Gunshot – ‘Colour Code’ (Melanin Vocal Mix)
‘Colour Code’ from Leyton, East London’s multiracial Britcore unit Gunshot, shares much in common with Linton Kwesi Johnson’s ‘Fite Dem Back’ beyond the similar Nazi baiting subject matter. By 1994 the BNP had replaced the NF as the predominant racist threat on Britain’s streets. Yet much in the same way that LKJ’s UK reggae contemporaries had drawn on Rastafarianism and Jamaican rebel music to vent their frustrations, similarly Gunshot’s UK rap kin like Black Radical MKII and Hijack were looking more towards the Nation of Islam and acts like Public Enemy, both sonically and aesthetically than addressing more domestic issues. By contrast Gunshot’s MC Alkaline (along with Demon Boyz’ Mike J) was a pioneer of the UK fast-rap style that would inspire both Jungle and Garage emceeing which begat grime. Comparatively, as LKJ was embraced by the punk movement Gunshot seemed more content collaborating with UK Earache bands Napalm Death and Pitchshifter than coveting approval from their US forebears. With its poignant sample of Barrington Levy crying murderer ‘Colour Code’ eschewed wider Afrocentrism of the day, aiming its vitriol instead directly on the very London streets that had recently claimed Stephen Lawrence’s life and very nearly Quddus Ali’s.
Tony F Wilson