- Grime's resurgence has been much discussed, but for many young artists that's only part of the story. In the UK and beyond, producers are drawing on a globally sourced toolbox of signifiers for their club-ready hybrids: grime's gun-cocks and bass pulses alongside the rolling syncopations of Baltimore and Jersey club, the Ballroom scene's ubiquitous "Ha" sample, and so on. The borders of this latter scene are perhaps a little more permeable than most. Still, nobody has yet attempted a collaboration quite like this.
Bad Bitch is Gage's return to Crazylegs following his debut single from earlier this year. "Telo" marked the British producer as one of the more aggressive and rhythmically adventurous of the UK's current crop. But particularly on "Shiftin," his pursuit of new rhythms gave his grooves a certain disjointedness. The same problem might be said to apply to his latest, which constantly stepladders in intensity, from pummelling downbeat thud to grime's whipcrack propulsion. Might, that is, if it weren't for the involvement of Philadelphia's Kevin Jz Prodigy. A revered Ballroom commentator and producer, Prodigy effortlessly rises to Gage's challenge, delivering a raw-throated barrage of ballroom witticisms and syllabic machinegun fire. The two egg one another on, their ever-escalating rhythmic gymnastics enough to pin you to the nearest wall for the duration. Prodigy's concluding "OH!" is a chest-thumping sign-off, but it could equally be an exclamation of surprise at the dynamite this unlikely pairing has produced.