Poor old UK hip hop – passed over in favour of its more glamorous cousin, grime, and now even its supporters are having a pop. As Skinnyman spits here on the excellent ‘Original’, the state of UK hip hop is ‘still fucking shit’. Fortunately Skinny, Plan B, Foreign Beggars and luminaries of the British urban scene are here to inject a bit of wit, verve, swagger and general hip hopness into the form. Ironically, the Needles’ beats are the weakest point, too beholden to the mid-’90s stoner-funk blueprint and not playful enough to surprise.
