Brixton rappers Ard Adz and Sho Shallow take it down a different vibe for their new track Lose My Head featuring bashment artist K’More, gives in a kind of summery feeling in this cold winter.
December 17, 2013
MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]
This week is all about the Lord Of The Mics release and all last week we saw it being talked about everywhere on the social networks and blogs and sites supporting the movement started by Ratty and Jammer…
The press launch party also took place last week, which saw press being invited down to watch the clashes before the release and everyone talking about their opinions of who won. Some of the opinions were quite definite, others were hard to tell. Now its out, I’m sure a lot of you have watched it, what do you think?
The Allstars track was also unleashed on radio and on Soundcloud for us to hear and featured Jammer, Maxsta, Big Shizz, Blizzard, Lil Nasty, Realz, D2, Lil Choppa and Zeo. Check it out now!
Goldie 1’s name has been popping up this year quite a lot on the rap circuit and I definitely like his style, he’s brought something different to the table. A very trappy style which features two of my favourites who are just getting bigger and better and have had an incredible year Sho Shallow and Ard Adz and also a strong verse from Ayo Beatz.
Two South London rappers join forces for this new club banger which sees Ghost from Squeeze 4 Ps collaborate with SN1’s Giggs. The two deliver some hard bars over a dark instrumental. Look out for more to come from Ghost next year.
One of Grime’s hardest duo’s the Newham Generals last week dropped another video this one entitled ‘Passion.’ The track was premiered on Mistajam’s show on 1Xtra recently with the video being released soon after last week and shows the General’s passion for Grime still.
Alwayz Recording artist Yellows brought out his ‘Yellows Pages 2’ EP and we should be expecting more visuals from it very very soon. The mixtape sees collaborations from Sneakbo, Paigey Cakey, Fuze BW and more. Make sure you go and get that now.
March 27, 2013
MTV Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]
It has been over a decade since the crew first launched in the early 2000’s and last Thursday saw them reunite for the So Solid Crew Reunion Tour. The tour sold out and this was no surprise as the crew were instrumental in the development of the UK music scene. In particular, ’21 Seconds’ went straight to No.1, proving that this type of ‘urban’ music could reach commercial success and is still a well-known song in pop culture…
Ms Dynamite joined the crew for track ‘Envy’ getting the audience hyped to see the female MC joining the crew. Chip also joined them on stage and you could tell he was excited to be on stage with the crew who inspired him. Skepta unfortunately was meant to be performing with Megaman on ‘We Begin Things’ but police would not allow him into the venue.
Godfather of grime Wiley leaked what is set to be his last album ‘The Ascent’ nearly two weeks before its release date. His decision to do it was due to iTunes not letting him change something on the album and communication problems with his management. Let’s hope his album sales still rocket as he deserves it.
Known for his hot freestyles and well-respected tracks, and with a constantly growing street buzz, Nines has always supported and represented his NW home of Church Road to the fullest. Unfortunately he is now reportedly in prison at Wormwood Scrubs for reasons unknown and unconfirmed at present. He tweeted “If it’s peak for me @ court make sure you give my new mixtape 2 skinny black and dem n***rs make sure I hear dat on da yard.” Let’s hope he’s out soon and we hear it too.
One of UK raps respected Fekky joined Charlie Sloth for Fire In The Booth, proving why he has earned this status and it’s not going anywhere. He lays down hard, truthful bars lighting up the booth.
Pound Sterling dropped his ‘Last Man Standing’ mixtape which sees a solid 19 tracks and contains some strong features from Skepta, Fekky and Jaja Soze. The tape shows his elevation and progress as an artist keeping the real, authentic rap there.
G FrSH released another video to a track off his forthcoming ‘Legoman 2’ mixtape. This time we see Sincere and Fekky join him for ‘18k’ with all of them dropping some big heavy-duty bars.
South London’s Political Peak has been on his grind, releasing quite a few videos recently. We saw him refix Drake’s ‘Started From The Bottom’ over a week ago. A day later and wasting no time he dropped motivational track ‘Get Money, F**k B***hes’ which saw another STR88CASH representative Kerz join him.
