Browsing Tag

UK Hip Hop

VANES speaks for the diehard romantics in his indie rock meets hip hop sophomore single, can’t feel your love

Posted on 6 October 2022

Indie rock, pop, and hip hop converge in the latest single, can’t feel your love, from the earworm raconteur, VANES. The Wolverhampton, UK-based British Caribbean poet and singer-songwriter is one of the few artists unafraid to wear their visceral vulnerability on their sleeve to enrich the emotional intelligence of their listeners.

The self-proclaimed unashamed embodiment of tenderness takes influence from everyone from Arctic Monkeys to N.E.R.D, but his guitar-driven indie sound is undeniably his own. The funk that permeates through the choppy licks made a radio-ready anthem out of can’t feel your love, which traverses the frustration of unfulfilling romantic dynamics that leave you reeling every time you extend affection only to feel idiotic for your diehard romanticism.

Can’t feel your love was officially released on September 30th; catch it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

MUNBOI walks us down Memory Ln. in his latest stoically philosophical hip-hop aural installation

Posted on 23 September 2022

With his philosophy-laced rap flows, the UK alternative artist MUNBOI is becoming one that an increasing number of fans turn to for stoic poetry. Fresh from the release of his 12-track debut album, EUDAIMONIA, the producer, engineer, and artist is well on the way to the 1-million streams club.

The standout single, Memory Ln. unfurls as an intricate organic amalgam of hip hop, pop, RnB, and experimental sonic textures while MUNBOI looks to the past for answers in the present. His vocal energy truly becomes the epitome of stoicism as he twists common tropes to deliver lyrical sanctity through lines such as “I was sitting on the edge, I just needed a little push”, and “nothing really matters so we be risking it all now”.  Update your chill indie playlists accordingly.

His debut album EUDAIMONIA is now available to stream in full on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hardstyle meets hip hop in the Battery remix of DFlexXx’s Mus B

Posted on 20 September 2022

Feel the bass viscerally slam in the Battery Remix of DFlexXx’s latest release, Mus B. After becoming one of the most luminary names in the UK rap scene following his 2020 debut, the Welsh artist, inspired by the likes of Lil Wayne, Travis Scott, Tyga, Drake and Chris Brown, took his sound to the next level with this monolithic remix that will push your speakers to the limits and get your body rocking to the ferociously magnetic hardstyle rhythms.

DFlexXx set out to be as memorable as possible while staying in his own lane, based on Mus B alone, which hits as hard as Showtek’s biggest hits, he achieved it. That’s without mentioning the rapper’s ability to command a crowd of over 10,000 while supporting the likes of Sugarhill Gang, DJ Ironik and Lady Leshurr.

Check out the Battery Remix of Mus B on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

UK RnB Hip Hop Crooner SAMO Turned Up the Heat in ‘STEEL’

Posted on 9 September 2022

Slovak-born, Sheffield, UK-raised SAMO has given UK hip hop a brand-new indie RnB flavour with his sophomore single, STEEL. The short and sweetly melodic single starts with simple acoustic guitar strings before bringing in the bass-heavy beats that flow to the dynamic progressions under SAMO’s vulnerably crooned vocals.

With the anticipation of the producer, singer and rapper’s debut album that is due to drop later this year, there are few names in the urban UK arena that are as synonymous with commercial potential as SAMO, who takes inspiration from the likes of XXXtentacion, PARTYNEXTDOOR and Brent Fiyaz.

STEEL is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

BLKY shared the secret to karmic vengeance with his latest trap track, Price

Posted on 26 August 2022

Here to prove that Trap hits just as hard on this side of the pond is the up-and-coming lyrical trailblazer, BLKY, with his latest single, Price.

The reprise of ‘I get revenge with success’ rips up the usual trap tropes to deliver a narrative that shows you how to bite back at everyone that has underestimated and undermined you without disturbing the karmic balance.

The rhythmic indie instrumentals, which carry hints of eastern flavour, are just as energised as BLKY’s bars, which he’s been perfecting since the age of 10. With every BLKY track, there’s the guarantee of visceral realism. Few artists pull together art and raw narratives with as much finesse as this artist, utterly unafraid to lay it all bare.

