Selections: The Best Grime & Club Singles In June 2021

Manga Saint Hilare – Don’t Just Sit There. Do Something (Prod. By Lewi B)

In some ways, Manga Saint Hilare is the anti-emcee. Rather than flexing outwardly, he relentlessly peels back the layers of his psyche, opening his inner thoughts over wild instrumentals. On his latest single — titled ‘Don’t Just Sit There. Do Something’ – he sounds off on the times the industry ignored him, the perils of overthinking and the power of his own intuition. Heavy subject matter, for sure. But Manga’s ability to synthesise his life experience and retain the requisite flair a grime emcee needs makes the tune work, as he adds another page to the stories told throughout his back catalogue.

The beat – produced by Lewi B – is a bed of sparkling synth work, and the two artists pick up on a sonic thread started back on ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’, as Lewi B provides brief adlibs in the spaces of the beat. Introspective without being corny, ‘Don’t Just Sit There. Do Something’ is a strong addition to Manga’s already stellar set of releases.

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Becky On The Beat ft Nasty Jack – Grime Anti

My head genuinely turned when I heard ‘Grime Anti’. Becky On The Beat’s ability to make unconventional sounds work effortlessly is a real strength. There’s vitality in her music, and of course, fresh ideas. ‘Grime Anti’ consists of guitar swells, one continuous bass drone and rolling percussion lines, the latter gently moving the tune along, giving off a Cocteau Twins meets drill meets grime vibe, and that’s before Nasty Jack comes in with the hook. Nasty Jack’s bars about being dissatisfied with the grime scene are engaging enough, but the real standout is that hook, which adds a little more melancholy to an already ominous track.

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GHS – Leng Dem

GHS’ latest track ‘Leng Dem’ is taken from the EP of the same name, and the tune shows that the simple approach can sometimes be the most effective. There’s barely anything going on in the beat here, save for a spiky lead line and minimal percussion, but that gives GHS’ vocal all the space to shine, as he delivers a one-two punch knockout of rapid grime flows and then hits us with the patois flex for good measure.

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ZDot x Capo Lee – Money & Patterns

Z Dot & Capo Lee’s latest tune – titled ‘Money & Patterns’ – is a three-minute thrill full of pitch-bent bass and skippy rhythm patterns. It’s one of those beats that takes equally from grime, drill and UK Rap styles, topped off by Capo’s bars about the pursuit for the bag and nonstop working. I can see people standing on their tables when this one hits at the post-COVID sit-down function.

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Little Simz – Rolling Stone

Little Simz isn’t the first name you’d associate with the grime scene, but she spent her formative years listening to the likes of Kano and Dizzee Rascal, and from the flow to the beat, the grime influence is all over the first half of this tune. In that first minute or so, Simz spits venomous flows over a jittery instrumental. As the track progresses, the instrumental leads with a heavy bass drop while Simz’ flow becomes more spacious; before finishing up with a modulated hook. Three moods in three minutes make ‘Rolling Stone’ a knockout track.