Nova Scotia native Mitchell Bailey goes transatlantic on grimy new single ‘Hold That Down’, bringing UK rapper Skatta onboard for a sparking hip-hop collab showing the best of both worlds and the nuclear fusion when they come together.
With Nookie Beats on production the track quickly fell into place after the UK-flavoured beat immediately captured Bailey’s imagination. “After hearing the beat, I instantly wrote my parts for the track, and the hook just came naturally,” said Bailey, whose breathless, staggered flow goes toe to toe with Skatta’s upfront delivery.
“We thought the production had various similarities to UK grime, which we were listening to lots at the time, along with conveniently coming across Skatta’s music,” said Bailey. “I reached out, he enjoyed the record, sent me his verse back within the next few days and the rest was history.”
Skatta may seem an unlikely accomplice for Bailey, who is firmly established as a frontrunner in the Canadian hip-hop scene – hailing from Coventry, UK, Skatta has built a reputation as one of the country’s most exciting grime MCs, leading to a guest appearance on BBC 1Xtra where host Sian Anderson called him “one of my favourites to ever do it”.
