Amongst the creative glut of UK hip hop artists from the late Nineties and early Naughties, few names stand out more than Ty.
Not many of them achieved significant commercial success, but there were great and influential artists in the period. Daddy Skitz offered a skittish direction for hip hop. Roots Manuva proved you could grow up immersed in London’s soundsystem heritage and still appreciate electronic music from Detroit and Berlin – while rapping about peculiarly English subjects.
But Ty, like Rodney Smith (aka Roots Manuva), was not only a lyrical master in a class of his own, he was also hands on in the studio, creating his own beats. He had the independent, UK thing in his pocket.
Despite support from serious labels such as Big Dada, a Mercury prize nomination and a loyal following, Ty has yet to obtain the wide recognition the man and his music deserve.
That said, there’s no shortage of people showing up for him at the Jazz Cafe tonight. In fact, there’s so many Ty fans welcoming his return, marked by his signing to Rob Luis’ excellent Tru Thoughts label, that the venue’s been forced to close the guest list after they hit capacity two hours before he’s due to come on.
From the promos being sent out, there’s little sign of Ty’s creativity running dry. In fact the new single we’re celebrating is possibly the best things he’s released to date.
Hip hop heads in the US have never quite got our somewhat demure scene. But it is a deliberately un-showy, home-based affair. And while US urban music has become increasingly obsessed with big shows, the UK scene has inhabited a more conscious end of the rap spectrum.
It’s not that Ty can’t put on a show. It’s just that the show he chooses to do is more like going to a house party, but with the host standing on stage with a DJ behind him. It’s also totally absorbing.
Looking back, there’s no surprise that acts as seemingly disconnected as Arctic Monkeys have cited UK hip hop as an early influence. Just as Arctic Monkeys can power through a set of sharp edged rock n roll without saying a single word, and still connect with everyone. So Ty can forge an easy empathy with the crowd, while assuring his auntie (sitting on the balcony) that, even though he’s currently on stage, he’s still the boy that does the washing up at home.
Tonight Ty is excelling in this homely trip. As well as playing tracks from his new EP and inviting a plethora of guests on stage, he takes a stroll back over past hits, with the audience joining in on tracks such as Wait A Minute, Don’t Watch That and Ha Ha. The show, and there is definitely a show, includes Ty getting his audience to dance in a newly created formation for his new career topping track Knock Knock.
Ty and his loyal DJ, Ted, kill the beats to demonstrate the dance they’ve dreamt up. The whole thing is of course knocking the staged antics of mainstream urban music. The dance is funny and attitude hilarious. And when the audience complies by acting out his semi-clownish dance steps (despite there barely being room to nod your head), he duly rips the piss out of them for joining in like sheep.
And they might well be that; but, if so, they couldn’t have found a better shepherd.
Words: Ben Osborne
