The world of UK grime is way more rooted in club culture than US rap is. Grime evolved directly out of the rave and pirate radio scenes, and plenty of UK rappers have had their biggest pop successes on EDM tracks — Dizzee Rascal on "Bonkers" and "Dance Wiv Me," Wiley on "Wearing My Rolex," etc. Just last year, Skepta, one of the biggest stars in grime history, teamed up with prominent dance producer Fred again.. for a very cool collaborative EP. But in all those situations, the grime guys were still rapping over dance beats. They weren't just turning into dance producers themselves. That's what Skepta is doing now.
Last month, Skepta announced Más Tiempo, a DJ residency at Hï Ibiza's Club Room. He's spinning house records in that club every Saturday through October, sharing the bill with South African house producer Black Coffee. In a press release, Skepta said, "Más Tiempo is about freedom on the dancefloor. It’s house music, good energy, and bringing people together through sound. Ibiza has always been a place where cultures meet on the dancefloor, and Hï feels like the right space to share that. Sharing the night with Black Coffee makes it even more powerful."
Today, Skepta releases his new EP Más Tiempo Vol. 2, which is three straight-up house tracks with no rapping or detectable grime influence. When I first hit play, I thought I'd accidentally clicked on the wrong link, or that there was some dance producer who was also named Skepta. No! It's just Skepta! Making house music! It's not great house music or anything. As a non-connoisseur, I don't hear anything distinctive about these tracks. Their mere existence is a curiosity. When a great rapper makes anonymous house tracks, it's a little bit like Michael Jordan playing baseball, or maybe like Idris Elba making anonymous house tracks. If you want to know how that sounds, you can hear it below.
