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July 4, 2013

My BET 2013

I’m back after a very busy but four fun filled days in LA covering the BET Awards. Arriving after an 11 hour flight on Thursday 27th June, we headed out to the infamous Hooters restaurant in Hollywood to grab some food. We then headed to Couture nightclub for a few hours just off the main Hollywood strip to check out the LA night time scene.


Friday was an extremely busy day as we headed towards the Staples/Nokia Theatre to pick up our credentials and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the late afternoon international party on the rooftop of the Marriott hotel. After relaxing there with a few cheeky free drinks we were given two GOLD free tickets to watch Beyonce at the Staples Centre next door. Not bad! Her performance was incredible as expected for the 1st show of her North American leg of her tour.


Leaving at 11pm, with the area being so busy, we got the Metro a few stops to Hollywood/Vine where the BET experience Kick Off Party was, hosted at the Drais Nightclub on the rooftop of the W Hotel complete with a pool. Celebrities in attendance were producer duo Da Internz, LoveRance, upcoming rapper Problem, Miley Cyrus who walked in behind us, and too many more to name.

Saturday was time for a bit of relaxation as the BET’s were the next day and we hadn’t stopped since we got there. We headed down to Santa Monica beach had some nice food at Bubba Gump’s and lay on the beach for a few hours.

Sunday was the day of the BET Awards. Arriving at 12.30pm to check in for the red carpet it was extremely hot around 34c. Luckily it started to cloud over as we were standing outside till 4pm. The first artist to walk down was Trinidad James, although he didn’t stop for many press and wasn’t looking too happy! I spoke to celebrities 2 Chainz, French Montana, Tyson Beckford, Bridget Kelly, Robert Townsend, Elijah Blake, Elephant Man, DJ Drama, Marsha Ambrosius, Jamie Foxx and more. We also spotted Pharrell, Chris Brown, J Cole, Neyo, Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa, Amber Rose, Ashanti, Kendrick Lemar, Yo Gotti and Gabrielle Union.


The official after party was hosted at the Belasco Theatre a 5 minute drive for the Nokia Theatre where the awards were held. Nick Cannon, Jerimah, Problem and Chris Brown were all in attendance and set to perform. Other stars in attendance were Tyga, DJ Drama who did a set, Bridget Kelly, Elijah Blake and more. We partied there for a few hours and left around 2.30am as we had a flight to catch the next day.



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June 26, 2013

MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]

This week I’m going to start off with two very special Fire In The Booth sessions. If you don’t know what it is, it was started by Charlie Sloth on BBC Radio 1Xtra and showcases the cream of UK MCs where they get to display their best lyrics. SN1’s Gunna Dee who recently released a mixtape ‘Hustler By Nature 2’ was up first. Keeping up the heat surrounding the tape, it was only right he went on the show…

North London rapper Squeeks dropped his first Fire In The Booth in 2011; two years on he returned for the second installment, really showcasing his progression since the first one. He makes this epic freestyle look effortless.

i Records are keeping it busy with two releases from the label this week.

Dru Blu keeps up the work level staying consistent by releasing another net video courtesy of Rap City TV. Keeping it real as always with this street banger, he tells us his reasons for working hard; ‘Rude boy I ain’t rich yet so what the f**k should I rest for.”

Snap Capone’s mixtape ‘Return Of The Shooter’ is the second release from i Records family. You might have seen some videos and freestyles of his recently leading up to this 25-track tape which sees him discussing life on the streets and in particular his own life. This is a hard road rap release and isn’t for the light hearted.

Producer Bayoz Muzik dropped the fourth video off his ‘Death Of A Beatmaker’ EP. ‘F U Pay Me Now’ features Tigger Da Author, Paigey Cakey and Tzy. Bayoz is known for producing beats for UK rapper Giggs as well as many others and his EP features J Spades, Blade Brown and more.

Wretch 32 caused a stir last week as he released the audio to his second single ‘Doing OK’ which comes after ‘Blackout’ featuring Shakka from his forthcoming third album. This time it features Jacob Banks, who is also part of the Renowned group. The album has no release date yet but is set to be released this year via Ministry Of Sound.

