Rizzle Kicks Down With The Trumpets

Mike Skinner and Dizzee Rascal, what have you wrought? Nine years after the release of the seminal garage/hip hop record Original Pirate Material, and eight years after the release of the grime classic Boy In Da Corner, we are seeing the emergence of the ten-year-olds who bought those records make and produce their own music.

Which, of course, leads us to the Rizzle Kicks, the brainchild of two Brighton lads who liked Kool Keith, Outkast, and The Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff. They claim their music is inspired by the Golden Age of hip hop, and after listening to the cheeky and sarcastic lyrics, I understand where they are coming from. It's an interesting combination of the classic Golden Age style of tongue-in-cheek lyrics with the upbeat electronic style of the Skinners and Rascals of early UK grime and garage music.

In the end, these two young men have put themselves in a position to establish themselves as part of the next generation of UK hip hop, following in the steps of Tinie Tempah and Plan B -- and that's a good thing for all of us.