For decades, UK rap and rock music have evolved alongside each other, connected by a shared anti-establishment agenda and explosive live energy, but rarely joined together into cohesive and powerful packages that acknowledge these ties.
Cardiff collective Astroid Boys pioneered a hardcore blend of rap and rock in the mid-2010s before fading away; The Skints have continued mashing together reggae, ska, punk and hip-hop in the years since; meanwhile, artists like Lethal Bizzle and Kano have paid homage to the UK’s rock heritage by sampling bands like The Clash (‘Police On My Back’) and Black Sabbath ('I Don’t Know Why’).
But historically, these examples of rap/rock fusion have been outliers, and not part of any broader trend.
Often because indie and rock music is overwhelmingly white, many people within the world of UK rap have been reluctant to associate themselves with these genres. Some musicians are further alienated by the pigeonholing and incorrect categorisation of Black indie and alternative acts (for example, the bizarre labelling of Rachel Chinouriri’s music as R&B).
But the landscape appears to be shifting. Right now, there’s an exciting crop of young UK artists combining elements of rap and rock in their music, and doing so with a newfound sense of confidence. Whether it’s playing on the links between grime and punk or creating expansive blends of psychedelic rock and hip-hop, there’s plenty of interesting experimentation bubbling over into the mainstream.
JD Cliffe
Praised by numerous fans for evoking the feeling of a vintage ‘FIFA anthem’ (aka a track that encapsulates the popular football video game’s love of obscure DIY indie tunes), JD Cliffe’s breakout single ‘BUSS UR HEAD’ blew up online earlier this summer, aided by a high-energy COLORS show performance.
Against a rousing instrumental that plugs together scratchy guitar chords and a tight, upbeat drum pattern, the north west London rapper delivers aggressive bars through gleaming grills, capturing a claustrophobic scene of hostility and uncertainty in London, spitting “Rolling through my ends / Tryna get a little bread / Ain’t no breaks / Gimme them p’s or I’ll buss your head / It ain’t safe”. Tracks like ‘Similar’ and ‘Raise Up The Stakes’ have further boosted his credentials as an architect of stirring and inventive indie rap anthems.
Master Peace
Master Peace deserves credit for the way he’s shifted perceptions of what a Black artist in the UK can do; however, as he told whynow earlier this year, “There’s more to this thing than ‘Black guy making indie music.'” The multi-faceted south London vocalist recently released his debut album How To Make A Master Peace, a project defined by punchy fuzzbox chord progressions and moody coming-of-age lyrics that overflow with a longing for escape. Against this backdrop, he explores themes like youth, romance, self-realisation and community, spraying conversational lyrics on pop punk-tinged tunes and setting himself apart as a complex, ambitious artist.
While he’s veered heavily toward indie rock for a while, at key stages in his development you’d catch Peace Okezie jumping on grime sets and performing on platforms like Tim & Barry’s The Lift, highlighting the role UK rap has played in his evolution. As he’s transformed into one of the UK’s most exciting young indie acts, he’s helped bring down certain barriers between these genres.
Frozemode
There’s loads of room for experimentation in the world of rap-rock fusion, and Frozemode are excellent at showing this scope. Their tracks lay down an infectious mix of punk, trap, drill, rock, grime and more; crucially, the London-based trio have squeezed these influences into a coherent, high-energy sound that has made them one of the capital’s most exciting young live acts.
Shutting down stages at Reading & Leeds, The Great Escape, KOKO, Fabric Live and more, the three-piece have built incredible momentum around their music in the past 18 months, following up last autumn’s debut tape ‘DEMODE’ with ‘DEMODE 2’ this August. Speaking to NME last year about the relationship between rap and punk, group member I.V.Gatlin noted the “‘Fuck you’ attitude [of] going against society” that connects the sounds; meanwhile, Cho-Hollo added, “The punk ting allows you to take vocal risks, be a bit dumb, be a bit crazier when you rap.” It’s a testament to what rappers can gain by embracing this side of UK music culture.
READ MORE: Frozemode interview: ‘We really believe we can get to the top of this game’
Lava La Rue
For their debut album ‘Starface’, Lava La Rue pivoted in an admirably strange direction. Describing the concept of the record to NME, the west London rapper and singer said: “I am an alien who’s just crash-landed in a rural British area, but I’m pretending to be a Boy Scout [so that] I could just be on an adventure and ask loads of questions and no one will think it’s weird.”
