Calgary, AB – HipHopCanada joined Spotify in 2016 and we’ve been releasing a new playlist with two hours of music every single week.
Each Friday we’ll hit you with a Canadian urban music playlist curated by our Associate Editor In Chief, Sarah Jay. Every week Sarah will be putting together a 38-track weekly selection of new releases, classic favourites, throwbacks, and songs she’s playing heavy on rotation.
This week’s playlist includes a lot of dope new brand new music including Yoko Gold’s “Gone”, Quake Matthews’ “Just Another Love Story”, Plaza’s “Over”, Ninety-four’s “Plottin”, Pter P’s “One Night” (off the LIT album) Sean Leon’s “81 (Prequel)” (off the just released new I Think You’ve Gone Mad album), Derek Wise’s “Damaged” (off Inglorious), Nav and The Weeknd’s “Some Way”, Johnny Darko’s “Double Cup” (off Dark Matter), Luxe’s “American Sin”, Bridgit Mendler and Devontee’s “Temperamental Love”, Pryde’s “Things To Do”, and Troy Phoenix’s “Marilyn Monroe.”
Lately there’s been a whole lot of new music popping up on this list and it’s amazing. We balanced that out with some throwbacks by K-OS, Kardi, Saukrates, and more. Check out the playlist and tracklist for Sarah Jay’s Weekly Picks Vol. 20 below, and make sure you go follow us on Spotify.
Sarah Jay’s Weekly Picks: Vol. 20 – February 17, 2017
Yoko Gold – Gone Quake Matthews – Just Another Love Story Sean Leon – 81 (Prequel) Plaza – Over Derek Wise – Damaged Gov – Only For The Night ft. Ye Ali King Reign – Santa Romeo Ninetyfour – Plottin ft. Devon Tracy Pter P – One Night Nav – Same Way ft. The Weeknd Johnny Darko – Double Cup Nilla – Whoa Man Seth Dyer – Love Song Kardinal Offishall – Nina Chuck G – Bottled Up ft. Tory Lanez A l l i e – Remedy Shad – Take Flight Adria Kain – Kainthem Eazy John$on – All The Time K-OS – The Love Song London Future – Hold Your Fire ft. Jessie Reyez Luxe – American Sin ShaqIsDope – Too Much Ambition Clairmont The Second – The Road Jahail – Anti Social Grimace Love – Chances ft. pHoenix Pagliacci Bridgit Mendler – Temperamental Love ft. Devontee Pryde – Things To Do Muneshine – In Transit Prem Rock & Fresh Kils – Spit Belly – No Option Sargeant & Comrade – Searching (Real Hip Hop) Jei Bandit – No Show Somethin’ Like That – Vanish ft. Junk & Andreanna Pelehos Terence Penny – Freedom Troy Phoenix – Marilyn Monroe Saukrates – #FYEO ft. SonReal Majid Jordan – Forever
Halifax, NS – After releasing the Classified produced “Just Another Love Story” earlier this month, Quake Matthews returns with a brand new video for the track (which features vocalist Reeny Smith).
Directed by Mark Sawatzky, this video shows us the ongoing love story between Quake Matthews and alcohol. As he drinks his way through dates, performances, and life in general, Quake always seems to find himself within arms reach of a bottle of booze. The bottles of alcohol in the video are all subtly labelled with words – both good and bad – that reflect how Quake has used alcohol over the years: “create”, “destroy”, “indulge”, “break free”, etc.
Check out the video for “Just Another Love Story”, and read Quake’s letter to himself (from alcohol) after the jump.
An open letter to Quake from Alcohol
Dear 15-year-old Quake,
I know we have yet to meet, but starting tonight, we are going to become extremely close over the next decade. Do not throw this away MATTHEW, you need to read this… I’m writing you because I need you take heed to this moment of honesty I’m about to express. Some of this will be painful, but no matter what – stay with me in this letter. I’m positive you’ll thank me later.
I know you’re an anxious kid. Even though there are times that you feel like an outcast, you have to remember that nobody’s perfect but some people are just better at projecting a false reality.
Tonight, we’ll meet at Jer’s birthday party and I promise you it’s going to be one of the best times of your entire life.
What if I told you that your confidence level will be through the roof, your grin will seem as though it’s permanent, and you will even work up the courage to hit on the girl you’ve been admiring from afar at school over the past few weeks? I know what your thinking, but you can thank in me in the morning… that’s if you still want to.
Remember when I told you to take heed to my honesty? Well, this is the part where that comes in. You must’ve heard the cliche “What goes up, must come down”? Tomorrow morning, you’ll be granted a first hand understanding of the second half of that proverb. FYI, when you press your forehead against the cold tiles of the bathroom floor, it tends to relieve the nausea, to a certain extent.
As your passion for music begins transforming from a hobby into a career, we will be seeing a lot more of each other. As your concert crowds begin to snowball, so will your on-stage anxiety. It will get to the point where you begin calling on me to help you get through performances. Eventually, a time will come that you won’t be able to step foot on the stage without me as your back-up singer.
The more you use me, the more comfortable you will feel and even though I may give off the vibe that I enjoy being used, I’ll be seeking payback in ways you least expect. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I have it out for you, but I’m no push-over either. Let’s start with the good times…
We’ll eventually travel the world together and make incredible memories. We’ll reconnect while boating through canals in Amsterdam and driving through the Hollywood hills in roofless coupes. I’ll be with you while we’re rubbing elbows with a countless number of your childhood heroes and sealing the deal with girls who you thought were way out of your league. It sounds great, right? Just don’t forget about the aforementioned payback because inevitably, I’m coming for it.
See, there’s going to be times where I make you feel like Jesus himself, but in those moments you will fail to realize the outside perception of what’s really going on. For example, there will be times that you swear that you’re on stage performing like Jay-Z, when in actuality, you’re slurring your words and embarrassing yourself with aimless off-colour banter in between songs. You are undoubtably going to wake up filled with shame and regret when you watch the videos of yourself performing, so please, try to go easy on yourself.
As you grow and become more self aware from previous experience, you will knowingly repeat these same mistakes while lacking the self control to prevent them. Trust me, this is going to fuel a fire inside of you that will begin to extinguish your burning desire to succeed. Imagine rehearsing all week to perform in front of 2000 people, then forgetting the words to one of your own songs. I know it sounds devastating, but its going to be a reality.
The more you let yourself down, the more enraged you will become and the more you will put the blame on other people. It will even get to a point where you find yourself in the midst of physical altercations with club bouncers, show promoters, and even close friends that stem from your temper and of course, me. Eventually, word will spread and important figures in the music community will be skeptical about working with you. Remember, the more you’re painted with a dirty brush, the harder it becomes to rinse yourself clean.
With all that being said, my goal isn’t to scare you, it will get better. You will eventually find your place and become more focused then you’ve ever been. You’ll reach accomplishments in your career that felt beyond your grasp at the beginning of this ride together. That brings me to the present day. I heard the song you wrote about me and plan on releasing February 14, 2017. I’m glad we’ve finally reached a point where we truly have a conversation and develop a complete understanding of one another. This isn’t good bye. I’ll always be here for you, waiting, at the bottom of the bottle.
Brampton, ON – Today is my birthday and I am incredibly excited to announce that I have teamed up with Brampton artist EverythingOShauN for the premiere of his brand new video for “Broke” (which is an incredibly bless birthday gift).
“Broke” is one of my personal favourite records off of Until Now. For this video, EverythingOShauN teamed up with Fatty Soprano and Shutter to deliver a minimalistic visual for the track. The idea is that you don’t need all the bells and whistles to make something special.
If you listen to the record, there’s one line that EverythingOShauN uses on the hook: “broke but still tipping'”. And I think that line so perfectly sums up the approach behind this video. You don’t need stacks of cash to give something value. And you don’t need to let money and appearance define you.
Check out the video premiere for “Broke” below, and scope our Q&A with EverythingOShauN after the jump.
Q&A: EverythingOShauN
HipHopCanada: This was probably one of my favourite songs off Until Now so I am so happy to see you gave it the visual treatment. Talk to me about the vision for this video.
EverythingOShauN: I appreciate that for real. The vision was simple… Shoot a video with minimum everything to drive the essence of the song and also capture the feeling of how it is when I perform the record, as well. Darkness but high energy. It’s a unique position to be in… “Broke” but still tippin’.
