Another edition to the “Who Is.?” series, this time around we shine the spotlight on 18 year old Isaiah Dreads.
When we talk about grime cities and surrounding areas such as London, Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield all feature heavily on the grime map. One part of the UK we mainly associate with seaside, fairs, caravans and well anything other than grime is Dorset, thanks to Isaiah Dreads that’s all changed.
Without a doubt one of music’s top 5 ones to watch in Grime, for me he is my number one MC to watch in grime. With two hugely popular mix tapes already under his belt “Nothin But A Mix Tape” and the more recent “Lights Turn Green”. Isaiah Dreads has already built a huge and ever growing following. With radio support from the likes of Annie Mac, Zane Lowe, Charlie Sloth and yours truly he is getting the right support straight across the board. He has torn down stages at festivals across the UK including the world famous Glastonbury and Bestival, not bad for someone who is only 18.
He came firmly on to my radar with his single “Lights Turn Green” and he has stayed there ever since, not an easy position to maintain with the amount of new music that is spilling out of my inbox every single day. Pretty much everyone and anyone who I chat to about new music and grime, I always say check out Isaiah Dreads, this guy is the future. He has music played on pretty much every single one of my shows on Itch FM, because he is not just talented he has a style that is broad, deep and he is wise beyond his years. If you listen to “Work” that’s a typical example of his high energy, dance floor stomping grime style. Then you can listen to “Thankful” which sees him rapping over a laid back hiphop production with conscious, heartfelt lyrics that Common would be proud of. This is one of many reasons why I love this guys music, he is mindful and he doesn’t follow the typical trends in grime, although he did step up and drop one of the best “One Take Freestyles” of that trend. coming from outside of London has really given Isaiah Dreads a great perspective on music and you can tell he makes music he wants to not because he thinks its going to fit in well as the soundtrack to your local trapstars day to day. That said bar for bar, lyric for lyric, track for track, he is not someone you would want to send for. He doesn’t need to hide behind 30/40 hangers on or shoot videos in moody locations. He has the ability to pretty much body any MC in the country and he could do it all from his sitting room over a cup of tea. Although I doubt he would as he is arguably one of the most mellow, laid back and honest MCs I have come across in a long time. We catch up here and there via twitter and he is always very humble and genuine, not easy going for someone who is still gaining huge fame and kudos from one of the most talked about “Fire In The Booths” of recent times.
Even if you just have a passing interest in grime and hiphop, take 5 minutes out and check him out one of the best things to happen to grime in a long, long time. Don’t take my word for it Nicki Minaj has posted about Isaiah Dreads another great sign off, so what are you waiting for add him to your playlist you wont be disappointed.
Who is Isaiah Dreads.?
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