At age 32 Peckham born Nathaniel Thomas is taking over the UK music scene, you may know him as Giggs. He has been signed to XL Records since 2010, home of Adele, The XX and M.I.A, and is currently set to release his new album ‘When Will It Stop’ on October 14th.
Those of you may be saying “who?” are guaranteed to have heard his deep toned raps on your airwaves as he has broken free from the typical UK Grime arenas such as Channel U. His singles, for example ‘Look what the cat dragged in’ have been played by the likes of BBC Radio 1xtra and Radio 1, and he has world renowned DJS supporting his music, including Zane Lowe.
It isn’t just the radio stations that are helping to put Giggs out there; the likes of NME and MOBO.com are also spreading the gangsta rap word.
However, no matter how good the music is some media outlets still focus on the cliché negativity associated with the Grime Scene. A prime example of this is an article written in The Guardian which uses Giggs to reference gang culture and gun violence; there is no mention of his musical achievements. Instead the piece paints him as a poster boy for youth violence.
I personally couldn’t tell you what Giggs does behind closed doors, but what I do know is that his music is progressing and his latest single ‘(Is It Gangsta?) Yes Yes Yes’ proves that. Some newspapers may be ignoring the fact that he has moved past his colourful past, but when artists such as Example, Professor Green and Wretch 32 are backing you, who cares.
I can’t wait to see how his album does, and with a sound that could easily fit in with the US music scene I think we will be seeing, and more importantly hearing, a lot more from Giggs.