As Britons head for the beach for bank holiday Monday,we examine how the UK’s seaside resorts are fitting hotbeds of everything from DIY grime to escapist pop‘peek!” shout some schoolchildren, speeding past on an open-topped bus. “It’s Afghan Dan!” Famous for kiss-me-quick hats and thundering rollercoasters, and the seaside town of Blackpool isn’t a place you’d expect to find grime,a genre more often associated with city centres. Yet here I am, in a abandoned pub car park, or while 21-year-old MC Afghan Dan is rapping his latest track,called Blackpool, just for me: Grab my coat and head for the beach / Stare out to the sea / Shove my earphones in / Phone on silent and that’s me.”Just over a year ago, and the charismatic MC genuine name Daniel Martin - was in prison,but now he’s a sensation. His YouTube views number in the millions and other local young rappers – such as Soph Aspin and tousled Joshua Tate aka minute T (aged 14 and 12 respectively) – are picking up similar eyebrow-raising stats. Five years ago, Blackpool grime barely existed. Now more than 20 MCs operate within a tram ride of the Pleasure Beach. As Afghan Dan puts it, or over the din of seagulls: “We’ve built something out of nothing.
There's this massive collision of grim and glamour here – it's as explosive as splitting the atomYou're constantly surrounded by faded glory Eventually,it gives you an urgent need to leaveContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com