An outlier in the landscape of UK rap, Jam Baxter is the scene’s premiere surrealist. Beginning his career as part of foundational hip hop collective Contact Play, the emcee experimented with boom bap, narrating the mucky stories of a misspent adolescence. But following his sophomore solo release on High Focus – The Gruesome Features – he slid further and further away from realism, constructing his own nightmarish visions of a world subsumed by vice and venom. His breakout single, “Brains”, would come to crystallise this emerging style: an allegory about drug use and dissociation, centreing around a shady brain salesman and the degenerates that keep him in business.
Baxter took on collaborations with Rag N Bone Man and Kate Tempest. He fled the UK for the blazing climates of South America, Vietnam, Spain and Mexico – each country giving him a new vantage point from which to view his ashen home city. Baxter last settled in Mexico, having built a web of new foreign collaborators.
Dr Syntax is a legendary UK hip hop MC, still making waves after twenty years of performing and releasing music. With his distinct style, witty lyricism, and infectious energy, Dr Syntax offers a unique and quintessentially British take on the genre, capturing the attention of hip hop fans around the globe.
Growing up in Banbury, Oxfordshire, Dr Syntax (real name Ben Hughes) discovered his passion for music at an early age. Influenced by the golden era of hip-hop and inspired by legendary artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, Biz Markie and Slick Rick, as well as the poetry and comedy of John Cooper Clark and John Shuttleworth, he began honing his craft and developing his unique style.
Known for his irreverent, often comedic observations and intelligent wordplay, Dr Syntax captivates listeners while tackling a range of subjects with effortless skill and authenticity, from personal experiences to societal issues, all delivered with his signature wit and charm.
In 2021 he released 'Crumbs', a collaborative album with producer Tom Caruana and the follow-up to 2011's 'A Slice Of Fried Gold'. The project, conceived and recorded during lockdown in 2020, showcases Caruana's ever-inventive production skills and Dr Syntax proving himself lyrically sharper than ever, notably with humorous social commentary on lead single 'Get Your Dad Off The Internet'.
In 2023, Dr Syntax continues to record music with a number of releases in the pipeline, including a new project with Pete Cannon, scheduled for early 2024.