K Koke enlists his Roc Nation label mate Bridget Kelly to handle the hook in his new single My Time.
May 8, 2013
Skepta ft. Kano – Lay Her Down [Music Video]
Skepta drops the old school themed video with a Fresh Prince vibe to his new single Lay Her Down featuring Kano. The track is said to be on his forthcoming album called Konnichiwa.
May 8, 2013
Squingy Ft. Precha – Everyday [Music Video]
Check out Squingy’s new video Everyday in this London to Coventry link up which is home to Precha.
May 1, 2013
Kane – Hard Headed [Music Video]
Kane takes it to the black and white, gritty streets of London for his newest visuals for Hard Headed featuring UK songstress Shanna Songbird.
Hard Headed is an anthem about grinding and getting what you want by putting in the hard work.
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!
April 30, 2013
Shystie – Scumbag [Music Video]
Scumbag is Shystie‘s second official release from the Pink Mist E.P. Scumbag was premiered live at her mixtape launch last Thursday. The track is an emotionally charged reminder to the men out there who are unfaithful to think twice, especially when it concerns Shystie!
April 19, 2013
Ayar – Good Is Getting Better [Free Mixtape Download]
UK rapper AYAR drops hot new mixtape ‘GOOD IS GETTING BETTER.’
The project boasts some stellar features from artists such as Naira, Jayd Alexander, Mover, Rageouz, and Don E plus over fresh production featuring classic cuts and hip hop beats.
The mixtape is an introspective look at the UK rappers life as he paints a journey of his life, relationships and street struggles through contemplative rhymes and spoken word.
AYAR does not rely on hard-hitting beats to carry him along, more on his remarkable lyrical flair and incredible storytelling abilities.
Download Ayar – Good Is Getting Better here
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!
April 14, 2013
MTV The Wrap Up: Mic Righteous [Interview]
Mic Righteous has risen steadily from an up and coming underground emcee to gaining positive mainstream success, most recently with tracks ‘Hold It Down’ and ‘Ghost Town’. With the release of his third mixtape ‘Open Mic’ which is currently storming the iTunes chart, The Wrap Up’s Shireen Fenner catches up with Mic to talk watered-down music, attention from the ladies and a secret exclusive…
The Wrap Up: Talk us through the beginning – what was the thought process behind your artist name and do you feel you’ve lived up to it?
Mic Righteous: My original rap name was Mr E; that was a name given to me by my older brother – I looked up to him. It was more of a jungle MC name, so I thought I needed to change it. I was thinking and then the word righteous just came into my head – I’ve always been a fan of mic’s, like Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson and Michael Jordan. I thought Mic Righteous sounded good so I went to my manager and I asked him ‘What does righteous mean?’ he told me what it meant [and he kept the name from then on].
Now I have developed into that character… it was like that name was given to me, I never found the name because I didn’t know what it meant at the time. [Therefore] it’s not a case of ‘have I lived up to it’, it’s ‘am I living up to it?’ I’m not him yet, God keeps putting these trials in front of my way and I keep tackling them, and that will enable me to develop into it.
TWU: Your third offering ‘Open Mic’ is your first offering that isn’t free for fans – why do you feel this EP is worth paying for as opposed to the others?
Mic Righteous: One of the hardest things as an independent artist is [the lack of] money and financial backing. If you want a video to look good, that’s going to cost you thousands of pounds – but we’ll put the thousands of pounds in. That money is coming out of the pockets we have to work and hustle on the streets for.
I do feel like the effort and work I’ve put into my mixtapes is the sort of work and effort that these artists are putting into their albums – and I’m just putting that out for free. That’s costing me a lot of money and I’m not making anything back, but to me it’s never been about the money, it’s always been about the love.
It’s about real hip-hop coming through. People with an opinion will always say ‘we don’t hear real hip-hop’ or ‘people don’t play real music’ – but that is because people don’t support real music or pay for it. So, this is not me saying ‘you guys have got to pay for this’, this is a trial to see if it works. Now’s the time to support real music.
TWU: You’ve expressed the dramas of your life in your lyrics. How hard has that been, or is it therapeutic for you?
Mic Righteous: Pain is just an emotion that’s a reaction to an action that goes on in your mind. The hardest part for me is the sacrifices I have to make. I’m a 22-year-old who has a child; he has a very good mum but unfortunately I can’t be with her no more – I can’t have that life. That’s part of God’s test on me; I have to do what’s right for him.
TWU: In an interview with The Wrap Up last year, you said you knew you would ‘have to water everything down’ eventually to win the public over. Did you follow through with ‘Open Mic’?
Mic Righteous: If you listen to ‘Open Mic’, you’ll hear what I mean – that’s about as watered down as Mic’s going to get. It keeps its credibility and it’s just me playing around with hooks. Not everyone is going to feel that aggression… I’ll never, ever, ever just jump on a Calvin Harris tune; I’ll go to the studio and get a beat made for me. I’ll go in the studio with a guitarist and asked him to mash up some Slipknot and I’ll rap to that. I don’t mind that because I like that kind of music; I wouldn’t mind screaming my head off on a rock beat and going crazy.
TWU: What do you want fans to take away from ‘Open Mic’?
Mic Righteous: I just want them to understand that no matter what, I’m just going to be me – take what you want from it; but understand the work and dedication. I want them to fall in love with it and follow me on the journey.
TWU: Tell us something that fans would be surprised to know?
Mic Righteous: This is just a maybe, so I shouldn’t be saying anything but Shireen I like you and I like what your doing so I’m going to say it regardless of what anyone else has to say… As long as ‘Open Mic’ goes well, there MIGHT be a 30-track mixtape of pure hip-hop bangers. I dunno, I didn’t make it, this guy Mic Righteous did… It MIGHT be released – who knows?
TWU: This is one for the ladies….do you have a girlfriend?
Mic Righteous: A gentleman never tells…
TWU: But you get more female attention now… so how do you deal with it?
Mic Righteous: When I was young I never got female attention, so when I’m out here and I get female attention I lap it all up [laughs]. That’s just the way I am… I love women and I respect them fully. I like it, I can’t lie I really do enjoy it. I like hanging with females, sometimes more than dudes. I know a couple of girls that I can chill with and we get on better than most men.
TWU: Last message to the fans?
Mic Righteous: It’s all love. I’ve got love for every single one of you, old and young. The door is always open for more fans… I don’t even want to label you as fans because you’re not; you’re just people that I love. If you love me then keep listening to what Shireen’s doing because she is a wonderful person and keep reading her articles on The Wrap Up because she’s doing something good.
Published on 11th Feb 2013
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