Based in London, UK this mid-90s rap trio consist of MC Mercury, Alkaline and DJ White-Child Rix. Brought up in Leytonstone and Newham, and raised on a diet of reggae, 2-Tone and the Jam, the school friends came together in early 1990. Although their breakthrough did not come until Patriot Games in 1993, which saw them heralded as one of the UK's few legitimate answers to US hip-hop, they had released a steady stream of quality singles; "Battle Creek Brawl", "Crime Story" and "Clear From Present Danger". "Mind Of A Razor" in late 1993 also featured some metal guitar riffs courtesy of Napalm Death's Shane Embury, while "Killing Season" boasted a sample of Bob Hoskins dialogue in The Long Good Friday. The title of their album is a reference to their own view that UK rap has a lot more to offer than hanging on to the coat-tails of its cousins across the Atlantic. It also chose to tackle domestic issues rather than glamorise the life of the rapper, celebrate the size of his phallus or chuck insults at lady friends. The band continued their associations with alternative guitar bands by remixing material for S.M.A.S.H. in 1994.
DISCOGRAPHY: Patriot Games (1993)****.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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