Until next time…

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June 19, 2013

MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]

Myself and The Wrap Up’s editor went to Funny Tummy’s art exhibition on Sunday (16), which was held in the Royal Albert Hall. The artist rose to fame after creating an illustration of Rihanna which led to her wanting to find out more about him. He has since worked on art for Adidas and Universal and has done covers for music artists such as Tinie Tempah and Wretch 32. Artists present at the private launch were Wretch 32, Chip, G FrSH, Fuze BW, Mayhem and more…

I spoke to G FrSH and he said: “I think there is a big market for ‘urban artists’ art; it’s objective, it’s in the eyes of the beholder, so it doesn’t matter where it originates from… as long as it gives you a feeling you like or enjoyment.”

Look out for the review coming soon…

G FrSH is a name who has been on everyone’s lips recently. The rapper, who is part of the Disturbing London family, recently released his ‘Legoman II’ mixtape and last week took to Noisey to give them the exclusive of a slick visual off the tape for ‘Never Can I’.

In an exclusive freestyle for Virgin Red Rooms, lyricist Akala was given certain words he had to include in his bars; oblong, symbiotic, condominium, poached eggs, phoenix and disruptor. They weren’t easy words, but of course Akala made it look like light work.

South London’s Marshall McFly gets his iRecords label mate Dru Blu to feature on latest track ‘Cops and Robbers’ along with Youngs Teflon. This is a big street track and all three spit hard and fiery verses with strong deliveries.

From Geko’s debut mixtape ‘Voice Of The Future’ which was released in December comes the video to ‘The Note’, a mature and well-developed track from someone so young. Happy sweet 16th to the rapper, whose birthday it was last week.

I heard rumours last week of a few covers of Naughty Boy’s hit record ‘La La La’ which are going to be released; but not by singers. Chip then released his version, tweeting: “Congrats to @NaughtyBoyMusic on a #1 BANGER. #TeamChip here it is #ChipLaLaLa Remixhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oxBMor8RJ5Q … RT”

Sho Shallow tweeted: “Shouts ‪@NaughtyBoyMusic n he’s song La la la! Me & ‪@ArdAdz Gotta Spesh Cover Soon Out”

Naughty Boy responded via Twitter, saying Chip’s version is ‘very sick’. Expect to see more covers of the no.1 hit to follow.

Until next time…

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June 11, 2013

MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]

I’m going to start off with mixtapes this week; firstly because I’ve been away for a few weeks I’m still going to talk about Gunna Dee’s ‘Hustler By Nature 2’, which was released at the end of May. The mixtape was well worth the wait and sees 11 strong tracks from the SN1 representative and features from Giggs, Blade Brown and Angel. The mixtape shows Gunna’s development as an artist and a mature perspective on life…

Last week he also dropped the video to a track off the tape ‘Music Therapy’ which features BBK’s Skepta. Make sure you check out both.

This is one a lot of UK rap heads have been waiting for and it’s from Mashtown’s J Spades. ‘More Money More Pagans II’ is the second installment and follows on from the success of the first ‘MMMP,’ which threw the UK rap scene into a frenzy in 2012. The 19 track tape features some of the cream of the scene including Joe Black, Cashtastic, Chip, Blade Brown, DVS, Margs and more.

Now it’s time to look at new tracks/videos. South London’s Colours brought out a new one called ‘Lil Skeeza’ over an up tempo hip-hop instrumental with hard street lyrics. He is due to be releasing a mixtape soon, so look out for that.

We’ve had a few covers this week, the first notable one is from brother’s Mega and Mayhem who make up rap duo S.A.S. releasing their take on the classic Camp Lo record ‘Coolie High’. The track has a nice relaxed, summer vibe to it and the guy’s own insightful lyrics.

We had the lyric video first, then Sho Shallow decided to put a video together of his cover of Wale’s ‘Bad’. The track really shows the Brixton rappers talent as he puts his own spin lyrically on it.

