THE MANCHESTER SOUND - SLAY
From being at the forefront of the Manchester Grime glory days to establishing himself as one of the most in-demand D&B MCs in the game, Slay has been intrinsic to The Manchester Sound.
His recent Hospital Records release Ultrasounds Vol.2: SLAY showcases his talent on the microphone when it comes to skating over D&B hi-hats or finding pockets between the bassline and heavy kicks. Last to feature on the release is Badman MC with Manchester Producer Chimpo, which essentially shows SLAY outline his journey through music better than I could.
“Started out as a Grime MC, MCs tryna clash me all the time MC,
And then I jumped on Drum and Bass at first I didn’t really get it
But I stuck at it and now I’m a more refined MC,
I’m a fine MC, fuck it sublime MC,
I spit the right bar at the right time MC
And I’m on vinyl, on radio, online MC
A one-of-a-kind MC, a blow-your-mind MC”
Mayhem and Manchester Grime
Hailing from the era of tape packs, youth club sets and local MC crews, Slay’s emergence into the grime genre wasn’t unusual, but his clarity, intelligent wordplay and signature sound soon set him above many. A member of Manchester’s leading and legendary collective Mayhem Crew, with Shifty, Remdog and others, Slay (or Slayer as he was better known back then) quickly became heard across the UK. After entering a competition, Mayhem Crew members Slay, Shifty, and his younger cousin Blizzard (who also produced the beat) released ‘We’re Big Like EA’ on Channel U and represented Manchester in a big way.
The level of Mayhem’s success is hard to explain today, especially as popularity now has metrics and can be observed through likes and plays. However, what Slay and Shifty’s team achieved left an imprint on young grime fans across the country when they were barely out of school uniform themselves. I went to a high school in Cheshire just outside Trafford and later moved there from Stretford. To my amazement, some local lads in the year above me were one night waiting for the Mayhem Crew to arrive to sell some Manc is Grime T-shirts and take part in a sort of fan meet and greet. These guys were around the same age as the Manchester MCs and lived just 30 to 40 minutes up the road, but the impact Mayhem’s music had meant the lads would have been less excited if G-Unit turned up in the car park for a photo.
I was already a big fan of Slay by this point, and for all the same reasons I am today. His “Who’s this Boy?” bars from Listen N Learn promo (not mixtape) get me as gassed now as they did when I was a young teenager. That excitement recently cost me a £50 reload when he dropped them on HitnRunTV in lockdown. Although the Listen N Learn project is raw by standards today, it captured the creativity and D.I.Y essence of Manchester music, and whether he was spitting verses about bicycle parts, shelling down a rave or story-telling, Slay cemented his place as a one-of-a-kind MC early.
From Grime to D&B
Slay’s journey into D&B, faster tempos and rave hosting can be accredited organically to collaborations with Manchester DJ and Producer Chimpo’s Box N Lock Label, and family ties with the D&B collective and radio platform Bloc2Bloc.
His presence on the D&B scene soon caught DJ’s and label’s attention. When visiting Outlook Festival in 2019, Slay performed seven sets, despite not being booked! Slay’s performance at the Critical Takeover stage resulted in a relationship with the label and the release of ‘Let it Slide’ with Kasra.
Taking his cool and confident approach to Grime and applying it to D&B may have felt like a natural progression for Slay after immersing himself in the scene and its people. The two genres share a musical history in Jungle and toasting, and as Slay explained in an interview with UKF, D&B offers MCs a chance to be booked for raves and perform to a crowd. From hosting huge raves to writing openly on the love of his son, Slay seems willing to explore everything the genre has to offer and has made some major contributions to UK D&B in just a few short years.
An essential part of the Manchester Sound, Slay really is a ‘Badman MC’, above anything else and regardless of bpm or style. A committed and independent artist who continues to create music based on vibes rather than its capability to go viral. His Ultrasounds Vol.2: SLAY release has received major praise on the EP with the introspective track ‘Vibing on my Own’ by Manchester-based producer Sl8r setting the pace. ‘Dis One’ with both Sl8r and Chimpo has been doing the rounds too making a big impression over the festival season.
Slay’s newest release ‘Flight Mode’ with D&B heavyweight Whiney, Dancehall vocalist Doktor, and Sheffield MC Coco is also out now on Hospital Records, confirming the Old Trafford MC as not only an integral part of the Manchester Sound but the current UK tapestry.