HipHopCanada: I noticed you juxtaposed low-fi shots with higher quality shots. Was that an intentional thing to illustrate the juxtaposition between being rich and broke?
EverythingOShauN: Absolutely right. Not to get too philosophical and shit but you really can’t enjoy anything truly without the existence of its opposite. Joy and pain, good and bad… and even down to shots, since the song is really about being in such a situation like “Broke” having the two images shows the struggle and battle between the two.
HipHopCanada: Another thing I noticed about this video was that a lot of the shots were filmed in locations like subways, etc, etc… really minimalistic and not extravagant. But you’re still stunting. So it’s – again – that idea of being “broke” but still “tipping”?
EverythingOShauN: It’s funny because you would never know how many meanings were intended for “Broke” on surface listens alone, for sure. Put it this way… in one sense we as people always end up spending beyond our means because appearances and looking the part is so important to our society nowadays. What people can see… thats what’s important. But also being “Broke” is a state of mind as well, as an actual financial disposition. So if you’re going to be “broke” money-wise, you better make up for it in another way or you’re going to feel that much lower.
HipHopCanada: Who directed this and how did that collaboration come about?
EverythingOShauN: This collaboration was done with the help of the super dope talented director Fatty Soprano and Shutter out of Montreal. Love for what I do musically ultimately connected us and they understand what I’m trying to do visually and graduate to. So I was fortunate to find them and sync up like that. They my brothers now.
HipHopCanada: I think one thing that’s always stood out to me about this track is that being “broke” isn’t just referring to how much money is in the bank. It’s also referring to emotional wealth, and social wealth, and all of that.
EverythingOShauN: There so many levels to broke and being broke and ultimately you don’t want to be every type of broke possible at the same time. If you’re going to have no money you have to be emotionally wealthy because…that’s pretty much all you got at that point. But you’re right overall Sarah. You get it. You get me. I love that. That’s why I love you. You know this though.
HipHopCanada: As always, I love how XP does all your videos with you because I feel like low-key EverythingOShauN is actually a duo of you and XP. What’s the significance of having him in all of your videos with you?
EverythingOShauN: I mean he’s pretty involved with the music. I mean he is my producer and is involved in a lot of my music directions, regardless. So I think one of our strengths is that tag-team that other people don’t really have these days. It’s like how Missy and Timbo used to be… [or] Biggie and Diddy. These days there’s Macklemore and Ryan, and even Majid Jordan. You always see both in the videos. So I think it’s a dope thing to have. Plus he’s a giant so he would stick out regardless.
HipHopCanada: Anything else you want to add?
EverythingOShauN: Happy Birthday to my favourite Sarah Jay. You know I dropped “Broke” on this day for you too, right? You know me love you long time.
Montreal, QC – Earlier this week Osheaga announced its monstrous line up for the 2017 festival, which takes place from Aug. 4 to Aug. 6 at Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal.
This year’s line up is headlined by XO golden boy The Weeknd, and features additional performances courtesy of 6lack, BadBadNotGood, Daniel Caesar, Danny Brown, De La Soul, Denzel Curry, Flatbush ZOMBiES, Harrison, Jacob Banks, Lil Uzi Vert, Majid Jordan, Major Lazer, Mick Jenkins, NoName, River Tiber, Run The Jewels, Russ, Sampha, Solange, and more.
Passes are on sale online now via the Osheaga website and start at $320 for general admission for the entire weekend. Check out the official festival poster below, and head over to the official Osheaga site for more details and to scope the entire festival line up.
Vancouver, BC – In light of their recently released album Nü Religion: Hyena Grunge R&B duo THEY. sold-out Vancouver’s Alexander Gastown for their Nü Religion Tour with special guest Ishdarr. Vancouver R&B singer Lia Liza – who was chosen via online submission contest – performed the opening set at the multi-level venue.
Our photographer was in the mix to catch the action in visual form – check out the photos below.
Brampton, ON – Earlier this week, Brampton artist Derin Falana released a brand new single and video titled “Cruising” to mark a very important turning point in his life.
Recently Derin found himself in a position where he was working the inevitable day job to make ends meet, while trying to forge ahead with his rap career. Ultimately, Derin knew he’d eventually have to quit his job for the music, but he didn’t know when the right time to do that would be.