Meanwhile, Sho Shallow and Ard Adz have released the G.H.E.T.T.O EP – you can get the 13-track offering on iTunes now.
March 19, 2013
MTV Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]
I was excited to see Dot Rotten and Black the Ripper on Wednesday evening (13) as they opened up for Joe Budden at XOYO. I think they are both massively talented, and I hadn’t seen them live before. The two first performed ‘This Is For’ together and then Dot left Samson to perform tracks from his ‘Married To Marijuana’ mixtape. Dot Rotten premiered a new track for us called ‘The Grief’ which I’m sure you will be able to hear for yourselves soon…
A few things happened on Twitter last week, starting off with K Koke’s and Dappy feud being brought back alive. Dappy replied to a tweet from Koke, saying that the Roc Nation artist was just not on his level yet, tweeting a picture of a packed arena.
Koke then replied to Dappy asking him to get in the ring with him for Red Nose Day, claiming: “I’ll beat him up with one hand tied behind my back I promise”. Personally I think they should have done it and had it out; it would be rather entertaining to watch too!
Cashtastic released ‘5am in London’ covering Drake’s track ‘5am in Toronto’, where he addresses some issues and announces his deal with Universal, spitting: “Adz sent for me but where did that get him? Focus on your career and just make money bredrin.”
Seemingly after the track was released, Ard Adz tweeted Cashtastic yesterday (17) with a message that read: “@cashtasticmusic UR A NERD UR NOT ALLOWED IN UR OWN ENDS UR JUST A RAPPER , U CAN NEVER RELEASE A VID CALLED #PECKHAMBOY. HOPE TO SEE U SOON”
He continued: “@cashtasticmusic UR HARD AT RAPPIN BRO INSHALLAH U GO ALL THE WAY , ALL IM SAYING IS STOP FOOLING THE FANS UR NOT BOUT THAT LIFE SEE U SOON”
Cashtastic didn’t reply, perhaps given his Universal announcement. Cash has gone from strength to strength over the years, proving himself to be one of the best in the UK rap scene. Let’s see how this deal will elevate him and his career.
Speaking of Brixton’s Ard Adz, him and Sho Shallow released the visuals to their new track ‘Brixton Boy’ last Monday which will be on their ‘G.H.E.T.T.O’ EP, out this month.
Giggs, who is one of the UK’s most respected rappers, put together a 53-track free downloadable mixtape with DJ Big Ryde for the fourth in the series ‘Best Of Giggs’. You can download that via GRM Daily now.
South London rapper Colours returned with ‘It’s Going Down’ after a short hiatus to bring us the video to this methodical street track, where we hear Colours flows easily over a big, heavy bass beat. We should expect to see a mixtape from him very soon.
Rap Up UK released two biography mini documentaries last week, kicking off with Tinie Tempah for the first one, showing his rise from the Aftershock days, ‘Wifey Riddim’ to his first album ‘Disc-Overy’ which took him from the UK underground to worldwide stardom.
The second one showed a rapper who is still at the tender age of 15-years old. Geko is already predicted to be huge in the future and the documentary saw how his persistence messages to K Koke from the age of 10 paid off when he messaged him back; he later became a part of USG. His first official single ‘They Gonna Know’ will be available to pre order from iTunes soon.
Speaking of Geko; himself and Dot Rotten will be performing at Mic Righteous’ event on May 24 at The Garage; you can buy tickets for that now!
