

Few ascendant MCs embody the versatility of the UK scene like Ladbroke Grove’s AJ Tracey. Effervescent Afroswing, irresistible garage-influenced bops, lean-splashed tributes to Atlanta trap; he can do it all. And since emerging fully-formed with a series of icily confident mid-2010s mixtapes (not to mention “Thiago Silva”, the Dave hook-up etched into Glastonbury legend) the former Ché Grant has made nimble eclecticism and high-wire artistry his key signatures. But this sonic adaptability—evident all over his self-titled debut album and, perhaps, the product of Grant’s mother being a former pirate radio DJ—could never be confused with blending into the background. “Dinner Guest” (complete with audacious Nightcrawlers sample and MoStack feature) drips assured charisma, while his bars on triumphant Aitch collab “Rain” have the sort of intricate pop cultural latticework (“Me and our kid doing up money/Gyal on curry, neck McFlurry”) that makes endless rewinds non-negotiable.