Following the release of Live From Rocky Mountain and a trip to New York, Derin got an email from his company that said they would be closing down; which meant that the universe fortuitously put Derin in a position where he got to leave his day job. He hasn’t picked up another day job since, and has been able to make a living by doing music full-time.
“Cruising” serves as a marker of that milestone, and as a celebratory interlude in Derin’s grind. Enlisting the help of Po and Jordon Manswell on the production, and fellow Brampton singer Aiona on the vocals, Derin delivers this track as a marker of new beginnings, and a celebration of achievements.
Check out “Cruising” below, peep the RACK AND PINION directed video for the song after the jump, and check out our in-depth conversation with Derin about making it to this point, defining success, and (potentially) gearing up to leave Brampton.
Video: “Crusing”
Q&A: Derin Falana
“I think the success associated with this song was finally being able to do what I love full-time.” – Derin Falana
HipHopCanada: Start off by telling me the story behind this track, and what the song means to you on a personal level.
Derin Falana: So basically… I used to work this job that I was sticking with because I needed the money at the time. The music started to pick up and the two started to conflict so it was either quit and take the risk or continue working, lose out on opportunity but be more financially secure. I wanted to quit no matter what. I was waiting for the “right time”. A few hours before a shift I got an email from the place saying that unfortunately it had to close down, which meant I was now unemployed. This happened a week or two after my New York trip and the release of LFRM. I spent so much time worrying about when I was supposed to quit and the universe ended up doing it for me. So that’s kind of how “Cruising” came about. It’s definitely another turning point in my life. I haven’t worked a job since and I’ve gotten the music to a point where I’m on cruise-control in the right direction. All I have to do now is continue to work hard, focus, stay humble and it’ll only be a matter of time before I reach my goals.
HipHopCanada: Talk to be about your vision for the accompanying video. There’s a very minimal aesthetic to it.
Derin Falana: The visuals were done by RACK AND PINION, a creative group based out of Toronto. Super talented group of individuals. Collaborating with them on this was a great experience. The idea behind the video was to sort of create a moody, contemplative feel and depict the allure of New York; but stay true to my identity and my city. It was a simple video but it wasn’t a boring simple. It was an artistic simple and it fit with everything perfectly.
HipHopCanada: I feel like the simplistic video so perfectly coincides with the message behind the track. You’ve had a very humble come up and you’re someone I’ve always admired in that you don’t try to be extra or fancy. The reason you’ve reached “Cruising” status is because you’ve always kept things simple; it’s always just been about the music.
Derin Falana: It’s definitely always just been about the music and it will stay that way. I think there’s a time to be extra and fancy and a time to be simple and straight-to-the-point. So far being simple and staying true is what’s worked for me. So that’s what I’ve continued to do.
HipHopCanada: Who is Aiona and how did that collaboration come about?
Derin Falana: Po actually set that up. He sent me one of her records and I thought it was dope so we reached out, sent the record over and she sent it back same day. Shout-out to her! She killed it. Gave the record another layer and on top of that she’s from Brampton, too!
HipHopCanada: I feel like so many guys come into the rap game with this idea of success as being “X amount of money”, or “getting signed to a major label”, or whatever. The vibe I get off this song is that you’ve found your success (or you’re starting to, at least). How would you define success for yourself?
Derin Falana: I think the success associated with this song was finally being able to do what I love full-time. People tend to fall into these “Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do” situations and I feel like now I’m doing what I want to do. Success to me just means achieving my goals whether small or big. Ultimately we work up to the bigger ones but the smaller ones are stepping stones.
HipHopCanada: One thing I found really interesting is that line where you say you’re too big for your city. I know you been repping Brampton since day one… But I have to agree with you that I think you’re at a point where you’re too big for B-Town, and probably Toronto, too.
Derin Falana: The saying “big fish in a small pond” represents that line best. Being here [in Brampton] sometimes makes me feel like a bird in a cage. And I can’t be contained anymore. I want the world to be able to appreciate my music. It’s almost time to relocate.
HipHopCanada: I think I have to agree. On a final note, though … even though “Cruising” is a nice place to be, I feel like it’s easy to get complacent while cruising. What’s the next level you’re aspiring to take yourself to?
