MONDAY MP3 GRAB: TOP BOY MIXTAPE BY CHARLIE SLOTH

This week I thought I’d use the Charlie Sloth mixtape for Top Boy, as a way to crowbar in a mention of the new Channel 4 drama. Staring Ashley Walters and Kane Robinson (better known as Kano), the promotional blurb unfortunately uses the words ‘raw’ and ‘gritty’ hackneyed PR terms that do a disservice to anything that actually has depth. And watching the extended trailer you get the impression that Top Boy might just be a heavy slice of original British drama. Written by Ronan Bennet, Face and Public Enemies, who plunged himself deep into gang culture to research the work, and with cinematography that recalls the work of German photographer Rut Blees Luxemburg – think the beautiful but bleak album cover for The Streets debut LP – and Top Boy looks like it will be an illuminating, charged and sobering affair.

Filed under: Film Review, UK hip-hop by J.G.