Anyone who saw Drake bring out Skepta at Wireless on Friday evening knows just how much Mr. Adenuga stole the show — politely but emphatically — from Drizzy. In fact, the whole of Wireless was dominated by UK performances; from Boy Better Know, Section Boys and Bugzy Malone on the 28th, to Lethal Bizzle, Little Simz, Stormzy, Krept and Konan and Wretch 32 this weekend. Earlier today, Krept and Konan bounced into the Top 10 with Freak of the Week, while Skepta dropped a “very authentic, icy” track, Back Then.
Today, 18 year-old Novelist topped off a week of gargantuan grime with War, taken from Jon E Cash’s (if you know, you know) 2003 instrumental of the same name. The very ‘on fleek’ song was designed to “rock the boat”, Nov told i-D: “Sometimes, people talk too much but don’t do anything. Everyone’s got too much to prove, so I wanted to stick out. I woke up early Sunday morning and thought ‘I need to rock the boat’. I wanted to burst this one. Sometimes no plan is the best plan. I wrote bars all day and went to the studio in the evening — all the way to West London and put it straight out online. No structure. Just put music out. It’s called War but it’s lighthearted. I came with a micman stance, I want to standout as a proper MC; so this is pure bars. I don’t know if Jon E Cash has heard it — it might be a pleasant surprise!”
Nov also shouted out Drake for the support he’s lent the scene, and praised A$AP Rocky too, with whom he can be seen alongside Skepta, Piff Gang, Danger Mouse and Rick Owens’ wife Michele Lamy in a forthcoming Rocky video. “It’s all very natural, we’ve been linking them guys a lot and nothing’s forced,” Nov said, “We just do what feels right and what makes sense. I’ve got to big up Rocky and Drake; no matter how big musicians they are, they feel the vibe. It all goes on the vibe.”
Enjoy bars like “I’m a daps / Born in the Lewisham flats / That’s where I saw bare gats / I spit bars cos I want big cars / I don’t care man, I wanna live large / I want a yard with a bigboy pool and bare buff tings that don’t wear bra’s…”