Birmingham’s Lotto Boyzz drop the wavy new video for their remix of ‘No Don’ which features one of the UK’s hardest lyricists Chip, and artist Not3s who brings his singing touch to the track. ‘No Don’ has already been a smash across the rave, radio and festival circuit for the boys, and now the remix is only due to ramp the track up to a higher level.
Hardy Caprio – Super Soaker
After the success of ‘Unsigned,’ Hardy Caprio brings us ‘Super Soaker,’ a vibesy, fun-filled, summer track. The Croydon emcee is joined by his boys and lots of gal at a pool party having a drink up, he even puts henny in his super soaker. He spits some cheeky lyrics in this one which sees cameos from Young T & Bugsey and One Acen.
The Heavytrackerz – Control ft. JME, P Money, Donae’O and Kurt
Production outfit The Heavytrackerz made up of duo Tank and Tee bring to you their video for ‘Control’ taken from their debut album ‘Odyssey’ released this week. The video sees Grime royalty JME & P Money take control of the mic duties for the track and Donae’O come in powerfully singing about being victorious. It’s a commanding and authoritative track that makes you feel powerful after listening.
Jorja Smith x Preditah – On My Mind
British singer Jorja Smith joins forces with Birmingham producer Preditah for ‘On My Mind’ for a UKG banger which sees her effortlessly sings over the 2-step beat. The video shows Jorja bouncing to the music in a underground car park, with another setting in a tower block flat with mockumentary garage crew Kurupt FM.
Etta Bond – Addiction
Kick back and relax and zone out to the beautiful soul sound of Etta Bond’s new one ‘Addiction’. This is an intimate track, with the visuals matching the tone, showing Etta getting her head shaved and smoking a joint. It’s soothing, beautiful and calm, just like Etta herself.
Dave heads from Boomburger in London, to a plush house overlooking rolling hills in Beverly Hills for his new video ‘Tequila’. Produced by Fraser T Smith and 169, the track opens with a Spanish sounding guitar riff, and when the beat kicks in Dave takes control and begins to flow about women.
Chip ft. 67 – Honestly
Chip is getting fans excited for his forthcoming album ‘A League Of My Own 2’ by dropping the second visual from their titled ‘Honestly’. Produced by Canadian artist Tre Mission and featuring Brixton Hill Crew 67, the track seems totally organic and natural. The new material Chip is dropping shows how is having fun with his music, but also his maturity.
Faze Miyake ft. Reeko Squeeze & Capo Lee – Chase The Money
Faze Miyake has released one of the video’s off of his latest project ‘Infamous’. The producer lays down a hard, ominous trap beat, paving the way for South London’s Reeko Squeeze and North London’s Capo Lee to trade verses about money.
Tanika – Kingston 13
Tanika is back with the visuals to ‘Kingston 13’ taken from her forthcoming EP release ‘Birthdays In Jamaica’ with the material being written and recorded in Jamaica. This is a sexy, sultry one from the British singer who is seen in some shots with her man, changing her hair from blonde to pink.
J Fresh ft. Koder – Special Powers
Taken from his ‘Banana’ EP, J Fresh unleashes the video to ‘Special Powers’ featuring South London Grime emcee Koder. J Fresh provides the raw grime vibes on production, whilst Koder goes in vigorously on the verses before mellowing on the hook.
Ayo Beatx x SOS Music ft. Red Cafe & Chip – Abu Dabbin Remix
Ayo Beatz and SOS Music dropped movie worthy visuals for the ‘Abu Dabbin Remix’ getting Brooklyn lyricist Red Cafe and London’s Chip to spray some seriously weighty bars for the worldwide link up. It’s a high energy track that is the perfect sound to lead you into the forthcoming Summer months.
Fazer – I Woke Up
Producer/rapper Fazer is back in the game with a brand new single ‘I Woke Up’ which sees him lay his soul bare detailing the lows he faced in his lengthy music career. It’s self-produced and draws on elements of trap along with soulful strings. It’s great to see Fazer back doing what he clearly loves and re-connecting with the music.
Tremz & Big Narstie – BD Gang
Tremz drops the lead single ‘BD Gang’ from his mixtape ‘Lifestyle Of A Pirate’ which features his label mate and grime legend Big Narstie. Produced by Show N Prove over a circus themed beat, the two artists go bar for bar with Narstie taking on a scouse accent for his bars and Tremz keeping it authentic with his powerful scouse accent.
Cadenza – Till We Do It ft Prynce Mini & Bugle
Cadenza is the West London producer known for mixing a variety of sounds fusing the sounds of London with Jamaica. This is taken from his recently released ‘Hijack’ EP and features a very sick UK rapper Prynce Mini and Jamaican artist Bugle. The camera follows Mini around the streets as he provides us with punchlines over a menacing beat.
