Complex UK has announced their top 10 UK rappers of 2021.
The UK branch of the American pop culture publication drafted in the likes of Mimi the music blogger, Fumez the Engineer, DJ Sian Anderson, No Signal Radio’s Scully and Complex UK editor in chief JP Patterson. The conversation was hosted by online media personality Nada (Saynada) and was formed around the following criteria; Buzz, Impact and influence, Mainstream Radar, Body of work, rapping ability and other achievements.
The 10 rappers being ranked by this esteemed panel were Little Simz, Ghetts, Dave, Potter Payper, K-trap, D-block Europe, Tion Wayne, Digga D, M1llionz and Central Cee.
After a year that saw the UK rap scene go to an international stage with the help of social media and tracks such as the chart-topping hit “Body” by Tion Wayne and Russ, this decision and conversation was always going to be a hard one, and this was seen to be true with the panellist clashing over opinions and ranks. The top 10 was decided by the panellist’s own top 10 list with the most popular picks featuring in the list.
The list started with a disagreement that ultimately saw Backroad Gee, who was in the original top 10 list after having a year that saw him release a project as well as featuring alongside rap royalty Jay-Z on a track, replaced by D-block Europe.
The list ultimately ended with a ranking that saw D-block Europe finish tenth after a year that saw them release their project Home Alone 2 as well as going on a national arena tour, M1lllionz in ninth who released countless hits alongside his debut projet Provisional License, K-trap at eight after making a comeback and cementing himself as one of the best in the UK dril scene, Potter Payper at seventh ater releasing his project thanks for waiting and ultimately continuing his journey to rap stardom only a year after his release from prison, Little Sim at sixth the only female on the list who scored a top three album as well as four brit nominations in 2021, Ghetts at number five after his project Conflict of Interest debuted at number two on the charts as well as this the grime veteran took home he male of the year award at the 2021 Mobo awards, Tion Wayne came in at fourth after releasing his debut album and sitting at the number one spot on the charts for three weeks with the first drill song to go number one “Body”, Central Cee finished third in a year that saw him go from a somewhat unknown artist to a global rap star with hits such as “Obssesed with you”, fellow West Londoner Digga D finished at second as he continued to show the country his immense talent and the best british rapper according to complex Uk went to Dave who dropped his chart topping sophomore album We’re All Alone in This Together, a project that sold 72,000 copies first week and cemented the rapper as one of the best this country has to offer.
The debate and decision making is available to watch here:
