JOHN GLACIER - Like A Ribbon

You best believe it, I’m the hottest in the game

John Glacier is to all intents and purposes one of the hottest names to have recently emerged from the alternative hip-hop scene. Her rhymes sit atop beats that are at times abrasive, at times celestial, capitalizing on the fervid, multifaceted landscape of London clubbing electronica. Less glitch and lo-fi than her first collection, "Like A Ribbon", initially released via streaming in three chapters, retains the experimental approach of Glacier's previous, fragmented output. An output bolstered by several multidisciplinary collaborations that once again play a crucial role on this album: Eartheather on the thrilling crescendo of "Money Shows", and the warm voice lent by Sampha on "Ocean Steppin'".

I'm eternal like I ain't mortal

from the ends but the flow came formal

I’m important new with steeze

From Jamaica not from Belize

Hackney girl and now I got p’s

All the brands waan bop of me

Bop some of me

It is to one's own word — and not to anyone else's — that the task of self-representation belongs. So Glacier crafts her own calling card in "Don't Cover Me", with verses that exude a perfectly calibrated rhythm (and Glacier's delivery is impeccable) and twist and turn with the flashes, often clipped and elliptical, of London slang. And while her artistic influences are manifold, from grime to Uk drill by way of spoken word poetry, it's perhaps the multicultural identity of the Hackney neighbourhood (East London) that shapes the rapper's music and words at their very core.

As the metropolis changes face, amid gentrification, racism and rising xenophobia not only in the capital but across the whole of the UK, the mantra recited in "Home" seems to plunge straight into the vast spectrum of the vital cultural heritage of the neighbourhood where Glacier grew up, re-emerging transformed into an embrace full of respect and care for the listener. These are verses charged with political meaning, in a Europe that seems increasingly incapable of facing the question of migration with a humane outlook free of any form of violence.

If you're looking for a home, I'll protect you

If you're looking for a space, I'll keep you warm

If you're looking for respect, I'll drop respect too

We can build a bed of roses on the lawn

Ride the wave of great music

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15/12/2025