Featured image by @frennypak
Ask a young Londoner if they could go back in time and the innocence of summer 2016 seems too far, even in our dreams…
Before the mass manslaughter of the Grenfell tower residents. Before we saw democracy strangled by the consequences of Brexit. Before plastic five pound notes. Before acid attacks went mainstream.
When Big Ben still bonged. When buses were still free for 16-18 year olds. When Skepta rocked Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage whilst Mo Farah and Nicola Adams rocked the world stage. When UK drill was more Bob the Builder and Freddo bars were lower on their exponential price curve, a UK Rap EP was in the making.
Collistar, a young London MC, was composing warm rhymes for his debut project, Welcome To Britain (2017). A humble chap, raised on the “sugar rush from the 5p sweets and Talking The Hardest played on repeat” – who, at the time of recording, was working part-time in a fish n’ chippy – was somewhere drinking a pint at the end of the bar, lamenting, how the life that we lead just moves too fast.
Amidst the excitement of summer festivals, scorching temperatures and the return of Airmax 95s, Grime music’s one and only gentleman was making something special. Yes, even whilst Radio 1Extra replayed ‘Panda’ for the 225th time, there was music about Britain, social degenerate Britain.
Such tranquility is British Summer Time that poets aplenty have put pen to paper describing it. I needn’t bother comparing thee to a summer’s day because the pleasures of the season have never been so eloquently described as by this couplet:
“I might drive ’round in a Corsa, and pretend I’m drivin’ a Hummer // Windows down, really loud, playing sounds like Original Nuttah.”
Oh that takes me back. Back to the McDonalds drive thru and drinking cans of KA. Footballs bouncing off the metal cages. Raves that didn’t get shut down. Big Narstie as Uncle Pain.
See, on days when the world got hectic, I had an artist I could turn back to. Simpler times to reminisce. Unfortunately, at the end of last year, without warning or a whisper, just as Collistar’s music began to soundtrack bucket-hatted Tik-Tokers, the Welcome To Britain EP was removed from official streaming platforms. So I went to find answers.
A Grime reddit thread begins with the question, “What happened to Collistar?”
The answer, which has been confirmed by multiple friends tapped into London’s underground, is evident through the answers that can be found on Reddit. I am pleased to report the MC is alive and well; some might say ‘born again’.
We can only speculate how a renovated faith in God does not permit Collistar to exist as he once did. It is likely the unsanitary music industry, with it’s 360 deals and physically shattered K-pop stars, was unappealing. However, that does not explain deleting existing records. After all, He, the omniscient, condones profit and allows others, noble Chrtistians, to make millions in the name of Christ. The sinful nature of the music industry could not have forced such sudden renouncement of music already adored and cherished by British youth. Perhaps, Collistar looked back with disgust on the EP – a theory I refuse to believe.
Maybe, the pressure of being the voice of a movement; non-violent yet street-savvy, polite but respected, was a path too unpredictable, a cross too heavy to bear? Until he returns to the public sphere, these questions will remain unanswered.
It is rare to find rap music that doesn’t require me to sell drugs, smoke buds or objectify women to actively enjoy its message. I may be looking in the wrong places but songs that are modest and mellow, still beating at the city’s heart rate of 140bpm are not turning up on my radar. Collistar’s sound was different to that wafting from the basements of Bow in East, where Grime was crafted, it was blossoming in the suburbs of West.
The Welcome to Britain EP was pure truth. The ‘sound’: raw imagery. Relatable and wholesome. You took a route past “Kouzine’s and chippies, the big dreams and 60’s hippies”, the “old school geezers, wheeler dealers, dinner ladies and cleaners, vocal preachers, teachers”.
As Brexit confusion reigned we all needed a long look in the mirror. Collistar the approachable, reliable tour guide was like Jason Statham eating a Mr Whippy saying, “let’s go and ‘ave a walk then shall we?”
Collistar, you managed to make a humble piece of music during the mumble rap-demic thanks to philosophic meditations over jazz-tinted grime and hip hop which was no easy feat. Your release was amongst the rare gems of 2017; the warm hued albums Ctrl, Flower Boy, Gang Signs and Prayers gave us vibes, whilst numerous household names attempted their ‘revivals’ (*cough Eminem cough James Blunt cough Pitbull vom*).
So bright was your wordplay that I smile just thinking about it.“We all want a Happy Monday, not a sad Oasis. But we keep on chasing status”. So poignant was your social commentary that if your comments were heard may have changed the minds of Brexit Britain: “we’re thinking black and white, but I’m bringing the light like crossing the pelican.”
Thousands of writers attempt to depict this nation of old, but few have formulated a figment with the finesse of your take on “a Saturday night in the LDN // Soundsystem’s like 10/10 // UKG Vibes, EDM // 140, White TNs // 1-2-Pints, Pricey spend // 1-2-spices, lively friend // Few geezers in a white BM // a few dealers and a shiny Benz.”
Listening to your lyrics, I find it hard to comprehend how your renewed faith should eradicate the honest, non-violent music that reminded Britain, “we’re much more than Fish and Chips”. If the rumours around your return are true, my message is simple: do not change a thing. By all means grow, develop, reform…but maintain the veracity in your verse.
The uneventful Summer of 2020 has lost its grip on the golden leaves. It fades without a single drop of Strongbow Darkfruit being spilt in the festival fields of Reading. Having missed the best season available to us in the UK it has left me and many others reminscing on one of the best summers the UK ever had. Journey back with Collistars music…if you can find it.
My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed – Pslam 71:23
E G Nielson 