It may have taken a little while, and it's had it's bumps along the way, but it finally seems that the majority of the USA is becoming more and more accepting of the British accent, especially when it comes to rap music. With the likes of Skepta & Stormzy making huge waves over the Atlantic bringing Grime to the American masses, it seems that other forms of UK rap music could finally get the recognition that they finally deserve.
One of the artists I personally think should be up on top of the wave us Brits are riding in the U.S. is ItsNate. The talented London born wordsmith has featured a fair few times on EARMILK before (seriously, check his So Slocal mixtape released in 2013, it'll blow your mind), and he's consistently been putting in the work for a good few years now, and his So Slocal brand has been taking over cities such as Berlin with their rowdy nightclub events. Now the London emcee is back once again, and this time he links up with one of the hottest producers in the UK at the minute, JD. Reid, to form the Batman and Robin partnership of the UK rap scene. Their joint EP Me + 1 is an eclectic mix of banging, wavy beats, slung together with dope lyricism and slick flows that run so nicely alongside the instrumentals provided by Reid. One thing is very clear from this project, Nate and Reid have a harrowing connection when it comes to music, both the emcee and beatsmith glide hand in hand throughout, and both shine as brightly as each other. There are a couple of features on the EP, coming from American rapper Tree and sought after UK wordsmith Kojey Radical, both of whom add their own individual touches to the already domineering soundscape produced by Nate & Reid.
Me + 1 is yet another shining release from the ever-growing Glaswegian label Astral Black, who, backed by head honcho Jon Phonics, are one of the UK's fastest growing independent labels. You can stream a couple of the joints from the EP below, and if you want to hear more and support the boys, you can head over to the Astral Black bandcamp to stream and buy the project.