Check out Price for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bradley Foster advocated self-love and responsibility in his hazily optimistic hip hop track, SOMEDAY

Posted on 24 August 2022

For his latest single, SOMEDAY, the UK hip hop luminary, Bradley Foster, collaborated with the sensational neo-soul vocal dynamist, Izzy Foster. The jazzy earworm is driven by Foster’s introspectively insightful bars that find the perfect position in the mix above the hazy hip hop beats, which will undoubtedly be a hit with fans of Kendrick Lamar, Little Simz and Loyle Carner.

Optimism may be in short supply these days, but Bradley Foster brought it by the smorgasbord in SOMEDAY, which makes a compelling case for self-love and eases you into the enlightenment through kaleidoscopic grooves.

With his debut LP, which flows in the same vein as SOMEDAY, in the pipeline, adding Foster to your radar is one of the best acts of self-care you can do for yourself today.

Here is Bradley Foster’s take on his latest release:

“SOMEDAY is the lead single from my album, expressing hope and self-belief. I was inspired to write this song after coming back from Sri Lanka, where my perspective shifted, and my mentality progressed into a state of wanting to address my problems and grow.”

Check out Bradley Foster’s latest single on Spotify & SoundCloud.

Keep up to date with all the new releases via Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Christopher Nagle – Lamborghini Livin featuring Saskilla and JamKvy

Posted on 14 August 2022

If Christopher Nagle is a name that has evaded you until now, it’s only a matter of time before you get caught up in the London-based singer-songwriter, rapper, and producer’s hype.

His standout single, Lamborghini Livin, featuring Saskilla and JamKvy, has already racked up over half a million streams on Spotify alone. With the experimental and almost delicate atmosphere holding up the bars as they mellifluously switch between vocal harmonies and the style of rap that the streets of London are infamous for breeding, the immersive hit keeps on rhythmically giving.

Far from your average capitalistic lust-focused track, Lamborghini Livin is a deeply humanist release that almost allows you to see behind the scenes of the archetypal desire for excess.

Lamborghini Livin is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Makh turned the heat up in the UK EDM hip hop scene 100 degrees with his debut, You What

Posted on 20 July 2022

Makh broke the monocultural hip hop mould in his urban EDM debut, You What; the anthemic production begs to be played at max volume for total immersion in the adrenalized hit, which more than deserves placement in the charts.

After a sample of definitively British football chants, Makh uses fiery Bhangra beats and exotic electronic textures in place of the usual 808s. It’s a rhythmic masterpiece, heightened by the Bradford-based artist’s playful lyrical flow, which somehow simultaneously is as sharp as it is smooth.

Honestly, I haven’t been this psyched about UK hip hop since Scroobius Pip emerged. We didn’t need his bio to tell us that he’s a well-versed poet, that kind of canter doesn’t come easy, but with You What injecting personality into a rapid flow is second nature to the artist & producer. Who also runs the Music X Mindset podcast that examines the lives and mental health of artists. Could we love him any more? Absolutely not.

You What is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link

Review by Amelia Vandergast

UK Hip Hop Got Hotter Through Dalts’ Latest Collab, ‘No Time’, featuring Jez, SK1NT and Charla Green

Posted on 21 June 2022
Dalts

Sheffield’s most infamous producer, DJ, events promoter, and label runner, Dalts, has contributed more than most to the UK music scene in the past five years. Now, he’s here with his latest single, No Time, featuring Jez, SK1NT and Charla Green.

The garagey hip-hop track uses old-school grooves, oscillating bass and skippy beats to keep the flow kicking under the clever vocal layering, which merges the originality of every featuring artist. From deadpan rap bars to distorted and transcending vocal samples, No Time is a hypnotic vibe tapestry which reminds you how great and gritty UK hip hop can be.

Check out Dalts on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

UK Rapper, Nosa outlined the line of good and evil in us all with ‘bad moods’

Posted on 15 June 2022
Nosa

With an intro of jazzy hip hop nostalgia fed through warm saturated tape delay, slipping into Nosa’s latest single, bad moods, is easier than breathing. While the melodicism of the instrumentals lulls you into catharsis, the Dartford-based rapper’s tranquilising vocal timbre pulls you deeper into the dreamy production which wraps itself around admissions of vulnerability.

Nosa used bad moods to remind his listeners that we’re all fallible, but that should never be a source of shame; it should be the cause of our own accountability. After the globe glued itself to the Johnny Depp trial in complete denial that the line of good and evil exists in all of us, bad moods couldn’t be more of a timely drop. Any fans of George the Poet and Kae the Tempest will undoubtedly want to make a playlist staple out of bad moods.

Bad moods will officially release on June 15th on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast