Working on a book that covered almost forty years of rap music in this country provided a rare sense of perspective; the cyclical patterns, genuine innovations and interesting fizzes. Few people talk about Britcore thirty-plus years on, unless you were ‘there’. It’s a very different landscape today. The algorithms loom large while recording and marketing budgets are much smaller, not to mention the decline of live venues.

So only time will tell whether the 2025 vintage of UK MCs will be remembered as a moment or a movement. Yet with hindsight, it becomes very clear how important 2015 was. The following feature is a lightly-edited extract from David Kane’s book, ‘What Do You Call It? From Grassroots To The Golden Era Of UK Rap’, exclusively for TRENCH.

Lest there be any doubt, 2015 was a very good year for UK rap fans. Aside from the grime renaissance, the Section Boyz and 67 ushering in a dynamic new sound, there was J Hus’ “Lean & Bop”. The Afrobeats sound—not to be confused with afrobeat, originally popularised by Fela Kuti—led by Mista Silva, Kwamz and Fuse ODG had been bubbling away for a while. Second and third-generation children of the African diaspora born in the UK experimented with traditional African rhythms fused with UK sounds, including grime, garage, hip-hop and R&B,

This sonic bouillabaisse laid the foundation for Afrobeats, and J Hus was arguably the genre’s breakout star. The wiry East Londoner of Gambian descent came with the snake hips, an infectious grin, and ‘that’ dance. “Oi mate, if you’re out here getting this wonga, then this one’s for you,” announces DoccyDocs, the fictional radio DJ introducing the world to J Hus in the music video to “Lean & Bop”. It’s not a complicated dance, “If you’re feeling the vibe, make your woolly hat lean to the side.” A granny joins Hus for a spin, SBTV’s Jamal Edwards shows us how it's done, and so too do groups of beaming school kids outside Stratford shopping centre.

Kenny Allstar was in the “Lean & Bop” video and saw it as an essential song and a reminder of “how UK rap could be fun,” explaining: “Of course, there are hard-hitting stories that resonate with people who tend to have not much of a voice, but we can also make songs your family can vibe to. If you don’t have ‘Lean & Bop’, do you have ‘Gun Lean’, the drill dances? Probably not. Hus understood the power of bringing in people with a positive message.” For all the hardships J Hus would experience in his life—he was stabbed five times in 2015, causing PTSD, and was later convicted twice of possessing an offensive weapon—this was the start of a genuinely joyous music adventure anyone can get down to. J Hus came with a style and swagger all of his own, and alongside his trusted producer, JAE5, the pair pushed the dial on rap UK once more with the release of Common Sense in spring 2017.

Common Sense pulses with the push and pull between the untouchable persona Hus often puts on wax and the introspective, vulnerable side of someone barely out of their teenage years trying to figure it all out. This Jungian quality extends to Hus’ superpower: his vocal range. “Find out who you are by the company you keep/As kids we saw things that no man should see,” he croons on the vocoder-assisted “Who You Are”. Hus recognised an opportunity between the UK Afrobeats scene and road rap and grime that soundtracked his adolescence, telling VICE in 2017, “Even though I had no experience of singing—I always used to rap—I thought I would start adding melodies. A lot of rappers have a road image. They don’t want to sing. They’re scared it’ll mess with their image.” Hus had no such concerns and was among the first and most effective to merge the sounds to “create something brand new.” It’s probably because of his unique versatility and vocal range that he’s the only artist to feature on albums from Dave, Skepta and Stormzy.

Much was made of the album’s disparate influences—afrobeat, dancehall, 2000s-era hip-hop, tinges of grime, and even garage—but this was a sound sui generis to J Hus and JAE5, resulting in the sometimes label of “Afroswing”, alongside peers and collaborators Kojo Funds, MoStack and Not3s. Yet there was more to the music than exhilarating alchemy. Even amongst the grit, Common Sense has an effervescent shine thanks to celebratory bashment-rap fusion on album openers “Common Sense” and “Bouff Daddy”, JAE5’s surprising trumpet solos and sparkling piano chords (“Closed Doors”), and the gorgeous timpani on “Did You See”. There’s so much going on that it probably shouldn’t work, but it does, and J Hus carries it all with style and grace. From the contemplative to the gregarious ladies man, and street tales (“Still on tings if you're wondering,” he shares on “Plottin”), flitting between pidgin English, patois and even cockney.

Dave is another member of the 2015 alumni—a generational talent in the making who was still in high school when he recorded his breakout freestyle for BL@CKBOX, the YouTube channel dedicated to new rappers. Currently sitting at 15 million-plus views, Dave’s freestyle video remains the most watched on the channel. The babyface belied the emotional depth of his story, a biographical rap about his brothers who were imprisoned due to Joint Enterprise. Dave eschewed the Afrobeats, grime and drill sound in vogue to rap over a minimal piano loop with a storytelling approach synonymous with hip-hop (a title that had slowly fallen out of favour, at least in the UK).

The world would soon discover Dave’s talent extends beyond rapping to playing the piano. And it would soon become apparent: music isn’t just what Santan Dave does—it’s who he is. He breathes in soundwaves with purity and lets them course through his bloodstream. The act of creation drives him. In J Hus, he found a natural collaborator; the pair recorded “Samantha” together in 2017—a holy missive that straddles two worlds with a hook that stings, a mix of “gentleman with gangster.” Directed by Dir. Lx, the music video pops, the track is produced by JAE5 (who else?), Dave and Hus head-to-toe in Stone Island and then, their Sunday best, outside the council estate and inside by the stained glass windows of Christ. They are two young men on the cusp of greatness, Hus the preacher and Dave the singer, rapper and piano player. High art and Tetley tea. You don’t have to be a believer to know this was the new sound of Britain.

What Do You Call It? is out right now.