ALAN McGUIRE welcomes the complete poems of Seamus Heaney for the unmistakeable memory of colonialism that they carry
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Rapping at the door of the British class system
ADAM DE PAOR-EVANS remembers MC Duke: a pioneering British rapper more people should know about
MC Duke was also acutely aware of the power of image. After
working extensively with young UK photographer Normski, the pair
came up with ORGANISED RHYME's timeless concept Duke dressed
up to the nines as landed gentry, a look later copied wholesale by
British boxer Chris Eubank.
GORDON PARSONS is fascinated by a musical — and questioning — survey of Shakespeare’s attitude to women
MATTHEW HAWKINS enjoys the work of reading the essays of a rigorous and leading London/Caribbean cultural participant
ALEX HALL appreciates the history of a famous shoot-out that is sourced from diaries, letters, and newspapers of the time
MARIA DUARTE recommends an extraordinary film that explores an absent father’s attempt to make up to his sons
JOHN GREEN, MARIA DUARTE and LEO BOIX review The Shepherd and the Bear, Hamlet, Twinless, and 100 Nights of Hero
MC Duke (Kashif Adham) was a key figure in the development of hip-hop in Britain in the late 80s. When he died in April, British rap lost a giant. From the East End of London, Duke strengthened the evolution of the genre in the UK by relating directly to US hip-hop and an emerging British rap identity through his lyrics and visual style.
At the time of MC Duke’s arrival on the rap scene, British hip-hop was transitioning from the electro-based sound by London artists such as DSM, Three Wize Men and Family Quest, to a more sample-based style, much like the sounds of US artists Eric B. and Rakim and Biz Markie.
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