UKHH Summer Sickness

Summer Sickness 2019 – New Guardz Summer Jam

August 14, 2019 by Kieron Sullivan

Happy August everyone… The end of civilisation is looming. Trump and Johnson are skipping gleefully hand-in-hand towards the abyss with the British Isles and civilisation as we know it inescapably shackled to them. Terrifying technological advances are amassing into a giant wave of AIs, automation, drones and behavioural recognition promising a future of redundancy and submission. Amid a unanimous insistence on continuing to arm dictators/oil barons, global temperatures are soaring to OHSHIT levels. Meanwhile in London it’s pissing it down.

So its probably time to give up right? Wrong. We’ve still got some Summer Sickness 2019 content up our sleeves. ALSO, New Guardz are throwing their fifth annual Summer Jam on Saturday and the line-up is heavy!

Where? Nambucca (Holloway). What time? 19.00 – 3.00. How Much? £5 adv tickets still available!

Who are these New Guardz?
A sizeable crew of lyricists and producers gracing radio and releases with hip hop and beyond. Members include K Zorro, Mas Law, Crickstar, Marv Radio, Aynzli Jones, Flowtecs and Ray Vendetta amongst others.

What do they want?
A fiver. And then to make you drink/dance/lose your shit. (Tickets more on the door).

What are they guarding?
Nobody knows. It’s a closely guarded secret.

Who’s guarding the secret?
New Guardz.

Anything Else?
Yes. To kick things up another gear, they have a live band providing back up on Saturday. Ominously named as The Direwolves, expect these long-time New Guardz collaborators to add another dimension to bangers from the crew’s discography.

Who else is on the bill for hip hop heads to get excited about?

P Nut:
Bringing bars, melodies and more sauce than a Tabasco factory, P Nut looks to be one to watch in the months and years to come. Late 2018 gave us the gloriously Jazzy release and Link Up TV debut ‘Problem’, plus an album CBT: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy with producer Carns Hill that mixed trap rhythmic elements and a disarming musical depth and vocal versatility for a first LP.

Ash The Author:
Reading native, Holdin’ Court host and general mic damager, Ash The Author, will also be about “looking scruffy like Oscar the Grouch with pure poison coming out of his mouth”. Fresh off the back of the recently released and consistently ill Apex collab album with producer Ded Tebiase, expect new material plus a couple curve-ball’s from yesteryear.

Jaydar:
If you haven’t already taken the time to listen to Jaydar‘s 2019 LP, Shadowz of Awareness, put that shit on your to do list. Think raw, cellar-dwelling Boom Bap that’s given an unholy driving pace via the kind of lyrical complexity and dexterity that’s typified the flows of some of the greatest underground UK hip hop emcees following in the footsteps of the likes of Task Force.

Anyone else?

Spanish speaking MC Lua Kosta will be repping España hard with some rapidly delivered fuego. Beyond all things rap focused, dancefloor filler Fresharda will be bringing his blend of dancehall and reggae to the stage and for more dancehall influenced music to wine to with an RnB edge Cici ATL will also be performing. Not to forget turntablism to keep the night moving throughout from DJs Cut Malina, Hector K and DJ Wicked.

For more info and links to tickets, check the events page here.

Nozstock Festival UKHH Cypher – Twizzy, George Bucks, Wish Master, Jinxsta JX, Brotherman

August 13, 2019 by Kieron Sullivan

This years Nozstock came and went in a flash but fortunately we’ve still got a bunch of dope content to drop over the coming weeks to keep Nozstalgia alive until the Autumn. Friday of this year’s festival saw some ridiculously ill hip hop grace the Bullpen Stage, with our UKHH Takeover followed directly by Bristol’s Billy Whizz & friends tearing it down. Right afterwards we grabbed MCs from both takeovers and absolute fire occurred.

As the sky opened on our plans to shoot outside, this piece of audio-visual gold ended up being shot under the cover of a colourfully decorated portaloo area! Massive shouts to Twizzy, George Bucks, Wish Master, Jinxsta JX and Brotherman for all killing their bars in one take!

HARD instrumental by Vagrant Real Estate.

Backward Sun – Heavy Hitter FREE DOWNLOAD (Summer Sickness 2019 – Nozstock Festival)

June 18, 2019 by Kieron Sullivan

The clock’s ticking down rapidly until we’re back in the Hidden Valley for 2019. Getting hyped for going back to Nozstock is all well and good, but whats the point of excitement if you aint going to share the love??

Ahead of our takeover of the Bullpen stage this year, we’ll be rolling out a bunch of content from the artists we’re bringing with us as well as the essential hip hop guide to the festival at large! Starting with a BANG… ‘Heavy Hitter’ is the first of 2 exclusive tracks Backward Sun have handed us for FREE DOWNLOAD!!! Get this rawness straight out of Kent in your earholes.

UKHH Summer Sickness 2019 – Nozstock: The Hidden Valley + UKHH TAKEOVER

April 25, 2019 by Kieron Sullivan

It’s that time of year again. With daylight lurching back into evenings and heatwaves around the corner, festival season is nearly here and planning ahead for going ham in a field somewhere is the order of business.