There’s been a few live acoustic versions of this doing the rounds, but for this one Akala and Josh Osho took to Virgin Red Room for a live sessions with a full band for ‘Lose Myself’ off his newly released album ‘The Thieves Banquet’. The track is one of my favourites and has a massive rock and rap influence.

Giggs put out a short advert titled ‘Warning’ for his forthcoming ‘When Will It Stop’ album which is causing quite a buzz in the lead up to the release. The advert shows Giggs ironing to one of his tracks saying into the camera ‘When Will It Stop is round the corner lads’. There are many including me that can’t wait for the album.

After the horrific news a few weeks ago of the killing of solider Lee Rigby, emcee Boya Dee witnessed the account first hand in Woolwich tweeting it as it was happening which led to him being hounded by news teams. Last week he took to Channel 4 News, releasing a ten minute video taking camera crew on a tour of the area speaking to local people. The footage included rappers Mynature and Saskilla. You can check it out online.

Words: Shireen Fenner (@Shireenxoxo)

 

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May 28, 2013

Dappy Vs Scorcher – UK Rap Beef (Documentary) [Video]

The Rap Up UK are doing a brilliant job of putting together documentaries for us based on the UK rap and grime scene and getting people involved in the scene’s take on it. For the first UK Rap Beef series they look at Dappy Vs Scorcher check it out….

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May 22, 2013

Skream Shares Two New Free Tracks On Digital Soundboy Website [News]

Skream and Digital Soundboy shares Mood To Funk and Diam; two heavyweight tracks available to download for free exclusively through the brand new Digital Soundboy website and Digital Soundboy Soundcloud.

Mood To Funk revisits the kind of hypnotic and melodic-driven basslines that confirmed Skream as one of the most innovative producers on the scene. With Diam, Radio 1’s Skream delivers a track sure to cause dancefloor carnage with its high-octane synth attack.

With Mood To Funk and Diam as rare opportunities to grab free music from one of the UK scene pioneers, make sure you visit Digital Soundboy’s website for these two un-missable free downloads. You can also grab WAVs of the tracks from the brand new website in exchange for just your email address.

Download Skream – Mood To Funk and Diam 

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May 21, 2013

MTV Wrap Up – UK Rap Rundown [News]

Spit TV brought to you by We Hustle TV re-launched last Sunday on Channel AKA – it began about ten years ago on Channel U, before the days of Youtube and Twitter. This is where the best emcess from the UK are invited to spit for around three minutes. Ras Kwame the host described it as ‘one take, one mic, one spit’. Link-Up TV released a behind-the-scenes video along with the visuals for the Eurogang and Frisco freestyles. Look forward to seeing the likes of Benny Banks, Joe Black, Geko, Griminal, Scrufizzer, Coops and many more…

An array of some of the hottest UK grime and rap emcees come together for the remix of Lethal Bizzle’s ‘They Got It Wrong’ originally featuring Wiley. Krept & Konan, Kano and Squeeksjumped on the remix to make it an all-star cast.

Another remix to drop last week was Sneakbo’s ‘Ring A Ling’ which saw Wiley and Krept & Konan give the Brixton rapper some heavy-duty verses on his next summer club banger. Expect to see a video for this one soon, as the track is released in July.

Young Spray reminds people that Northstar are originals in new track ‘Pull Your Pants Up’. “Only saw So Solid’s before the North Star Chain, only knew PDC when North Chain came. I saw the best come and go; the rest are dumb and slow.” He also shows respect to Giggs, Blade Brown and Asher D in the track.

Shak Corleone released the video to ‘Voice Of The Streets’ from his latest mixtape ‘Purgatory’. The Brixton rapper keeps it 100% road rap with the track featuring Lil Torment, Skore Beezy and Don Slice who all spit hard street bars.

PW is definitely a rapper who has a lot of heat surrounding him right now with a lot of co-signs from Dappy, Cover Drive and The Saturdays. His latest release ‘From PW With Love’ was well received and last week saw him drop the visuals to featured track ‘Here With You’.

UK rap veteran Mike GLC was the next up on SB.TV for his 3rd Degree freestyle. He spits over some classic joints with his effortless flow, showing people how it’s done.

