Archive for ‘Reviews’

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September 9, 2016

Reading Festival: Friday Review 2016

Reading Festival has to be one of my favourites, and that’s mainly because of the eclectic mix of music, and them always being at the forefront when it comes to supporting Grime and UK Rap artists such as Giggs, Fekky, Sneakbo.

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Arriving on the Friday in the early evening, we only got a few hours to see some of the acts left on the first day. Entering the arena from behind the main stage we watched producer duo and brothers Disclosure who were on the main stage and opened with their hit ‘White Noise’. They went onto play their own tracks ‘F For You’ and ‘You & Me’ saying that “Reading Festival was the first festival me and Howard went too, that’s why I think this is going to be the best crowd we’ve ever played too, am I right?” The crowd were quick to scream their answers of yes adding to their excitement. As the sun set and we were in darkness, the lazers appeared across the sky from the stage with ‘Bang That’ being played out to the huge crowd.

As we passed the Dance Stage there was some heavy tunes and dirty basslines coming out of it, so naturally we entered and discovered the sounds of DJ/Producer duo Jack U also known singularly as Diplo and Skrillex. They banged out some heavy-duty tracks that you couldn’t help but skank out too, including their own track and one of my personal favourites, ‘Take You There’, Disclosure’s ‘You & Me’ (Flume Remix), and Skepta’s ‘Shutdown’. The energy in the tent was insane and they definitely did shut down their headline set on Friday in the Dance Tent.

Wiley was last up at the BBC Radio 1Xtra Stage and I managed to catch most of his set, he entered onto the stage spitting “I done a lot of tracks in the manor, E3 you can get the loud pack in the manor.” Scratchy then joined him on stage flowing over a classic grime instrumental ‘Creeper’ by Danny Weed bringing more energy to the stage with this track. Wiley moved onto ‘Can’t Go Wrong’ and more commercially known track ‘Wearing My Rolex’. Flowdan was brought out where the three went back to back over Preditah’s ‘Circles,’ and Rebound X ‘Rhythm N Gash’ where JME bounced out onto the stage also joining in on the mic. As the end of the night appeared and Wiley’s set was drawing to an end he announced, ““They said to shut it down, you know what we’re gonna do,” and left us with renditions of Skepta’s ‘Shutdown’ and BBK’s ‘Too Many Men’.

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August 16, 2016

Pixies Tracks Of The Week @OfficialChip @Novelist @Bonkaz @OfficialGiggs

Chip x Kranium – Style Dat

Chip is gearing up to release his EP ‘Power Up’ in a few weeks, and has begun to drop tracks and visuals off of it to give fans a taster. We see a big collaboration with New York huge Dancehall, Jamaican artist Kranium titled ‘Style Dat’ which brings a more laid-back and soul vibe to Chip’s normally more up-beat vibe.

Novelist – Girl’s Around The World

Lewisham Grime King, Novelist releases a brand new banger for us to enjoy, and not only does he flex his skills as an MC, but also as a producer. It’s a bit of a different vibe from what we’re used to as he get’s a bit romantic on his lyrics, and slows it down for his one and only.

Bonkaz – Contralla Remix

Bonkaz filmed his remix of Drake’s ‘Controlla’ at a Summer BBQ in his ends, giving it the proper vibes and feeling of the track. It’s an empowering track for black women and the Black Lives Matter campaign.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKbjYiGzK6s

Giggs ft. CasIsDead – 501 (Hollow & Heston)

Giggs brand new album ‘Landlord’ landed at No.2 on the official album charts, and the UK Rap Lord also dropped a visual off of there ‘501 (Hollow & Heston) featuring CasIsDead. It’s definitely a highlight off the album, so check out the video below.

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August 14, 2016

The Sounds of UK Rap

Giggs

On August 5th, one of the driving forces behind road rap’s huge rise in popularity released a huge new album titled Landlord, leaving UK rap fans worldwide universally excited. Giggs has maintained the same gritty identity throughout his career and thankfully that hasn’t changed on his new album. Standout tracks include ‘Savage’, ‘The Blow Back’ feat. Stormzy and Dub, and ‘The New S**t’.