A triumphant mash-up of heavy, distorted synth psychedelia, lo-fi hip-hop and London bohemian-slang bars like “My posse doing fine / I guess we made a splash / Fashion night invites / My god, we do it up and dash” ('Manifestation Manifesto’), ‘Starface’ is the product of a desire “to push what I could do musically”. A big part of that is fusing rap and rock; ever since being introduced to punk music by Ian Dury’s granddaughter (then a bandmate), Lava La Rue’s work has been defined by a working-class, anti-establishment radicalism, a casual but assertive punk energy.
And on their debut record, there’s an increased embrace of rock sonics, with tracks like ‘Fluorescent’ and ‘Interplanetary Hoppin’ studded with screeching guitar solos and swirling Tame Impala-style synths that provide a stirring backdrop for the west Londoner’s explorations of queer love, community, and “radical compassion”.
NINE8
Spearheaded by Lava La Rue and boundary-pushing pop star Biig Piig, Nine8 is an eight-person collective experimenting with a wide-reaching brand of ambient dream pop. Packed with talented UK rap storytellers (Lava, NIGE, LorenzoRSV, Nayana Iz), they often lean towards star-gazing feel-good hip-hop, but the collective also incorporates up-tempo dance breaks and regularly deviates toward psychedelic and indie rock influences.
From the chorus-drenched guitar lick climax of ‘London Outta Luck’ to the wah-wah funk of ‘Mapside Story’ and the echoing Beach House-esque escapism of ‘Dear Liza’, this rag-tag group of radical young London creatives is doing more than just rap/rock fusion, but they’re undeniably showing how elements of the two genres can be combined with dynamism and invention.
Bob Vylan
Led by outspoken, politically active frontman Bobby Vylan, the London duo Bob Vylan have gained widespread acclaim in the last couple of years for their brand of high-energy, socially-conscious punk rap. They recently told the Big Issue that “Punk implies a certain political and social awareness,” and their second album ‘Humble As The Sun’ (released in April 2024) has that in spades.
Against a raging background of distorted guitar chord stabs and crashing live drums, Vylan tells stories of poverty, inequality and working class struggle with a dark sense of humour and an innate self-confidence. Bars like “These suits can’t burgle me / Unless you count one time / I was the victim of one crime / Was it a gun crime? / Na, Bob Vylan got robbed for the Mercury” show how the pair are making serious strides in the industry, armed with lyrics with the simplistic rhyme scheme and razor-sharp wit of a classic grime 16-bar.
NOISY
Formed from the rubble of an abandoned indie rock band called ‘High Tyde’, Sussex-based band NOISY was created as a means of embracing and celebrating UK rave culture. In a 2021 interview with Whynow, the group’s singer/rapper frontman Cody described their musical blueprint as “rock and roll rave.” In their eyes, this concoction of sounds — blending strands of jungle and D&B with crunching guitar, live drums and energetic bars which tend to find their way back to a messy night out — has helped them build a “euphoric” live experience that places heavy rock material in a more dance-oriented context.
Finn Foxell
Having first gained recognition for mellow, low-energy baritone rap tunes, west London rapper Finn Foxell has spent the last couple of years transitioning toward to a sound he views as more authentically him, one that merges those same rap flows and cadences with an anthemic, melody-led punk sound that has allowed him to “learn more about the different corners of my voice”. Tracks like ‘Headspin’ and 'TYSON’ are laced with an infectious DIY aggression that flirts around the borders between rap and punk. “Seeing a punk artist go absolutely fucking bonkers and then seeing a grime artist scream and shout with the same energy, I started to note the crossovers,” he told me in a recent interview. “Culturally, the voice it’s coming from and the noise it’s trying to make is not all that different; it’s usually anti-establishment and coming from a place of struggle, and there are so many ways to let that out. [Artists like] JD Cliffe and Master Peace have shown how thin the line is — you can step it so easily.”
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- Alternative Music
- Bob Vylan
- Finn Foxell
- Frozemode
- Grime
- JD Cliffe
- Lava La Rue
- Master Peace
- NOISY
- Punk
- Rap-Rock Fusion
- UK Music
- UK Rap
- UK Rock
