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Bait, ting, certi: how UK rap changed the language of the nation

Fuelled by music fandom and social media, young British people’s slang is evolving to include words with pidgin, patois and Arabic roots – even where strong regional English dialects exist

Recorded in towns across suburban England, teenage interviewers stop their peers on the street, fielding questions that range from fashion choices to humorous hypotheticals and local neighbourhood dramas, in the process building a large social media following and showcasing their patch of land to the world. That dynamic took root in Britain in the 1970s, when various forms of reggae – also subversive and at times perceived as anti-establishment – became distinctly British iterations of a Black coolness that appealed to younger white audiences. They also highlight the racially loaded demonisation of MLE as a language associated with “roadmen”, where in increasingly popular TikTok and Instagram skits, “roadman” has become a byword for low intelligence and stupidity.

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