There is such a wealth of rap talent out there at the moment but many of the biggest rappers are still stuck rapping about their bitches and that sweet cash. Let’s take a look at five artists leaving that behind and confronting the bigger issues.
1. Kojey Radical
With a background in the visual arts, Kojey Radical describes himself as multi-disciplinary creative. Blurring the increasingly thin line between spoken word and rap, his lyrics confront socio-political issues as well as the more introspective themes of religion and self-belief. All of this is conveyed in a style so arresting you can’t help but stop and listen until the end.
2. B Green
Making waves in the underground rap scene across the pond, B Green is dismantling the colonialist fiction that surrounds Christopher Columbus with his clever track of the same name. Pointing out the hipocrasy of many Americans who are quick to praise the actions of Columbus while condemning the (very similar) actions of gangsters, ‘Christopher Columbus’ is as thought-provoking as it is catchy.
3. Lemzi
Relatively new on the scene, Lemzi uses his educational background in law and criminology to craft eloquent and reasoned rap tracks. His latest single, ‘B.O.T.S’ examines the social, economic and political causes of street crime in the UK with impressive depth, rivalling many newspaper reports in terms of clarity and thoroughness.
4. Loyle Carner
Carner’s critics have dubbed him ‘The Guardian rapper’, and with his new release ‘Ottolenghi’ (chef beloved by the middle classes, and with a regular food column in The Guardian) it seems that he has decided to embrace the title. What makes Carner’s rap so unique is its level of introspection; as we have seen from this list already, many rappers are unafraid to tackle social and political issues but Carner’s ‘confessional hip-hop’ (or so his champions The Guardian have dubbed it) displays levels of sensitivity that are highly unusual in a genre so intimately linked to performances of masculinity.
5. Sinobi Ninja
While many rappers tend to make music about the upward trajectory of their lives, Rap-rock fusion group Shinobi Ninja’s most recent release deals with the everyday realities for many people living on the edge and wondering ‘what if times don’t get much better than this’. Exploring issues such as class and race, ‘What If Times’ is the perfect antidote to rappers who are fixated on their own wealth, and makes for a far more relatable listening experience.