Formerly a member of Brit-pop rappers Collapsed Lung, who scored an unlikely hit with "Eat My Goal" -- popularized during the European Football Championships in 1996 (and eventually a hit in its own right in 1998) -- Jim Burke started performing as Mr. B the Gentleman Rhymer in 2007. His moniker is the leading figure of the "chap-hop" phenomenon -- a hip-hop parody where the urban music form is given a Wodehousian English upper-class gent treatment. The "chap-hop" look is tweed, fine-tailoring, and pipe-smoking, and the rhymes, which focus on cricket, tea, and high society, are delivered in "the Queen's English" with banjolele accompaniment. On a solo mission to teach the hip-hop world some much-needed manners, the tweed-clad first gentleman of hip-hop debuted with Flattery Not Included (2008). By this point, Mr. B was becoming a (very dapper) fixture on the fringe and festival circuit, always ably assisted by his man-servant Carshalton. Naturally championed by dandy style and lifestyle bible The Chap (of which Mr. B is the music editor) further albums appeared -- I Say (2010), The Tweed Album (2012), and Can’t Stop, Shan’t Stop (2013) -- all continuing the polite take on hip-hop (of which Burke is a genuine fan). It goes without saying that the Mr.B the Gentleman Rhymer merchandise range includes cufflinks, mustache wax, pocket squares, and club ties. ~ Matthew Garbutt