Soul Jazz can do no wrong. Not content with issuing compilations that are simply must haves for any self respecting fan of soul, funk or reggae, now they’ve added yet another gem to their collection with a two-disk sampling of the best of British MCing covering genres including reggae, raga, hip-hop, breaks, grime and drum n’ bass. It’s a historical overview that ignores chronology but manages to provide the best kind of education – one that feeds the mind so the ass will follow.

While the hype sound of urban music from the UK is the near vocal-less dubstep, Soul Jazz are on hand to provide a reminder of the rich tradition of MCs in British music. An England Story is the closest you can get to recreating the soundtrack to the Notting Hill Carnival in your lounge room. Think of this as the soundtrack sequel to Shane Meadow’s excellent film This is England carrying on the story of English culture after the cinema curtain closed. YT opens the lesson with the title track declaring that “This is my England story/ A true reggae story” and over twenty-one cuts this collection blazes through the history of black music in England with far more flair and credibility than a marathon of MOBO awards nights. Tracks in the ‘fast-chat’ style such as Papa Levi’s My God My King could be mistaken for reggae direct from Jamaica, but these tracks helped establish black music in England. While hip-hop MCing developed in New York from reggae sound systems and toasting, the sound of American hip-hop quickly lost trace of most of its Jamaican influence. Not so in England where generations of Caribbean immigrants have made their mark on the music scene.

The compilation skips past some more obvious inclusions to explore the breadth of the scene. So, the high water mark of English hip hop – the massive Witness (One Hope) – misses out but Roots Manuva still gets a guernsey by lending Ty a hand on So You Want More? and although Dizzee Rascal is absent the lyrical dual of Doctor and DaVin Che’s Gotta Man? is the precursor of Dizzee Rascal’s I Luv U. The grime scene is represented by Riko who spits over a typically skittish Wiley ‘eski-beat’ on Ice Rink Riddim.

The most noticeable exclusion is the lack of any showing from the distinctive Bristol sound that dominated the urban resistance to the mid-nineties Brit Pop chart domination. This means no dark mumblings from Tricky who provided something of a guiding statement for this compilation with his Blue Lines lyric “English upbringing, background Caribbean”. Despite these omissions there aren’t any duds in the set, though there are a few worth singling out. One of England’s most important and early hip-hop crews London Posse chip in with their 1988 single Money Mad while Garage MC Stush keeps it cash fixated with Dollar Sign. At the other end of the lyrical spectrum Blak Twang offers up the financial woes of Red Letters and manages to quote both Public Enemy and Fiddler on the Roof in the same track. Skibadee, Glamma Kid and the drum and bass from Jakes & TC also impress.

Sometime Blak Twang collaborator Estelle (now focused on conquering the US market after signing with John Legend’s new label) offers laidback flow of Uptown Top Rankin. Recently pushing her new record in an interview with the Guardian she bemoaned the recent tendency in the English music media to fawn over young white female ‘soul’ singers– such as Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Adele and Melbourne’s Gabriella Cilmi – wondering ”[why] the hell is there not a single black person in the press singing soul?”. It’s a fair question; especially as England Story proves just how much talent black musicians have to offer the UK music scene.

Fittingly the final track details grumblings of another kind as Tippa Irie’s comical Complain Neighbour protests the loud reggae booming from next door. Sadly not everyone will appreciate days of British MCing blasting into the neighbourhood so the odds are that you’ll experience something similar in your neck of the woods after the sheer quality of this compilation compels play it on repetition for days on end.