As the UK Official Charts Company reports, two rappers are engaged in a war for the UK singles chart crown this week: one, Eminem, is a big hitter who currently occupies the top spot, with his track “River” (which features Ed Sheeran, the man with his fingers in every pie). The other, however, is entirely different: Ramz is a rising rapper from London, and his single “Barking” is creeping up at number two, though it leads Eminem on streaming.
And though that in itself is a pretty wild achievement, wouldn’t it be nice to get Ramz to number one? Your pals at Noisey love an underdog story, and Ramz’s local love song – an ode to a lady from Barking – is not only the more unlikely winner in this particular chart scrap, but it’s also a total bop. It’s a summery with a laid back flow from Ramz, which, in this hell month of January, is always welcome, and, as I can attest, you won’t be able to get it out of your head for days. Besides, hasn’t Eminem had his moment with “River” now anyway? And isn’t it always nice to see a UK artist atop the UK charts?
Videos by VICE
The Charts company also note that both Ramz and Eminem do face tough competition from Sigrid, the BBC Sound of 2018 winner, whose single “Strangers” is doing excellently on downloads. But all things considered, we think we’re championing Ramz for this one.
Follow Noisey on Twitter.
