Two months in to 2009, the UK is maintaining itself at the vanguard of urban music.

Sure, Jeezy might have been rapping about ‘The Recession’ all the way back in September (remember when it didn’t seem that bad?), but musically he and his peers at top of the US hip-hop pyramid are up to very little of interest. This month we’ll see one American album that’s bucking the trend, and break down some of the crucial material emerging out of London.

First off, a slew of high quality funky releases have been flooding out, with the genre already developing a number of distinct moods. On the more minimal side of things there are two producers to cop this month. Roska (aka Mentor Roska) has followed his more pensive sounding whites from last year with a dance-floor hit. ‘In Your Handbag’ combines upfront beats with a bouncy electro riff. It takes a moment to get over the vocal, which although delivered in deadpan spoken voice, is pretty ridiculous. Novelty aside, you realise it does add something and the tune is a straight killer.

Roska’s earlier tracks like ‘Feelings’ or ‘Pyramids’ work great on the warm-up. When it becomes time to bring a dance to the boil, then look to Hard House Banton. Not only has he one of the best names on the scene, his ‘Sirens’ EP, just out on Spoilt Rotten, is pure fire. Each of the three tracks combines sparse melodies, busy percussion and driving basslines. There are few distractions, and they nicely showcase his distinctive take on the music.

There are similarly high quality offerings from the more soulful funky camp. Crazy Cousinz are cementing their position as one of the biggest acts around. While they seem to be releasing an awful lot and don’t always put the most imagination into their programming or arrangements, when they hit, they hit. Their recent remix of ‘Go’ by Meleka (Propaganda Records) works some real magic on a fairly standard r&b track. Chopped and sped-up samples sit beautifully over a really round bassline and provide a much more suitable background for the vocal.

A lot of people are holding their breath for even a low bit-rate copy of ‘Make it Funky 4 Me’ by Attaca Peasante. A lot of us are going to turn blue. Apparently copies are being held very tightly to chests as there is a lot of major label interest in it. It’s not really surprising, the soft pianos and seductive vocal smack of summer. This is the kind of tune that is liable to get a lot of radio play once the season sets in.

According to MistaJam, K.I.G. have signed their track ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’. If you missed this one or the dance that goes with it, you’ve probably not been spending too much time on the internet. Some people might say that’s a good thing. This catchy piece of MC-funky is scheduled to come out in March. The video has been highlighting to the global audience that a lot of the tunes come with their own dances. Expect to see many more releases focusing on this theme. It will be interesting to see whether or not they will have wider sustainable appeal outside of the dance.

Purists will no doubt have issues with the fairly rudimentary MCing, although it does work well enough in particular contexts. Take for example, ‘Tribal Skank’ by Funkin Magz which is solid. The vocal calls move on top of skitty percussion and a melody built on staple presets. It’s an effective genre piece and unlikely to cause offence. On the other hand, there’s ‘Wiggle It’, where Mr Kaos performs his vocal on top of Apple’s 2008 killer instrumental ‘Segalizer’, ultimately mangling it. These producers and vocalists are going to need to watch their backs, however, as many on the grime scene are preparing to cross-over with their own releases, and there is no shortage of talent and energy there.

Grime has never shied away from soaking up a wide range outside influences, and of late has been flirting with electro to the point where you wish they’d just get a room. Boy Better Know are still to release ‘Too Many Man’, which has nonetheless already received too many radio plays. In fairness, it’s a lovely piece of electro-grime still and the lyrics ring true to every one of us who have spent too much time in sausage-fest basement clubs.

Chipmunk’s ‘Chip Diddy Chip’ gets released March 2 on Alwayz. Unlike his breakthrough material, he comes off as much more of 16-year-old on this one. The beat is catchy but the warm bassline and snappy ‘hey’ sample are overpowered by rock guitar riffs. A hip-hop tempo doesn’t really give him the chance to show off his flow and the title should give you a clue as to the quality of the chorus lyrics. He does pull off some decent verses and it’s a likely cross-over success, but the tune seems to lack his previous snarl.

Rumour has it that Dizzee’s new album is more or less done, and is back-to-basics grime for those who thought ‘Dance With Me’ was a step too far. Durrty Goodz, another grime old-timer has just released his pre-album ‘Ultrasound’. Although the 16 tracks feature production credits to some of the top names in the scene, a release of this size is probably a bit ambitious for any one grime-man alone. Some of the tunes definitely hit with ‘Axiom’ efficacy, but others seem a little disjoined. It also takes itself a bit seriously; a few guest vocalists would probably have lifted the tone a bit. Doogz seems to have a point to prove at the moment and brought out the release while partaking in a very public lyrical spat with Wiley. A clash of the titans like this should have amounted to something pretty amazing to behold. Instead, it was just two elders of the scene debating its direction with nicely crafted, but rarely earth-shattering diss bars. Arguing over the merits and demerits of electro-grime is fairly redundant. The scene has certainly become big enough for the both of them.

Flying the flag for the Americas this month is N.A.S.A. Squeak E from California (whose brother happens to be Spike Jonze) and DJ Zegon from Brazil have assembled the most diverse and star-studded line-up to ever appear on a hip-hop album: Kanye, RZA, Kool Keith, Chuck D, Santogold, Lovefoxxx, Likkle Li, Sizzla, David Byrne from Talking Heads and Tom Waits (!), to name but a few.

Alone, the sheer weight and range of creative talents are enough to ensure a really interesting blend of sounds and styles. The album manages to travel rather than meander, demonstrating that there are some fairly competent hands on the buttons. The quality of production holds up throughout, but only grabs on three or four of the tracks. Falling into the Handsome Boy Modelling School trap, it’s an album rather than a collection of singles, and whilst this will get it on a lot of coffee tables, it means less for the turntables. On the plus side, Eminem doesn’t feature on it at all. His latest track ‘Crack a Bottle’ makes me want to do just that, over my own head. It’s bad. Worse yet, it’s catchy. Marshall warbles his way through some fairly heinous rhymes: bottle – wobble – model – lotto. ’Nuff said. Bring on the Dizzee album.

By Johnny Ilan