Producer and writer Naughty Boy presents us with the trailer to Hotel Cabana, his debut album expected out in early 2013. The video includes Emeli Sande who is on the first single to be released from the album, Tinie Tempah, Professor Green, Gabrielle and George the Poet who will all feature on the album.
September 19, 2012
MTV Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]
Hey, I hope you all had a good weekend – I did! Therefore, I am going to kick off with some good news this week. Hackney hip-hop artist Mikill Pane, who has worked with Ed Sheeran and Example, signed to Mercury Records last week. He announced the news via his Twitter and Instagram accounts, saying: “I moved to a new planet today. Proud to announce that I am now signed & I’m on Mercury Records…”
Mikill is said to be finishing his debut album ‘Blame Miss Barclay’,which we should be hearing before the end of this year. Congratulations!
Plan B has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize shortlist for his third album, which was also the Ill Manors soundtrack – making history as the first ever soundtrack to get a nomination. The judges have praised the soundtrack to his film of the same name, calling it “a brilliantly visceral soundtrack to an angry, troubling and harsh picture of life on the underside of London in 2012.”
Fekky,who previously teamed up with DJ Whoo Kid to release his ‘Come On Den’ mixtape, recently released his video to ‘Bang’ featuring Young Spray and Frisco. He also announced that he will also be working on a joint EP with Slic Vic and has a track with Wretch 32 in the pipeline. Meanwhile, Young Spray took to GRM Daily to release a net video to ‘Away’ – a heartfelt track from the ‘Hard To Kill Vol.2’ mixtape.
Jaja Soze recently released his album ‘The Last Message’. He also dropped the video to his track ‘Street Paradise’, an inspirational jam; which hears him say: “The urban scene just gets nervous every time I speak and when they see me it gets worse they try and kiss my feet.” Jaja also joined Geko for his latest track ‘Slideshow’.
Play Dirty’s Yungen gave us the hard new track ‘Rapstars’, which hears him talks about the life he lives – “independent life no label.” The track is produced by Steel Banglez; sounding like an interesting fusion of rap, rock and electro.
Clixx brought us a beautiful live acoustic version of his second single ‘Only If You Want’, which features singer Jermaine Riley and is from the ‘XX’ mixtape. We should be hearing some new material from Clixx soon; he is definitely one to watch.
Last week K. Koke shot the video to his first official single featuring Maverick Sabre from his ‘I Ain’t Perfect Album’. Speaking on K. Koke’s online TV series, Maverick Sabre said: “I love universal music, music that can connect with everybody no matter what genre. I think there have only been a few rappers over time that can do that well.
“I think the best way through hip-hop you can do that is through pain and struggle. Everybody can connect with that to a certain level. People speak to the people.”
September 12, 2012
The Weeknd Partners With Universal Republic To Release ‘Trilogy’ [News]
The Weeknd and his XO initiative have partnered with Universal Republic to release Trilogy on November 13th.
Trilogy will be available physically and digitally and will include his three mixtapse House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, they will all be mixed and mastered for the first time.The release will also contain unreleased, fresh material which I can’t wait to hear. The Weeknd‘s first single will be Wicked Games (one of my favourites) in preparation for the Trilogy release.
September 11, 2012
MTV Wrap UP: The UK Rap Rundown [News]
I’m back after a week’s holiday in the beautiful country of Croatia for Outlook Festival, where I caught Akala’s set and the Don’t Flop Battle alongside much more. I had no technology out there, which was wonderful, thus missing my last week’s rap column. I’m back now and here to fill you with this week’s happenings in the wonderful world of rap…
Whilst I was away a new Rapper Tag UK came out. Rapper Tag has been going on for just under a year and is an online cypher that started off with Mystro. You get a wide array of the UK’s finest spitting their bars before tagging another deserving rapper to join in.
Dubbledge tagged Iron Brayd for the latest one, who at the end appears to tag in North London’s M9 aka Melanin 9… watch out for his Rapper Tag video.
Political Peak released his video for ‘Tears In The Rain’ featuring Exo who sings the hook. The track is taken from his forthcoming mixtape ‘Dreams To Reality’, which is set to drop on September 29. You can catch Political Peak supporting the Maybach Music tour on Wednesday.
Ratlin and Squeeks joined forces for their new video ‘Not Gonna Change’ featuring singer Karina, bringing us into their world and discussing the past and present. True Tiger released their EP ‘Eye Of The Tiger Vol 2’ with one noticeable track for me called ‘Even In Death’, which hears Mic Righteous spitting over the producers beat.
Rap City recently released a video from their ‘Lost Files’ series. ‘Not Guilty’ comes from Joe Black’s ‘Realionaire’ mixtape which came out last year. We should be seeing Joe’s ‘Realionaire 2’ soon as he recently tweeted:, “NO MORE TWEETS UNTIL #REALIONAIRE2 IS READY.”