Another standout track is ‘501 (Hollow & Heston)’ (feat. CasIsDead), which now has a video. Giggs drops heavy-duty verses, maintaining his UK rap flow over a grime beat: “Landlord, and I’m back, I cut keys, I got tenants.”

The Landlord album is currently sitting nicely at No.2 in the UK album charts which you can buy here

Yungen

Yungen goes in hard and addresses his haters on new track ‘Away Games.’ He addresses one situation in particular whereby a guy is videoed stepping to Yungen in Uxbridge in a threatening manner, resulting in Yungen dropping his Nando’s and making a swift exit. The South London rapper didn’t seem fazed by it, and naturally it’s what most would do in a situation like that, but Yungen clearly wanted to get his point across to everyone. “Man said I ran away and I lost my balls, like I’m supposed to fight hulk and his friends like a fool. It’s cool, I circle back with the gang doe, and the truth is all I’m pissed about is I had to buy back my Nando’s.” He also explains to any haters, “That same night I did a show for 8 racks, have that shit for payback.”

Mic Righteous

Mic Righteous, one of UK’s most fearless rappers, is in pursuit of happiness on his brand new single ‘Survivor’ – the first to be taken from his forthcoming albumDreamland. It comes a week after his third return to Charlie Sloth’s Fire In The Booth, which he tore up once again. Mic takes on a rock-influenced hip-hop beat, telling a tale of faith, determination and overcoming hardships. It’s an inspiring and elevating track. Mic spits in an intense, fast-paced flow throughout with an emotional delivery: “I found you when I was down and out, chasing my tail round and round, I was just about to throw in the towel, I was thinking about bowing out. I doubted your power but I found it now.”

67

Last week, 67 released their brand new track ‘5am Vamping’ and announced news of their forthcoming UK tour in support of their forthcoming Let’s Lurkmixtape. On ‘5am Vamping’, they talk us through road life with menacing sonics: “Bang for my bro / bang for my blood non-stop.” Produced by Carns Hill, it’s catchy and one for the streets and the clubs, something they have become known for: “Vamping 5am with the gang blowing loud on a gang ting, finessing the game like Messi, whenever 67 in the rave manna man blow loud so the club so smelly.”

Pre-order Let’s Lurk over here. Buy tickets to their forthcoming UK tour over here.

Section Boyz

Section Boyz have been busy tearing down festivals recently, but have also made time for the studio as they bring us new track ‘Nosey Neighbours.’ The visuals capture the lyrics perfectly with the guys going about their everyday lives such as pouring cereal and chilling in their garden. They take it in turns to spit their aggressive bars over a rather steady, but ominous beat, allowing the bars, delivery, styles and flows of each member to shine.

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July 25, 2016

Field Day Festival 2016 [Review]

Field Day returned to it home of Victoria Park on the 11-12th June for it’s 10th year, and this year it proceeded to open it’s doors to Grime. The festival is normally known for being a predominately indie/rock music festival, so it was intriguing that it opened it’s doors to some big names from the UK’s homegrown genre, which saw Skepta perform live on the Eat Your Own Ears main stage.

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Skepta performance was at 4pm and the clouds gave way to rain, but this did not stop people heading to watch him, and he drew in a massive crowd. As he opened with BBK’s DJ Maximum to ‘That’s Not Me’ he told the crowd how he loved them for standing there in the rain to watch him, showing his appreciation for his fans. As it continued to rain he went into his ‘Blacklisted’ track ‘Ace Hood Flow’ which most people didn’t seem to know, but it didn’t stop them enjoying themselves. He continued into ‘It Ain’t Safe’ ft. Young Lord and then brought out Shorty and Jammer whilst Maximum dropped well-known Grime track Rebound X ‘Rhythm ‘N’ Gash’ mixed into more Grime tracks whilst the three spat hard bars. Drawing near the end, the sun came out and he perfomed ‘Man (Gang)’ to a wilder crowd and everyone seemed to be skanking out.

