Somewhat unsurprisingly another week has passed. In that week things have occurred. In the grand scheme of every large and small event, in the cosmic game of cause and effect where infinite ping pong balls ricochet chaotically across the table of space time in a complex dance of action vs reaction so intricate that all meaning is lost… An almost infinitesimally small amount of the stuff that has happened this week has been remotely related to hip hop from the UK… But we are not called universe-everything.com. And therefore, must reluctantly ensure that the following enthusiastic rant on things that have happened remains 1.) rap related and 2.) geographically restricted to the borders of our silly little Island. And potentially Northen Ireland if that comes up. Anyway. Here’s them stuffs…
SOME SPOOKY SHIT:
The conversation around whether Pete and Bas have ghost writers and whether or not they’re also miming over some ghost vocalists is not a new debate. While there’s not a full consensus on either question, general opinion seems to be ‘Yes Definitely’ to question A and ‘Maybe/probably’ to question B.
The question of who the distinctive voices on tracks actually belong to is yet to be definitively, 100% verified. However… A number of people in YouTube comments and on reddit seem to believe the quite plausible new theory that both the writers and the voices for Pete and Bas are in fact Nine and Dex. Also, that they may be related. There is def a passing resemblance. This rabbit hole goes fairly deep so I won’t get into all that, but the theory is pretty convincing. The similarities between voices and bars are uncanny, so if there’s nothing to it then it’s a borderline supernatural coincidence.
WATCH
Barney Artist returns with a new track and gets his camp on in the visual for ‘soufflé’. Fresh.
No shade on Shaybo’s output to date but she’s not usually an artist that stylistically falls quite within the sphere of music we cover… This one though! All the fire emojis. We rate the style switch up on this pure hip hop dancefloor destroyer and props to Shaybo for making it look easy.
Sonnyjim adds to his prolific list of collabs with this dope link up with Statik Selektah on production. Mad with the linguistics as usual.
AKS has been pretty consistent with dropping tracks that embody the old school conscious ethic while still hitting a head nod groove. Latest drop ‘Let Me Explain (Wordplay Freestyle)’ is no exception.
LISTEN
Bristol soundman and pedaller of vibes from grime to hip hop and beyond, Komposa, dropped his latest LP. It’s good. One of those projects where an artist sounds more grown, considered (and dare we say it composed) and at the same time still packs a number of tracks that fully fucking bang. Personal favourites include the super warm ‘Golden Roses’ and mega-banger ‘Winning’.
BVA is back with new single ‘Dreamer’ and it’s a heater. Taken from his new solo album The Dam Builder which lands on 17th May.
Also this will effectively add another full album to the 2024 Leaf-o-meter, as the project is entirely produced by Leaf Dog. So far we’ve only been counting his solo albums and he’s on 7. Does this make it 8 or has he snuck out a bunch more as producer that we haven’t even noticed?
IYDK…
And whad’ya know… Geographic foreshadowing has paid off and we’re hopping across the pond to Belfast. (A part of the UK that we’re admittedly shite at covering). Not new, but it was new to me. The video for ‘Sick in The Head’ found its way to us somehow this week and prompted a quick discovery binge into Kneecap. (Strobe Warning.)
For anyone as unaware as I was, Kneecap are a Northern Irish rap trio who’ve built a hefty following for their defiant, pro-republic, riotous sound of hip hop and beyond with lyrics in both English and Irish language. They’ve also already starred in a semi-fictionalised drama/comedy/biopic that premiered at this year’s Sundance featuring, man like Magneto, Michael Fassbender in a supporting role. The ethic and music is pretty much a glorious hybrid of hip hop and punk. Outside of a unique discography that stretches back to 2017, antics we fully support have included getting in a legal fight with the Tory government, going off book and advocating for Palestine on late night American TV, refusing to talk to police in English and becoming unlikely poster boys for the revival of the Irish Language. Give them a look.
LET’S DO A SILLY ONE…
Just my opinion… It’s probably not a popular one among fans judging by comments online (and I say this as someone who waaay prefers Kendrick to Drake, like the 2 aren’t even close in my mind)… but personally you couldn’t convince me that ‘Euphoria’ isn’t a bag of dogshit. Feels like Kendrick’s not even trying. Sounds basic, lazy and way beneath what he generally brings.
Legit prefer this. Munya Chawawa wins this round as far as I’m concerned.
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LIVE
Ukhh.com just finished up assisting with the last of five dates on the Hip Hop @50 Tour this week in Leicester. We filmed panel discussions and live performances at all of them so watch out for an after movie of some kind surfacing at some point.
London heads stick Breakin Convention‘s Park Jam in your diary for bank holiday Monday. We’ve attended a couple of these in the past and has always been a sick day out celebrating the hip hop culture. In addition to dance and graff, this year boasts a line up including Mysdiggi, Mas Law, Doc Brown, Roxxxan, Joker Starr and Watusi87.
For fans of the weird end of the underground, Cannibal Ox’s ‘The Cold Vein’ is often included in the conversation on all time great albums. At over 20 years old it now has the feel of an album that sounded like a future that never happened. Which makes the fact that Vast Aire and Vordul Mega are hitting a few venues across the UK and playing a bunch of The Cold Vein along with new material pretty exciting. Not one to miss. Grab tickets to see them in Bristol, London, Manchester or Glasgow.
IN MEMORY
Late April saw the tragic loss of MC Duke. A true legend of the scene and pioneer from the early days when the UK’s own style of hip hop was taking shape. First signed to UK hip-hop label Music of Life in 1987 and progressing to embrace Hardcore and Jungle, spawning his own label Hard Disk. Widely loved and respected, he leaves a permanent mark on the legacy of UK music. Testament to the impression he’s left, this sick piece of graff has already been thrown up in Tottenham by Gnasher.
That’s it for this week. Feel free to hit us up with music or newsworthy hip hop stuff for inclusion in future Round Ups.