Posts tagged ‘MTV’

« Older Entries  |   Newer Entries »
July 19, 2013

MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]

Colours is one of the most respected and best road rapper to come out of London, so when he dropped his mixtape ‘Where’s My Money Reloaded’ he sent the internet ablaze. Respected UK DJ’s Charlie Sloth and Ras Kwame have backed the 22 free downloadable tape which has features from K Koke, Stylo G and Gyptian. He also released the video to ‘Everything’ sampling Mariahs ‘I Give My All’ and like the mixtape sees him spitting nothing but real, life-riddled bars.

Young Don is gearing up for the release of a new mixtape the follow on from his last one The Weatherman, coming back for Part II this time with DJ Khaled hosting. He gives us a teaser of what to expect by dropping the video to ‘Harder Than Them’ a street track which we can assume to be on the tape.

At only 21, Lady Lykez is one of the best the UK has to offer in terms of her witty lyricism, her new track ‘I Love My Butt’ is no different. Topman described it as ‘a hip-hop party cut of the summer’ and she has had artists Lady Leshurr and Blizzard tweeting about it. Make sure you check it out.

Brixton rapper Sho Shallow along with partner Ard Adz puts out video and track after track, constantly impressing with not only the quantity but quality of their work too. This time Sho Shallow goes solo for new track ‘Intro’ which is the first track off his forthcoming mixtape ‘Girls In The Middle’.

Cashtastic released the visuals to ‘London Summer Day’ giving his fans something to enjoy now the sun has finally graced us for the summer. We heard the track last summer, but it doesn’t feel old with Cash tweeting, “Big up ‪@RAPCITYTV we shot this ‪#LondonSummerDay video last year, put it out a year later and it’s still fresh!”

Rap Up UK discussed the subject of haters in their recent mini documentary. They talked to artists such as Dru Blu, Margs, Political Peak, Pak Man, Fem Fel, Pound Sterling and more talking about the reason for haters such as people not wanting you to do better than them and how with success comes jealousy which breeds hate. What’s your thoughts on haters?

Words: Shireen Fenner (@Shireenxoxo) 

*published on Monday 15th July

Posted in MTV Wrap Up, News | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
June 26, 2013

MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]

This week I’m going to start off with two very special Fire In The Booth sessions. If you don’t know what it is, it was started by Charlie Sloth on BBC Radio 1Xtra and showcases the cream of UK MCs where they get to display their best lyrics. SN1’s Gunna Dee who recently released a mixtape ‘Hustler By Nature 2’ was up first. Keeping up the heat surrounding the tape, it was only right he went on the show…

North London rapper Squeeks dropped his first Fire In The Booth in 2011; two years on he returned for the second installment, really showcasing his progression since the first one. He makes this epic freestyle look effortless.

i Records are keeping it busy with two releases from the label this week.

Dru Blu keeps up the work level staying consistent by releasing another net video courtesy of Rap City TV. Keeping it real as always with this street banger, he tells us his reasons for working hard; ‘Rude boy I ain’t rich yet so what the f**k should I rest for.”

Snap Capone’s mixtape ‘Return Of The Shooter’ is the second release from i Records family. You might have seen some videos and freestyles of his recently leading up to this 25-track tape which sees him discussing life on the streets and in particular his own life. This is a hard road rap release and isn’t for the light hearted.

Producer Bayoz Muzik dropped the fourth video off his ‘Death Of A Beatmaker’ EP. ‘F U Pay Me Now’ features Tigger Da Author, Paigey Cakey and Tzy. Bayoz is known for producing beats for UK rapper Giggs as well as many others and his EP features J Spades, Blade Brown and more.

Wretch 32 caused a stir last week as he released the audio to his second single ‘Doing OK’ which comes after ‘Blackout’ featuring Shakka from his forthcoming third album. This time it features Jacob Banks, who is also part of the Renowned group. The album has no release date yet but is set to be released this year via Ministry Of Sound.

Until next time…

Posted in MTV Wrap Up, News | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
May 21, 2013

MTV Wrap Up – UK Rap Rundown [News]

Spit TV brought to you by We Hustle TV re-launched last Sunday on Channel AKA – it began about ten years ago on Channel U, before the days of Youtube and Twitter. This is where the best emcess from the UK are invited to spit for around three minutes. Ras Kwame the host described it as ‘one take, one mic, one spit’. Link-Up TV released a behind-the-scenes video along with the visuals for the Eurogang and Frisco freestyles. Look forward to seeing the likes of Benny Banks, Joe Black, Geko, Griminal, Scrufizzer, Coops and many more…

An array of some of the hottest UK grime and rap emcees come together for the remix of Lethal Bizzle’s ‘They Got It Wrong’ originally featuring Wiley. Krept & Konan, Kano and Squeeksjumped on the remix to make it an all-star cast.

