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Yes Boss: a good old British phrase often used to greet ones fellow crew members, or alternatively, it is the band name of new high-rise urban grimers committed to the new age 21st Century British hip-hop.
Thanks to the wave of home-made British hip-hop acts to emerge from our little island over the past six years, our produce of hip-hop is steadily evolving into something seriously credible, that we will soon be battling ‘8-Mile’ style against our competitors across the Atlantic. We’ve been blessed with The Streets who pioneered the 21st Century alternative grime-meets-hip-hop-meets-indie-meets-punk-meets whatever else is in the kitchen sink. We then took a bit of hit along the way with some shitty bandwagon acts, but things are picking up again and the throttle is firmly to the floor. The silky grime of Sway and Dizzie Rascal, the darkness of Plan B, to the obscurity of Jamie T (if we can be so bold to genre-confine him), and now the wave is evolving once more with the introduction of punk-techno hip-hopsters Yes Boss.
Emerging from the notoriously growing Leeds scene, Yes Boss have already had two sold out singles, and their album is not to be frowned at. ‘Indie Kids’ is the hip-hop tune of the year as lyricist Noah rhymes “No, I haven’t heard your band but you look just like Franz Ferdinand, been there done that got the t-shirt, constant rejection has got to hurt”. A sublime angst anthem for all of us who sick of the indie-add-ons that keep multiplying like bacteria in our otherwise beautiful industry. This is almost tipped by the techno mash-up of ‘Tongues in Knots’ featuring Tom from label mates Forward, Russia. 'Tongues…' flips Yes Boss’s portfolio upside-down and puts their sound into a brand new league which is destined to be swarmed on and followed by many more in the next year – dark, rampant, aggressive but lyrical, smooth and passionate to match – this is a must hear.
‘Look Busy’ covers all of the above whilst still managing to sift through the Detroit house beats in ‘See It Through’ to the up-front grimy base loops in ‘NYD’ through to the ska hits in ‘Dignity On The Reel’, whilst draped over everything is the immensely entertaining and witty lyrics, like “what’s this boy so rude for, thinks he’s a star like Jude Law, thinks his girls Sienna Miller, I’ve seen better legs on a gorilla”. Don’t believe the hype – try Yes Boss.