Belly Squad – Morning
Belly Squad drop a video titled ‘Morning’ from their recently released debut EP ‘Banana’. Mixing afrobeats with rap, bringing us a party vibe to their music, this track is no different and shows the three members in a house party setting.
Chip dropped a video for the ‘Winter Time’ where he sprays some cold, icy bars over a haunting beat produced by Scholar. Chip addresses his haters with style, fresh lyrics and positivity, proving how he is one of Grime’s strongest MC’s about.
Roxxxan – Oouchie
Roxxxan drops the freestyle to the classic Nas track “Oochie” giving it her own flavour and finessing the beat with eloquence and style. She packs in hard punchlines and her endless flows joined by a seductive, shimmering visual ending her 2016 on a high.
Melisa Whiskey – Played
Soulstress Melisa Whiskey brings us the visuals for ‘Played’, the first cut off of her forthcoming debut EP. It displays soul and emotion and shows off her velvety vocals perfectly. It’s reflective and it’s full of realness which you can see in the video through Melisa’s eyes.
Jammz – Danger
East London Grime MC released the visuals to ‘Danger’ this week taken from his ‘Warrior’ EP released in November. Jammz not only spits hard bars throughout the track. but also produced the beat too as well as co-producing the video alongside Risky Roadz.
P Money – Conspiracy Don
After releasing his brilliant new album ‘Live & Direct’ a few weeks ago, P Money now blesses us with the visuals for a track taken from there ‘Conspiracy Don’. The video matches the aggressive sounding flows and bars from P whose sound and style is as on point as ever.
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.
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.
Skepta gave his fans the best bank holiday hangover gift with his brand new video for track ‘Man’ taken from his highly anticipated album release ‘Konnichiwa,’ out May 6th. Filmed by Risky Roadz, it feels like it was shot on a handheld camera, giving it an authentic, nostalgic feel. Skepta and his crew go on a pretty wild night out for this, and end up smashing up a car at the end. Watch the video below…
Fusion – No/Rudeboy
Fusion follows up his last year’s debut ‘Newham’ track which made it’s way onto the Lord Of The Mics 7 compilation CD with new visuals for ‘No/RudeBoy.’ He is a new Grime MC to watch, straight out of East London. Not only an emcee he is creating waves on the producing front too. ‘No’ sees Fusion take it back to Grime’s sonic backbone for a 140 bpm, dirt-laden track produced by Five-Nine. It’s lifted off of his forthcoming 4-track ‘Genesis’ EP.
Shakka – You Don’t Know What You Do To Me ft. Chip
Shakka drops another visual off of his 2015 conceptual EP ‘The Lost Boys.’ The West London artist takes it back to his cultural roots in this cinematic production where we see an elevating African dance. Grime emcee Chip lends a verse to the track, giving it a different edge, and shows Shakka’s ability to blend genres in his music.Of this video, he says, “You Don’t Know What You Do To Me’ talks about infatuation with a girl from the perspective of an average guy.”
Becky Hill ft. Little Simz – Back To My Love
Becky Hill is a name you will know especially if you listen to dance music, as she’s collaborated with Oliver Heldens on ‘Gecko (Overdrive), Wilkinson on ‘Afterglow, Rudimental on ‘Powerless,’ MK on ‘Piece Of Me’ and more! It’s great to see her release her own material and really get to shine. ‘Back To My Love’ shows off her unique, strong sensational vocals, whilst Little Simz adds a wicked verse to add a little something extra.
Stormzy – Scary
This is the first track expected to be on Stormzy’s forthcoming debut album, and will give his fans the chance to really understand a lot about him. ‘Scary’ is produced by legendary Grime producer Sir Spyro, who provides an eerie beat to match Stormzy’s barrage of attack bars. It’s confident and cocky and the delivery matches the power of his lyrical, intricate bars.
Jammer is really bringing the heat this year already with a remix of Riton’s ‘Rinse & Repeat’ and now his own track ‘Sun City’, a nod to the UKG rave of the same name. It’s definitely going to be a future classic, especially in the rave scene. With My Nu Leng & Chase & Status on the production credits, Jammer murks the beat with 140bpm mastery and laces the beat with his party vibe bars. Let the video take you back to the old skool era of raving when the dress code was Moschino.
Rax ft. Josh Osho – Four Seasons
Rax’s new EP ‘Just 4 You’ which was released for free on Friday will let you get to know the South London rapper again, slowly easing you in. After the release of ‘The Pickpocket’ in 2012 Rax took a hiatus from the scene, but is back stronger than before musically. His new visual to ‘Four Seasons’ premiered on Friday and will warm you up on these winter days and nights. It has enchanting vocals from Josh Osho and is packed with vivid emotion and expressive lyricism. It has a hip hop and jazz influences including a sunny saxophone.
