US and UK collabs were once looked at as a dream in the early 2000s. But thanks to the Internet, as well as the UK rap scene explosion in the 2010s, these collabs have become more frequent in recent years.
However, one could argue that they’ve been hit or miss over the years, due to sounds not necessarily meshing well together, or many UK artist having to water down their style to fit with the bigger American artist. Snoop Dogg Presents Algorithm, released on November 19 of this year, is a compilation album that’s very feature heavy, showcasing many other artists. Following the original, Snoop released a Global Edition which features artists from other countries.
Track 36 of the Global Edition, “Murder Music (Remix)”, is the perfect collaboration between the UK and US. It sees an appearance from East London’s Potter Payper, deemed the “realest rapper” due to his lyrics very much mirroring his real life, alongside US heavyweights Jadakiss, Benny the Butcher and Busta Rhymes. This roster makes for a perfect recipe for a drug dealing anthem.
Potter Payper starts it off: “With so much drama in these London streets / It’s kinda hard for a G like me to stay focused / But I somehow someway stop myself from killing motherfuckers like every single day” He pays homage to the OG himself, Snoop Dogg, then follows it off proving why he’s one of the UKs elite, bringing his aggressive and sharp delivery, topped off with raw and real street life lyrics.
Benny the Butcher follows up the UK native’s opener, continuing his streak of no bad verses or lines. A short one, but he goes over his 0 to 100 come-up and addresses the shooting that took place in an attempted robbery last November.
Speaking of no bad verses, Jadakiss is next and it’s exactly what you expect from Jadakiss; delivering the best verse on the song. Not much can be said, as we all know how Jadakiss approaches these sort of songs; they are tailor-made for him. Busta Rhymes closes out the song with the final verse; an electric flow with a finely delivered tongue twister delivery.
Each rapper compliments each other and Snoop being only on the chorus gives the other MCs more space to showcase their talents, making “Murder Music” one of the finest posse cuts we’ve had in a while.
The only downside to this song is that it’s not on the original version of the album and only on the Global Edition, meaning everyone might not to hear this great transatlantic collab.
“Murder Music” is a small step for UK Hip Hop to break overseas, but definitely an important one. For the most part, the UK scene as a whole has failed to break in the US, especially the more less commercial and real lifestyle of UK rap, despite the many connections and attempts.
A few that come to mind like S.A.S. and Dipset link-up of the 2000s; Jay Z singing K Koke to Roc Nation; and Joe Black opening up for Rick Ross on his UK tour. Potter Payper comes from the roots of the original road rap wave and has blown up here at the perfect time. They walked so he could run.
They got the attention of a smaller audience in the US, but Potter may just be the one to take it a step further and grab mass attention as I assume there’ll be more collab between the two countries in the near future.
Mic Cheque 