Konnichiwa

ok

Not v different than lots of other rap

Meh. 2.6

I liked the way this opened but was less enamored with it track by track. Maybe no more grime for me after all.

Konnichiwa is terribly repetitive, but damn if it doesn’t sound like it was made for a Guy Ritchie movie soundtrack. I suppose that counts as a positive… at least for me.

Music is fine enough, but I just can't get past that north London accent. That, and it's one of my lower ranked genres. Pass on this if you're uncertain.

Ya, bruv. Really not my t'ing now, innit, fam? I'm normally biased away from this style of music so this was going to be a tough listen regardless. It did remind me of my years living in Cambridge and sometimes banter overheard at the mall or on trains back from London. Not something I'd ever really put on. Not terrible enough to be a 1 but not deserving of anything more than 2. 2/5

Like the production, lyrics not so much

Not my thing, I do understand the audience tho

This is probably me being an ignorant American but the British accent in hip hop just doesn't sound as tough as an American accent. Every time he would say something I was just thinking how it would be more impactful if someone like Killer Mike delivered it. I also know this is because I am not used to British hip hop and the one other album I've encountered I gave a 1. Some of the production is really cool and unlike stuff I've heard before. However, some of they lyrics give off a bit of fragile masculinity and I could do without most of the sketches at the end of tracks (especially the one where the dude says "fam" every other word like he's getting paid every time he says it). Not to mention there are several tracks that sound like they're rip offs of other rappers. 2.5 rounded down to a 2/5

Skepta is the master of this lyrics disaster. His brain is working overtime searching for a rhyme and he gets a lot of haters cuz he's an imitator. Giving him one star that's actually a middle finger.

Competent but a bit whatever. Numbers told me to rate this a 3.

Nothing special.

this was surprisingly good to be honest! Really liked the whole vibe of it

What about this album makes it a “must listen?” DNF

Not for me

Ein weiterer Rapper den ich nicht kannte aber auch nicht vermisste. Aber Bassline ist gut.

Not a grime fan

🔥🔥🔥

I think not

Quite fun to listen to

Not overly enthused by this album. Some alright stuff, but mostly just repetitive and dull.

2.5

Enjoyed this. Man is a great beat (3.5)

If there's one genre of music I just don't get, it's grime (specifically UK grime). The slang, the lyrics, the accent are all just annoying and repetitive. It's pretty corny as a genre, in my opinion, and this album is a great example of this. 1.5/5.

not something I'd reach for, but interesting. Unfortunately so clearly 2016

Do enjoy some grime, they are generally more talented and funnier than a lot of American rap, and with British references. Went through a phase of listening to JME way back when and so that included a bit of BBK, so familiar with Skepta. Knew shutdown but nothing else I think, and enjoyed those songs that had the same energy the most. There were a few that drifted out of the usual grime approach that didn't land with me but can see why he might have wanted to mix it up. Not an album id necessarily listen to again in total but a lot of great tracks.

Shutdown is good, eh? Ladies Hit Squad is a bit off-base though. Crime Riddim has some absolutely awful bars but what a beat. Great to see the genre represented - the absolute perfusion of sub-par American gangsta rap on the list when more Wiley or Dizzee Rascal could be here is dismaying. Even some light genre examples, like television presenter Tinie Tempah's stuff, wouldn't go amiss. The skits are terrible. Going to +1 though, as the overall rating is way lower than it should be.

Never listened to Skepta before. Enjoyed that though. Didn't surprise me, knew what to expect. I didn't think it was all amazing and probably not quite my thing, but when it was good it was really good. Nice to have UK rap/grime represented. My favourites were "shutdown", "man" and "crime riddim". Like other UK rap/grime we've had, it doesn't seem to translate well across the pond 3.5 but 4

Lyrics and flow were basic but some of the beats were on point. ‘Numbers’ was a standout. 3 stars

Crime Riddum had a good beat

Not my thing

all of my 3 stars are so conflicting!!!! some good ones, some kooky ones, but just unsure if this would make it to my casual listening...

At least it didn't have skits.

American Soccer:English Football::UK Grime: US Trap

I've only heard Skepta as a producer, so it was super fun to hear him rap. I'm not the biggest fan of the grime scene, but this was pretty dang good.

TBH, for all the hype and bluster I was expecting more 3.4

I appreciate the diversity of rap styles but just not my jam.

Meh has never been so appropriate. Solid 5/10. Rounded up because it's British and there's a lot of anti British nonsense in the comments. The stuff about the skits is fair though, they're lame fam.

bomb ass

The music on this album has a chance, but the lyrics are so bad I can't ever give it that chance.

I love a lot of rap, but UK rap is genuinely unlistenable… Yeah so I had to give up halfway through that was horrible

2 songs were enough to let me know it's not for me. Chaotic and stress-inducing.

Liked this a lot! Great music to work to

Good album, a couple of real bangers on here too. I know some of the vocal tracks are part of the story arc but I found them a little contrived. Solid four stars.

British masterclass with vibes for days.

The sound that has become inextricably linked with the British urban working classes, gangs and anti social behaviour in the media. Grime seems to require less in the way of samples and more of 'beats' and very basic patterns/rhythms to allow the rather virtuosic and complex free styling to rightly take centre stage. I still find the music a tough listen and get very little pleasure from it, almost feeling self conscious in the car that school kids might think who's that old guy trying to 'get with it'. It's critical success and Mercury prize cannot change my basic attitude to this stuff

Another brand new experience for me; no idea who or what this is. As someone who grew up in a literal war zone, I've always found the various London tough guy cultures to be at best cute, and at worst ridiculous. Whether it's Guy Ritchie's silly Cockney bollocks, ir whatever nonsense Road Men are supposed to be, their attempts at excuding violence or fear or toughness or whatever it is, are just laughable. Anyway, this album has some of that vibe. Little boys playing hard. Though it's pretty tame in its claims. The first song is fine, but you don't need to hear much beyond that. I'm all for including all manner of hip hip sub genres from all manner of countries but Grime is one of the worst. The fucking accents, which are apparently a prerequisite for opening your mouth. They are awful. The repetition of 'man', 'blud', just screams of conformity and ignorance, and I am not a fan of those things. The fucking pronunciation of 'ready'. Why? Why must they say it like that? Every fucking performer. A shame I suppose, as elsewhere the lyrics are solid and delivery is good. The music is by the by. It's just beats for people who want to dance and or rob their corner store before heading home to watch Emmerdale.

I really like British rap, grime especially. I was into this.

Megalomania is practically a requirement for rappers - think about how often you hear expressed the idea that somebody "wants it all" - and yet Skepta seems a lot more serious about that idea than many of his counterparts, as demonstrated by his musical voraciousness. This album marks a marriage of trap-adjacent beats and polyrhythmic rhyme figures, with both UK grime and American flows here in abundance. The synths on "Crime Riddim" sound like an underground level from an NES game, while "Man" channels Portishead by way of Queens of the Stone Age in the service of a tale of casual paranoia. The skit interludes are really the only thing not worth your time here.

First time listening to grime, I definitely don't love it but I was expecting a hell of a lot worse. I think I let my slightly racist dad with an unconditional hatred for all hip hop get in my head too much, he always complains about grime like it's worse than Hitler. Although I don't think he knows what grime actually is, to him any hip hop that's popular is just grime. Anyway, this is actually somewhat listenable. Not the type of hip hop I would typically actively seek out, but I can appreciate that he's definitely a talented rapper. I can't help but cringe at the constant roadman speak though, like seriously, do people actually talk like that unironically? Definitely drags it down a bit, but I like the parts where he's just rapping normally without saying some shit like "bear piff ting fam wagwan that's leng pussio" pleaseeeee oh my God shut the fuck uppppp.

Hm. I like it that we get a rare album from the 2010s, but I wish this one sounded like it was from 2016 and not 2006 (or earlier). Why Skepta? Because it's a revival of grime? More likely, I suppose, because it won the 2016 Mercury Prize, and to his credit he beat out David Bowie and Radiohead for this honor. I also enjoy occasionally hearing British hip-hop, mainly because it often has a different orientation than US-based artists (fewer guns, perhaps a bit less misogyny, different kinds of braggadocio), although "Konnichiwa" doesn't really showcase this. I'm hard-pressed to call out many tracks as highlights--perhaps "It ain't safe", "Numbers" (primarily because of Pharrell Williams' involvement) and "That's not me"? Overall, surprisingly forgettable, fam.

Really enjoyed this, even the skits weren’t that bad

Can't spell slightly cheesy fun without fun. It's a vibe and I have a lot of time for it. That’s Not Me is obviously a banger.

Quality, but not quite my thing

Number: 263 Familiarity: None (1) Rating: 1 Before: ======= Hm, Grime Hip Hop, Not sure I like the sound of that. After : ======= Yep, that was pretty awful. The Grime part wasn't so bad, I guess, but the spoken word hip hop style is not for me. I did give every track a shot but had to skip through most of them. Now back to Grime, never heard of it as a music genre, had no idea what it is before listening to the album, and still have no idea. I guess I should educate myself as apparently this is an important album in the Grime scene.

Some cool beats, but despite the British flavor, I found it boring. Lots of standard hip-hop bragging and posturing, just not really my vibe.

The album cover is ok, I like the stamp on it, but its boring otherwise. Extremely Fun album, could not take this seriously and was smiling the whole time. I couldnt tell if this a genuine gang rap album or a parody. Starting with a sword fight as a british rapper is extremely funny, some of the skits were so un-tough that they became laughable, and there is alot of them. The lyrics in this album really put it over the top, almost every song has a lyric which made me pause the song and laugh. For example, [Im the X factor, and unlike Simon on the show, im not pushing buttons.] followed by a loud buzzer. Amazing choice there. The backing tracks were genuinely great, if this guy wasnt british and I took him seriously, it would not be so funny. Assuming this is somewhat of a parody, easily a 5, but just because I'm not sure, its a 4. If this is a genuine attempt to be tough, this is an absolute 0, he gave me the impression of an absolute jokester. Best Song: Shutdown. Worst Song: Corn on the Curb.

Generally, I like the beats throughout the album, especially songs like Detox, It ain’t Safe, and Shutdown. Lyrics are “muh”, and mediocre at best.

He's so incredibly British. Even such, this album runs parallel to American music in a multitude of ways. For instance, on "It Ain't Safe," Skepta sounds similar to A$AP Rocky on his project Don't Be Dumb. The energetic beats stand out as an inventive and tantalizing aspect I adored. But, he's unfathomably British. I tried to ignore the accent, but it's just too funny; It takes away from the tough-guy aesthetic. Those skits, too, are unnecessary, even if they are also immensely amusing. "Ladies Hit Squad" is the main track I did not enjoy — please put on your seatbelt. Additionally, the mediocre rhyming and Skepta's constant failed attempts at a bar retract from the potential this record has. If the writing was improved, and vocals replaced, then this album could be stellar; for now, it's satisfactory — it was quite entertaining, though, and I am glad I listened.

Unfortunately the first song I ever heard in this genre is “Mans not hot” and I just can’t take it seriously. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27s_Not_Hot

Man this ain't for me. 1 star

A lot of the songs got stuck in my head, but I wasn't always happy about it.

pov: we are introducing the cool character with a cool montage

Pretty good! 3/5

I love UK Rap so damn much Best Song: Shutdown Rating: 7.5/10 Stars: 4

Just awful

I can't say it's bad. But I don't see a plausible reason for it to be on this list. 2 stars.

Really direct delivery. Love the bass and the sharp electronic beats.

It's OK. Weird to hear my birthplace name dropped and this hard man gangster rap stuff set in the suburbs of London, it's not something I recognise from growing up there. It makes me wonder how authentic the gangster rap of e.g. Compton really is, although to be fair Skepta is definitely being inspired by that style. This is also hyper-contemporary (at least to my aging ears), "share location" as a lyric is sending me, as the kids say. This was an interesting listen, and I can see why it's on the list, but it's not for me and, without looking at the other reviews, I am *certain* they will be full of Americans saying "urrr, this isn't from the USA, no one cares, why isn't this another rock band from the 1980s". Get over it, losers, rap's gone worldwide. Yeah, here we are, the 7th-most popular review: "Absolute trash that this album is on here and many American hip-hop/rap albums are missing. I don’t need to listen to it just because it’s British. Such a biased author. It’s disgusting how biased this list it towards British albums that are average at best." Grime is not my thing but it needs representation. Two stars for my personal enjoyment.

Aggressive British rap. With exclamation marks. Aggressive! British! Rap! Just to drive home the point: This is aggressive British rap, mate! I said MATE! This has got glottal stops, it's got th-fronting. It's got the whole business. This is AGGRESSIVE, it's BRITISH, it's RAP. Nuff said.

Solid rap album

No like

Initially sounds like typical British drill.

Shite.

не могу поставить меньше альбому с песней от которой я балдею уже больше 10 лет. что-то в битах и его флоу заставляет меня чувствовать такую СВАГУ… непонятно почему такой низкий рейтинг здесь

Did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I'm too old for the grime scene, and it's not in any way aimed at me. But the beats went hard and Skapta's flow is infectious. Will I listen to it again? Unlikely, but no regrets from giving it a blast.

not for me

Pretty fun, not really my thing, but im shocked this made it onto the 1001. Standouts are Crime Riddim and numbers. “THAT’S A THREE”

British rap. Unlistenable drivel. Just no.

I tried… but I just couldn’t. I wonder if there’s some way to keep the algorithm from adding this kind of music to my feed… Zero stars needs to be added to the ratings…

Not for me

This one surprised me. I've never heard of Skepta before but this was great. The title track and “Crime Riddim” both had stretches where Skepta’s rhyming reminded me a little of Lil Wayne, especially the way he bends phrases around the beat and throws in those quick punchlines. “Shutdown” and “That’s Not Me” were fire too. The production is stripped down and grimy, but that leaves a ton of room for his delivery to carry the songs. Some of the North London slang definitely does not translate cleanly to American English, so there were lines where I knew I was missing part of the joke or reference. Didn’t really matter, I want to hear more. Favorite song: "Shutdown"

1/2

65

I didn’t hate it, but it’s not my favorite rap/hip hop style. Very bass heavy - basically drum and bass music with rap lyrics. The lyrics are also not to my test. They really have nothing to say - it’s just rap game nonsense/materialism type stuff.

Eh.

There are plenty of talented UK rappers. It's unfortunate that Grime has become so popular there, as that is the kind of rap that many automatically assume is all of UK rap. As for this album - must like most of Grime - it is not to my taste, personally.

3 sterne

For what it is, 3 feels right

Spela den högt! Så den där jäkla basen bara wobblar i bröstet på dig. Såg Skepta på Way out för ett par år sen, det är en av de galnaste konserter jag sett på den festivalen. Det var en gigantisk mosh-pit, typ halva tältet, vågrörelserna var i klass med Heyselstadium. Energin var löjlig, det var stenhårt och okuvligt. En superkonsert, punk för 20talet. Det här albumet tar grime in i nästa fas, vad blir det 3.0 eller 4.0? Beatsen och spottande har lugnat ner sig en smula, det är inte sådär löjeväckande snabbt. Man hör tydligt vad han säger, även om all slang inte hittar hem till mig. Jag tycker också det finns nåt med brittisk hiphop som gör att man kan kulturellt mycket lättare kan relatera, vilket gör den mycket angelägnare. Kan inte förklara det bättre än så. Musikaliskt är Konnichiwa konsekvent och oförlåtande (på ett bra vis). Bortsett från de två amerikansk co-producerade spåren i mitten som är betydligt sämre, är det skyhög kvalitet rakt igenom. Skepta har kanske inte lika självklara bangers som Stormzy eller Dizzee, men han har nåt annat, en konsekvens och obeveklighet som tar honom ännu högre än enstaka bangers. Tillbaks på Way out, efter 40 minuter klarar inte farbror mer utan måste röra sig bakåt till utkanten av tältet. Genomsvett, mörbultad och törstig men med ett fånigt leende på läpparna, över att det fortfarande finns musik som kan framkslla det här hos ungdomen En habil fyra, utan de amerikanska hade den sniffat på femman

Jag tycker inledningen låter rätt bra. Men sedan känns det allt mer segt ju längre in i albumet vi kommer.

Der mesta är väl helt okej. Blir dock rätt trist i längden. Den släpiga radioskvalshiphopen vi t ex möter i Ladies hit squad hade jag gärna varit utan.

Stark öppning med tunga beats och fint flow. Men från och med det inspelade telefonsamtalet tappar albumet fart. Positiv att endast ett skit-spår förekommer. Med nöd och näppe en trea.

It's better than some of the fare of its type, and its trying, but too often its constrained by the stereotypes of its genre.

British rapping more often than not is generally always shit from butt, and even worse, the more recent albums are somehow even more insufferable than ever before. Why do they all sound the exact same?? It’s maddening. I love Rap, but when a Brit is doing it, it’s just so ungodly silly and I simply can not take it seriously. Listening to this guy trying to sound hard and talking about being in a gang on “Man” is just not good. He swears a lot and I’m sure the Brit fans think that’s really cool, but it just further exemplifies the cringe. His cadence is fine, the rhyming scheme itself is also fine, but the way he sounds and the lyrics are just cheeeeeeeeeesy. “Ring Ring pussy it’s shut down” is an actual lyric said multiple times on the same song. Dude, calm down. It’s not that serious bro. “Numbers” is also one of the cringiest fucking songs I’ve ever heard in my entire life. I’ve never heard of Skepta before, but this was a one time listen and I’m done with it already. I’m so done with the Brit rapping in general. It’s simply bad. And this is coming from someone who loves Rap. And I hate to say that a big part of it has to do with the unflattering accent, but it does. Something positive I can say about this album is that it’s got some great beats. If you can just drown out the nerd rapping about whatever, there’s some good things to be enjoyed. I especially like some of the retro sounding effects used in songs like “Lyrics” and “That’s Not Me”. And with so few positive things to say about this album, that’s probably good enough to say that “That’s Not Me” is my favorite song on the album. I’m not exactly hyper analyzing this one. It’s just not that good. It’s not a 1, but I did not enjoy listening to this. For that reason, it’s a 2/5. God, even the features are annoying. If I never have to hear BBK on “Detox” again, it will be too soon. And the worst part of all of this is that of course, there are skits. I don’t think that “Crime Riddim” is a terrible song, and if it didn’t have the skit at the end, it would be my favorite. But god, there’s a literal skit of him just playing some video game against someone crashing out at the end of the song, and it slows the album to a literal crawl. This may just be the worst Hip-Hop album on the site. I very rarely give them something worse than a 4, but this one is special for all the wrong reasons.

Ok. Nothing special.

A few songs stood out in a good way but ultimately I dislike this type of music.

Not at all something I find interesting.

Alright my caucasian, blud, fam, pussy