Benny Banks gave us the visuals to track ‘48 Freestyle 1&2’ off his new mixtape ‘Patiently Waiting Vol 2’ which is available to download for free. The two laid back instrumentals allow for Benny to drop his classic relaxed flows which he is known for.

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May 15, 2013

MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]

Supa Dupa Fly for me is one of the best old school hip-hop & r&b nights in London, with music from the 90’s through to early 2000’s. Last Friday I went along to Jazz Café for one of their nights which saw Kings Of The City and Franko Fraize perform live. Franko’s British sound and modern take on his life and culture has led to comparisons with Mike Skinner, who is a fan of his work. He has a new track ‘Hand Me Downs’ so check it out…

Dizzee Rascal released two tracks last week, the first being ‘H-Town featuring UGK legend Bun B and Trae Tha Truth. Dizzee absolutely smashed it with this track, which is based on Houston’s culture. He also dropped the video to his collaboration with Robbie Williams called ‘Goin’ Crazy’, which sees the two on pimped out mobility scooters. What did you think about the track and video?

On Friday Dizzee also did an interview on 1Xtra’s breakfast show with Twin B where he finally spoke out on Wiley. Twin asked what he thought of other MC’s in the game, where he responded, “I want to put it out there openly, I haven’t got an issue with anyone.”

To confirm who he was talking about Twin asked if he meant Wiley and Dizzee went on to talk about their history. “[DJ] Target cared about me, early. Wiley never cared about me [from] early.

“Wiley eventually got me involved in the Roll Deep thing after I built a little name for myself. And it worked. We got on really well. I looked up to Wiley, I looked up to Target… As far as all that, I’ve actually not known Wiley longer than I’ve known him.”

He ended on saying just because people think he should work with Wiley it doesn’t mean he should and he’s just focusing on what he has to do – I think that’s all the clarification needed on the matter.

 

There are two mixtapes out that I definitely think are worth downloading. The first is from S-Squad’s Birmingham rapper Meeks, hosted by i Records DJ Cage. ‘Co-Lab-Adoration’ is a mixture of collaboration tracks showing an ample range of ‘who’s who’ in UK rap talent.

Mic Righteous released a free mixtape ‘Mic Wasn’t Thinkin’ as a thank you to the people who have supported him over the years. Make sure you get down to his headline show at The Garage in Islington which will see him celebrate the mixtape and also his birthday.

K. Koke released the lyric video to his new track ‘My Time’ with another Roc Nation singer, Bridget Kelly. The combination of the two blend well together and tells a story of the struggles of life and getting to where you want to be.

I’m going to end on Giggs’ Fire In The Booth which was his second on the Charlie Sloth hosted show. I was pleased to hear a variety of instrumentals from ‘Pop’ to ‘Started From The Bottom and ‘F**kin’ Problems’, which showed him switching up flows. He later said on Twitter: “Watch when I drop this bludklart album, that fire in the booth was light as day.” If that was easy work for Giggs, then we will be in for a treat when his album drops.

Until next time…

 *published on Monday 13th May

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April 30, 2013

MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]

I’m back after a week away sunning myself and sightseeing in Egypt and am ready to kick offThe Wrap Up‘s Rap Rundown again. I’m going to start with the man who excites most in the rap game; Mic Righteous. The Margate rapper released the visuals to ‘Up All Night’ taken off his recently released ‘Open Mic’ EP. The track is produced by TDH (Tom, Dick & Harry) and I like the grittiness of the video compared to most we see…

We caught a sneak peek of Sho Shallow’s new video ‘Bad’ as Rap Up UK released a behind-the-scenes video. The Brixton emcee reveals that this track was inspired by Wale’s ‘Bad’ because he liked the track and the concept.

Pound Sterling released his ‘Last Man Standing’ mixtape over a month ago and returned to drop a freestyle with a video spitting over Drake’s ‘5am In Toronto’ beat. This is one of my favourite freestyles I have heard as Pound Sterling sets some high standards with his flow and bars.

