As we approach the festive period, with shorter days and longer nights, now is a perfect time to take time to listen to music from the past 11 months. When, if not now, is a better time to catch up on the Chip vs Bugzy saga, Skepta’s rise to the next level, Lord of the Mics 7, WSTRN breaking into the charts, female rappers like Lykez, Simz and Leshurr stepping up and everything that South London have put out this year. While this all may seem like a lot, TRAPPED is here and we have covered all of these stories for you to digest. And just to keep you up to date with everything in the UK scene, TRAPPED brings you THE UK MUSIC SCENE ROUND UP;
Stormzy secures his own show on Apple Music
South London rapper Stormzy has been revealed as the latest name to join Apple’s Beats 1 radio station, getting his own weekly show alongside his official DJ, DJ Tiiny. The Merky Show which will run every week 8-10pm every Friday will see Stormzy play a number of tracks alongside exclusive interviews. On Twitter, Stormz also announced that he wanted to help support unsigned artists and urged fans to send through their music; “loadsssss of riddims coming through keep em coming!! I promise to go through ALL of them, and will let everyone know if imma use them!”. The show kicked off last night and featured an interview with Bonkaz, tracks from the likes of Section Boyz and Yxng Bane and even let his alter ego Stiff Chocolate take over with a segment “strictly for the ladies”.
Skrapz and Giggs link up for new track ‘Round Here’
Skrapz has just dropped his latest album ‘The End of the Beginning’ last week and now he delivers the visuals for his track ‘Round Here‘ which features Pecknarm’s OG Giggs. Both Rappers flow effortlessly, over the beat with verses filled with hard hitting wordplay. The simplistic, eerie instrumental drives home the strong tone of the track. The video was released via GRM Daily and sees both Skrapz and Giggs on the streets of North West London, showing that they’re truly ‘Round Here’.
Section Boyz bring heat to the Boiler Room
After featuring as part of the Boiler Room x Nike Football event, Section Boyz were asked to host their own Boiler Room Session. The Boiler Room has previously played host to the likes of Skepta, Giggs, D Double E and Logan Sama. On Thursday evening with a full capacity crowd including prominent faces from the industry, Littlez, Inch, Sleeks, Knine, Swift and Deepee took to the mic and got the everyone jumping with performances of all their big tracks plus a number of freestyles. Living up to their promise of bringing through special guests, Section invited Fekky, Stormzy, Jammer, Shorty, Novelist, Faze Miyake, Heavytrackerz and Maximum down to help shell down the dance. The energy in the room was turned up as the Section Boyz put on a show to remember.
Rapman tackles a tough subject with his new video
This year, there has been a big focus on the issue of male suicide and how it affects many more people then first thought. Professor Green did a BBC3 programme entitled ‘Suicide & Me‘ looking at the issue and now UK rapper Rapman has tackled it in his latest track ‘Rollercoaster‘. The track and accompanying visuals which debuted through SB.TV, carries a powerful message, shining a light on a matter that isn’t often in the public eye. There is also some personal motivation behind the project as it was made in recognition of Rapman’s friend who he managed to talk out of committing suicide. The video is truly powerful and has been picked up by the likes of The Metro, BT, The Daily Express, The Daily Star and BBC.
Chase & Status continue their ‘London Bars’ series
Following on for the collaborations with Frisco [‘Funny‘] and Giggs [‘More Ratatatin‘], Chase and Status carry on their London Bars series by linking up with New Gen‘s Bonkaz. The track entitled ‘Wha Gwarn?‘ addresses those giving him funny looks in the rave and carries on directly from Vol.2. The track is high energy and has a ‘We Run The Block‘ feel about it and sees Bonkaz letting loose.Bonkaz is known for his versatility with his ability to sing and rap but for this song, he is at his best. Bonkaz is raw and gritty with his lyrics and is complimented by the edgy beat. The video ends with Novelist jumping into the back seat of the car which leads us to believe that he’ll be in charge for Vol. 4.
1Xtra MC Month keeps surprising us!
For urban platfrom BBC Radio 1Xtra, November is MC Month and as such have been treating us to a number of exclusive video and content online,including live lounge-esque covers. While some have chosen to cover a traditional rap song, with Fekky covering 50 Cent‘s ‘Many Men‘ and Post Malone taking on ‘Heartless‘ from Kanye West, there have been some who aren’t afraid to experiment. Notable mentions are Big Narstie who tackled R Kelly‘s ‘Bump N’ Grind‘ with Narstie showcasing his vocal range [sort of!] and J Huswho covered ‘Breathe‘, the 2003 hit from Blu Cantrell and Sean Paul. With a week or so left of November, we await to see who will be next to step up to the mic. Who would you like to see and what would you like them to cover? Let us know in the comments setion.
Ghetts & Rudekid drop #SixFiveThree EP
This week saw the release of a new EP entitled #SixFiveThree from producer Rudekid and grime MC Ghetts. The project saw six tracks, spawned from scratch over 5 days at the Relentless No.5 studio at Denmark Street, with three videos set to accompany the release of the project. The EP was released at an exclusive launch party [check our recap] which saw the likes of Jammer, Frisco,Griminal, Kano and Tinchy Stryder perform. They even shot the final video for the project the launch event which definitely shows an effective use of time. The EP itself is a credit to both artists, with tracks such as ‘Balaclava‘ and ‘Who’s Got A Problem?‘ acting as standout tracks and showing what can be achieved in such a short space of time. You can grab the project from itunes here.
