The British rap songs that speak to black pain, from Kano to Giggs

In the wake of yet another police killing of an unarmed black man, music critic and Trench magazine editor Joseph JP Patterson goes through the songs that speak to him during dark times

Clockwise from top left: Kano, Giggs, Dizzee Rascal, protesters at a Black Lives Matter march in London (Rex/Getty)

One thing that always keeps me sane in these serious times is music. UK rap and grime are two genres I work closely with as a cultural critic, writer, and editor, so I know that if you look past all the flossing in Fendi, there’s a whole treasure trove of uplifting gems that can get you through hard times. These songs have the power to capture our grief, our anger, our hope and our pain, telling our stories as we live them out each day.

Current life for black people, in most parts of the world, is a waking nightmare, and we're fearful that what happened to George Floyd – an unarmed black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes – could happen again at the drop of a dime.

In March, Breonna Taylor was killed in her own home in Kentucky by cops searching for two people who were already in police custody. A month earlier, 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was shot dead in broad daylight while jogging through his neighbourhood.

Yes, these particular injustices happened in the US but, as many have pointed out, the UK is far from innocent when it comes to police brutalising black people and racist hate crimes. The threads on Twitter listing the black men and women that have died at the hands of the police are endless, and by now we all know the names; how Mark Duggan was shot dead in north London; how Sarah Reed, who had mental health issues and was the victim of a notorious police brutality case, was found dead in custody; how Rashan Charles died when he could have been saved. All young people with a life ahead of them, regardless if jail time was ever written in their story.

Only black people know how it feels to see someone who could easily have been their dad, brother, uncle, mother, aunt or sister murdered while the world looks on.

The rage that inspires doesn’t go away, neither does the distrust. Whenever I see a police car or officer, my blood gets hot, and I consider myself a relatively stand-up citizen. The faith I was supposed to have in the people meant to serve and protect is at 0 per cent, and unfortunately unlikely to change. To be black in the UK is to walk around with a target painted on your back.

In these dark times, certain tracks are a psalm for my pain and for the pain of generations of black people around the world. Here are my top five.

Bashy – “Black Boys”

Bashy’s “Black Boys” should have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame by now. The 2007 track appeared on his Chupa Chups mixtape that same year; its dreamy, keys-led production from Naughty Boy gave Bashy (musician and actor Ashley Thomas) the floor to relay a message of black hope to a generation of young black boys who would one day need it the most. Even I – a 32-year-old man with plenty of life experience – find myself giving the track a few spins when I need to encourage myself, and when it feels like the world is against people that look like me.

Swiss feat Sharifa – “Cry”

“Cry”, the hood-pain classic from UK rap legend Swiss and vocalist Sharifa, has a spiritual power. From the twinkly yet punchy production to Swiss’s rhymes (“Look what happened to the Motherland, they don’t wanna treat blacks the same as another man/ And just cos our skin’s a different colour, I don’t change colour but they call me a coloured man”) and Sharifa’s soul-heavy vocal, this one always hits home in times of despair.

Giggs & Dubz – “Pain is the Essence”

Lifted from his 2007 collaboration mixtape with Dubz (Ard Bodied), Giggs’s “Pain is the Essence” is the UK’s answer to Nas’s “Just a Moment” or Jadakiss’s “Why”. These are songs about life’s hardships and the system that was built to keep black people down. Sometimes, you need to sit and deal with the pain, and this is precisely where this track comes in.

Kano – “Layer Cake”

It’s no secret that Kano is one of this country’s greatest rhymesmiths (and one of our greatest actors too, but the Baftas didn’t get that memo). His latest album, Hoodies All Summer, foresaw a lot of the strife black people worldwide are now facing, and I urge everyone to revisit it. But one of my favourite Kano cuts of all time has to be “Layer Cake”, which appeared on the Kano: Mixtape project in 2007. “The layer cake’s like being stuck in the system,” he spits over Mikey J’s glitchy-rap production. While the subject matter is focused more on music industry woes than wider social issues, the introspective vibe of the track is one you can draw a lot from.

Dizzee Rascal – “Brand New Day”

Being the grime kid that I am and will always be, I had to slip in this old gem from Dizzee Rascal. On “Brand New Day”, easily the best track on his debut album Boy In Da Corner, we see Raskit dealing with his many trials and tribulations. But then he looks beyond that, hopeful for a better day. Lacing his self-produced sinogrime instrumental, Dizzee’s uplifting bars allow you to do the same – even in the murkiest of times. To every black person reading this: hold your head up. Better days are coming.