Channel U gems part 2
Now here we are in big big 2016, a smooth 5 years later and I am audaciously going to bring you the promised part 2. When Channel U was in its' prime I was in 6th form college and it was a great time to not want to pay for any music. Limewire was going strong, Apple had just released it's iPod colour and it was so easy to bluetooth mp3's. A GREAT TIME TO BE ALIVE TBQH AND I MISS IT DEARLY.
At that time if my siblings and I were watching a music channel at home it was Channel U because although you watched to hear the songs you liked (that were not played ANYWHERE else), you kind of also watched just to see what the new videos were (which would be laughed at/bluetoothed to your phone in the canteen). As I mentioned in my first post I definitely had a superiority complex and as much as I downloaded the songs after watching, I definitely laughed first (IT WAS ALL LOVE JEEZ).
Currently Grime is standing in a really nice spotlight, its' contour is popping and eyebrows are on fleek. Basically it's getting the recognition it deserves, and the current artists in the limelight are showing up and out and I am very much here for it. It definitely also makes you a little nostalgic for the past so without further ado:
BOO KROO - The Boo Kroo Theme
"Crazy muthafucka named Giro, give me beef, I'll stick you wiv a biro." Hashtag bars. I recently moved to Amsterdam and there is a guy at my workplace called Jairo. It's funny being around people who don't have the same context you do for certain things. But because of this guy I have actually been thinking about The Boo Kroo a lot more than I probably should do in 2016. Me and my sister thought this was such a tune:
RUFF SQWAD - ANNA
I've only ever had this unclear copy of the song ...and then the other day I downloaded Tidal and it has all the Ruff Squad instrumentals on there. The joy of hearing the crispness of this track after all these years.
I've only ever had this unclear copy of the song ...and then the other day I downloaded Tidal and it has all the Ruff Squad instrumentals on there. The joy of hearing the crispness of this track after all these years.
TINCHY STRYDER - UNDERGROUND
This video stands out for me memory-wise because I remember my sister weirdly said that Tinchy has really nice hands in this video (all those hand movements sat on the wall). Of all the things to decide to compliment, to notice, to say.
SLK – HYPE HYPE
This song, I heard about it before I saw it. It was highly recommended by my 'connoisseurs of Grime' peers (all she did was ask me if I had seen it yet).
"I'mmmm dirty flirt don'tdon't you knowww? I KNOWWW"
"I'mmmm dirty flirt don'tdon't you knowww? I KNOWWW"
ROLL DEEP - ROW YOUR BOAT (Explicit version/ NSFW)
Specifically the explicit version because I was a really innocent (and I like to think sweet) 16 yr old. So for me it was bit like when Euro Trash used to come on channel 5 and no adults were in the house: "TIME TO SEE WHAT ALL THIS SEX STUFF IS ABOUT," and also because my superiority complex made me ask 'who do you think you are with your two video production selves??" I think it was also the only song I ever saw on Channel U with two different videos for one song.
UNORTHODOX - NO HELP OR HANDOUTS
"Nah we don't wanna clash that's long cause we heard your tracks and you sound swaggish"
BEAR MAN - DRINKING BEER
All I need to see is a bottle of Strongbow for this song to be sang
TINE TEMPAH - WIFEY
Everyone loved this song and I can definitely still recite every lyric but one thing me and my friends all wanted to know was ....where in South-East LDN did he find this exotic Jamaican/South-American ghel he speaks of (too lie). Everyone also laughed and loved the dramatics of the girl randomly getting hit by a car at the end of the song LOL no one saw it coming! That Sunset Beach type drama.
Layo & Bushwacka! - Love Story vs Finally (Tim Deluxe Mix) HQ
So this song isn't Grime but it is definitely apart of Channel U's history. Every now and again the channel would get stuck on one video and just repeat itself. It was like Channel U were trying to remind us exactly how budget the channel was. For a few months the below track would just play on repeat at night and I ended up going from being annoyed to actually liking the song. Does anyone else remember this? lol
So in 2011 I made a Channel U blog post highlighting all my favourite songs from the amazing era that was Channel U. While mak...