Scottish hip-hop

Scottish hip-hop is the Scottish manifestation of the hip hop culture, comprising the five elements of MCing, DJing, beatboxing, graffiti and b-boying.

History

In the 1980s the elements of hip hop culture had spread to Scotland. Hip-hop and electro music reached Scotland and was adopted and developed locally by DJs and later MCs.

From the inception of Hip hop culture in Scotland, and possibly due to the universal nature of the element, break dancing has been popular. Scotland has had a number of strong breaking crews over the years, such as Glasgow City Breakers, Floor Freaks, White City Breakers and The Clan

In recent years the Flying Jalapenos are flying the flag for Glasgow, and representing Scotland nationally and internationally since their formation in 2001 are the Edinburgh crew the Random Aspekts. The Random Aspekts are reviving the scene in Edinburgh, representing in the United States of America, Japan, Australia and all over Europe. Most recently winning the UK University B-Boy Championships, combining with up coming Edinburgh crew, Psycho Stylez.

Psycho Stylez (www.psychostylez.com) is next generation of bboys to have arrived on the UK bboy scene - consisting of 9 members - BSwift, Bull, El Diaz, Harribo, Intrikate, Frenzy, Footloose, Floorescent and Phrenik . The up & coming crew have already represented on both a national and international level and strive to increase the standards and evolve. Already in the short time they have been on the scene they have won the Regional Conflict North Qualifiers, Welsh BBOy Open as well as members representing @ The Uk BBoy Championships.

Due to the underground nature of the graffiti element many artists have not been able to showcase their talents to a deserved level. However artist such as Glasgow’s Mak1 and Edinburgh’s Elph have managed to cross boundaries into the mainstream and have worked overseas in America and Europe.

Glasgow Hip Hop crews such as II Tone Committee Krack Free Media (Kryptic & D.J.Science), Steg G & the Freestyle Masta, Major Threat, built reputations as quality groups, as did Edinburgh Hip Hop artists including Kontempt, Evil Residents, Scotland Yard Emcees] , Reachout and Eastborn (who was born in Edinburgh but now lives in Glasgow) He himself is the largest selling artist in Scotland and has sold all over the world, as well as touring as far away as Australia and China, Canada and the USA, but not only was the action coming just from the citys but the music spread further afield with groups such as All Time High from the seaside towns of the west coast starting to drop bombs in the late 90's.

The country also has a strong history of DJ talent such as Aberdeen's Dee J A’la Fu playing far and wide overseas, DJ Plus One (ex-world DMC champ), Richie Rufftone (Scratch Perverts), DJ Krash Slaughta (II Tone Committee, Monkey Mafia), DJ Bunty and others.

Throughout the 1990s the popularity of hip hop culture spread outwards from the city to the coast, with groups appearing from further afield, such as All Time High and Speech Therapy. Contemporary Scottish hip hop is often overlooked due to the dominance of the English, and specifically London, rap scene. Contemporary Scottish acts that have managed to gain attention beyond the country's borders include such acts as Eastborn, Two Tone Committee, NorthernXposure (on extensive tours with Skinnyman [Mud Fam] ), Steg G and the Freestyle Master, Big Div, Mr Jinx, Loki, Respek BA, Bigg Taj, Project Mayhem, Jay Large and All Time High whos " 68 n i owe ya 1 " track was picked up by Jurassic 5's DJ Nu-Mark and used on his worldwide released "Hands on " LP, a nice little achievement for a Scottish group.

For current information on homegrown artists, producers, Dj's, upcoming gigs and news from Hiphop in Scotland refer to [http://www.urbanscot.com] and [http://www.bringdaruckus.com] and also visit myspace and search for artist from Glasgow and Scotland.