2017 has been a great year for Manchester’s urban music scene. Until now, out of towners knew only of Bugzy Malone, Shotty Horroh, Geko & Bipolar Sunshine, with ravers and festival goers becoming more and more familiar with the Manchester group Levelz.  However, Manchester can now boast of artists such as IAMDDB, who rose to fame in the second half of the year with the success of ‘Leaned Out’ and has since released 3 videos amassing over 3.4M views. Just Banco burst onto the scene with the ‘Trapanese’ style visuals and ultra catchy hooks of ‘Can’t Stay’ and ‘Soo Yung’, gaining him cosigns from the likes of Stormzy. Other up and comers include Tobi Sunmola, Two4Kay, and Sleazy F Baby who are heavily supported by the likes of DJ Semtex, Huw Stephens, DJ Target and Julie Adenuga.

Just a train stop (5 – 7mins) away from Manchester Piccadilly we have Stockport.  A town popularly known for Strawberry Studios, The Blossoms, Pie Radio, teenagers throwing tantrums at McDonald’s on Friday nights, the so called “Illuminati Pyramid” and a night life that’s none existent.

With that being said, Stockport has a group of Grime MCs [Strika, Eze, Jay Dot, Younganz Fusion] who have been grafting for years and have built a supportive fan base for themselves locally, around Greater Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.  

Of all the MCs in Stockport, they’ve been consistent with their music, content, and visuals. Collectively they have over 2 million views on YouTube; Strika alone has over 400K views on his YouTube channel while Jay Dot and Eze’s countless freestyles and clashes total over 300K views. Younganz, who himself is arguably on the cusp of blowing up, has appeared on lineups along side many well known artists including Chip and Charlie Sloth.  He has also gone viral with a comical appearance on ITV’s Judge Rinder as well as successfully releasing several projects independently.  Other artists with similar achievements from other cities would have gone to do “bigger” things but this isn’t happening for them yet.

Where is the disconnect? What should they be doing that they aren’t already? Does coming from Stockport mean you’re less of an MC?  Is Stockport even in Manchester?  Check out their videos below and send us your comments.

Strika – Breathe

Eze – They Know Me

Jay Dot: Life

Younganz Fusion – The Motive

STRIKA & JAYDOT & VEZ & EZE – ENERGY