Unless you’ve been living under a rock, then you surely came across various conversations online surrounding the state of the UK underground scene after Liverpool-born rapper EsDeekid's alleged 30 million-deal departure. In my opinion, this feud had been brewing just after the ‘Conglomerate’ album release failed to elevate promising acts Len and Fimiguerrero to global stardom, but it really reached a boiling point when UK pioneer Lancey Foux shared his thoughts on ‘Eagle Eye,’ More or less, he’s a disappointed father; however, the part that went over listeners’ heads is when Lancey raps; “Yeah / I can talk like this 'cause I'm ten years in / lil' boy / I'm official.”
You see, the UK underground scene as we know it can be traced back. Emerging talents such as Jim Legxacy and YT only really started to take rise in 2023, with phenomenal projects dropping left and right from ‘Immigrant,’ ‘homeless nigga pop music,’ ‘#STILLSWAGGING,’ ‘LEGHOLAND,’ and many more. From the inside, it seemed like the scene was healing, British artists could be themselves again and everybody was supporting everybody. From the outside, London became a spectacle of a growing movement the internet wanted to get its hands on. The fashion sense, the slang, the culture–everything was of interest, but when the scene finally had something to look forward to, their acts were already pulling away and eyeing the other side of the fence.
As far as one can remember, and we’re keeping it strictly just music talks, the urban areas of London always had a grand fascination for American culture. To be more exact; Black American culture. You could be a Year 9 student in Peckham back in 2012-2015 and hear your peers arguing about Lil Reese this and Chief Keef that, knowing most of them will never travel to the US or visit the Chiraq they tenderly liked to imitate through clothing and appeal. Sure, the London scene wasn’t perfect, especially if you were a black yute and didn’t want to subscribe to Grime music and later on, UK drill. But that’s where artists like Lancey came into the picture and really started to shake things up a bit in terms of what was deemed as acceptable as black British music.
With bravery comes scrutiny and to this day, there’s still a side of London that doesn’t comprehend and doesn’t see the value in a “washed up” UK version of American music. And for the underground to really have a solid audience in its own ground, it would have demanded some time and care. However, as a starving artist, perhaps that is not the most convenient method. It was not long ago that YT admitted to having been teaching English to Korean students up to early 2024. And so, with the little bit of hype the first wave of UK underground had, they quickly catered to the US market.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the only interviews you have of Jim is on an Canadian platform Kids Take Over. Quickly, other appearances from the birds of the same feathers followed, touching base with Our Generation Music, Montreality, Plaqueboymax, etc… What do they all have in common you may ask? They all catered to a majorly North American audience. It’s not that Lancey was not in touch with the US, still standing as one of the only UK rappers who could frequently tour over there with ease. Even going as far as having links back in the motherland in Nigeria and South Africa. But all of those reaches occurred organically and he still had as much of a foot in the UK, despite the hardship he faced early on.
Looking back at most of these interactions, they look forced. The hosts don’t have a profound understanding of Black British music and can be perceived as just visitors to the scene–only having jumped the guns at the right moment it was trending. But who is at fault here? The journalist who is just doing their job or the act giving them access to a scene they have not even begun to see its true potential? Don’t take it for granted, it took Central Cee years until he could become big overseas. The grass appeared greener on the other side far too quickly and soon enough, they would realize that the curiosity of American youth mistaken for a core audience was short-lived.
The American effect is real and was at full display when Drake brought out Fakemink as a surprise guest at the Wireless festival in 2025. At that point, although the young half-Indian half-Algerian artist had somewhat of a following, he was without a doubt an underdog in the scene compared to the rest. “Who was this little dude with an awkward demeanor on stage that seemingly had grabbed everyone’s attention over the supposed crowd of underground artists everybody was rooting for?” And without a flinch, the eyes shifted; Fakemink had become the golden boy of London. A few cosigns later, and the young lad indeed became London’s saviour.
To understand EsDeekid's rise, you really have to go back to the one song that put Fakemink on the map in the first place, namely ‘LV Sandals.’ It didn’t take long for the internet to realize that Fakemink was only a feature, and most of his songs were not from the touch of producer wraith9 that everyone grew to adore. He was a guest to that raving sound and had a much more mellow and melodic approach. This is evident as when Mink released a song with a similar energy, he then ended up deleting it days later, perhaps in response to an underwhelming output. Whereas when EsDeekid released his song ‘Century’ around the same time, his momentum only spread.
You mix this with internet trends and the urge for everyone to want to be first on a new wave, and you get yourself a winner. A masked boy with a strong accent up North was not put ahead because of his skin colour, he just jumped on the hook at the right time and right place. Will his momentum last? To put it nicely, only time can tell; however, from the looks of the crowd at his concerts singing the same LV sandals lyrics to every song he performs, it will surely take some much needed time for him to establish himself–even abroad.
To be compared to movie star Timothé Chalamet during his Marty Supreme campaign was only the cherry on top of the cake. Now we’re talking massive eyes that even surpasses music and he took as much as advantage from this than from the pull that Fakemink generated through his feature as part of ‘LV Sandals.’ If you ask me as a non-exec of any existing label, I think that did the trick. I wouldn’t be surprised if Fakemink also signed a big check from his lavish travels and luxurious buys flaunted all over the internet.
A great tragedy is most of the time, as a pioneer, you won’t get to taste the fruit of your own labour. Lancey had all the talent in the world to become a global phenomena; however, the constant American comparison, the lack of ground as a solo participant in that bubble at the time, coupled with now label issues, makes it difficult for him to wholeheartedly receive his flowers and being rewarded by a generous music deal abroad. Surely Jim will persevere if he keeps his head down and focuses on growing his core audience since unlike many of his peers, he is exceptionally talented in a way that transcends regions and we only get to witness those types of artists only a few times every other moon. And maybe Fimi may find his way as although he is often placed in the same bracket, he played it smart, focusing on growing his reach first in Europe through clever collaborations with other European artists, minimum media takes and even making an appearance on EsDeeKid’s project, making him a figure that can potentially stick through the new wave of underground UK music.
Speaking of the rest, their time in this game is limited. They didn’t play the long run and now, they have to answer for it. It seems like their tweets are making more noise than their actual songs and it is only a question of time whether the crowd they were so eager to impress will follow them for future releases or have already moved on to the next wave.