That in mind, we’re hyped to announce that we will be returning to Nozstock: The Hidden Valley in 2019!

Following on from last year’s UKHH Summer Sickness content (which involved summer mixes packed with heaters, festival/events guides and some sick bars and music videos captured on site at some insane weekenders) we’ve adopted the go bigger or go home mentality this time round….

Coincidentally, a highlight of last year’s Nozstock was filming the video for the Verbal Highz fam’s single ‘Takin Over’. This year we are LITERALLY TAKING OVER the Bullpen Stage for a showcase of UK hip hop talent that we’d bet our left nuts are set for recognition.

Before we get into that though… Takeover or not, we’re just excited to be going back to the farm! Last year’s line-up included (to name a few) Verb T and Pitch 92, Fliptrix, Chali 2na, the final performance from UK legends Task Force and a mainstage set from Grandmaster friggin Flash! For 3 days the sun shined, crowds popped off and pretty much everyone lost their precious marbles.

Never caught slacking, the Noz family (a load of them are literally a family) have raised the game yet again to provide a 2019 line-up with a formidable selection of acts for the discerning hip hop head to find sandwiched between the various bass heavy rave spots. UKHH certified fresh acts this year include sets from High Focus original dark poet Jam Baxter, fellow Dead Players lyricist and Potent Funkist; Dabbla, OG barsman Skinnyman, soundsystem hip hop from Joe Burn & Skitz, Illaman getting heavy in live band Pengshui, Gardna x Eva Lazerus and a bunch more to discover. (More to follow on this in the coming weeks.)

Oh yeah… and a UKHH X Nozstock Takover…

We’re honoured and more than hyped to be taking over the Bullpen stage for 2 hours on Friday of this year’s festival. But that wouldn’t count for much if we didn’t have a line-up of acts that we genuinely believe in. To any who don’t yet know the underground dons below, we guarantee checking out their music is worth your time and seeing them live worth the aching limbs afterwards…

BROTHERMAN:

The MC’s MC. Having truly earned the status of veteran with a recording career that stems back over a decade and having caught recognition from names including Skitz, Essa and Skinnyman, Brotherman is more than overdue his time in the spotlight. Returning late last year with the ill Huckleberry EP on MANA records it’s a safe bet you can expect impressive things from releases coming in 2019. In the meantime check the dudes history to see why for over a decade he’s been a problem!

Cop the Huckleberry EP here.

BACKWARD SUN:

There’s something in the water down in Kent. One of the many massively underexposed sections of the UK’s hip hop scene; the most south-easterly expanse of our island boasts a surprisingly innovate community of beat makers and spitters. Consisting of a quadruple threat of the rowdiest wrong-uns the seaside town of Folkestone could provide, the recently formed Backward Sun have released a relentless slew of tunes this year that haven’t yet put a foot wrong. Expect hectic, wavy crew vibes at the Bullpen this year from members Chie, 7th Sense, Misled and Pickle Rich over raw beats provided by producer/DJ King Bracket.

They’ve generously dropped a 3 track EP this week that you can download for free here.

GEORGE BUCKS & MICK SWAGGER

We love George Bucks. Still a relative newcomer, we’ve been fans of the Reading based rapper since he appeared. With consistently slick tunes and a lyrical style laden with punch lines, Bucks permanently has the air of an artist making tunes with the main aim of amusing himself (that just also happen to be dope). It’s not surprising that in his first year he’s already rocked some impressive shows including Bestival and a support slot for Black Josh. Big things coming in 2019.

And one for luck… We booked George and shortly after he hit us up to let us know that his DJ was Mick Swagger and he’d be jumping on the mic for a back to back verbal assault at Nozstock. We’d literally just discovered Swagger a week before and since have dropped his second video for single ‘Hulk Hogan’ on our Channel. Watch this guy.

We’ll be bringing you content from our Bullpen mandem and other line up acts in the 100 days(ish) remaining til our return to the Valley and obviously some sick content shot on location.

Ticket are available now. For full line up and passes CLICK HERE!

Sean Peng & Illinformed – Third Eye

February 26, 2019 by Kieron Sullivan

The wait is finally over! Ahead of the release of their collaborative album Trips To The Medicine Cabinet, we’re very proud to drop the visual for Sean Peng & Illinformed‘s ‘Third Eye’. The debut single from the project features both Peng and Illinformed smashing the granny out of respective bars and production duties and is a seriously promising indicator of what the album has in store.

We shot the video all the way back in August of 2018 at the mighty Boomtown Fair and have been excitedly waiting to share it since.

SPECIAL THANKS GO TO:
Happy Slap Boutique Fam
Grandma’s Living Room
Crazy Calamities
Boomtown Organisers
A clown with a bad case of the blues and an umbrella
‘The lads’
Sean’s mate whose name I can’t remember but was in almost all the rolling shots
Everyone who bothered to stop on their way down the hill
Hannah Fell
Anyone who let us put a UKHH sticker on them
Hairy biker guy
Girl with the magical cross bikini
Anyone who shook their bum.