Brampton, ON – Earlier this week up-and-coming Brampton artist LD bANKO released a brand new record titled “Yea Yea” as his own personal 2017 anthem of celebration and success.
This record marks the turning point where LD feels he has both found and settled into his artistic identity. It’s a track that shows the progression – both personally and artistically – that has occurred over the last little while.
For this track, the Made2Eat squad teamed up with engineer MixedByMS to get the track properly mixed and mastered. It’s a little step that too often gets overlooked amongst the ranks of up-and-coming rappers. The difference in quality between this jam and LD’s older work is a world of difference.
And all of that can be attributed to A) LD finally feeling secure in his artistry, and B) LD committing to actually invest in his craft. Listen to “Yea Yea” below, and scope our Q&A with LD bANKO after the jump.
Q&A: LD bANKO
HipHopCanada: Start off by telling me what this track means to you on a personal level.
LD bANKO: On a personal level, this track means everything to me. It talks about me spending money on my dreams, sleepless nights, my girl having my back, my team working our way to the end goal and so on… within the three verses. And the chorus are the questions I’m asking myself and me agreeing by saying “Yea Yea”!
HipHopCanada: What’s the vibe you were going for with this one? It sounds like it’s just as much a motivator for the listener as it is for yourself. There’s also this subtle lullaby-like undertone to it all because of the beat.
LD bANKO: The vibe I was going for on this track was a more mellow lullaby-ish feel with a bit of bounce that people would be able to rock with; accompanied by a catchy rap pattern. This track is a very motivational track for me – at least because I feel that as an artist I have finally found who I am, and that I’m comfortable in my skin. The way I rap may not be like the others but that’s what makes me stand out from the others. Which is why the line “Do they know your name? Yea yea!” makes so much more sense. Because no one in the game raps the way I do.
HipHopCanada: I feel like this song is a celebration of progression and motivation – on so many levels. There’s the encouraging tone to the lyrics, and there’s also the improved song quality, and proper recording, etc. Talk to me about that.
LD bANKO: This song is very much a celebration song because I’ve come such a long way from where I first started and I see the progress. The hunger and drive has never stopped as well. And the fact that I’m still around [and] spreading out my vibrations for other people to hear and vibe with me and understand me on another level really makes me feel good. It makes me feel as if I’m meant to keep on making music. And the whole sound of the track is very soothing; from the vocals, to the melodies, the track as a whole is just incredible. But I have to give thanks to MixedByMS for making the song sound the way it did. Wonderful engineer! I’m happy the whole Made2Eat team found such a guy thats passionate about his work and sees our potential.
HipHopCanada: On that note, what would you say is the biggest progression you’ve made since the beginning of 2017?
LD bANKO: I would say my biggest progression since 2017 has started is that I’ve started to invest in myself as an artist. Sure the money put into music isn’t cheap but the overall sound and quality at the end makes up for it 100 %. Also, I’ve cut out a lot of distractions and only communicate with people who are as driven and motivated as me. And ever since, the work has progressed as well. It’s all eyes on the prize now. The team and I just have to keep a tunnel vision.
HipHopCanada: Tell me the story behind how the collaboration with BeatsByNova came about.
LD bANKO: Well the collaboration all started through my brother, once again. He has a great ear for music. He was playing this beat on his speakers one night and I stopped him and asked for the beat. He told me it was made by Nova. And so I hit up Nova, we talked, made business, and the minute he sent over the beat I started writing. When I heard what I had wrote and spoke into the mic the day I recorded it I almost shed a tear. It was as if it was meant to be. This song – by far – is one of my favourites and I hope people can say the same as well. I just want to thank everyone who made this possible for me. Thank you for everything Sarah Jay! And to the people reading… stay tuned because No Dumping is coming soon! A surprise project is coming even sooner! And a collab between me and Eli Brown (a.k.a GodBlessEli) is around the corner! Thank you and God bless! #Made2Eat!
London, UK – While taking in the More Life debut on Saturday, one thing that really caught my interest was the amount of love Drake showed the UK.
Even before the premiere it was well-known that Drake had embraced the British hip-hop and grime scenes, working with Skepta and others over the past few years, remixing UK records (like London rapper Dave’s “Wanna Know”), referencing UK slang in various songs (like “Cameras”), and most recently bringing several artists out during his ongoing European Boy Meets World Tour. And the playlist dropping while Drake was still in England? No coincidence.