March 11, 2013
Ard Adz & Sho Shallow ft. Bellzey – Brixton Boy [Music Video]
After dropping the tracklisting to their forthcoming G.H.E.T.T.O EP Ard Adz and Sho Shallow release the visuals a track taken from there called Brixton Boy
March 11, 2013
MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]
I hit G Shock Sessions on Friday evening, the first one of 2013 and this was definitely one not to be missed. With a heavy-duty line up, people braved the rain to head down to the shop in East London and catch the live acts which included Scrufizzer, Saskilla, Mic Righteous, Dru Blu, McLean and Trilla…
When Shystie dropped the ‘Control It’ video featuring Azealia Banks last Sunday evening (March 3) to positive feedback, no one could have expected that her (ex?) friend Azealia was talking with her label about removing the video from the net. Whatever reasons she had for this, the New York diva did not come across well, as most people were backing Shystie and the video was re-uploaded. ‘Control It’ comes from Shy’s forthcoming ‘Pink Mist’ EP.
There was a lot of new music and videos out last week. We heard Wretch 32’s new single featuring singer Shakka. The track is called ‘Blackout’ and is the first tune to be heard from Wretch’s new album, giving us a little taster of what to expect. The album is expected to be released at the end of 2013.
Scorcher’s latest project ‘Simply The Best Vol 3’ was released in December last year and was heavily rated. A newly-released video sees him and Fekky going in hard over a trap instrumental called ‘One Time’ produced by Slic Vic.
In the lead up to the release of his single ‘Lay Down Your Weapons’ featuring Rita Ora which came out yesterday (March 10) K Koke did a bit of promo, which included an SB.TV twitter hijack, a USG cypher from himself, Aystar, Geko, Squingy and Lefty and a music video for ‘Do Dis Ting’, dedicated to the USG supporters. ‘Lay Down Your Weapons’ got to No.17 in the charts last night.
The USG team’s youngest member Geko along with their newest recruit Aystar dropped the video to ‘Play Around’, which sees the two proving that even though they are young, they can go in and lay down bars along with the best of them.
Sho Shallow and Ard Adz revealed the tracklisting to the general public for their new EP ‘G.H.E.T.T.O’ which is set to drop on Tuesday March 12 and will see 13 brand new tracks from the duo. Their video ‘Brixton Boy’ was due to be out last night, but due to technical difficulties it didn’t get released – I’m sure it will be out soon.
Link-Up TV put together a documentary on UK rap recently. The documentary was done in light of the UK rap scene gaining a lot of attention and to praise its success. It looked at the past, present and future and talked to rappers including Wretch 32, Mike GLC and Giggs. Make sure you check it out.
February 15, 2013
Ard Adz & Sho Shallow – Misleading [Music Video]
Ard Adz and Sho Shallow put out the video to Misleading for Valentines Day but it’s not quite the romantic one you might expect….taken from their Ghetto EP out late February.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaGI2hFCdMQ&feature=player_embedded
February 6, 2013
MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]
North London rapper Chip was happy last week as mixtape site DatPiff gave his ‘London Boy’ mixtape a gold certification. He tweeted “#LondonBoy GOOOLD on @datpiff. That’s sick to know 100,000 people on one website checked out my music. Thanks to everyone for supporting.” The mixtape, which featured Grand Hustle members T.I , B.o.B and Iggy Azalea, has put Chip in an extremely good position for the future…
Sway got everyone talking last week as he dropped the video to his latest track ‘Still Sway and Kane’. Sampling Dr Dre’s ‘Still Dre’, he definitely impressed a lot of people with the track, which featured Kano and Tigger da Author.
Sho Shallow and Ard Adz have kept the consistency flowing as they released another video last week from their ‘#Ghetto’ EP, which is out soon. ‘Windy’ shows the two rapping about certain sacrifices.
Chiba dropped an old school Fekky freestyle, proving why he is one of the hottest rappers around with some timeless bars.
It was his 21st birthday last week which is cause for a huge celebration, but as well as that Yungen decided to drop a net video entitled ‘21’. This guy doesn’t seem to rest, even on his birthday.
There have been two mixtapes last week that caught my attention….
North west London’s Naf Skrilla has been a name on a lot of people’s lips for over 10 years now. After much anticipation he has released his latest mixtape ‘Doely’ as a free offering, with 22 solid tracks. Riddled with stories, this tape will keep the streets on their toes as he brings back raw and authentic rap.
