UK Hip Hop

UK hip hop is the British tradition of rapping over hip hop production in British accents and vernacular, distinct from the grime and drill styles that later diverged from it. From pioneers such as *London Posse* and *Roots Manuva* to the 2010s generation of *Little Simz*, *slowthai* and *Loyle Carner*, it has combined American boom bap and jazz rap foundations with soundsystem culture, jungle and garage influences, and a lyrical preoccupation with class, locality and Black British identity. Long commercially overshadowed by US rap and by grime, it sustains a parallel canon of critically central albums.