Skeng’s ‘London’ On UK Guardian’s List Of Songs Of The Summer 2022

London, a song by Dancehall artist Skeng, has been recommended by the music critics over at The Guardian as one of their Songs Of The Summer 2022.   On the list, which was released this morning (July 21, 2022), the Protocol deejay is the only Jamaican artist featured among others like Beyoncé, Bad Bunny, Jungle, Charli XCX, Cardi B, Kanye West and Lil Durk.

In the overview outlining why Skeng’s hit made the list, the 200-year-old newspaper noted that it was the perfect mix of hardcore Dancehall and UK drill.

“Go down a Hackney backstreet or stroll along the River Lea this summer and at some point you’re likely to hear this gnarly celebration of the city blaring from a car or loudspeaker,” they said.

“Skeng is a rising and yet controversial dancehall rapper from Jamaica whose sound is far darker and more menacing than his peers; it shares stylistic touchstones with popular London-centric rap styles like UK drill and similarly to many of those artists, Skeng raps about the realities of street life and has been accused of glamorising weapons and gang violence,” they added.

Released in April, London has close to 8.5 million views on YouTube. It was jointly produced by Ditruth and Droptop Records.

The newspaper said that while London isn’t appropriate for more intimate or relaxed settings, it is perfect to get a crowd hyped up at a party.

“It’s hardly a picnic tune but this track – which he apparently wrote in celebration of his first UK tour here in spring – hints at his comedy chops. It has a whiff of the People Just Do Nothing About it, opening with the line “Hello mate (bloody hell)”, while the video shows Skeng and friends waving around bottles of bubbly on quad bikes in a London park. The rest is, as they say, pure fire: though Skeng’s patois is distinctly thick and fast, it unfolds with serpentine precision over the instrumental’s plucky strings; the guttural purr of its refrain – “Lon-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun’ – lingers for days.”

Skeng, whose real name Kevaun Douglas, is among the most streamed artists in Jamaica.  His catalog of songs includes Gvnman Shift, Protocol with Tommy Lee Sparta, Heaven Passport with Intence, and Street Cred.

He recently dominated at Alkaline’s New Rules Music Festival and is gearing up for his first performance on Reggae Sumfest on Festival Night 1, tomorrow (July 22).

Recently, he along with close friends John Coop & Shacko Di Truth signed with Geejam Music.

Geejam also recently signed a global deal with Downtown Music Services, which will see the New York-based company provide “funded music publishing administration and label services” for Skeng, Shacko and Coop, as well as Geejam’s existing catalog and its existing roster of songwriters and producers.