7 May 2009
Tinchy Stryder’s ‘Number 1’ isn’t the first Irish number one single with ‘number 1’ in the title: that’d be Zig and Zag’s 1990 Christmas number one ‘Christmas No. 1’. More acts should try this sort of nominative determinism. Granted, fall short of topping the charts (‘Number One’ by X Factor finalist Tabby only reached number seven here) and you look an eejit, but make it to number one and it’s finger guns all round, baby! The sheeple have spoken!
‘Number One’ is still, however, an Irish chart-topping first. Until this point, the Irish number one spot had been a cold house to UK rap and R&B. Mark Morrison’s fantastic ‘Return Of The Mack’, for instance, was kept off the Irish number one spot in 1996 by Richie Kavanagh’s ‘Aon Focal Eile’; So Solid Crew’s excellent 2001 UK number one ’21 Seconds’ didn’t even crack the Irish top twenty. After Tinchy Stryder, though, UK rap, R&B and grime will be a frequent sight at the top of the Irish pops. This isn’t purely because Richie Kavanagh hasn’t been hogging the Irish number one spot. The ’00s are arguably when UK rap and hip hop acts find their own voice using local cultural ingredients like dub and garage rather than following US trends. The video for ‘Return Of The Mack’ opens with a shot of Concorde landing in London, symbolising Morrison bringing the US R&B sound with him to his home audience. By contrast, the video for ‘Clash’ by Dave and Stormzy, a 2021 Irish top ten hit, features them with a fleet of Aston Martins at Silverstone: UK rap now has UK cultural signifiers, not to mention UK bling.
Yes, ‘Number One’ still uses the trappings of then-modish ’00s US electro-R&B, it isn’t a particularly memorable track, and I’m not sure all parts of N-Dubz (including future X Factor judge Tulisa, whose mother is from Churchtown in Dublin and whose two uncles in Irish folk group Emmet Spiceland had their own Irish number one single in 1968 with ‘Mary From Dungloe’) earn their billing here. Still, Tinchy Stryder’s London-accented rhymes are a new departure for the Irish number one spot: rap and hip-hop no longer have to sound American to be credible and successful. I can’t overstate what a tectonic shift in mindset that has been. It’s good news for us too. Irish rap and hip hop have been thriving, be it vibrant regional scenes such as in Limerick and Ireland’s drill capital of Athlone, critical acclaim with Choice Music Prize wins for Rusangano Family and Denise Chaila, and the hard currency of Irish number one singles with Jazzy. Their innovation will hopefully infuse the traditionally rockist Irish scene, because Irish music should be as dynamic and diverse as our Irish community. What that means the next ‘Aon Focal Eile’ will sound like or what constitutes Irish rap bling (leaving the immersion on?) is anyone’s guess.
