President T
A deep dive
One of the best videos on YouTube is the BBC 1Xtra live radio set in promotion of Skepta and JME’s “That’s Not Me” Remix from 2014. It feels like it came out a century ago, long before Skepta won the Mercury Prize, became a household name and started dating Adele. It’s an uncommonly star-studded lineup of UK grime legends and I’ve watched it countless times. There are so many great things about this video: the joy, kinship and respect they all have for each other, all the grime standards they rap over, how they’re all dressed in athletic gear like they’re about to do high intensity interval training, everything about D Double E, the fact that a radio station would allow a bunch of rappers to perform live over the air (why don’t we have this in Canada?), the short guy with the white glasses (Subzee) ruining the vibe by lustily swearing over the air after everyone else has been carefully censoring themselves.
But for me, it was President T who stole the show. Understated and unassuming in a heather grey Superdry sweater and blue jeans, President T steps up to the mic at the 4:49 mark. See below the paywall for a playlist and more discussion of Prez T’s idiosyncratic greatness.
