Artist Of The Week - Part 1 - D Double E and Footsie aka Newham Generals [Blog]

Lets not get things twisted in the world of Grime D Double E and Footsie aka The Newham Generals are easily the best duo to ever touch the microphone and they have stood the test of time with their inimitable  chemistry which has caused mayhem in many of the biggest Grime raves and events and they continue to be one of the most in demand performers in Grime with a fan base stretching from East London to Australia and continually growing with each release as Newham Generals is a name which can only be associated to quality both in terms of lyricism and production with D Double and Footsie distinct lyrical style sitting in the DNA of many an MC in the game trickling right down to the New wave of Grime MC's and producers.
I first heard the Newham Generals as part of the Nasty Crew in 2002/3 alongside Marcus Nasty, Nasty Jack, Stormin, Kano, Armour, Hyper and many more of the scenes heavy weights at the time with the Generals fully came into their own light when the crew disbanded with D Double E, Footsie,  Monkstar and DJ Tubby forming the original line up with Monkstar dropping out leaving just Footsie and D who are responsible for some of the hottest tracks and verses from Grime's 'Golden Era' with immortal bars such as "Man get tangled and dangled" and "Bare Right hooks" causing pandemonium anywhere they were dropped and to date these are still some of the scenes best known and well loved lyrics.
As solo artists D Double E and Footsie are extremely diverse and dynamic with Footsie doubling up as an extremely capable producer as well as D Double E being possibly one of the scenes most sought after MC's with his name on the wish list of producers from all scenes and both  fly the N and G flag through their solo work as well as their collaborative projects which is one of the main reasons unlike many teams and crews they have maintained an equal balance which doesn't allow for egos and outsiders to come between them and they are also a team who's work rate and chemistry has never seen one carrying the other as they both carry the brand and this is something many a crew could learn from.
As far as clashes are concerned Footsie has seen his fair share of lyrical wars with the most notable being Footsie vs Bear Man and Footsie vs Scratchy both of which helped to further cement the Newham Generals as a lyrical force not to be reckoned with while their track record of street smashes starts back in the days of vinyl moving through the CD era and into the Digital download age (They've always been good money) and this in turn led to them signing to Dizzee Rascals Dirty Stank label in 2005 with Dizzee describing them as "The best Grime duo ever" and "one of his biggest inspirations in his career" and this is something which has been resonated through many of the biggest artists within the scene and further afield with Ed Sheeran, Mike Skinner and comedian Frankie Boyle also paying homage not forgetting the adulation they receive from the Dubstep scene or the esteem they are held with in the Rap scene with many a UK rapper also paying homage to the Newham Generals brand of Grime.
The Newham Generals Brand continues to grow in size and strength with the much anticipated Darren and Dan Album and Footsies King Original Vol 1 set for release in the first quarter of 2013.

Newham Generals Discography (Not including tracks done for Dirty Stank or other compilations, DJ Mixtapes and Remix work also not including all of Footsies production work for)

1. Generally Speaking - album
2. Bag Of Grease - Ep
3. Pumping It Out - Ep
4. Zoot Break - Ep
5. Zoot Break 2 - Ep
6. Street Fighter Riddim
7. Frontline
8. D Double E (Unofficial Mixtape) 
9. Rastaman Pickney
10. DYGMB - Do You Get Me Boss
11. SpookFest 
12. King Original Vol.1
13. Best Of The Newham Generals vol 1 - Mixtape (UK record shop)

@Footsie
@DDoubleE7
@DJTubby
@DirtyStank