime to pieces with real commercial potential.

Their marketing is also clever – they are currently holding an online competition in which people make dance videos to their track Is It a Monster?, where winners will be taken to Nandos for a meal with the MCs themselves. Having performed alongside local and national grime stars (Stormzy made a little cameo in their NMMT video), the only way from here is up.

Jourdan Pierre Blair's video for his track Who You Claiming 2 Be?! basically features Blair, 2 Tone and their entourage jumping around in the snow in Nottingham while cussing out anyone who got a bit too big for their boots.

However, in terms of lyrical content, Jourdan consistently uses his music as an outlet for emotions. His JDZmedia Back 2 Basics freestyle was essentially an angry shoutout to the mother of his child who had been using their child as a weapon to undermine him, while Letter To My Brother deals with the reality of losing his brother and best friend. In the commercialisation and glamorisation of grime, it’s artists like this one who touches base and reminds audiences of the roots and the purpose that the music serves.

0115's finely tuned sound is something that sets them apart from other grime MCs whose talent lies primarily in their raw ability to perform at clashes. Although some tracks do bring the familiar trope of women, cars, drugs and money into the narrative, 0115's SoundCloud showcases their aptitude for creating hypnotic pieces that go beyond any regular rapper.

Real and Jodeci are silky, melodic odes to loyalty and money, while Nuts & Volts, 0115, and Wavey give us grime in its most familiar form – eight bars and sublows. These well-groomed, studio-quality tracks are a reminder of the commercialisation of grime, and 0115 Mob seem more than ready to take on a global market. They operate as a branded business rather than a flouncy musical collective – their visuals are slick, they have their own logo and a well flash website. It's hard to believe these boys aren't even twenty yet.

One thing that could be improved in Nottingham's grime scene is the amount of female MCs. Although the days of Pariz 1 have passed, and Eljay's recent clash with London MC Flabbz didn’t go too well, there is still hope. Crystalize is holding the fort for Nottingham. Although her YouTube videos aren't exactly breaking the internet, and she doesn't have a SoundCloud yet, her no-nonsense bars and firey delivery could definitely be put to good use in a recording studio.

When put in comparison to grime heavyweights Ms Brat and Lady Leshurr, there is no doubt about her gift as a lyricist. It is arguably Crystalize's limited access to quality production which is holding her back. The raw talent and enthusiasm is there, she just needs to be put in the right rooms with the right people. 

Although taking a brief hiatus from the microphone, Shxdow (previously Shadow Kid) has recently made a comeback on the Notts scene. His recent video for Blxck Genie gives off some serious Travis Scott vibes, with Shxdow flipping braids all over the place in the country, among hay bales and greenery – not the usual concrete setting of grime videos. However, this is not the only thing rebuilding hype around the artist – there is much debate in the comment section about who Shxdow could be sending for. Skepta? Stormzy? 67? Who knows? But it's all very exciting and we love when grime artists do what they do best - clash!


Snowy interview
Bru-C interview
Debris Stevenson on Poet in da Corner