The Evolution of Ambush, North London's Rising Rap Star

Ambush is the kind of rapper who can pull off freestyling over a Kendrick beat – jumping from lines about how “man can’t tell me ‘bout trapping“ to rhyming black hair shop Pak’s with hair grease Dax – while wearing white knee-length white socks and Birkenstocks. He, to be direct, does not give a shit. And he showed as much, when he appeared on Radar Radio’s 90s Baby Show last August. Show co-host Temi Alchémy couldn’t stop giggling at the idea of north Londoner Ambush delivering his bars while wearing comfortable shoes favoured by middle-class white people staring their early fifties in the face. But, rather than have it rile him, Ambush grinned and quietly let the presenters’ incredulous remarks about his football-socks-and-sandals look roll off his back. “Nobody could have told me anything,” he conceded, with a wide smile and raised brow.

At the time, Ambush was in the middle of an already strong year. The hard work he'd put in, repping his northwest London Camden area for a while as an underground artist, was starting to pay off. Somewhere between a 2012 feature on General Gheezy's "I Need That", a 2014 collab with SP Montiz and a Link Up TV Behind Barz performance in December last year, he started to blow up beyond his local postcode. A big part of his success has come down to the reach of his videos, mostly shot on road in the usual ‘me and all my crew mugging for the camera’ style. And now, following the release on Thursday of his Skepta- and Chip-featuring “Jumpy” remix, his come-up has ascended to the next level.

Though north London's Tottenham has produced rap talents from both of the Jumpy remix stars to Avelino, people often stop at politically-driven artist Awate when Camden comes up. Sure, for those in New Jersey, 'Camden rap' means something else entirely. But, as shown by the 'what's it like to grow up in Camden?' line of questioning that followed Ambush's 90s Baby Show appearance, fellow Londoners aren't even hugely aware of the sound coming out of his borough. In Ambush's case, it's a style that hinges on lyrics revolving around daily observations, struggles and triumphs. Ambush delivers these lines with the sort of precise diction that makes bars like “I’m from Camden where crackheads are mandem” ring out clear as a shard of glass.

On the original version of "Jumpy," he raps about growing up on his estate, with "everybody getting white-boy wasted," over shoulder-bopping, belly-wobbling production crafted by Mubz Got Beats & Seriouz Beats. A flute-like sample underpins the verses and drops out in time to make the choruses bang even harder. To see him sway to that beat in this new remix video, flanked by two legends like Skepta and Chip, feels like a real moment. Thankfully, this version of the video falls victim to fewer stereotypical tropes, as far as the portrayal of women goes. The original treats a central model as an object, an accessory to be looked at on someone's arm. It's all a bit Male Gaze 101. As a reminder: there are other ways to support women actors and models who want to appear in videos. But the remix switches focus a bit, mostly likely to showcase nabbing two big names like Skep and Chip, plus a Jammer cameo (though the same model makes a reappearance and several gratuitous booty shots do, too).

Ambush's hat has always emanated from his lyrics, and how much he commits to making sure you hear each and every one of them. And that works whether he's cracking a joke, reliving a memory or letting you in on his inner though process. For now, it's brilliant to watch him continue to put Camden rap on the UK map. If he can do that in Birks and socks, there's no telling what he might do next.

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