Add to playlist: the gloriously boisterous grime-metal of Native James and the week’s best new tracks

Filtering alt influences and eskibeats through a distinctly Black British point of view, the Ipswich rapper’s scorched-earth rage sounds like a lot of funFrom Ipswich, UK Recommended if you like Linkin Park, Kano, Bob Vylan Up next New single Dumb Bruddah released via SharpTone Records on 30 October“Laaa!” growls Native James on his 2025 track Fallen, stretching a wicked fried scream over more traditionally poppy “la-la-la” chants like a hair-raising metal frontman. Because, well, that’s what he is. But James is also a pretty deft rapper, the kind of artist who grew up listening to Evanescence during school lunchtimes then went home and studied first-wave grime on Channel U. The preceding verse on Fallen rattles through quick-witted bars over bouncy nu-metal riffs, blending Jamaican Patois with The Lion King references for a scorched-earth unmasking of his “demon within”. He’s raging in every sense of the word – and it sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. Continue reading...