FUN LOVIN' CRIMINALS star Huey Morgan has accused U.K. hip-hop artists of writing "fake" music just to make money.
The Scooby Snacks hitmaker is adamant British rappers lack integrity, singling out artists including London-born stars Tinie Tempah and Lethal Bizzle.
He tells The Jo Whiley Music Show, "I'm from New York, and that's where hip-hop was born, and that's where it's from. It was originally a communication tool, from borough to borough, from Queens to Brooklyn, from Manhattan to Staten Island... Hip-hop music is a lifestyle. It's not professional wrestling. (Current rap music) is not real, the music's made by somebody else and these guys are rapping about... a car or a girl. I didn't hear any self-deprecating English humour in there. I think irony is dead as far as that goes. These guys are just trying to make money.
"U.K. hip-hop artists would sell their mama for a Rolex. It's all c**p. I'm talking about Tinie Tempah, Lethal Bizzle. Dizzee (Rascal), when I first heard (his) song, I thought there was something wrong with him. I didn't get it and I grew up on hip-hop."
Morgan is also adamant the current crop of rap chart-toppers don't have the right to boast about their tough reputations.
He adds, "Paul Simon is from Queens - he probably came from a rougher neighbourhood than Lethal Bizzle did. Go to South Bronx in 1978, that's tough. People are shooting at other people, like random drive-bys in Los Angeles, Nwa comes out - those guys came from the street. I see kids, Chipmunk and stuff like that, walking around like they think they own the world. I don't hate the game, I understand what it is. To me, I might be an old man now, but... it's kind of fake. Rap was never supposed to be commercial. (Now) it's not hip-hop, it's hip-pop."