Slimzee one of Grime’s pioneers and most influential people in the scene was up next at the bandstand, and he opened with some Wiley tunes, drawing a decent sized amount of people over to the small stage. As he played more tracks, he seemed to capture more attention and people flocked to have listen to his selection of the wickedest Grime tracks and have a good rave.

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Next up was another Boy Better Know member; Frisco who was joined by one of Grime’s hardest producer/DJ’s, Sir Spryo. The North London emcee switched up his set performing tracks from his recently released ‘System Killer’ album where you could hear the crowd spitting the bars word for word, to performing BBK’s ‘Too Many Men’ which got the crowd rowdy, along with his bars from Skepta’s ‘Detox’ and many more.

Novelist was the last but not least over on The Fader stage joined by DJ Grandmixxer and upcoming East London MC Fusion. The two created the maddest hype from the crowd, taking their t-shirts off half way through as they were jumping around so much. He got the audience chanting, ‘F**k David Cameron.’ He managed to not perform any of his own songs, just bars and tunes, reminiscent of an old skool Grime set.

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July 17, 2016

Pixies Tracks Of The Week @Duskymusic @Wileyupdates @Dapzonthemap @RayBlk_ @Prez_T @JCLARKE_GHETTS @Rudekidmusic

Dusky ft. Wiley – Sort It Out Sharon

As Dusky prepares to release his forthcoming album ‘Outer’ we hear a brand new track taken from it ‘Sort It Out Sharon’. It features the Godfather of Grime Wiley, and blends techno with Grime and 93’ rave music. Dusky bring an emergence of genres for this one making it sound rather futuristic, with Wiley flowing effortlessly over the Dance music duo’s production.

Dapz On The Map – Champion Champion

West Bromwich’s Dapz On The Map is back at it again with a brilliant new track full of passion, hunger and emotion for ‘Champion Champion’. He eases us into the track with his soulful voice, and makes us listen to his lyrics full of greatness and power on a Thomas Mellor produced beat.

https://soundcloud.com/dsaw/dapz-on-the-map-champion-champion-produced-by-thomas-mellor

Ray Blk ft. Stormzy – My Hood

Singer Ray Blk releases the visuals to her brilliant new track ‘My Hood’ which has been getting a lot of love, “Ray BLK said of the video to ‘Dazed‘ magazine, “I’ve been getting older, I’ve been realising that where I’m from is not a very nice place, to put it quite plainly. When I was younger, growing up, you don’t really realise what’s going on around you. I was saying to one of my friends, every day I’d see a police car, every day I’d hear sirens…
“But I also saw the beauty in where I’m from, like the people, the culture, so there’s good and bad and that’s what I wanted to speak about in the song.”

President T ft. JME – House & Pop

“Real veterans will do real veteran things” President T says on the intro to his Splurgeboys produced brand new track ‘House & Pop’, and that’s exactly what happens when him and JME start spitting their bars.

Ghetts & Rude Kid – Savage

Ghetts and Rude Kid drop a brilliant new video ‘Savage’ from the soundtrack of the forthcoming ‘The Intent’ film. It features footage from the film with cameos from Fekky and Femi Oyeniran, and shows Ghetts in a state of power in the cinematic visual.

 

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July 11, 2016

The Sounds of UK Rap: @ReekoSqueeze @Official6ix @Sneakbo @TherealWholagun @DonStrapzy_

Reeko Squeeze

This year, Reeko Squeeze has being working hard, dropping track after track. After his separation from infamous UK Rap crew Section Boyz last year, which left fans shocked and disappointed, he went on to drop his introductory mixtape Child’s Play as a solo artist. It proved he was strong on his own and made room for himself in his own lane, collaborating with artists such as Youngs Teflon and J Hus. His new track ‘Ring Ring’ takes on a production courtesy of Loadstar, bringing a different sound to the normal street bangers he goes for. We see him flowing effortlessly over an energetic instrumental, with a chorus that matches the vigor of the beat.

