Releases from the UK Hip Hop movement this year have (for the most part) been heralded for remaining firm in the past aesthetics of what the genre has stood for, delivering rough, provocative rhymes and beats that can rock any Hip Hop night in the West End.
Next up to rep for Team UK Hip Hop is Mystro, the rhymeslayer whose ten plus years in the game have won him the respect of artists and listeners, young and old.
As much as the no-nonsense, super lyrical rappers are applauded, what most Hip Hoppers love is someone who isn’t afraid to tickle one’s funny bones; someone who can also give us a good laugh amidst the breathless flows and Thesaurus referenced wordplay.
It’s these attributes which have indefinitely made Mystro one of the most admired UK spitters of today. With a career spanning over ten years, the microphone assassin has enough lyrical capabilities to wow all – yet it is his charismatic approach and effortless flow which distances him from the chasing pack.
As the release of his Digmund Freud EP approaches, Mystro sat down with SoulCulture to discuss the growth of UK Hip Hop and its general shift towards a more commercial sound, his views on the listeners' individual roles in influencing which music becomes popular and flexing his presenting skills away from music on Spine TV.
SoulCulture: Can you identify one difference between UK Hip Hop now and when you first came out some years ago?
Mystro: When I first came out, I’d say there wasn’t very much of it [Hip Hop] as there is now. I really remember London Posse, Cookie Crew, Silver Bullet - all those kind of artists at the time were