supercat vs ninjaman
Jammer “One of my all-time favourite clashes was a clash that involved Supercat and Ninjaman because it reminded me of Wiley in a sense – like we clash with MCs to let people see their talent. Ninjaman came from the school of Supercat, he was his younger but then Ninjaman come up in the game and he’s the guy. I remember someone threw a bottle at Supercat from the crowd and it almost bottled him and Ninjaman said, ‘Look you can’t bottle him, because from when you kill him, you kill me’. So in the world of clashing that really meant a lot. Even though I always say to people clashing is about dissing each other and almost a negative thing but at the same time, it’s a very positive thing because it brings people together.”
wiley vs kano
Jammer “Wiley and Kano was memorable just because it was the start of everything for me, because as a DVD it was my first headline clash. It was just epic man, those times in the game it’s like we were really living that. Especially getting Kano because he was my artist at the time, releasing on my label Jahmek The World and part of N.A.S.T.Y Crew; so to get the new boy on the block to clash Wiley, for me was just innovational [sic] just as a business minded person. Then it was a game changer because now look at Kano, he got noticed off of that clash. Even when he was doing GMTV interviews after he got his deal and they asked him about his new single, people were like, ‘What’s this Lord Of The Mics thing?’ It made people recognise.”
skepta vs devilman
Jammer “Skepta and Devilman was a game changer, because they switched up each other’s lyrics. Clashing has gone like that since that day, people do that now and it’s just a natural thing to do. It also opened the boundaries of clashing, bringing London and the Midlands together and now [on the new DVD we have] Yannick Bolassie and Brad Wright-Phillips, the two Premiership footballers. They love grime, they was coming to my premieres and Eskimo Dance and I saw some videos of them doing little sends, so I thought ‘You know what lets get that on the right platform’ and I got them involved.”
9 milli major vs sharky major
Big H “Other than this one [P Money vs Big H LOTM VI] because this is the greatest clash to happen in the UK right now, I remember 9 Milli Major and Sharky Major had a clash. They were in a boxing ring and Westwood was hosting it. It was a really good clash, it was quite exciting, they were fighting for the name Major and whoever won, took the name. I think Major won because 9 Milli Major is still about and Sharky Major is now an estate agent. I can’t really remember any bars from the clash, I can’t really remember anyone’s bars but mine at the moment and I think that’s what I have to do because people will be like ‘H is forgetting bars and all of that’, but I’ve got a thousand bars so sometimes I might forget them.”
skepta vs ghetts
P Money “Logan’s show, KISS 100, Skepta and Ghetts – that was the one. A lot of people don’t really talk about it, but for me that was the one because Ghetts was battling maybe Wiley at the time, he was doing a few things and Skepta just come out of nowhere and it just kicked off between those two. They were going in, back and forth, back and forth, so to me that was the perfect clash because they’re both sick. They were both like the biggest artists at the time and still are. Skepta just had something, and when you listen to Ghetts, you think he’s mad technical, what are you even gonna say? Skepta was just calm and stuck to his style and done his thing and that inspired me. It doesn’t matter how sick someone is, someone can always do something. That’s why when people run around saying they’re the best, someone might just come along and give them a run for their money.”
Credits
Text Nardene Scott
Lord Of The Mics VI is out 28th September, check the website for more
Buy tickets for Red Bull Culture Clash on 30th October here