Another remix to drop last week was Sneakbo’s ‘Ring A Ling’ which saw Wiley and Krept & Konan give the Brixton rapper some heavy-duty verses on his next summer club banger. Expect to see a video for this one soon, as the track is released in July.

Young Spray reminds people that Northstar are originals in new track ‘Pull Your Pants Up’. “Only saw So Solid’s before the North Star Chain, only knew PDC when North Chain came. I saw the best come and go; the rest are dumb and slow.” He also shows respect to Giggs, Blade Brown and Asher D in the track.

Shak Corleone released the video to ‘Voice Of The Streets’ from his latest mixtape ‘Purgatory’. The Brixton rapper keeps it 100% road rap with the track featuring Lil Torment, Skore Beezy and Don Slice who all spit hard street bars.

PW is definitely a rapper who has a lot of heat surrounding him right now with a lot of co-signs from Dappy, Cover Drive and The Saturdays. His latest release ‘From PW With Love’ was well received and last week saw him drop the visuals to featured track ‘Here With You’.

UK rap veteran Mike GLC was the next up on SB.TV for his 3rd Degree freestyle. He spits over some classic joints with his effortless flow, showing people how it’s done.

Benny Banks gave us the visuals to track ‘48 Freestyle 1&2’ off his new mixtape ‘Patiently Waiting Vol 2’ which is available to download for free. The two laid back instrumentals allow for Benny to drop his classic relaxed flows which he is known for.

Posted in MTV Wrap Up, News | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
May 12, 2013

MTV The Wrap Up – Context [Interview]

Four years ago in 2008, Context released his debut EP ‘Dialectics’ with Huw Stephens, revealing his first track to the world on BBC Radio 1. This was a fantastic start in his journey as a music artist, and he later went on to win MTV’s Brand New Unsigned Artist competition in 2012. Now the narrative story-telling MC is back with new single ‘1.4 at 12’ – he talks The Wrap Up’s Shireen Fenner through his sound, going to university and what’s next for him…

The Wrap Up: What was the foundation to your journey as an MC? 

Context: I was always really into rap music in a major way. I moved out of home when I was 19 and I was working in a call centre; I just started messing around, writing tracks to talk about what I was experiencing. I just did songs about living in a ropey house, having a ropey job, but also having a really amazing time with my mates.

Of course, as I’ve got older and experienced more, I have more and more to write about; but at its core, my music has a thread running through it, and I guess that thread is me – exploring what it means to be a young man from a small town. I guess exploring parochialism and everything that comes with it.

TWU: Your sound is very unique, mixing dubstep productions with hip-hop and indie sounds. How did your sound develop?  

Context: It just came from the fact that I’m into a lot of different stuff; but the main reason is a bit more conceptual I think. The whole of idea of being unashamedly yourself is something I’m really keen on. People like Giggs or Drake; they just do exactly what they want musically. Whether you like them or not, you can’t deny that. I rate that a lot.

TWU: Where does the influence for your sound and lyrics come from? 

Context: My influence is my life and the life of my mates. I felt like “Urban Music”, for lack of a better term, didn’t speak to us at all. All our life we grew up on hip-hop and grime, but apart from The Streets, we never related to the artists in the genre. We’re not living in the hood, but we’ve not got any money either. Who speaks for us? Who tells people how large amounts of young people live, well, at least the young people I know anyway, day to day? I felt like I had to do that and do it honestly.

TWU: How do you feel about being called a ‘game changer’? 

Context: It’s great. All I really ever wanted to do was tell our story. I wanted to take the music that I loved and grew up on, but use it to tell people about how we live. Everyone loves to listen to the stories of people in far off lands like Queensbridge or the Marcy projects. When you live in Norwich, London is glamorous too! Like when we heard ‘Boy in the Corner’ – what did we know about Bow? It’s a different world to ours. So if people like the fact that I’m changing the focus of attention to different groups of people, I think that’s great.

TWU: Whilst you were releasing a lot of material, you were at university. Wasn’t it hard to balance the two?

