26. So Solid Crew - 21 Seconds (2001)

While hip-hop took center-stage in the States, in England things revolved around the garage scene. Garage (no to be confused with garage-rock) evolved in New York in the eighties as an underground disco style, with emphasis on energetic rhythm. In the nineties, the British started playing the style even faster, and created the style known as UK garage, which incorporated elements of Jamaican dancehall, and played with breaking beats in the manner of drum 'n' base. Towards the end of the decade it also started internalizing elements of hip-hop and R'n'B, and sprouted sub-genres. In the naughties it goes in all sorts of directions, and I can't find my hands and legs in all the different styles and combinations. The music is thrilling enough, but some things are missing.

One of the things missing is the theatrical side. There are too few garage artists who present a unique figure, embodying the values of the style and fighting the world through the music (and those who do are practically unknown outside of the UK). True, this has always been the case with dance, which thinks in communal and not individual terms, but in the nineties dance at least bombarded the airwaves with scores of hits, and was part of our daily soundtrack. In this decade, everything happens underground, and does not become part of the fabric of life.

This, I believe, is the biggest UK garage hit of the decade. So Solid Crew is a collective of UK garage artists, who collaborated in many ways and on many projects. Here they all come together, giving each just 21 seconds to do their rap, which forces them to show their virtuosity. I liked the record very much when it came out in 2001, and I wanted to hear more things like it on the radio. It did not happen. But this record will remain with me for a long time.