I’m here to bring you the latest and greatest tracks from the world of UK rap. From Haze’s short film and forthcoming album, to Mic Righteous and news of an independent artist signing to a major label…
Haze
Haze is a seasoned hip-hop artist hailing from Croydon. His career began in 2007 with the release of Once Upon A Time, which included a collaboration with SAS, but he’s since worked with Harlem legend Max B, and American producer Harry Fraud. He’s known for pushing boundaries and has been a strong influence on UK hip-hop culture. His new project sees him presenting his music in a more visual way by releasing a short film to accompany his new album. Thinking Out Loud is the title of the short film and 21-track album, both set for release on May 16th. The album will feature Akala, J Spades, Maverick Sabre and Black The Ripper. Haze introduced the project with the video for ‘You Don’t Know Me’, produced by Edixion Beats, giving his fans an insight into the themes that will be uncovered with the full project.
The film will preview on May 11th at Vue Cinema in Westfield, Stratford and you can buy your tickets by heading here.
Snap Capone
Snap Capone is one of the UK’s most respected rappers and for good reason – starting out as a teenager and gaining acknowledgment in ’09/’10 releasing freestyles and mixtapes as part of the S.I group, they became a pretty instant underground hit. In 2013, his debut mixtape Return Of The Shooter was released and ever since he’s dropped enough projects to firmly secure his position as one of the hardest UK rappers around. We saw the release of the visuals for ‘The Rain’ featuring Dex Man taken from his January 2016 mixtape The Gift & The Curse. The video doesn’t have Snap in due to him being incarcerated but shows another individual playing him. The two rappers take the introspective route lyrically over a soulful, hip-hop beat. Shot on a block, Dex Man raps, “had a bit of hunger, I started getting paid,” taking us through a snapshot of his life. Snap’s verse starts off about his adult lifestyle, “playing in the rain rose gold chain,” and then goes back to his childhood, “I remember playing knock down ginger in them hallways,” in this lyrically hard tune.
Stefflon Don
Stefflon Don has been creating waves in the scene, especially this past year with her remix of tracks such as ‘Lock Arff’ with Inch from Section Boyz, Rae Sremmurd’s ‘No Type’, and Rihanna’s ‘Work’, where she joined forces with Sneakbo to make it their own. She comes hard with her new track ‘Hot Prop’ over a Zeph Ellis-produced track. The visuals are as dope and icy as her bars and really match her hard-edged lyrics and the beat. Her delivery is as powerful and strong as her bars, “don’t ask me no questions, don’t mention my name in your sentence, there’s levels I don’t see progression.” Her image on the main screen in Piccadilly Circus might prove to be a prediction for where she’s headed.
Mic Righteous
Mic Righteous is known for his lyrically hard-hitting, conscious, and sometimes emotional tracks. He’s been compared to U.S rappers DMX and Eminem thanks to his ability to provoke emotion through his storytelling abilities and the delivery in his tracks. He’s been a bit quiet as of late, but that’s because he’s been working on his debut album. We’ve been given a track off of the album, ‘When I Die’ feat. Daf Evan, with visuals to match. The track is the official soundtrack to a new UK indie film out now called Hard Tide. We can see clips of the film in the visuals along with Mic Righteous and his feature singer shot in his hometown of Margate. This is an inspiring and empowering track about going for your dreams and believing in yourself, but also the trials that we have to go through. “I believe I can see my dreams, I close my eyes I’m going blind.” The ambient, melodic beat matches Mic’s bars and Daf Evan’s soulful tones.
In Other News
Sneakbo has signed a deal with Virgin EMI after being an independent artist for 6 years. He’s dropped chart-topping tracks as well as street tracks and future classic mixtapes such as Jetski Wave. Hopefully this deal will take his career to the next level, and see him get the success he fully deserves.
Section Boyz have linked up with one of the biggest names in R&B, Chris Brown, for his new single ‘Whippin.’ Swift from Section Boyz tweeted “Mummy thinks I’m lying about having a song with Chris Brown.” It was quite a surprising collaboration when we got a little preview of it early in April on Chris’ Instagram page It’s taken from the recently released joint mixtape between Chris Brown and OHB, Before Da Trap.
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