1000 Great British Hip Hop Albums: The Intro

When I initially created this site over 7 years ago it was give another platform, no matter how small, to the part of hip-hop considered local to me. I fell in love with hip-hop at an early age, in the mid to late 90s in Durham, North East England when it was decidedly unfashionable and barely at the peripheries of British popular culture.

I grew up on Illmatic, Enter The 36 Chambers and Midnight Marauders, like anyone else who entered the genre as a fan in the mid-90s as a young kid. But being far removed from the streets where this music was born/developed/created/nurtured/experienced, I wanted a relatable version that was closer to home. I wanted something I can see, something in front of me, something touchable that in no way pales compared to the original. 

British hip-hop, and by extension British sub-genres influenced by hip-hop such as Grime should not be able to be created anywhere else. As of 2014, the influence of the American original is so far reaching that 90% of the chart contents worldwide from Gateshead to Gaza can taste it in their basic ingredients. A lot of this is a straight copy of the original, but not my British Hip-Hop. The UK scene has been in existence since the early 80s, and over the last 30+ years has created its own history far removed from the brilliance of its US counterparts.

This website was always to celebrate the quality of UK hip-hop in its many forms. To celebrate its successes, its quirks, its personality and most of all, its talent. This series is a specific celebration of all of this through the eyes of a long time listener who has soundtracked his life to these records. There have been many great UK hip-hop albums, here are 1000 of them. 

Adam.

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Over the course of the next few years I will write about each of these 1000 albums, in no particular order, and the links to each individual post will appear in the list below. I would encourage everyone who is kind enough to read these posts to listen to the albums at the same time (I lived with a lot of these albums for many years and continue to do so) to see if you agree with my proclamation of greatness.

Not all of these albums will be classics. Not all of these albums will be here for the same reason. Some will be personal favourites, some will be widely acclaimed. Some will be here due to their undeniable impact or influence. Some will be here just because the music is damn good. There will be no order, neither chronologically, alphabetically or on the basis of a rating system. I hope you can discover a lot of music you can enjoy through these posts. 

1000 Great British Hip Hop Albums

1. Roots Manuva - Brand New Second Hand (1999)
2. Fallacy - Blackmarket Boy (2003)