The Wykehamist
College. Certainly my favourite backing track out of the three. Reminds me of the anthems of old: casual, laid back, but no less intense.( Edison( Coll: 2020-) leads from the front with his rhythmic bars flowing like honey. A comfortable confidence oozed out of him, surrounded by an admiring crowd of first-years bopping to the beat. In comes Felix( Coll: 2020-) with the same violent passion he shows pitch side, dismantling the OTH team one bar at a time. Clean dictation, fiery tone and lyrics to humble the brown side; no one could’ ve expected such an assault. Continuing the buttery smooth flow, August( Coll: 2020-) rips off rhyme after rhyme while our eyes are treated to the wonders of the College 2-post bust. He leaves us with the menacing use of a voice changer – literal shivers. Passing the baton onto Oscar( Coll: 2020-) who is wearing what can only be described as a leotard, his verse is passionate, cutting straight to the heart, claiming that“ WinColl is blue” while showing off his red and white striped shirt. Despite his poor choice of attire Oscar’ s presence is unmatched. Continuing the confident college crusade, out steps Jayden( Coll: 2020-)… from a water treatment van? Short but sweet, attacking the OTH hotman. Edison’ s back spitting his ice-cold rhymes, this time with ice-cold feet. His bars flowing smoother than the river he’ s standing in – a brilliant piece of cinematography. Finally, as the anthem draws to a close, we are reminded to“ look up at the sky, so blue – when was it ever brown or red?”
Luke Edwards( K, 2021-)
Felix Edmondson on Commoners and OTH Anthems
The Winkies season is always a highlight of the year for me. Everyone comes together to whack a ball about and enjoy Our Game. What’ s more, in the runup to this year’ s XVs, OTH and Commoners have both undertaken a modern tradition and created a musical number that jointly serves as a diss track towards the opposition and as a banger that hypes up their own crowd. I’ ve been commissioned to give a review of each anthem, and I’ ll explain my thoughts in this article.
OTH were first out of the blocks this year, releasing a catchy sing-along chant based on Dave’ s song No Words( feat. MoStack). It’ s a break from previous tradition, doing an R & B anthem, but it’ s a welcome break from
15 the middle-of-the-road drill we usually get. I must admit, however, this works better as a live performance beside College Canvas than as a video.
Straight from his hometown, Bov( Bailey Clark( A, 2023-)) started us off with a lecture on Commoners’ lack of ability on the canvas, decked out in an OTH zephyr and a chain. Regardless of what you think, he means business. XVs kick, Xs manager, anthem maestro, he has the lot. The opening vibe was swiftly cut, however, by Lil’ Ginge( Ted Miers( B, 2020-)), whom I couldn’ t really understand, I’ m sorry to say. Except for the part about a certain Commoner’ s personal lexicon.
Sick Boy( Inigo House( A, 2020-)) followed with the analogy of the year:“ Seb on a leash – doggy phase”. You could hear it at XVs – whenever Seb had a chance, the brown-and-white support would start baying and barking pitchside. Exactly how instrumental it was in OTH’ s narrow win, we will never know. Many other questions can be raised from the Furleyite: how many kicks did Seb kick sideways to the out-watchers? Was Seb’ s bae really on the sidelines not for him … but for Inigo? Who is good at Winkies?
Dr J( Dom Jackson( A, 2020-)) also regretfully suffered from being a bit mumbly – his presence was felt more so in the game than behind the mic, you could say. Bowds off da Block( George Bowder( B, 2020-)) finished the rap by declaring himself“ best on ropes”, without really having to do any work. That’ s the sign of a man who damn well knows how to play the game.
The final scene in the town was a nice cheeky ending touch, but then again, you’ d better watch which red car you put that on, Ted … Overall, a solid attempt, and one that will live on in the heads of Houses pupils.
Commoners now – and it would have been easier if their anthem hadn’ t been taken down already. Before VIs. That doesn’ t really matter; The Wykehamist will get its article one way or another. The red-and-white adaptation of Harlem Spartans’ Kennington Where It Started steamed off to a great start. There is not much to be said here, other than Rhys Kanbi( D, 2023-) can rap. Boy, he can rap – he was laser-focused on one thing and one thing only: Pearl Pot back in Romans’ s hands.
It appears David Sam( D, 2020-) must have been doing some espionage, as he already knew about OTH choosing a Dave track. David( which one?) also brought