Chip – ‘BlukuByeByeBye’
If you have Chip’s EP ‘Hear Dis’ you would know about this track already as it’s taken from there. It shows Chip’s non defeatist energy, as he takes a break from the musical beef with Yungen, releasing the video to ‘BlukuByeByeBye’. The video shows footage taken from a set at Radar Radio with some other very well known MC’s such as D Double E and Novelist in it, and really captures the energy and passion of Grime music.
67 ft. Giggs – Let’s Lurk
67 are a UK rap group from South London that includes members LD, Dimzy, Monkey & Asap. Their new track ‘Let’s Lurk’ is dark and threatening with a looming feel to it, whilst the video shot at night is pretty much the same with a menacing feel with some of the members cladded with masks. Giggs, the Godfather of UK rap steps up to deliver a hot verse on the track and boy is it good. The track is trappy, drawing influences from the Chicago rap scene.
Wretch 32 & Avelino – Gift To You
Wretch 32 and Avelino dropped their joint collaborative mixtape in December ‘Young Fire Old Flame’ which popped off becoming a fast favourite for last year. The journey continues though as they release the third visual from the mixtape ‘Gift To You’ ft. Moelogo. Over a laid-back beat, they both show their lyrical wordplay with the visuals showing the footage from their recent live show at Proud in Camden.
I’m here to bring you some of the latest tracks and news from the world of UK Rap from the past two weeks. There has been a lot going down musically and more beef has unraveled too.
Yungen & Chip
Let’s kick things off with the Yungen and Chip beef that I touched on briefly in my last column with Yungen’s track ‘Comfy’ where Chip thought he was indirecting him. Things have moved on progressively with Chip dropping his ‘One Take’ freestyle, firing direct shots straight at Yungen.
Now it’s been said there is rat in the Chip camp, due to the fact Yungen already knew Chip was planning to send for him, even though he had told Krept & Konan that he wouldn’t.
Krept tweeted on 20th Feb: “No we will not get involved it’s just Chip gave man his word that he wont diss Yungs and then did smh.”
Naturally Yungen pre-recorded his send, watching and waiting for Chip’s ‘One Take’ to drop and asking him on Twitter to remove it giving him hours. Chip refused to budge and Yungen released his diss track ‘Punk (Shitmunk Diss)’.
It didn’t take Chip long to respond. Less than 24 hours later the video to ‘Michelle Riddim (Lil Clive Diss)’ dropped, showing a laid-back Chip on his own in a smoky booth. His portrayed his calmness, showing Yungen didn’t worry him. The video opens with some cuts from an interview of Yungen bigging Chip up.
It seems Sneakbo is possibly taking Chip’s side, aiming tweets at Konan, which is worrying as Sneakbo and Yungen are meant to be friends… I guess we’ll find out more about what’s going on over the next few days.
Sneakbo: “These rappers get signed & become gangster…Go back to uni mate.”
“You don’t want drama pleaseeeeeeeee @konanplaydirty.”
24 hours later… Yungen is back at it with another response titled ‘Oopsy Daisy Riddim’ and he completely controls the track with bars laced with fire and cleverness.
Chip has responded less than 24 hours later now with another diss track ‘L (Lil Clive Diss 2)’. Things are definitely getting very heated now, as the replies are being made rapidly, and there are no signs of either backing down.
Rax
South London rapper Rax took a hiatus from the music game for a while, but now he is back stronger than ever. Gearing up to drop his mixtape Just 4 You on Friday (26th Feb), he has dropped two tracks over the past two weeks; ‘Money Bee’ feat. Zino Brown, Bonkaz and Dee Pee (Section Boyz) and ‘Four Seasons’ feat. Josh Osho. ‘Money Bee’ opened the doors to the full project and showed an energetic track, full of power and bass that’s lyrically tough. ‘Four Seasons’ revealed a different side to Rax with its relaxed, cool and calm vibe, infiltrated with the rapper’s witty bars. It’s infused with warmth, with the soulful vocals of Josh Osho and a sunny Sax. Watch out for the ‘Four Season’ video this week too.
MoStack – Gangsters With Banter
MoStack is a rising rapper from North London who has been creating a nice buzz over the past year, with a bunch of videos being released and collaborations with high profile artists such as Tinie Tempah on his album Junk Food. Last week saw the release of his brand new, highly anticipated mixtape Gangster With Banter with features from Yungen, Sneakbo, J Hus and Stormzy to name a few. Its 21-tracks are packed full of clever bars and a hard, Afrobeat sound combined with UK Rap.
He also released an accompanying video from the tape ‘Fuck This Generation (Outro)’. He talks about women, and his life in general, thanking God for another year lived with his family. It showcases his lyrical ability well, and his depth by being able to speak about issues in his generation.
