A pixie's everyday writing adventures
The Rap Up UK are doing a brilliant job of putting together documentaries for us based on the UK rap and grime scene and getting people involved in the scene’s take on it. For the first UK Rap Beef series they look at Dappy Vs Scorcher check it out….
Rap Up UK return with another mini documentary this time looking at the Art Of Rap where they talk to emcees such as Jaja Soze, Political Peak, Fem Fel, Dru Blu, Pepstar, USG, Young Mad B, Yung Meth, Sho Shallow, Lyrican, Mike GLC, Pane & Yardz, Wholagun, Pound Sterling, Marger + More
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!
Rap Up UK this time look at young rapper Geko. From messaging K Koke from the age of around 11 and sending him tracks to going on UStream with him to make his voice heard and the next day joining USG. The documentary talks to his fans, USG, Ard Adz and Sho Shallow where they talk about his hunger, him being inspiring to the next generation and how he is going to be a success.
Rap Up UK release the latest video in the mini documentary series on UK rappers. This time the focus is on Tinie Tempah who rose from the underground to became a mainstream, worldwide chart success. From Aftershock to track Wifey Riddem to his first album Discovery this shows documents Tinie’s journey to becoming a pop star.
Link Up TV present this documentary on the journey of UK Rap, its past, present and future.
Last Sunday saw the release of Mic Righteous’ ‘Open Mic’ EP and on Tuesday (12) he held a launch party in Camden with special guests. Support acts consisted of one of London’s finest female DJ’s – SB.TV’s Melody Kane, rapper MyNature, lyricist RoxXxan, grime’s Big Narstie and ‘the people’s prince’ Charlie Sloth…
Mic performed all of the tracks from his EP and the recent Radio 1 Live Lounge cover of ‘The Power Of Love’ with singer Lucia. Vocalist Ella Chi also joined him for my personal favourite track off the EP, ‘King Of Hearts’. Everyone was excited to see English Frank join Mic on stage along with wordsmith Akala. It really was a special night and it was great to see Mic captivate and wow every single member of the crowd.
A mini biography documentary on Giggs was released by Rap Up UK recently, talking us through his come up, achievements and why he is important to UK rap music. It features artists like Ard Adz, Sho Shallow, Pepstar, Propane, Manga, D Dark and Squingy, who all gave their positive and respected views on him, showing how significant Giggs is to the scene.
Wretch 32’s biography video came out last night via the same platform, looking at his career from his huge underground success and being part of The Movement along with Devlin, Ghetts, Scorcher to his most recent mainstream success.
His ‘Crown Me’ mixtape dropped in December 2012 and became a much talked about and listened to mixtape; so it was only right for Ratlin to drop the video to one of the bangers off their entitled ‘Roley’.
Sneakbo released another video from his forthcoming ‘Certified’ EP, getting people geared up for the release. ‘They Don’t Know Me’ has a catchy beat and hook and is definitely one I can expect to hear in clubs. Sneakbo’s bars and flow sounds effortless too.
Young Spray hit up Fire In Booth on BBC Radio 1 with Charlie Sloth, starting off by spitting hardcore bars over the instrumental ‘Clique’ then ‘Renegade’ and ‘Home Town’. His lyrics switched to different subjects but irrespective are fueled by his passion and emotions.
A lot of heat was surrounding Bayoz Muzik last week as his ‘Death Of A Beatmaker’ EP was released. It has seven strong tracks and features some of the UK’s best emcee’s including Giggs, JME, Blade Brown, Gunna Dee, J Spades, Youngs Teflon and more. The tape has helped propel him more into the limelight and spark new interest and fans.
This is my favourite track of the week… ‘Passion’ comes from South London’s DVS. The piano led instrumental is beautiful and fits the various topics of the track, with the lyrics showing DVS’s depth and thoughts.
Rap Up UK look at Wretch 32‘s career with many of the people featured in the video agreeing he is one of the best in the UK. He has risen from the underground to achieving mainstream success and things can only get better for him.
Rap Up UK released a mini biography documentary on Giggs interviewing other UK artists to see why Giggs is so influential to the UK rap scene and has become a pioneer in the game. It looks back to when he started and lists some of his achievements. Ard Adz, Sho Shallow, Propane, Manga, D Dark, Pepstar Shaun White and Squingy are all featured.
The heat on K Koke is growing in the UK and worldwide, making him the first UK rapper to land a deal with Jay Z‘s label Roc Nation. His latest offering Turn Back features vocalist Maverick Sabre and is set to be released November 25th, with his debut album I Ain’t Perfect out early next year. In this documentary Koke talks to video director Emil Nava for an 18 min deep insight through his journey and his career, the highs the lows, his family & much more.
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