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Covers throughout musical history have been a way of getting new artists on the map. Boy bands, dance mixes, urban crossovers, everyone has taken a popular sample and claimed to have made it better.

Recently, Grime has jumped on the Cover bandwagon, and the two have subsequently joined forces to prove the theory that everyone loves a song they already know the lyrics to. 2009 was a good year for covers in the Grime world, so Kieran Yates picks some of the 5 best…lets hope the new decade can measure up.

1. Say what’s Real- Little Dee- Originally by Drake

Last year was the year that Drake blew up and anyone who’s anyone has played ‘Best I ever had’ to their other halves and enjoyed the booty bouncing cheerleaders in said video. Props then, to anyone who takes Drake on, and  in this case I salute Little Dee for covering ‘Say what’s Real’. Gritty and heartfelt, the track acts as a bit of an homage to the rapper NE, and for me, puts Dee on the map this year. Not many can take on Drake and come out standing but this one goes to Little Dee. WIN.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/choimf

2. Stay- Boy Better Know feat. Chipmunk- Originally by Jay Sean

Ok, I love Jay Sean as much as the next Asian girl: catchy hooks, soppy ballads, he’s one RnB hook away from Bollywood’s finest, but ‘Stay’ was a bit emotional even for me. Thank God then, for a BBK injection, as they show him exactly how best to get over a lady. Cue misogyny from a fresh faced Chippy : ‘These girls need are forgetting their roles’ and a cold hard dose of reality from Skepta:  ‘You keep on ringing her Nokia, worst thing about is she’s on Voda’. Ha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBeyAQ-bzG0

3. Empire State of Mind- Kasha- Originally by Jay-Z

Jay Z  made arguably one of the best tunes of last year which made everyone want to be a New Yorker, so it goes without saying that this a hard track to follow. But you can’t deny Kasha’s bars on this one; name dropping the likes of Richard Blackwood, Lewisham Mc Donald’s and the rest,  I think its the Laaandaaan accent that does it for me. Yesss.

http://fairtilizer.com/tracks/61463/download?pwd=

4. Hustler- Blacks feat Little Dee and Jendor- Originally by Kano

Hustler to me is one of the best Grime tracks ever made, mainly because it shows why exactly it is that everyone says that Kano was way ahead of his time, but also that it harks back to a time of Grime that the old schoolers would call the ‘glory days’. Blacks brings us back then to the present with his version of the classic, from the mixtape, ‘Sick Individual’, and its is frickin sickkkk.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/7hy4cx

6. Juicy- Tinchy Stryder, Sway, Bashy Tor, Kyla, Sincere- Originally by Notorious B.I.G

Ok, so I know this wasn’t from the past year, but I couldn’t write this without mentioning the best cover from the last couple of years courtesy of 1 Extra. When I first heard this, I was so excited I did a little wee in my pants. Again, it makes you feel less bad that we didn’t have Biggy cos what we got on the scene right now is pretty sick. So, I know its old now, but whatever, I love it. My favourite verse goes to Sway, even though you know they all killed it. God, this makes me happy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBPe18shED8