It’s might be all about Kanye today, but Radio 4 listeners this morning were surprised to hear John Humphrys dropping some bars of his own over a Skepta track.
The 72-year-old broadcaster launched into an impromptu rap over ‘That’s Not Me’ on this morning’s Today programme and it’s… unlike anything we’ve ever heard. His lyric of choice? 'And now we is now going to have Thought For The Day done in that way.'
After hearing @Skepta John Humphrys surprises us all by rapping into Thought for the Day.https://t.co/3xWt3qlZky
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) February 12, 2016
While his unique style of MCing might be being widely made fun of right now, the Welshman had been discussing the 2016 Brit Awards and the lack of grime being represented in any category – despite the genre’s importance and influence on current music.
His co-presenter joked: “That was John with his own personal BRITS entry.”
He’d been interviewing cultural historian Peter Doggett about marginalised music for the programme, titled ‘A history of celebrating 'safe and bland' music’. He then took his listeners on a quick run-through of the genre, culminating in his, er, ‘rap'.
It’s not his first brush with urban music, either; watch the moment Charlie Sloth dedicated a hip-hop track to “Johnny Humph” on 1Xtra in 2014.
Words: Felicity Martin
