“Original London style”: London Posse and the birth of British Hip Hop

Abstract

Hip Hop culture arrived in Britain in the late 1970s from New York. However, by the middle of the 1980s it had established itself as a hugely popular youth cultural form in Britain in the shape of graffiti, break dancing and music. Although largely seen as an African American form, a number of artists began to produce music that drew specifically upon established black British styles, within a Hip Hop framework of beats and rhymes, in order to develop a highly unique version of Hip Hop, one that communicated both the differences and similarities within the US and the UK. This dialogue placed black British music and culture as an equal partner in the black Atlantic triangle, as artists and cultural practitioners drew upon the Caribbean and America while specifically being influenced by and reflecting upon their very unique position in Britain. London Posse, as one of the first groups to specifically draw upon the traditions of black British music and Sound System culture, and combine it with Hip Hop culture, sought to utilize Hip Hop as a form for expressing a particular position as young black Londoners with cultural resources of their own. In so doing, they were drawing upon the music's origins as a hybrid and malleable form rather than as an essentially black American one. This period of intense creativity and innovation has rarely been documented, yet is significant in the continuing ability of black British cultures to position themselves at the centre of black Atlantic debates and creativity, as opposed to simply mimicking or drawing upon American and Caribbean influences. My essay explores this period through a close reading of London Posse's music and lyrics and an examination of their position as a Hip Hop act drawing upon a black British tradition with roots in the Caribbean and US, but which spoke from, and for, a British perspective.

Keywords:

• London Posse
• UK Hip Hop
• black Atlantic

Notes

1. Eric B. & Rakim, “You Know You Got Soul,” Follow the Leader.

2. Alongside European Electronic music such as Kraftwerk, African and Latino rhythms, Reggae and Sound System culture and Rock music are just some of the main identifiable strands present in Hip Hop.

3. Bradley, Bass Culture, 236. For a more in-depth reading of the role of Reggae and Sound System culture in Britain see Wood, “Design for Social Living” and Bradley, Bass Culture.

4. Low-Life is a Hip Hop website mainly focussed upon the Low-Life record label. The site also contains a fairly in-depth historical account of British Hip Hop along with artists’ biographies and discographies. See http://www.low -life.fsnet.co.uk/ukhiphopstory/early_doors.htm (accessed September 22, 2006).

5. Marks, “Young, Gifted and Black,” 114.

6. The Streetsounds Electro and, latterly, Hip Hop series ran to 27 releases between 1982 and 1986 when Streetsounds went bankrupt.

7. For more on the Fisk University Singers, see Gilroy, The Black Atlantic, 87–96. For the rising popularity of African and Caribbean performers in the UK after the First World War, see Stapleton, “African Connections,” 87–102.

8. Qtd. in Westwood, “Public Enemy.”

9. Huq, Beyond Subculture, 13.

10. Gilroy, untitled sleeve note in Various Artists, London is the Place for Me 2.

11. Mitchell, Global Noise, 8.

12. Hall qtd. in Gates, “A reporter at large,” 171.

13. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 405.

14. Hebdige, Cut ‘N’ Mix, 151.

15. De Wilde and Myddleton, Interview with Rodney P.

16. De Wilde and Myddleton, Interview with Rodney P.

17. De Wilde and Myddleton, Interview with Rodney P.

18. Big Audio Dynamite was the Rock-Hip Hop hybrid band put together by a former member of The Clash, Mick Jones, and the DJ and filmmaker Don Letts. The Clash had met and collaborated with a number of Hip Hop artists, particularly the graffiti writer, Futura 2000, with whom they produced the single “The Escapades of Futura 2000.” The cross-influences of Hip Hop, Reggae and Punk are an important factor both in the US and in the UK and are also deserving of an article.

19. De Wilde and Myddleton, Interview with Rodney P.

20. De Wilde and Myddleton, Interview with Rodney P.

21. For an extensive discussion of the criminalisation of black youths in Britain see Gilroy, There Ain't No Black, 84–145.

22. For an extensive discussion of the criminalisation of black youths in Britain see Gilroy, There Ain't No Black, 84–145.

23. Qtd. in Hewitt, “Slaves To The Rhythm,” 27.

24. Artists such as Manchester's A Guy Called Gerald and Wolverhampton's Goldie began as Hip Hop and Electro enthusiasts before becoming involved in the Acid House and Jungle scenes.

25. For a detailed reading of Gangsta Rap see Kelley, “Kickin’ Reality, Kickin’ Ballistics,” 117–58.

26. A number of these would go on to achieve critical and commercial success including Massive Attack, Tricky and Nellee Hooper.

27. Newland, “Courttia Newland on Himself.”

28. Habila and Newland, “Telling A Story.”

29. For a closer reading of the influence of London Posse and British Hip Hop on Newland's work see Wood, “Contemporary black British Urban Fiction.”

30. London Posse, “Oversized Idiot,” Gangster Chronicles.

31. For an in-depth reading of this critique of UK Hip Hop see Gilroy, Small Acts, 125 and Mitchell,Popular Music and Identity, 27–8.

32. See Hebdige, Cut ‘N’ Mix, 146–8.

33. London Posse, “Original London Style,” Gangster Chronicles.

34. London Posse, “Original London Style,” Gangster Chronicles.

35. London Posse, “Live Like The Other Half Do,” Gangster Chronicles.

36. London Posse, “Money Mad,” Gangster Chronicles.

37. London Posse, “How's Life In London,” Gangster Chronicles.

38. London Posse, “How's Life In London,” Gangster Chronicles.

39. Neate, Where You're At, 202.

40. Neate, Where You're At, 2.

41. Neate, Where You're At, 3.

42. The Rock Steady Crew was a group of pre-dominantly Hispanic break dancers from New York. Formed in the mid to late 1970s they appeared in a number of films and had a hit with “Hey You, The Rock Steady Crew” in Britain in 1983. The single reached number 6 in October.

43. Neate, Where You're At, 204.