HERITAGE: Daddy Freddy Shells Down BBC1's 'Record Breakers' (1989)

HERITAGE: Daddy Freddy Shells Down BBC1's 'Record Breakers' (1989)


January 24, 2018

Back before the UK had found its voice in grime and UK rap, even before London Posse, Daddy Freddy was one of our finest emcees (even if he was born in Jamaica). A regular on Tim Westwood's Capital Radio show, Daddy Freddy broke a lot of ground both here and in America as a soundsystem toaster. What set him apart as an emcee was his phenomenal speed on the mic, something that would go on to inspire jungle and later grime emcees. Eventually, this attracted the attention of the mainstream—including that of Cheryl Baker and Roy Castle of BBC's Record Breakers.

Daddy Freddy set the original record for World's Fastest Rapper, as part of the Capital Radio Music Festival, with 346 syllables a minute. He broke the record for the first time in Covent Garden and then again on Record Breakers in 1989, taking the record up to a ridiculous 598 syllables a minute. Take a look below to see him take to the stage (with frequent collaborator Asher D—not that one) to decimate his own record with that breakneck flow.




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