Brit Soul Rebels

As we waved goodbye to another year, the first new month of 2010 was dominated by lists and reviews, charts of the year and not-so-bold predictions for the oncoming 12 months. It’s been universally trumpeted that 09 was the year Lady GaGa broke open a coasting international popscene; Beyonce cemented herself as an unparalleled global superstar and Rhianna stepped out from behind Chris Brown’s strong Pimp Hand to become a hybrid of the latter and the former.

But on the UK Top 40, a more organic movement has started to emerge, one that’s unlikely to create any ripples across the pond just yet, but has performed powerfully domestically over the last year. A new wave of black British soul and R’n’B acts for the 21st century, led by a few old hands, have been chewing up the charts on Sunday afternoons, and not before time. Look back over the last 4 years of MOBO Nominations and try to tell me that apart from Dizzee Rascal, that there was anything exciting likely to emerge and capture the hearts and pocket money of a switched on but culturally starved British urban youth populace?

The popular British Music Press’ short-lived fascination with the (equal parts) exciting and terrifying Grime scene in 2003 cut a path for Dizzee Rascal to follow out of an underground and in to the public consciousness. His debut ‘Boy In Da Corner’, which featured just enough big pop promise amongst the bleak, stuttering beats and estate horror stories, took the Mercury Music Prize that September and found itself everywhere from kids bedrooms to the coffee tables of the bourgeoisie. By 2004 the NME had closed its doors on the British Grime scene, with only the Rascal, his mentor Wiley, Kano and Lethal Bizzle managing to escape, but finding themselves out in the wide world of the mainstream, these acts quickly acknowledged that they would need to diversify or die. Pop was the answer to some sort of chart longevity and it was that man Dizzee who really benefitted from a lighter and less aggressive lyrical and musical turnaround. Yeah, Wiley still releases at least one party banger a year (Rolex, Take That), but Kano’s making tunes for the government these days and Bizzle is nowhere to be found.

Fast forward to 2009 and The Guardian’s Jude Rogers calls Dizzee Rascal “Britain’s first black male superstar”, following a summer of storming festivals around the UK. I don’t agree on the “superstar” tag, but what Jude Rogers is struggling to get past the plum in her mouth is that Rascal has at last fully embraced pop music to the extent that his Hip-Pop is now safe enough for little girls in their bedrooms and your boss at the office party to dance to; and in no way is this a criticism.

It’s this embracing of pop that’s allowed other black urban artists to break their way in to the mainstream over the last year. Artists like Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder had serious breakthrough albums in 2009, while producer/performer Taio Cruz continued to show his skills both on and behind the music. These three artists have scored 4 Number 1 singles between them in 09, alongside further Top 10 hits and strong showings for their albums. Rascal himself scooped 2 number 1 singles with the superb ‘Bonkers’ and ‘Holiday’. Add the success of X Factor discoveries JLS (Number 1 album, 2 x Number 1 singles) and Alexandra Burke (Number 1 Album and Number 1 Single) and Leona Lewis (Number 1 Album) and you’ve got a year where young black British R’n’B artists have spent a large portion of ‘09 bothering the big American imports at the summit of the Official UK Top 40.

Of course, the likes of Leona, Burke and JLS have achieved their success off the back of the marketing juggernaut that is the X Factor, but their talents as young black recording artists are undoubtable and regardless of marketing budgets, they have all found themselves at the forefront of a new movement in Black British Pop Music. It’s been a long-time coming.