Goldie Lookin Chain

With heavy street accents and loads of slang-slinging, comedy rappers Goldie Lookin Chain are proud to be lazy sods from Newport, Wales. Main man P. Xain had been working on tracks in his bedroom on cheap samplers when he met likeminded louts Eggsy and Adam Hussein. Getting stoned, drinking, hanging out, and thumbing their noses at respectability left the group just enough time to do some recording. Soon, new members were being added every week or so and self-made CD-Rs were being released. Don't Blame the Chain was the first, and Newport's youth fell in love with it. Internet trading of the band's music became common in the U.K. and more CD-Rs appeared. Addiction, Return of the Red Eye, and The Party Album all became slacker favorites, but it was a publicity prank that put the Chain in front of the mainstream.

The group — now eight members strong — claimed that classical darling Charlotte Church was their backup singer on tracks like "Stick It in Cider" and "Monkey Love," and the press fell for it. Church's lawyers forced a retraction and a "sorry" from the GLC, but it was too late, the Chain were now stars. "Rollerdisco" became their first proper 12" in 2003 and soon the GLC were working on a live show. They opened for the likes of Super Furry Animals, the Streets, and the Darkness, and released another single, "Half Man, Half Machine." It did well among the fan base, but it was the infectious and hilarious Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do that put the band on the national U.K. television show Top of the Pops. The Atlantic label signed them in the U.K. and released Greatest Hits — a collection of the best numbers from their CD-Rs — in September of 2004. The album appeared in the U.S. in May of 2005 with a new title, Straight Outta Newport.