The multi-talented artist/radio presenter/battle rapper Mr 13 brought us a video release called ‘Kick Back Part 2’, which was shot at the 2012 Nottinghill Carnival and comes from his recent EP ‘Pain Is Inevitable, Suffering Is Optional’.
I was at the USG clothing shoot on last week with Squingy, Lefty, K. Koke and Exo for their new merchandise collaboration with Avit Clothing. Squingy was also shooting parts of his music video to the track ‘Deeper’ from his ‘Wrighty’s 1st Son Part 2’ mixtape. Watch out for the music video to ‘Deeper’ coming soon!
If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, head down to Peterborough for the Boombap Hip-Hop Festival, which takes place between the 14-16 September and features artists such as Kyza Smirnoff, Dabbla, Phi-Life Cypher and Jehst.
Until next time!
September 10, 2012
Disclosure Sign To PMR Records & New Single ‘Latch’ [News]
Producers Disclosure have signed to label PMR Records which is also home to Jessie Ware, Two Inch Punch and Julio Bashmore. They have announced that their first single with the label Latch will be released on November 5th and features vocals from Sam Smith.
August 24, 2012
MTV Wrap Up: The UK Rap Rundown [News]
In last week’s column I gave you some info on Professor Green’s Twitter rants. This week, he and Akala went head-to-head with one another on the social networking site. Pro Green hit out at Akala after he used him as an example of white rappers depicting black culture in music, referencing Pro Green’s ‘Jungle’ negatively. Akala threw Maverick Sabre’s name in, who featured on the track, during the heated twitter discussion which led him to release a statement – read more here…
Clement Marfo also went on Twitter to show his frustration at his record label recently, explaining that him and his band The Frontline’s album should have been released last autumn; yet there is still no release date. He then leaked five of his album tracks for free to his fans.
Last Monday I headed down to the Jump Off Finals at Scala, London. The MC battle was a very close one, but in the end Tenchoo was the winner of the 5K prize. The producer battle wasn’t quite as close and most people had decided on the winner Loko (Black Ice) from the first round. Dance crew Prototype won the 10K prize, the biggest of the night. Congratulations to all of the contestants for getting so far.
Squeeks has been releasing a lot of visuals this month; this week alone he has put out two. The first one is ‘Meet K’ where he talks us through a story of a female. The second one ‘I Got You’ was released yesterday and is a refix of The Weeknd’s ‘Rolling Stone’ – it’s definitely one for the ladies!
Wretch 32 released his freestyle ‘Drinking In The Sky’ featuring Chip, giving us a teaser of what to expect from his mixtape ‘Wretchercise’ the next day. This was his first full-length project in a year since his album ‘Black & White’. I have to say every one of the 17 tracks on it is strong and makes me excited for his next album.
SN1’s Gunna Dee also tells us why he likes ‘Bad Girls’ on the first video from his ‘Happy Hustler’s Day’ mixtape. The track features Angel who gives us a catchy hook.
There was said to be an interesting mixture of people in the studio last week as Shystie, Scorcher, Exo and Red Skull Beats joined Vince Kidd for what I believe will be a remix of one of his tracks – as usual, keep your ears and eyes peeled ‘til next time!
August 15, 2012
MTV Wrap Up – The UK Rap Rundown [News]
To kick this week’s Rap Rundown off, lets talk gossip. Professor Green went on a bit of a Twitter rant last week, lashing out at his label, writing: “Why would your own record label hinder you? Answers on a postcard.” He then went on to say “Dignified silence is pointless. A rushed second single, the ‘Remedy’ video a month late and now similar problems with the ‘Avalon’ video unfold…”
Answering some people’s tweets, he added: “Just to reiterate something for the stupid, my problem isn’t that they take that money, it’s that there are people not working for it.” Obviously he was frustrated, but he did point out that “there are a lot of people who are amazing at their jobs @ EMI.” I think Pro G was just about to quit smoking and was rather stressed at the time, so maybe his label won’t take it to heart!
London has been buzzing with energy and major events since the Olympics began. On Saturday I went down to Puma Yard in Brick Lane to catch one of my favourite bands, Clement Marfo + The Frontline. They wowed the crowd yet again, bursting with energy and getting us all moshing. Professor Green headlined the gig; but we got a surprise as Usain Bolt turned up to DJ with Manny Norte. I also attended the RWD x Adidas party, which was at a secret location in Shoreditch. Performances there came from Wretch 32, Scorcher, Bashy and more…
The USG team have kept the tracks coming strong, with Squingy releasing a track featuring Preecha entitled ‘Everyday’. Their youngest member Geko also released a net video for the track ‘Life Ain’t Easy’. It’s safe to say that the team are definitely putting in the work.
