In the final gasps of 2021, Bawo and BXKS dropped a new collaborative track titled ‘Leave Britney Alone’. The linkup is one that makes sense, as they share similar flows and the same measured, laid-back yet punchy vocal delivery. Moreover, their respective championing of the chill grime sound puts them in the same category musicwise, standing out in a scene which is becoming increasingly more aggressive.
‘Leave Britney Alone’ strips back the instrumentation as much as possible while still keeping it grimey, with the shuffling hi-hats and sombre piano riff underpinning Bawo’s cool-as-you-like flow. The chorus, sounding as if it was quitely air-lifted from Blanco’s ‘Shippuden’, is equally catchy without feeling too forced, making the surrounding beat feel less empty. This style is hard to master, as every sound that sits atop a stripped back beat stands out even more so, so the flow has to fit within the gaps left behind the beat with fluency. Bawo handles this well, as he has done so many times before, by never imposing himself too aggressively over the beat, letting his vocals weave in and out with gentle freedom.
The track also finishes a busy year for featured artist BXKS, who had dropped Full Time Daydreamer earlier in the year. While self-professed to be alternative Grime, the EP sounds much more in line with the chill hip-hop/trap that has spend the last half a decade gaining popularity in America, only this time it comes with hard-hitting UK bars impossible to find across the pond. With wobbling synths, vaporwave-esque vocal samples, and drums rolls that sound lifted from Astroworld, her sound is reminiscent of the pioneering trap artists who chilled out trap and spread it to a wider audience in the latter half of the last decade, with the only affiliation to grime being her striking vocal delivery. The track ‘Jack’ from her aforementioned EP gives war flashbacks to the golden age of Grime, worthy of belonging on a Risky Roadz freestyle.
By combining BXKS old-school MC manner of rapping and Bawo’s chilled out style, the single offers the most subtle mixture of each respective artists strengths; while lowkey and minimal, its heaviness is unmissable. It would struggle to find its way onto a dancehall for its minimalism would come off too boring in the dance, as well as being too intense for a smoke session, but makes for otherwise interesting listening. These young talents are still finding their voices and the sound, and they have certainly established themselves as ones to watch in the UK scene.
Listen to ‘Leave Britney Alone’ below:
