The UK urban music scene is ever expanding, with new artists coming through the ranks every day. While celebrated and veteran artists such as Skepta, Kano and Giggs are still making a large impact in the game, there are a heap of up and coming artists from J Hus to AJ Tracey, Mo Stacks and TEDness, who are releasing consistently good music. With the modern addition of social media, fans of the scene can interact with their favourite artists and news can be spread in a heartbeat. But with so many people and so much going on, it can be hard to keep on track with whose who and what’s what, but fear no more. TRAPPED will be bringing you a weekly round up of the hottest news in the UK right now, so without further ado, lets kick things off with a TRAPPED Round Up ;
Stormzy kicks off his first headline UK tour
Ever since Stormzy announced that he would be undertaking his first headline tour back in March of this year, fans and critics alike have been waiting in anticipation to see what Big Mike had to offer. With dates in Brighton, Manchester, London and Bristol, it was clear that Stormzy was looking to take over and take over he did, with tickets selling out in days. Referencing this momentous occasion, Stormzy hopped on a new track this week entitled ‘Dude‘ with grime original Lethal Bizzle and said “My big bro Lethal brought me on tour last year, I’ve just sold out mine!” Stormzy has been known to smash a live set, with iconic performances at Wireless and Bestival this year, as well as performing alongside Boy Better Know at last year’s Culture Clash. The South Londoner looked only to built on the hype around his name and kicked off his #LiveInTheFlesh tour with a sell out gig at Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms last night. From the get go, Stormzy controlled the crowd and showed everyone why he deserved his current reputation, including nominations in the Best Male, Best Grime and Best Video categories at this year’s MOBO Awards. Performing hits like ‘Shut Up‘ and ‘Know Me From‘, Stormzy earned respect as an artist who can do it all and the Nottingham Post reported that “The 6ft 5in man looked down at the crowd in sheer awe as his fans bounced in unison and shouted every single lyric.” With dates planned all over the country, Stormzy looks to bring his own brand of energy and excitement to many more cities nationwide.
Little Simz takes to the Jools Holland stage
Jools Holland BBC 2 programme Later With Jools Holland has long been a staple of the broadcasting channel and has seen many famous, even legendary people grace its stage. The programme has also hosted a number of up and coming UK urban talents who have used the platform to reach a larger, more mainstream audience. From So Solid Crew, Ms Dynamite and The Streets all taking to the stage back in 2002 to Wretch 32 and Professor Green performing in 2011, the programme has never been afraid to expose raw talent from the rap, garage and grime scenes. Earlier this year saw Skepta perform ‘Shutdown‘ and this week saw UK rapper Little Simz take a slot. It’s not surprising that Little Simz would be featured, with the year that she has had. From being co-signed by Kendrick Lamar and featured by Jay Z to the release of her debut album A Curious Tale of Trials + Person in September this year, the North London Rapper has been making a name for herself and has been mentioned in The Guardian, High Snobiety and Pitchfork.
For her performance on Jools Holland, Simz gave a rousing performance of her track ‘Wings‘. Characterized by the same ferocity she brings to every thing she does, the performance featured Simz confidently blessing the stage, and everyone else watching, with her music. Check out the video below.
#GrimeAid raises money for Syrian refugees
This year saw one of the most harrowing crisis in recent memory as millions of refugees were displaced from their homes as a result of conflict in the Middle East. In particular, an astonishing number of Syrian refugees were displaced from their homes in chaotic and distressing scenes that many of us can’t shake from our minds. To combat this, a night entitled #GrimeAid was held at The Nest in Dalston, East London last week and was hosted by Beats 1‘s Julie Adenuga. The historic night showed the unity within the UK music scene in the face of such a major crisis and saw performances from the likes of Chip, WSTRN, Youngs Teflon, Shystie, Logan Sama, Kozzie, Jammer, Jevon and Cadet. All those involved gave up their time for free and used the platform to perform their latest tracks and even a few exclusives [courtesy of Chip and Cadet respectively]. The night was a major success and raised over £2000 which will be used for the purchase of food and hygiene items that will be delivered by volunteers to the refugees at the end of the month. Journalist Ra’ed Khan, who’ll be traveling to Serbia this month to provide aid to the refugees, posted a status on Facebook after the event;
“Last night, I was standing in the cloakroom at #GrimeAid and a friend tells me ‘Ra’ed, we have raised over £2300 for the refugees!’, I instantly broke down, crying tears from happiness as I truly know how many children, women and men’s lives this will make a tad easier.”
The event showed how effective we are in numbers and showed the strength and power of the UK urban scene.
Novelist takes it back to the ‘The Endz’
Ever since announcing his departure from his Lewisham crew The Square back in early September, we have been anticipating a new Novelist track for some time now. We heard a snippet of what was to come with his ‘On da block‘ freestyle which he dropped last month, stating that he was doing this thing on his own and this week saw the official release of his new track ‘The Endz‘, complete with accompanying video. Dubbed the “future of grime”, Nov has been shutting down shows in the UK and US and the ‘The Endz‘ is simply a statment of intent by the 18 year old MC. “I come from the endz, my mandem grew up in the endz, All day, I’m in the ends, Waste mandem can’t come to the ends,” the chorus repeats over a punching beat, phone ringing samples and electronic chords. Not only did Novelist write and produce the track but he also directed and edited the video (with filming handled by RileyJH and Ali Uhlig), which he of course stars in.
While the track itself is a bulletproof grime banger, with rapid-fire percussion and some of his most incendiary one-liners to date, the fashion, attitude and style, the video transport us back to the days of Channel U (not AKA!) and remind us of the origins of the genre. The track is set to be featured on the upcoming release of The Sound of Rinse FM [out on 13th November], which also features Skepta, FKA Twigs, Faze Miyake, Hudson Mohawke and many more, and there’s a number on the video below to text for more information.
Words: Nathan Tuft