With the Olympics closing ceremony taking place and the Paralympics due to start, Calibar showed some love for his hometown, giving us ‘It’s A London Thing’ featuring Splurgeboys. We also saw an SB.TV Warm Up Session from him over the ‘Stay Schemin’ beat, where he spat: “Excuse me for being late on this beat, I’ve been away for half a year, meeting after meeting just planning my career.”Squeeks talked about the developments in his music career when he dropped the visuals to ‘Changes’. Political Peak had a similar theme in mind as he talked progress and perseverance on his new track ‘Tables Turned’, which is the first track from his forthcoming mixtape ‘Dreams 2 Reality’ which will be available on September 1.The rapper everyone has been talking about, J Spades, has been in the studio with Tinchy Stryder and they have already shot the video to their new track titled ‘Lead Role’ – make sure you watch out for that one coming soon!
August 14, 2012
Clement Marfo Leaks Five Songs From Forthcoming Album
Clement Marfo is very unhappy with his label Warner and has told all his followers on Twitter. It started off about an hour ago with him saying.
“I started this whole thing simply for the love of music! My escape, my way of expressing my emotions, my way of relating a story with others”
“I once remember the love & excitement of creating original music – where there was no briefs or someone telling you to make a song like this”
“There’s alot of manufactured girl/boy bands out there engineered by label execs & I can promise you this Clement Marfo & The Frontline isn’t”
Then he went on to tell his fans that the delay of the album is not his or the Frontline’s fault, but Warner.
“Most of these songs you hear now were written in 2009, before we got signed to a major label! Where the love for our music became poisoned”
“Apparently, we are not connecting with our audience…. what does that even mean? The label are so quick to come up with fucking excuses”
“I was told this album will be released Autumn/Winter and still there is no release date! It’s bloody August for goodness sake @warnermusic”
“Do you know how many talented artists we lose every year due to the label changing up the style they were interested in, in the 1st place…”
And then he decided to make a brilliant decision and stand up against his label Warner Music leaking 5 tracks titled World War III. Brilliant!
“.and with this I have made my OWN decision! My fans want to hear songs from the album and so they will! #fuckthelabel http://www.hulkshare.com/m596ugzpnk00 ”
Download Clement Marfo + The Frontline 5 leaked album tracks here
August 12, 2012
Azealia Banks v Jim Jones
Harlem artists Jim Jones and Azealia Banks have been having some Twitter beef. Azealia who is known for never biting her tongue and her beef with various females in the game, has now released a diss track towards Jim Jones. Jones has been using the term ‘Vampire Life’ for mixtapes, his clothing line, his crew and hectic schedule. Whilst Azealia Banks has taken to using the term ‘Vamp’ to describe her girl friends in a seductress way. Jim Jones wasn’t happy with her after she tried taking the credit of the phrase ‘Vamp’ or ‘Vampire Life’, and in true Azealia fashion she took it too far…
@Azealia Banks tweeted: “AMP: a very sexually/financially powerful woman who is usually characterized by a penchant for dark things; nighttime, witchcraft, .. Etc.,” in reference to something she was workign on.
Jones responded to a tweet by by @Rahim_TheDream and wrote: “@AZEALIABANKS tht vamplife is contagious.” This caused the two to go at it for some time.
Azealia responded: @jimjonescapo: yea I know! I wrote 212 in 2011 before ur song tho. That vamp sh– is some fashion stuff as well. In case u didn’t know.”\
Jim Jones: @AZEALIABANKS u better check th credits boo we ain’t just start vampin we are vampin u r welcome to join it’s a lifestyle #vampirelife”.
Azealia Banks: @jimjonescapo don’t be tryna take no credit Holmes.”
Jim Jones: “Knock it off please learn more about Harlem before u start vampin lol jokes enjoy ur day keep #vampin”.
Azealia Banks: “UUUUUGGGGGGHHHH SHHHUTT UP!!! Who was even talking to you in the first place?! like seriously…. Stop being such a Harlem n—- right now.”
Jim Jones: “I am a Harlem n—- thts y u dont belong there stay in Cali wit ur fake booooogie asss make sum $ first Lrn ur shoes n bags. Tell ur mother go away ub2 bit slore.”
Now she has released a diss track entitled Succubi. I think he has now heard the diss track or talks of it because he left some subliminal tweets aimed at her.
August 6, 2012
Tinie Tempah Talks Stereotyping To More Magazine
Tinie Tempah wants people to not stereotype ‘urban’ artists, saying not all of them are from broken homes.
“I was well brought up, my parents are still together. When people listen to hip hop, they think everybody’s from a broken home; that it only appeals to people from broken homes and those on drugs. But the majority probably do live with their mum and dad. They probably do go to good schools, and I just want to represent that.”
On his official website biography he talks about growing up on the Aylesbury Estate in South East London…
“London is one of the only places in the world where you can live in a council block and see a beautiful semi-detached house across the street. Growing up around that was inspirational, it kept me motivated.”
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