Shinola songs from the shittiest artists (part 2)

Like the Mermaid mum in Round The Twist, this series may have legs.

Roots Manuva - Witness (1 Hope)
(From Run Come Save Me album; 2001)


A spectacular fluke in the otherwise dull career of stoner/student fave Roots Manuva or wot? Witness (1 Hope) is some bionic Englo-Jamaican Bashment-Rap - basically, that's my fancy way of saying it's the only U.K Hip-Hop song you can play in a DJ set between Mr. Oizu's Flat Beat and Dizzee Rascal's I Luv U.

Bad Bascomb - Black Grass
(From Black Grass Music album; 1973)


Breakbeat Lenny's Ultimate Breaks and Beats compilations contain a fair few shinola songs by the shittiest artists. For my money, Bad Bascomb's Black Grasss is the best of the bunch and I type that with the authority of someone who once bought Bascomb's one LP in the vein hope it contained any other jams (spoiler: it doesn't.) Originally a B-Boy favourite which Howie Tee later used as the backbone of Special Ed's Hoedown, Black Grass is peak Duelling Banjos-core.

A1 x J1 - Latest Trends
(From Latest Trends single; 2021)


Even Russell Grant couldn't have predicted that a CBeebies U.K Drill equivalent of WSTRN's In2 would be Brit-Rap's first legit anthem of 2021. Nuff respect to A1 x J1 for stickin' to the Nice & Smooth blueprint of one short chunky member & one long skinny member.