 

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One of London’s hottest UK Rap crews have released another heavyweight track titled ‘Traumatised 2’. It features a haunting, ghostly, and sinister beat mixed with raw and gritty chronicles of the streets, their lives, and what they see around them. ‘Traumatised 2’ captures their authenticity, “Mans on trapping, man got skills, g money got gwop like Tesco tills, peng tings wanna lurk on Brixton Hill.” Their real bars, teamed with their original sound, have pushed them already into the limelight.

 

Sneakbo

South London rapper Sneakbo sprays bars all over his new Dancehall anthem, sampling a classic riddim ‘Bookshelf.’ Produced by iLL Blu and featuring the vocals of Nyla, Sneakbo has a surefire hit on his hands for the summer – ready to hit the clubs or be played whilst relaxing on the beach. This is his first release since being signed to Virgin EMI, and it’s clear nothing has changed with Sneakbo’s style; it’s full of energy and charisma. Sneakbo lays his bars down about a female: “10 out of 10 girl your looks are nice, get what I like I don’t watch the price / I woke up like you see tonight, I’m living life, living like I’m about to die.”

 

Wholagun

Wholagun drops one for the streets with his new track ‘I’m Sorry.’ He matches ice-cold bars with a flow that switches up and quickens. The South London rapper isn’t new to the game, and has an undeniable sound in the UK amongst other rappers, pairing minimalist beats with sharp bars. ‘I’m Sorry’ shows Wholagun telling us he’s about to mess up the game with his unruly, boisterous bars and feverish delivery: “Been looking hard and observing, if I go hard then it’s curtains, they got bars and they murking, but they ain’t like this in person,” talking about how other rappers lie in their bars and aren’t really like that. We wonder who he’s aiming that at?

 

Don Strapzy

Another artist straight out of South London, Don Strapzy has been putting in the work this year. dropping strings of videos and headlining a show at Birthdays in Dalston. ‘Write Off’ finds him going hard with a passionate and fiery delivery over a lively, upbeat production that should be turned up loud in your car or in the club. “I’m Donny and I’m all about the dolla, loyal to my family I’ll die for my honour.”

News

Beyoncé has been in London for her Formation world tour and along with dancing to Skepta and JME’s ‘That’s Not Me’ on Saturday night (July 2nd), she also brought out UK Rap crew Section Boyz for a support slot on July 3rd.

Section Boyz also have a new track out with Chris Brown, Wiz Kid and Hoody Baby titled ‘Shabba.’ It dropped on Chris Brown’s SoundCloud, and is the second time the crew have paired up with the R&B singer (the first being ‘Whippin’).

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July 4, 2016

Pixies Tracks Of The Week @RudeKidMusic @JCLARKE_GHETTS @ScorchersLife @splurgeboys @Fusion_IAS @Snow667 @BIGG61XXX

Rude Kid x Ghetts – Peng Tings

The dynamic duo of Grime producer Rude Kid and one of the best MC’s out of the UK join again for collaborative track ‘Peng Tings.’ Delivering a string-led bassline, with handclaps and an underlying vocals that takes ‘Peng Tings’ back to Ghetts banger ‘Sing For Me’ fused with their collaborative and recent track ‘One Take.’

Scorcher & Rocket – Maikon

This is the video track to be seen off of Scorcher and Splurgeboys new collaborative forthcoming EP. Splurgeboy’s Tee provides the production, whilst Rocket takes place on the mic along with Scorcher and they go back to back on verses.

Big 6ix ft. TE dness – Are You Mad

The 6 Figure Music camp dropped the audio to this over a month ago, and now we get the visuals to follow which are more like a movie. ‘Are You Mad’ brings a ghostly, trap beat with the two spitting fire street bars paired with solid, fierce deliveries.

Fusion ft. AJ Tracey & PK – Rudeboy RMX

East London Grime MC Fusion freshens up his track ‘Rudeboy’ with a remix featuring two hard London lyricists AJ Tracey and PK from YGG. The three go in hard over a beat produced by Fusion and Shizz McNaughty.

Snowy – Durt

 Nottingham’s Snowy delivers us a brand new cold track on his Soundcloud produced by Boogie Pro. ‘Durt’ sees him deliver some ferocious bars over a Asian influenced production that will get you skanking out when you hear it drop.

