So what’s with this new house label? You might be surprised to hear that the Más Tiempo project was introduced to the world via a DJ set by Skepta and Jammer at the Ibiza club DC-9. If all you know are the hits, this seems like a left turn. After all, some of Skepta’s most legendary songs are marked by a feverish, streetwise paranoia - hardly the hands-in-the-air euphoria that’s associated with the island’s storied club culture. But Skepta has always been a moving target. Even in his grime heyday, he dipped into house-y influences. Fellow producer Plastician recalls the making of Boy Better Know’s beloved 2006 Tropical mixtape.
“I was still gigging a lot with Skepta, and we were in my car on our way back from somewhere… My car had a tape deck in it, so most of the time I’d have an old tape pack on, and we were listening to one when a Todd Edwards tune came on. We both started talking about how sick his tracks were, and saying it would be sick if Todd made a grime tune. When I got back to London, [Skepta collaborator] JME was indoors and we started writing a beat in the Todd style – basically we cut up this Ne-Yo acapella and wrote a chorus pattern… Later that week JME and Skepta had written a few more, and JME had decided he wanted to do something with them in line with his Boy Better Know mixtape series.”
Written in a couple of weeks, Tropical was an early indicator of the expansiveness of Skepta’s vision, and his affinity for house in specific. What few at the time knew was that, before he was ever an MC, Skepta had a history as a DJ. “It was a Tuff Jams speed garage CD that my dad bought home,” he recalls.” I would say that was the moment I really wanted to DJ. I was definitely influenced by DJ Fonti from Heartless Crew too, the Crisp Biscuit mixes. When I was in school, me and my friend used to put the headphone wires through our blazer sleeves, and listen to Fonti’s mixes in class. We used to love it, man. Then I bought a belt drive vinyl player. And I had this karaoke machine that allowed me to change speed on it, so I used to experiment with those. That’s how I learnt to mix.”
His first love was put on the shelf as he began his rapping career. And perhaps thank god, because Skepta is one the best to ever do it. There’s a menace to his cadence that’s riveting, matched with a fluid, spaciousness that allows every line to land perfectly. But, now at 42 years old, it’s time to revisit some of those formative years. Más Tiempo shows one of the most fearsome rappers of all time allowing in a bit of softness, a bit of joy and a bit of fun.
The debut for the label is a standout: "Más Murder" is an exemplary roller, but has just enough of the darkness of classic BBK to balance it out. A huge, bouncy bassline and a Musical Youth sample give it a bright, tech-y flair, while the churning locomotive sound and vocal chops tease out the brooding undercurrent that animates so much UK music. The label’s first comp ranges from taut, pared-back tracks that land somewhere between classic NY house, garage and South African gqom, dubby feel-good anthems and huge festival tracks. It’s refreshing to hear an artist so deep into their already-definitive career allow so much play, and it’s heartening to see it yield such results. Jammer says it best: “Más Tiempo is an escape from everything. It’s giving us more time to do what we love. The sounds that we’ve learnt about on our journey is what makes this so spectacular. It’s a melting pot that we can grab from. And there’s freedom in house music. There’s no one way.”
Knockdown Center is proud to host Skepta and Más Tiempo on May 23rd, with special guest TSHA.