"German Whip" is the debut single by

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

artist

Meridian Dan Meridian Dan (born Daniel Lawrence London) is a grime MC from Tottenham, North London. He is best known for his 2014 single "German Whip", and is a former member of seminal grime crews Meridian and Bloodline. Background Lawrence, who is of Guy ...

, released as the lead single from his forthcoming debut album, ''I Am London''. The song features vocals from rappers

Big H Adrian Harris, better known by his stage name Big H, is an English grime artist and rapper from Tottenham, London, United Kingdom. Biography Known for his distinctive style, H spent much of his life creating new music and "perfecting the flow" ...

and JME, and was produced by The HeavyTrackerz, who have been credited with production for many other chart-successful songs. The song entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 20 May 2014 at number 13, which remains its highest charting position.

Background and release

The song was released on 13 April 2014, having achieved nationwide recognition beforehand. The song was added to

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been cod ...

's A-list and received support from

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Kiss FM Kiss FM, Kiss Radio or variants may refer to: Asia-Oceania * Various Kiss FM-branded stations in the Philippines ** 95.1 Kiss FM, Lucena, Quezon ** 102.3 Kiss FM, Tagbilaran, Bohol * Kiss92 FM, Singapore * KISS 969, Sri Lanka * Kiss Radio Taiwan ...

and

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...

. The song is a panegyric on the subject of driving high-quality German precision engineered motor cars with blacked out windows whilst leaning back. The phrase "whip" was used after various rappers noticed that the Mercedes-Benz logo resembled a steering wheel, which used to be called a whip.

Music video

The song has two music videos. The first was released in 2013, directed by Jay Parpworth and produced by

SB.TV SB.TV Global Ltd, also known as SB.TV or SmokeyBarz, is a British music media company founded by Jamal Edwards and a small team of young people who work on web-based content. The platform was created on 2 November 2006, and its origins in urban m ...

, gaining 10.4 million views and was shown nationwide via all major TV channels such as MTV and The Box. The second was released six months later and was produced by

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

, and features an array of German cars.

Critical reception

Critical reception has been positive to mixed. Swarve Men Magazine called the song "awesomely catchy". Robert Foster of Bankholidaycomes.com said the song was a "little nugget of grime fun". In addition, Stagedoor.fm said that heaven would be "hot weather, coupled with the windows down, plus he Skepta, Professor Green, Bossman Birdie & Rizzle Kicksremix". However, Robin Murray of Clashmusic.com commended Meridian Dan's "untamed vocal", but dismissed the beat as "ridiculous". ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' magazine ranked the song second on their list of "

Grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

's Most Impatcful Songs of the 2010s", calling it an "anthem to kickstart the

rime Rime may refer to: *Rime ice, ice that forms when water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects, such as trees Rime is also an alternative spelling of "rhyme" as a noun: *Syllable rime, term used in the study of phonology in ling ...

buzz - most importantly bringing grime back to commercial daytime radio".

Legacy

The song has been credited with steering grime's unexpected comeback. In addition, T-shirt Party created a T-shirt in homage to the song, which contains Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen logos.

Track listing

References

{{authority control 2014 debut singles 2014 songs Virgin EMI Records singles Universal Music Group singles Jme (musician) songs