 

Context: It’s a doubled edged sword. Of course it slows you down, but uni is the ONLY reason I can make music, that’s a simple fact. How else would I live day to day? I can’t live with my parents; my dad’s in Scotland and mums in Manchester. My student loan IS my income. Music is an incredibly expensive hobby. It’s like a full-time job that pays no money in the short term. I would always tell people to go to uni if it’s right for them.

TWU: Your new track ‘1.4 at 12’ was just recently unleashed to the public – Tell us about the track.

Context: I was driving around Norwich on a Saturday night going over to my mates. I started writing down all the things I was seeing; a guy bleeding outside a kebab shop, ‘rudeboys’ in maxed out cars, couples arguing… I started thinking about the track ‘Aston Martin Music’ and was just like; the whole ethos of that track has nothing to do with our lives. It’s meaningless to us. This is our life. And honestly, it’s great! Who else is chatting about this? The song basically wrote itself.

TWU: What is Context up to this year?

Context: I’ve just dropped ‘1.4 at 12’ and the video for that. There are a series of remixes dropping in the next few weeks too. Then I’ve got an EP of entirely new material dropping in April or May called ‘Lacked Capital’. I think there will be another single from that EP too. The plan then will be to start getting everyone ready for the album, which is mostly written now. I’ve also got some amazing live dates happening this year too!

Words: Shireen Fenner (@Shireenxoxo)

Posted in Interviews, MTV Wrap Up | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , ,
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!

Posted in MTV Wrap Up, News | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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

Posted in Interviews, MTV Wrap Up | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , ,
April 14, 2013

MTV The Wrap Up: Kof [Interview]

KOF is not only a singer full of soul but a writer, producer and director of his own videos, amongst other talents. After releasing the ‘An Alternative Soul’ EP, the artist from Liverpool has now given his fans some free tracks in the format of three downloads – ‘SOUL: Love, Life and Live’. The Wrap Up’s Shireen Fenner caught up with the lovely KOF in London to talk about how personal his music is, his upcoming tour and the forthcoming debut album…

The Wrap Up: It’s been a couple of years since you last spoke to us. Tell us briefly what has happened in those few years…

KOF: I’ve totally changed my music style. I’ve worked with a bunch of different artists from Wiley to Terri Walker to Manu Bibango. People seem to be respecting me as a songwriter, producer and as an artist a lot more.

TWU: Your lyrics always possess realism which many people can relate to. Is it hard to let people into your life and do you ever feel like your privacy has been invaded?

KOF: I don’t talk that much about the stuff I go through, so music is my platform for me to do that. If I’m going through something and someone else is going through the same kind of thing and they hear someone singing about how they deal with that situation, it’s going to be beneficial to that person. On ‘Soul: Life’ there is a track called ‘My Child’ where I talk about the situation of an unplanned pregnancy and how that can affect someone from a male’s perspective. That’s one of the deepest songs I’ve written. I haven’t even told the person who it’s about that I’ve written the song.

TWU: We know music isn’t your only talent. For those who don’t know, tell us more about the versatile KOF and what other talents you have.

KOF: I’m into art; modern art. I love to edit videos, all my own stuff; I find it hard letting other people do it. I’ve written one script called ‘Dark Star Rising’ which was an amalgamation of a bunch of my songs; we put them into one story for a youth theatre group based in Liverpool.

TWU: The last time I saw you perform live, you had the audience in a trance. Do you get nervous with so many faces all looking at you and how important are live shows for you?

KOF: I always get nervous before a show. If I do get nervous before a show, I will always have a good show. When I don’t have nerves and I’m on a kind of cocky vibe I usually f**k up or I don’t have a good show. Live shows are very important, especially with the new music I’m making where I’m talking about the different things that have happened in my life – I’m able to connect so much better with the audience.

TWU: Speaking of live shows, you have your ‘An Alternative Soul’ Tour approaching. What can we expect from the show?

KOF: There are a couple of surprises; Terri Walker will be performing on the Birmingham date and she is going to pop up at a few different shows. I’m trying to bring out a few different people from each city I go to. You’re definitely going to get a few previews from the album; there is a track called ‘Never Sober’, which will be the first time I’ve played the guitar on a track.

 

TWU: You’re in the process of releasing a series of free EP’s ‘Soul: Love, Life and Live’. What was the motive behind this?

