While we all enjoyed a well deserved break in the sun this summer, many UK artists haven’t taken their foot off the gas and have been working hard over the summer period. With a scene as healthy and as busy as the UK Rap/Grime scene, TRAPPED have bought you the highlights and headlines to keep you up to date with all the top news stories.
Krept & Konan take on the charts
The South London Rap duo Krept & Konan have gone from strength to strength over the past 6 months. Back at the beginning of this year, they announced that they would be releasing their debut album ‘The Long Way Home’, including the likes of Emeli Sande, YG and Skepta in July. Since then, they have released tracks with huge US rap stars Rick Ross [‘Certified’] and Wiz Khalifa [‘Do It For The Gang’], signed to Virgin EMI in the UK and secured a deal with prestigious rap label Def Jam over in the States. While all of this just goes to show the development of the pair, the success was topped off with their track ‘Freak of the Week’ [feat. Jeremiah] debuting at #9 in the UK charts and the album The Long Way Home reaching #2 in it’s first week, making it the highest charting UK rap album in history. While we know there is a lot more to expect from these two, there is some credit due to achieving such a historic milestone.
Stormzy wins at BET Awards
At the turn of the year, Stormzy was steadily building a name for himself as a force to be reckoned with in the UK grime scene. After featuring on Charlie Sloth’s Fire in the Booth Cypher in late 2014, it was clear that the London MC was not afraid to stake his place within the scene and wanted to be heard. After winning the award for Best Grime Act at the 2014 MOBOs, his intentions were made even clearer with his first release of 2015 ‘Where Do You Know Me From’, a track which saw Stormzy letting loose with a barrage of bars and has been viewed over 1,500,000 times. His authenticity on the mic saw him credited as the future of Grime and picked up for his energy on tracks like ‘Not That Deep’ and ‘Shut Up’. The first half of 2015 also saw Stormzy featuring on a track with none other than Nick Jonas which served as a reminder of Stormzy’s rise to fame. This was further accredited at the end of June, by winning the Best International Act at the BET Awards 2015, beating the likes of Lethal B, Fuse ODG, FKA Twigz and Little Simz. This was truly a big moment for the rapper and the award itself serves a platform, with Krept & Konan winning the prestigious award last year.
Skepta & Drake – Best of Both Worlds
Back in February this year, Kanye West made history by inviting the likes of Boy Better Know, Novelist and Stormzy up on stage during his performance of ‘All Day’ at the Brits 2015. While this was headline making news itself, it led to rumours of a Skepta/Kanye collab which as of writing, we are yet to see. What the story did offer was some well deserved exposure for the North London MC and his latest track ‘Shutdown’ went viral, amassing over 7,000,000 views on YouTube and Soundcloud. What was interesting about the track was the intro/outro for the track was supplied than none other than US rap superstar Drake. The friendship between the two was clear, with the Canadian rapper quoting Skepta’s lyrics and posting pics of his LOTM2 clash with Devilman on Instagram. The bond between the two came to a head when Drake, wearing a Boy Better Know t-shirt, invited Skepta on stage to perform ‘Shutdown’ during his Wireless set in June.
While this serves as a massive co-sign for Skepta and will hopefully lead to more exposure, Drake has been seen in a new light and is sure to increase his fan base as well. While it seemed that we may be waiting a long time for a joint track, London rapper Wizkid released a remix to his track ‘Ojuelegba’ this week featuring both Skepta and Drake. The chemistry between both artists is very apparrent and it will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
Bonkaz – Time to Shine
Croydon rapper/MC Bonkaz has been making waves for a while now and has certainly stepped out of the shadow of his former ‘older’ Krept [Bonkaz was once Younga Krept of Krept &Konan]. He has been impressing audiences and increasing his fan base with a number of live performances, including two dates at Glastonbury, and performing as part of the Grime meets Spoken Word Live Lounge on 1Xtra. This week, he cemented his success by signing his latest track ‘We Run the Block’ to Sony/Pitched Up. Pitched Up is the brainchild of legendary DJs/producers Danny Weed and DJ Target, who are looking to find the freshest new artists in the UK scene. It’s a big move for Bonkaz and the track is already a hit, with the HeavyTrackerz produced single being viewed over 185,000 times on YouTube. While Bonkaz himself has been hailed by the likes of Kano, Stormzy and Wiley, this single deal is definitely a step in the right direction and with an EP on the way, Bonkaz is certainly one to watch.
Words: Nathan Tuft – @Natz_AO