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June 16, 2016

Review: Rinse | Born & Bred 2016

Rinse | Born & Bred made a return to its home of Haggerston Park on the weekend of June 4th and 5th. Still in its second year, the festival is now a collaboration with Rinse FM – an apt pairing as both celebrate rave-inspired dance music and sound system culture, with sounds such as Grime, Drum & Bass, Garage, Jungle, Hip Hop and more. Rinse FM is known for bringing the pulse of the underground to their myriad of listeners, and has become one of London’s most respected stations throughout their evolution from ‘Pirate’ to ‘FM’.


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Arriving at 3pm on the Saturday, we firstly made our way to catch Grime producers Heavytrackerz set, over on the Lord Of The Mics stage, where they played an array of heavy-duty tracks such as Bonkaz ‘We Run The Block,’ Dizzee Rascal’s ‘Stop Dat,’ Kano and much more. They held a good crowd and kept the festival go-ers moving.

It was over to the main stage next to catch Manchester Grime representative Bugzy Malone, who has definitely put Manny on the map with his new album. Bugzy’s stage presence was great to watch for such a fresh artist, and he commanded the people’s attention as he growled out his trademark bark along with tracks ‘Watch Your Mouth,’ ‘Gone Clear,’ ‘Moving’ and more for his fans.

New talent in the form of AJ Tracey and Big Zuu were next on the agenda back over at Lord Of The Mics arena. These two showcased their emceeing skills and also how to hold a crowd, and keep them entertained. Their delivery and energy was ferocious and they had the audience hanging on and repeating every line back to them. They may be new, but they’ll definitely have longevity.

As we waited for P Money at the Lord Of The Mics stage, we were informed he would now be on the main stage as Wiley hadn’t turned up. We made our way over as the one and only don Slimzee stepped up to handle the DJ duties and P Money the MC duties with a Fuxx Azealia Banks t-shirt on as he said to the crowd, “gunfire on Azealia Banks, can’t be dissing the mandem and the girl dem over here.” He continued to spray bars alongside Wiley’s little brother Cadell and Blacks. The crowd loved every bit of this hype set and didn’t seem too bothered at Wiley’s no-show.

The last but not least, the most iconic moment of Rinse | Born & Bred had to be the headline artist Congo Natty who opened his set by paying tribute to Muhammad Ali, with everyone in the audience singing along to Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come.’ He then went into pure jungle tracks such as his own track ‘Junglist,’ Shy FX’s ‘Original Nuttah’ and much, much more.

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June 13, 2016

Pixies Tracks Of The Week @MsBanks94 @BigFlowDan @KnoxBrown @MsEziEmela

Ms Banks – The Come Up

We’ve heard the news on the internet and social media about the forthcoming ‘The Intent’ movie, and now MS Banks has dropped the almighty first track off of the film with the visuals to boot! The video shows Ms Banks with blue hair and shows clips from the movie too, teasing us of what to expect. This is a real hard track, that shows off her lyrical skills and features a hook from Ayo Beatz.

Flowdan – Horror Show Style

Grime veteran Flowdan delivers the visuals for ‘Horror Show Style.’ The video matches the name of the track perfectly, with girls dressed up as in if a horror film, whilst Flowdan is in a suit and also black tracksuit. The beat has a repetitive rolling drum sound throughout, in which Flowdan delivers his bars over.

Knox Brown ft. Anderson Paak – No Slaves

Birmingham producer and vocalist Known Brown drops the audio to track ‘No Slaves’ featuring American rapper Anderson Paak. This is taken from Knox’s forthcoming debut EP ‘Searching’ out August 5th. The tracks statement is powerful and unites gospel, soul and dub, highlighted by Knox’s soulful vocals and Paak’s incisive verse.

Ezi Emela – No Lele

British Nigeran singer Ezi Emela returns with track ‘No Lele’ which was given it’s radio premiere by DJ Target. This is going to be on her forthcoming EP, and sees the singer in a rebellious and defiant mood, addressing her detractors and naysayers with strong and confident lyrics.

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