Up until the past 18 months, Bad Boy Chiller Crew’s music seemed a secondary consideration. The most interesting thing about the Bradford rap trio was their chaotic, hilarious videos, capturing a head-on collision between Jackass and People Just Do Nothing, their entire existence a loving if hopelessly deracinated tribute to hip-hop culture. A typical BBCC song would tether a speeded-up vocal to a rudimentary bassline house beat and subject it to torture by mediocre rapping. At best it sounded like your little brother’s grubby mates squawking about drugs, clothes, cars and girls over a 20-year-old UK garage CD. At worst, pretty much the same.
Perhaps the pandemic focused their minds on quality control, or there’s something comforting about BBCC’s relentlessly optimistic nihilism while the world burns around, but all last year’s singles plus a dozen new drops here add up to an excellent, if exhausting, mixtape. Sensibly, songs confine themselves to three minutes or less, and there’s a wild joy to their commitment to entertainment. Don’t You Worry About Me, BMW, Baby Boy and One Time are particularly irresistible, but if you love any one of these tracks you’ll eventually like them all.