S.A.S dropped the B Side to their ‘Coming To America II’ mixtape with guest features from Nicki Minaj, ItsNate, Bigz, Mclean and more. Hosted by Big Mike, DJ Allure and DJ Snips, the 13-track tape shows why Mega and Mayhem have been a staple part of the UK rap game for years and will continue to be.
January 27, 2013
Ard Adz & Sho Shallow – Can’t Collect [Music Video]
Ard Adz and Sho Shallow drop another video from their Ghetto EP, Can’t Collect a mellow reflective track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bZackezBkM&feature=player_embedded
January 16, 2013
MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]
What’s up Wrap Up readers! I hope you’ve missed me and my UK rap updates since the Christmas holidays – I’ve been away in Brazil so I’ve just started my working year today! It was my birthday on Friday (11) and I celebrated it at the Jazz Café in Camden, where they played 90’s hip-hop and r&b. I saw Emily Rawson and Big Ted take to the decks, and live performances from the brilliant Joel Culpepper and Rough Copy…
2013 is going to be a big year for UK rap – we have seen it progress and mature so much in 2012. This year got off to a fantastic start; Clement Marfo & The Frontline’s top 40 UK hit ‘Champion’ is going to be used for another sporting event, this time as the theme song for the World Wrestling Entertainment event ‘Royal Rumble’ on January 27. In 2012 it was played during the BBC Olympics & Paralympics coverage, Wimbledon Tennis and more.
We saw DVS release the visuals to a track from his ‘1 In A Billion’ mixtape, ‘Go From Here’, where the south London rapper shares his thoughts on a special female. Speaking of, J Spades released the video to ‘What It Is’ featuring DVS, which is taken from his ‘More Money More Pagan’s’ mixtape.
In the lead up to his EP ‘Certified’, Sneakbo and singer L Marshall got together for ‘Me And Mine’ which shows his development as a rapper on this thought-provoking track. A week later he then released another video from the EP entitled ‘I Love Girls’… the title being pretty self-explanatory.
Political Peak also released a video to his deep track ‘Asking Why’ at the beginning of the year, which comes from his ‘Dreams 2 Reality’ mixtape and features Jaja Soze and signer Ruby Smith.
Black The Ripper has released two videos in the space of two weeks. The first week saw the video to ‘Home Sweet Home’ featuring Shystie taken from his ‘Black Is Beautiful 2’ mixtape. Last Monday he put out ‘Real Recognise Real’.
Mic Righteous’ ‘Open Mic’ EP is out next month, but he gave fans a preview of what to expect from it as he released a video. He hit BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge and covered Gabrielle Aplin’s ‘The Power Of Love’ beautifully as part of 1Xtra’s Hot 10 for 2013.
Pakman and J Spades got together for a new track ‘Four Seasons’ which you can find on Pakman’s forthcoming mixtape ‘Legend’.
Ard Adz and Sho Shallow put in a lot of work last year. They kicked off this year by releasing the visuals to ‘Get Drowned’, an unconventional track that works off their ‘G.H.E.T.T.O’ EP.
USG’s Squingy, Lefty, K Koke, Exo and Don Jaga kicked off things by giving us a taster of a track ‘Stay Up’ which is set to be on their forthcoming album. Judging by just this one track, the album will be definitely one to look out for. K Koke also visited DJ MK and Shortee Blitz at the Kiss FM building to drop a heavy freestyle recently – be sure to check it out.
Haze released his ‘Loyalty, Honor, Respect’ mixtape in March and last week kicked off 2013 by heading over to Paris and dropping the video to ‘On My Own’.
Last but by no means least, rap fans can look forward to MTV’s Best of the Best: UK MCs show this month, which airs on MTV Base on January 28 at 10pm. The show sees judges from Charlie Sloth to Naughty Boy and others take to a panel to discuss who deserves of the title of the Best MC of 2012. In 2011, Wretch 32 won – who do you think deserves the title this time?
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