Along with the releases, MoStack also announced his first headline show at the 02 Islington Academy on Thurs 14th April. It will be a night to remember for UK rap fans and will see some very special guests joining him on the stage. Buy your tickets here.
Konan – Last Night In LA
Konan the South London rapper and one half of the rap duo Krept & Konan dropped one of the hottest freestyles ‘Last Night In LA’ as a follow up to Krept’s ‘Last Night In Lagos’. Konan hits us with pure passion and aggression, and of course it’s packed full of wordplay and punchlines. It’s great to see Konan really rip into the track, in one of his coldest to date. To take it all in you may have to rewind the video a few times.
Ocean Wisdom
Out this week is Ocean Wisdom’s debut album Chaos 93 on High Focus Records. It’s produced completely by Dirty Dike, and features from some of UK hip-hop’s finest; Foreign Beggars, Klashnekoff, The Four Owls, Lunar C, Edward Scissortongue & Remus. It’s due to cause some serious damage and be a turning point for hip-hop in the UK. Head over to iTunes now to buy it.
Skrapz
Another show that was announced and one to put in the diary is Skrapz’s ‘The Beginning Of The End’ secret show on Thurs 7th April with support from Nafe Smallz, Mist, Trapstar Toxic and hosted by A Squeezy. See you there!
Chip continues his assault on Manchester’s Bugzy Malone following up from “Light Work” dropping two more tracks “Run Out Riddim” and “Hat Trick” dropping bars with diss after diss targeted at the Manchester-rapper. He also dropped the Light Work EP which includes the three disses and the other original diss track for Bugzy “Pepper Riddim”. We should expect a response soon.
Kozzie – RIP Part 1 & Part 2
It’s definitely war season in grime as the legendary Lord Of The Mics returns for it’s seventh series. Kozzie and Jaykae are clashing each other, and before the live show on Wednesday (September 20), Kozzie sends two dub for the Birmingham MC, letting him know what he’s in for and firing warning shots. I wonder if we’ll see anymore in the few days in the lead up to the clash?
Jaykae – Blankets Bedtime
Invasion Alert’s Jaykae swiftly replied to Kozzie’s dub this week with one of his own “Blankets Bedtime” showing Kozzie he hasn’t taken his send lying down, and is not scared of the Lewisham based MC. These two have built such a huge tension ahead of their live clash, it’s certainly going to be very interesting and entertaining to watch on the night!
Disclosure – Jaded
Ahead of the release of their album Carcacal later this month, Disclosure reveal a brand new video “Jaded”. This is the latest video in a four part installment, picking up from “Omen” ft. Grammy winner, Sam Smith following protagonist Maria who steers her way across a dystopian civilization. It features Sam Smith, the Lawrence brothers who vocal the track and the Disclosure brothers.
Linking up again to drop that fire, Ghost is joined by Littlez and Sleeks from Section Boyz to release “Bout That Life”. Section Boyz have created a huge buzz this year and this track is an example of why they have got so many people talking. Their bars and flow are unique and that’s why Section have got the game on lock right now.
Fekky – Make It Out
Fekky gets reflective in new track “Make It Out” which he dropped just after his performance at Royal Albert Hall. This week saw the visuals being released, where it cuts back and fourth between him in his hometown of Lewisham to a country road with a flashy car, dressed all in white. He looks back on where he has come from to where he is now, grateful for where rap has taken him and wanting to see a better life for his brothers.
Chip – Light Work
Chip drops new brutal track “Light Work” a send track aimed at Manchester’s Bugzy Malone. The pair have both been aiming bars at each other this year including Chip’s Fire In The Booth and”Pepper Riddim”. After a few months, Chip has replied to Bugzy’s “Regulation Riddim” making it clear he isn’t taking this lying down. He goes in hard for 4 minutes with non-stop shelling. We will definitely be hearing a reply from Bugzy.
Stormzy – Wicked Skengman part 4
The last of the WickedSkengman freestyles from Stormzy comes part 4 that was shot back in August. He invited his fans down to Croydon for this one which created a nice hype for the video. He uses the JME “Serious” instrumental and brings a few familiar faces out as well as his fans such as Section Boyz, Krept, Cadet and footballer Wilfred Zaha.
Harry Shotta ft. P Money & Spyda – Back 4 More
After the success of his recently released track “Animal” which broke a record for the most words in a track, Harry Shotta has got back in the booth for a brand new, 6-track EP “Back 4 More”. He dropped a fresh, new video titled the same as the EP featuring two other heavily skilled MC’s P Money & Spyda. The three bring the heat with some fast-paced lyrics over a trap/drum & bass beat produced by Turno.
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