YGG are keeping the spirit of old school grime alive, one bar at a time.

Social media has changed the way we interact with our favourite artists. More than just musicians, they’re now personalities, people we can interact with on the daily. Now more than ever we’re aware that musicians are pretty normal people, they just have a weird job. Every week we get to know one of our favourite SoundCloud heroes, internet dating style, in our new column, Internet Crush.

 

The members of YGG might be young but make no mistake, PK, Lyrically Strally and Saint P are from grime’s old school. Specialising in high-energy performance and lightning fast delivery the trio has got more bars than the Aya Napa strip and sonically are closer to the sound of D Double E or Wiley than they are to the new generation of MCs. However, like their pals Uncle Mez and Faze Miyake, the three of them use the template of early grime to push the genre forward, conjuring new melodies and flows out of thin air with air-horn inducing results.

 

Last week they dropped their debut EP, the aptly named World Domination, a nine-track burst of frantic instrumentals and relentless bars that veers between greasy putdowns and tongue in cheek one-liners. It’s the introduction to the group’s unrelenting take on grime. Based on their talents in the booth and the sense humour of display in the excellent video for lead single ‘LYCA’ (check that below), we figured that PK, Strally and Saint would be the perfect contenders for this week’s Internet Crush.

How did YGG come to be?
We started in a youth centre when we were about 16 with a dream of one day becoming legendary in the grime community.

 

Which one of you is the most romantic?
(Laughs) We all are, to be honest, so just keep your girl away from us.

 

Where’s the best place in North London to take a date?
PK: I would say this place in the ends called Sprinkles. It’s an ice cream shop, definitely a place for the ladies to unwind (laughs).

Lyrical Strally: I don’t know about North, but in West London, any Las Iguanas is a good place to eat.

Saint P: I’d just take your girl on a walk along the Camden canal.

 

Which one of you is the best MC?
We all bring something different to the table so we can’t decide ourselves. We just let the supporters make that choice.

 

Do you write your bars together or do you just meet up and start freestyling?
We do a bit of both, to be honest. In the studio, we write together, but we also write at home as well.

Ashley Verse

There’s so much energy in all of your flows – where does that come from?
PK: It stems from us wanting to be the best in the scene and showing people what we can do. We have to work twice as hard as anyone else in the scene, so it fuels us to do well.

Lyrical Strally: It all comes from experience, we’ve spat bars on every radio station so many times to the point that we’ve all perfected our own styles. Everyone has their own way of spitting and that’s why the flows are so different / out of this world.

Saint P: Wanting to be the best, really wanting to improve our situations and lives. We really enjoy what we do together.

 

Who do you roll with?
There’s only a selected few people we role with. Our DJ firstly, Travis T  — he plays a very important role in making us sound great live when we do shows. We also roll with Grandmixxer, Mez, Spits and General Courts. That’s it really, to be honest.

 

Describe your sound in just a sentence:
Our sound is like no other; we are all versatile and unique in our own way; YGG bring you raw grime from the heart that can’t be replicated.

 

Favourite colour:
PK: Blue and sometimes grey.

Lyrical Strally: My favourite colour is red (Glory Glory Man Utd).

Saint P: Gold and blue.

 

Favourite movie:
PK: Four Brothers.

Lyrical Strally: My favourite film has gotta be Talladega Nights: Legend Of Ricky And Bobby or Menace 2 Society.

Saint P: The Water Boy.

 

Last book you read:
PK: The Bible.

Lyrical Strally: Slumdog Millionaire.

Saint P: As A Man Thinketh

 

First single/album you ever bought?
PK: BigBrovaz – ‘Nu Flow’.

Lyrical Strally: The First projects I didn’t download from lime wire were Frisco – Back 2 Da Lab 2 and 3.

Saint P: I paid for Lord of the Mics 4, the DVD.

First band/act you ever went to see live?
PK: I’m not too sure, but I would probably say it was a Bigga Fish event at the Roundhouse in Camden. Skepta, Chip and a few other people played.

Lyrical Strally: The mad thing is when I was like in year 5/6, I saw Stylo G, Ice Kid and Sickman perform ‘My Youth’ at Ealing Town Hall. It was the biggest tune on Channel U for tiiiime and I was so gassed. Me and my cousin talked to them afterwards and they were about the same age as I am now. It’s probably what got me into spitting.

Saint P: It was a play called ‘The Harder They Come’ in Hammersmith I think.

 

What do you all do in your spare time?
If it’s not studio, it’s radio, and if it’s not radio it’s writing bars and if it’s not writing bars it’s FIFA.

 

Are you morning or evening people?
PK: I’m more of a night person generally, but because we know there’s a lot of things we have to do in the day, I can gladly say I’m a bit of both now.

Lyrical Strally: I’m definitely a a night time person. I’m always out until late and sleeping late, doing the maddest travels.

Saint P: I’m trying to be a morning person but the vampire lives still.

First song you ever wrote as YGG?
We can’t even remember! It stems back from the youth centre days, but I would say our first tune that helped us enter the scene was ‘OKAY’.

 

Favourite song of your own?
PK: for me it’s ‘BAD’ and a few others you haven’t heard yet.

Lyrical Strally: My favourite song of my own would be ‘I Finesse’, produced by Sir Hiss. The beat is mad, and the bars and flow match it!

Saint P: Would be my first song called ‘On To’ — it’s a deeper one trust me.

 

Favourite lyric?
PK: “I’ve been ripping the scene since I was 16 and I’m STILL ME” – D Double E

Lyrical Strally: My favourite bar would have to be from ‘Caking’, my own track —“We’re not illegals YGG soon get our papers!”

Saint P: It changes often but right now it’s my own ‘I see’ 8 bar.