Being from Northampton, a town sandwiched firmly in the Bush on the northwest fringes of London, Tyron Frampton, better known as Slowthai, always had to fight for his voice, describing the ‘us and them’ atmosphere that permeated his childhood to Pitchfork earlier this year. His latest single, Polaroid, is the physical embodiment of this sentiment, with a skittish Kwes Darko beat serving as a platform for Tyron to share his experiences. His impassioned delivery and lyricism is a clear blend of both contemporary grime artists like Mike Skinner with more left field influences such as punk and horrorcore, which is reinforced by the unsettling visuals in the accompanying music video. While repetition is clearly the backbone of the track, subtle nuances such as ‘enthusiasm, can’t curb it’ add rich flavour that proves that Slowthai is one the most able MCs making music at the moment. Keep him in rotation.
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