KOF: Just to connect with the audience and for those who supported ‘An Alternative Soul’, it was to give them a snapshot of where I am since then. I recorded most of the records earlier on this year, so musically now I’m in a different, improved space. We wanted to put some kind of structure behind it, which is why we split it into ‘Love, Life and Live’. ‘Love’ isn’t the soppy kind of love – it’s a different aspect of love, ‘Life’ is a bit introspective and ‘Live’ is the studio and acoustic stuff.

TWU: What can expect from the upcoming album?

KOF: I’ve written some stuff for Benny Banks and I’ve worked with Ratlin and Nutty P. ‘Dirty Love’ with Sam Frank is one that stands out more than anything, so I’m still trying to look at creating records that can complement it because I really love that song. In terms of song writing, expect that same realism, positive and socially in-depth. The first single should be coming out before the tour, but I don’t think I’m ready [to release the album] so I’m going to push it back and it will be out early next year.

TWU: You have some international releases as well; tell us a little more about them.

KOF: A couple of years ago there was a label in France called Border Blaster, they heard one of my tracks called ‘All Good’ and they wanted to sign it, but it never happened. After they heard ‘Be Like You’ and ‘Child Of The Ghetto’, they called me over and wanted to distribute the album through Europe over over different territories. We went over to Cannes earlier on this year, did a couple of live showcases and sealed the deal. Now we will be releasing a deluxe version of ‘An Alternative Soul’ on November 19, so were having a launch in Paris for that and the following week in Amsterdam.

TWU: Nice! Finally, where do you see your career in the future?

KOF: More collaborations and more experiences that I can turn into music again. That’s all I can ever see myself doing, anything that’s in touch or attached to music. I really do want to write a lot more songs for other artists. I feel if I give myself time, I can get into the headspace of another artist, whoever that may be and actually create a good song for them that means something to them and their audience. I just want to make everything I’m doing better; the production and videos – I just want to push myself.

 Published on 15th Nov 2012

Posted in Interviews, MTV Wrap Up | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , ,
April 14, 2013

MTV The Wrap Up: UK Rap Rundown [News]

There were quite a few video and track releases last week. Let’s start with Political Peak, whose buzz has been massive already this year. ‘Get Lean’ is his latest video and the visuals are really slick, which sees Peak walking round South London rapping. This is only the beginning for the young rapper and shows off his ability…

People’s Army representative Logic asks a lot of questions in ‘Question Everything’, a song that made me re-evaluate a lot of things in life that we just accept as the truth. It’s a very deep track from the conscious rapper who makes us realise we are not as smart as we think sometimes.

MashTown’s Margs compares himself to football player ‘Rooney’ in his new track, showing off some of his skills on the pitch in the video too. It’s a clever track which sees him using skillful lyricism.

Carns Hill, one of UK rap’s finest producers, brought out the second installment to ‘OT’ – ‘OT2’. He released the video to the intro which sees Blade Brown, Youngs Teflon and Mental K spitting some real life street bars in this hustler’s anthem. You can get the 18 track mixtape ‘OT2’ from iTunes now.

Rapper Fuze had some fantastic news last week after his track ‘Too Much Swagger’ dropped featuring Sneakbo, which is an extremely catchy track that would fit perfectly in a club. He then signed to Alwayz Recordings, the independent label responsible for some of the UK’s biggest talents such as Wretch 32 and Chip. I can guarantee there will be much more to expect from this rising rapper.

Rap duo Krept & Konan released with the video to their track ‘Numb (I Can’t Feel My Face)’ produced by Rymez (‘Heatwave’). This is definitely going to do well as a summer club anthem.

Ratlin’s ‘Crown Me’ mixtape was one that got a lot of people talking. ‘Back On My Bulls**t’ is one of the strongest tracks on the tape and Ratlin released the video featuring a hook from singer Vee.

Mic Righteous gave an outstanding and passionate performance on SB.TV’s new #3rdDegree series, and Mic is the first one on there. The Margate rapper stuns with this performance, but it’s no surprise as he always does.

S.A.S Mega and Mayhem along with two thirds of Eurogang, Bigz and Skrilla Kid Villain took to Tim Westwood’s crib and absolutely killed the freestyle session. I think this is one of the best I have seen this year…

Published on 8th April 2013

Posted in MTV Wrap Up, News | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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.

Posted in MTV Wrap Up, News | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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.

Posted in MTV Wrap Up, News | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries  |   Newer Entries »