Having incinerated booths on the grime scene since the age of 17, few would have begrudged James Devlin a slight pop makeover on his debut album. So Bud, Sweat & Beers is all the more impressive for its hard-edged authenticity. “Marching Through the Fog” is a spit-flecked show-stopper (“I’ve got bars harder than Arnold’s arm is”), and “Let It Go”—assisted by Labrinth—sees Devlin concoct a mega-anthem on his own uncompromising terms.
- Bugzy Malone
- Kano
- English Frank