Micall Parknsun & Joker Starr – UKHH Bars – Boomtown Fair

September 12, 2018 by Kieron Sullivan

We linked up with Micall Parknsun and Joker Starr backstage at Boomtown after their performance with Abstract Orchestra on the Poco Loco stage last month. The above cypher got dropped in one take over one of Parky’s own instrumentals. Fire.

3 Reasons Not to Sleep On… Kobi Onyame

August 7, 2018 by Kieron Sullivan

Tying neatly in with the second of our UKHH Summer Sickness recommended festivals, ahead of his performance on the Windmill Stage at Boomtown Fair this weekend, here are 3 reasons not to sleep on one of our recommended acts…

Generally speaking, the hip hop artists that i’d personally rate as being the illest tend to fall under one or more descriptions like complex/technical, dark or just proper weird. Which makes Kobi Onyame a bit of an outside pick here. Kobi is none of the above really. And that doesn’t matter one bit because his music sounds like sunshine dammit and I dig it! Heatwave appropriate playlistability aside, I’ve chosen Kobi, partly because on his most recent project he’s managed to create a sound that’s unflinchingly positive without making me cringe at all. More notably though, I’ve always found it surprising that with pan-Africanism playing a significant part in the foundation of hip hop as a movement in its early years, the space within the scene occupied by artists that draw heavily on African musical elements has always been relatively small. Onyame’s music is a testament to the fact that the blend works. Don’t Sleep!

Imminence (Only Matter of Time O)

Can’t express how much I love this tune at the moment. It’s had so many reloads this summer and there’s still something moving about it that hits me every time. As a single track ‘Imminence’ epitomises the way that on last album Gold, Kobi’s influences have coalesced into something that has the feel of an artist perfecting their sound. For hip hop heads simplicity and positivity are often dirty words. ‘Imminence’ is a master class in how to do both well, with lyrics overflowing with a childlike hope, full grown pride and common wisdom while feeling genuine enough to not come across at all cliched. Which would all be well and good, but comes fully into its own when paired with some mad triumphant horns, subtle afro-melodies and a surging beat that hits you in the heart at the same time as getting you marching.

The Real Part 2 ft DJ Dummy

With ‘Apache’ being one of the oldest and most legendary samples to ever be used in hip hop production, it’s a pretty impressive feat to take it and do something with it that sounds new, surprising and fresh. So mad props have to go to DJ Dummy for what he brought to ‘The Real Part 2’. This track owes its place on the shortlist to showcasing Kobi capably taking a walk through classic hip hop territory.

Chosen Ones ft. M.anifiest

Sharing the spotlight on this one with fellow Ghanaian M.anifest, (who Onyame first collaborated with in a crew in Ghana 20 years ago) ‘Chosen Ones’ is another strong example of what the MC/Producer’s style has solidified into. While in the early phases of his career, flirtation with the mainstream and commercial interest lead to some of Kobi’s output bordering on pop music, the fact that he didn’t blow up, moved to Scotland and went Independent seems to have been the necessary catalyst for artistic growth. A tendency towards writing songs with choruses has remained, but the sounds of Ghanaian Highlife have pushed themselves to the forefront and the production in general has become richer and more subtle. The result being a collection of songs that are undeniably hip hop but are littered with more dynamics and melody than most of the music in the genre.

For more Kobi Onyame, Gold is out now and you can click here to buy or stream. Boomtown heads, catch us at front for his set this weekend.

Joe Burn – System Is A Fraud

August 3, 2018 by Kieron Sullivan

Skitz is back to destroying the beats production process with soundman Joe Burn lacing the perfect lyrical assault together over the top to make for the kind of hip hop that demands to be played on a serious soundsystem. Mad flows, politically aware content and Caribbean flavaz guaranteed to get any crowd moving. Also two guys in Trump and Kim Jong Un masks.

In the name of #UKHHSummerSickness and all that is good and holy, you’ll be able to find us going tits up at the front of the Tangled Roots Stage for Joe Burn and Skitz next weekend at Boomtown.

Harvs Le Toad – UKHH Bars – Nozstock Festival

July 27, 2018 by dylan

Shortly after touching down at Nozstock: The Hidden Valley, we linked UKHH one to watch Harvs Le Toad, who dropped some fire over a Bo Bribery beat. Watch out for more Nozstock content over the coming weeks.

UKHH x Nozstock Warm Up Mix: Revrt

July 13, 2018 by Kieron Sullivan

There’s one week to go until Nozstock: The Hidden Valley!!! To celebrate the fact that the wait is almost over, we’re excited to present an exclusive UKHH x Nozstock Warm Up Mix by line-up act and master turntablist Revrt. The don of cuts has delivered a journey through sun-soaked golden era vibes to kick back to that y’all can take as a sign that his upcoming set at Nozstock is definitely one to schedule into the festival’s timetable. Catch us at the front!

https://soundcloud.com/ukhh-com/revrt-ukhh-noztock

Older News »

ukhh-summer-sickness