Paper Pabs from Bloodline took part in GRM Daily’s ‘Black & White’ where he talked honestly and openly about a few issues. One of the first things he questioned was “Is there even a grime scene? I think we need to rename it because I think UK rap is part of grime.” He went on to say they both need each other to balance and it needs to be renamed. What do you think?

USG’s founder Squingy released the video to ‘Rolling’ featuring Lefty. The instrumental draws you into the track instantly. The North West London collective are working on a USG album so look out for that coming soon.

As he gears up for the release of his new mixtape ‘King Of The Underground 2’, Joe Black drops a freestyle entitled ‘I’m Back’.  You might recognize the instrumental from K Koke’s ‘I’m Back’ track. Joe Black’s tracks always sound effortless and as he says in this freestyle, he makes it look like ‘light work’.

It is bank holiday next week so there are lots of events going on. On Friday, J. Cole will be hosting LoveDough which will see Cashtastic and Yungen performing on the night which takes place in Proud, Camden.

Saturday sees Musicalize return to Indigo2 and for me it is the best line up I’ve seen from this event. Kano, K Koke, Tyler James, Sway, Ghetts, Scorcher and Lunar C will all be taking to the stage in this not be missed night.

Streetfest is one of my favourite events of the year and sees an emergence of street culture come together in a car park in Shoreditch; music, clothes, art, skating and more. This year the winner of iTunes ‘Hip Hop Album of the Year’ Oddisee will be performing, supported by Dot Rotten, DJ Vadim, DJ Nikki Beatnik, Livin’ Proof and Supa Dupa Fly.

Lastly, on Monday Link-Up TV will be having their first ever live show at XOYO in Shoreditch with a line-up so far announced consisting of Squeeks, G FrSH, J Spades, Yungen and Lady Lykez.

I’ll be at all or most of these so see you there!

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April 16, 2013

MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]

Last week I went down to Geko’s show in north London to find a queue and crowd of screaming, fanatical fans (mainly girls). The young rapper from Manchester who is part of USG performed tracks from his mixtape ‘Voice Of The Future’, bringing out special guests Ard Adz and Sho Shallow, also bringing in other young talent as support acts which was great to see…

Yungen dropped his ‘Topic Of Discussion’ mixtape which has 16 tracks and includes features from Squeeks, Cashtastic, G FrSH and others with production from Steel Banglez, Knox Brown, Rymez, S-X and more. The video to track ‘F**k Them’ off the tape featuring his Play Dirty family Krept & Konan was also released, with some dark visuals.

Coops is an artist I have been hearing a lot about recently, with his name buzzing around on the scene. He released his debut mixtape ‘What Do You See’ in February, showcasing his ability on the 24-track tape. Last week saw him release the video to ‘My State Of Mind’, which samples Nas’ classic joint ‘NY State Of Mind’.

From the Str88 Cash team comes Kerz ‘Real Rap’ mixtape with a good 22 tracks produced by DJTR Beats the whole way through. Kerz delivers a good tape, making more people take notice. He covers a variety of topics, showing his depth and versatility as an artist.

Mozart’s Shizzle releases the video to ‘Crown Me’, a motivational and emotional track at the same time. The track is taken from his ‘It’s Mozart Baby’ mixtape which dropped right at the beginning on 2013.

The audio to Sneakbo’s new track ‘Ring A Ling’ was put online for all of our listening pleasure and samples Shabba Ranks, fusing bashment and bass music, and is musically different to anything heard from Sneakbo before. He talked to Mistajam on his BBC Radio 1Xtra show on Wednesday where he announced he is still working on the new EP ‘Certified’ and we can expect it this summer.

If you’re free on Saturday, April 20, get yourselves down to ‘Hip Hop Isn’t Dead’ at The Garage in London where there will be live performances from English Frank, Skinnyman, Klashnekoff, Durrty Goodz, Black The Ripper, Mic Righteous, Logic, Mystro, Genesis Elijah, Jaja Soze and others. The night will hosted by Charlie Sloth, A Squeezy and Big Cakes; plus there will be an open mic competition. See you there!

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