One To Watch #3: Mist

For as long as we can remember, Londoners have undoubtedly been torchbearers of the UK Rap and Grime scene. But since Grime’s supposed ‘revival’, the rest of the UK has been making a lot of noise. Initially, many Grime heads were resistant to any MCs from outside of London, with every other YouTube comment reading “nah the accent sounds wrong” whenever someone north of London went in. Thankfully that ignorance has recently changed, with the huge success of Manchester’s Bugzy Malone being a prime example. MCs and rappers from major cities all over the UK are now getting mass recognition by the big YouTube channels. Arguably the city making the most noise is Birmingham; aside from the obvious likes of Jaykae, Devilman and co, one of the most exciting rappers goes by the name of Mist.

Hailing from Brum Town, Mist has been making his name known in the industry, so much so that he has had cosigns from Skepta, Stormzy and Charlie Sloth. Originally putting out grime freestyles on YouTube as long as four years ago, Mist has since turned to focusing solely on rap. Whilst still able to go in on both rap and grime, his flow and delivery suits rap beats down to a t. One of the main steps in gaining widespread recognition is securing a Fire In The Booth session, and whether you like Charlie Sloth’s ‘energy’ or not, there is no doubt that it’s the perfect chance to show the UK what you’re saying. For me it’s one of the hardest freestyles in a while. Check it out.

Racking up 1.3 a million views in just 2 months (BBC 1XTRA & Charlie Sloth channels), Mist has earned the right to say “manna do the dab cos we’re winnin now”. His actual dab might be questionable (3:21), but there’s no denying how skillfully he can ride a beat. Lyrically Mist delivers content we can expect about dealing and making money, but amongst it there’s deep stuff like “I’m sippin on my goose reminiscing/ another year without my mum its hard but im livin”. The clarity and rhythm Mist shows in this FITB is the reason I think he is definitely one to watch out for. On the back of the hype from this vid he’s just dropped a new track “Karlas Back” with accompanying music video. Produced by the renowned Steel Banglez, Mist goes in on a track that’s clocked almost 600,000 views in just ten days. Mad scenes.

The UK scene is fully alive at the moment, and Mist is one of the most exciting of this new generation. Two years ago Skepta likened Birmingham’s Grime scene to the hip-hop scene in the South of the USA. Since then, Birmingham has become even more of a contender with London. With the likes of Mist, Jaykae and Remtrex leading the way, Birmingham still has a lot more to give.

Cop the M I S To The T album here.

And Diamond in the Dirt LP here.

Cal.

Guest article by Cal Fenn.