Grime, hip hop and freestyle: Meet the artists leading the rap scene in Shropshire

But outside The Buttermaket in Shrewsbury a queue of people are waiting to get into the club where rappers from the county and beyond face off in a battle rap.

The lights dim, the beat starts and rappers take to the stage. There’s a mix of genres – a little bit of grime, a smattering of hip hop, a few patches of RnB – all bases are covered.

It’s a music scene that’s more commonly associated with bigger cities, and the stars that have inspired the movement – the likes of Stormzy – have generally tended to appear around London.

But musical movements tend to spread their wings, and here is a group of rappers who live in the bucolic landscape of Shropshire who are embracing this urban movement.

“I was bought up on music since I was a small kid really,” says 18-year-old rapper Jacob James.

“My parents would play music, from reggae to northern soul and RnB. Then when I got in trouble and got sent to my room I would just listen to music all the while.”

The lyrics

Jacob goes by the stage pseudonym TrippleJayy, which was actually born out of one of a few available names for his YouTube account.

“I first started to get into rap when I was at home,” he says. “I wasn’t allowed out until I was 11, so I would sit there and rap along to songs. To be honest I wasn’t very good originally. But then I started to write stuff and rap in front of my big brother Alex, I was trying to impress him.

“When I started it was just me, and at school people would take the Mick out of me. But I would just keep practising getting better and better all the time.”

Jacob writes all his music and says it is really poetry and rhymes created from his own experiences.

“There aren’t many mixed race people in Shrewsbury and my writing was a way of me dealing with that,” he adds. “My lyrics are like a diary. They are me expressing myself, my emotions and my thoughts.”

Jacob was surprised to learn there were other rappers also pining for a scene to develop in Shropshire.

An underground scene

At the Buttermarket they have been brought together by London-based entertainment company Don’t Flop.

Hundreds of people cram around the stage to watch rappers from the county battle it out against those from elsewhere in the country. As they are pitched into battle the rappers trade insults, set to a heavy, bass-laden beat – and it is the country boys from Shropshire who are ultimately victorious.

Sean Kray works with Don’t Flop but moved to Shrewsbury recently from north London.

“I didn’t know anyone and wasn’t aware there was a rap community here,” he says. “We chose Shrewsbury to hold the Don’t Flop event because The Buttermarket is a great venue for it and there is a big catchment area.

“A lot of us have become friends now because we didn’t know there was a rap scene before this event.”

Liam Priday, who has the stage name of Pri-D, is 22 and is a metal worker in a factory in Ludlow.

He started freestyle rapping while he was a pupil at Ludlow Church of England School.

“I was completely on my own in Ludlow doing this sort of thing,” he says. “But that’s what it is about, breaking the mould and doing your own thing. My look and accent isn’t something you’ll see everyday in this scene.”

The aim for Liam is to eventually be able to make money from his music, but he knows there is a long road ahead to achieve that which will require a lot of work.

“I would of course love to make money from music, but that it hard to do, it’s hard to get recognised,” he continues. “But people shouldn’t be down about having to work. You have to pay for music videos and things like that and you need to invest in yourself, and you need work and money to do that.”

Most of the young men got into rap through listening to American artists such as Eminem, D12 and Tupac. But the explosion of British grime and rap changed things.

The start of a career

One of the more established artists from Shropshire is Telford’s Drew Robb. He is 21 and is releasing music on major platforms including Spotify and iTunes under his rap name Monro£.

“When there was UK grime and I started to feel like I could be more myself and less like I was impersonating an American,” he says.

“I remember Kano’s Home Sweet Home. It was my first record and it changed my life.”

Drew says that despite making a bit of money from his music, that his not his sole aim.

“It’s about building a profile and a fan base,” he said. “I always feel the love when I’m on stage at events. Being up there for me is like being in my living room, I’m just totally at home and in my element.”

Gathered at a pre-event ahead of the Buttermarket show, the rappers generally all look the part, wearing caps and hoodies.

Chris Bates, a 29-year-old from Nescliffe, stands out. Dressed in jeans, boots and a plaid shirt, he doesn’t quite fit the expectations – but he doesn’t sound out of place with a mic in his hand.

“Battle rap is all about two guys getting in each others faces, and actually it’s really respectful for something that is quite disrespectful,” he says.

“You can’t have a glass jaw with this, you are going up there to get bullied and be a bully. To be honest it makes you a stronger person for it.

“I’m not much of a grimer to be honest, hip hop and grime are two very different types of rapper – grime is more rhythmical and and hip hop tends to be more lyric based. I’ve always had an appreciation of the lyrics.”

One thing is clear is that the rap scene is inclusive and friendly regardless of experience – until you’re in a rap battle itself of course.

Calvin Edwards from Ketley goes as R10, R0 and R13 depending on the type of music he is performing.

“I have my own style really,” says the 21-year-old. “A lot of people think I’m grime because I perform at a grime tempo, but I also like to focus on the lyrics too.

“I’ll be walking to work and then a tune or a lyric will just pop into my head, it’s an impulse. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t.”

“To be honest up until now I have only been making music for myself. But I’ve started to drop music for people who are interested.

“Those who don’t like it, well it’s their opinion.

“The more people that are listening too and liking my music gives me that bit more freedom and confidence. Who knows where it might go?”