SWG3, GlasgowThe breakout star of 2019, Northampton rapper Slowthai speaks truth to power with his unique brand of grime-punkAt some point during the melee that is this Slowthai gig, a bra lands on the stage. The grinning Northampton rapper drapes it over his head, a pair of flapping D-cups giving him the look of a demented puppy.
The song is Ladies, the track off his debut album, Nothing Great About
Britain, where Slowthai pays tribute to “the ladies” – not just as makers of babies, but as makers of men. Like any number of rappers on both sides of the Atlantic, Tyron Frampton was raised by strong women in the face of considerable odds, an upbringing he details later on a track called Northampton’s Child. In short: teenage mum, absent dad, dodgy stepfather, a series of council flats, the death of his baby brother… it has all arguably contributed to making Slowthai the breakout
British artist of 2019, in cultural significance, if not crude album sales.