“If Drake and Skepta’s connection bridged the gap between the UK and Toronto, More Life just cemented the foundation of that relationship for years to come.“
Giggs, a South East London rapper from the Spare No 1 movement who first appears on More Life’s second track, “No Long Talk”, has actually been on several BMW tour stops dating back to January when the tour started off inside Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome. The Giggs-assisted “KMT,” track 15 on More Life, is even listed as part of the tour’s official set list but it wasn’t clear if it would end up on the final cut.
By now we know that even when a guest appearance for a Drake project seems to be set in stone, you still can’t bank on seeing it on the final track listing. Just ask Jay Z, Kanye West, Popcaan, and maybe even JLo.
Boy Meets World Better Know
Drake also blessed the Boy Meets World platform upon other UK artists including Krept and Konan, Kyla, Dave, and the Section Boyz.
Last night the tour returned to London for the last of the seven dates scheduled for the city, no doubt in front of an audience highly appreciative of the look bestowed on their golden scene by the 6 God. Adding to the hype of the performance, Drizzy closed out the show with an indication that OVO Fest London was going to happen. “Mad ting!” This news sent the packed O2 Arena (and social media) into a frenzy.
The genre-melding More Life playlist embraced the London scene, loosely employed its slang and opened up new markets to Giggs and the other Brits who were curated into the mix. It will likely take months to really see More Life’s positive impact on UK music as a whole.
Skepta of Boy Better Know is actually only featured on a solo NaNa Rogues-produced More Life interlude but the bars he drops are some of the hottest you’ll hear. If you recall, when Views came out a lot of Skepta fans were quick to voice their disappointment that he had been left off the album so this should go a long way towards smoothing that over. The producer, Rogues, is well-known among British heads, having produced some massive records over the past few years. His credits include tracks like the hit single “Trapping Ain’t Dead” by Section Boyz, “Can’t See Me Again” by Skepta, Bashy and Kano, and “We Don’t Play No Games” by Tinie Tempah. Along with the “Skepta Interlude,” Rogues also produced More Life’s “Passionfruit,” which has already become a fan favourite. Perhaps as much as “Blem,” but for the fans who prefer Drake’s softer side over his aggressive bars.
Jorja Smith (who is actually from Walsall, near Birmingham) made her presence felt with her soulful contributions to the Nineteen85 and Shebib-produced “Get It Together,” which also features South African DJ and producer, Black Coffee. Smith’s debut EP, Project 11, is worth checking out on Spotify.
28-year-old South London crooner Sampha is another UK act granted a solo appearance on More Life, crushing the touching FrancisGotHeat-produced “4422.” Sampha was also featured on “Too Much” off Drake’s Nothing Was The Same album, and performed the song live with Drizzy on numerous occasions, including Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. If you like what “4422” had to offer, you won’t want to miss Sampha’s debut album, Process, which dropped back on Feb. 3 through British independent record label, Young Turks.
It has also been revealed that the voice on the “Teenage Fever” outro saying ‘very much 6 a.m.‘ and ‘awake for 24 hours‘ belongs to none other than Santan Dave.
Very Much 6 A.M.
All-in-all, great contributions from the UK acts tapped for More Life and a great look for UK hip-hop and grime in general. OVO fans around the world unfamiliar with Giggs, Skepta, Smith, Sampha and Rogues are already hitting Google to find out more about them. You can bet some are going to listen to playlists and watch videos, thereby exposing them to even more UK artists in the process.
In fact, this graph from Google Trends shows a spike in search traffic for each artist during and after the premiere of More Life (refresh if it doesn’t load):
If Drake and Skepta’s connection bridged the gap between the UK and Toronto, More Life just cemented the foundation of that relationship for years to come.
Alladat Alladat
I had listened to songs coming out of the UK on occasion, but it was this past April where I really started to take interest in the London scene. My boy Bills put me on to a drill group called 67 (pronounced ‘Six Seven’) and since then, I don’t think I’ve gone more than a couple of days without taking in some of their tunes. Shouts to Bills for the introduction. We still talk about going to London sometime to catch a show.
It wasn’t long before my new fondness for the Brixton Hill gang was leading me to check out other artists they were affiliated with. Artists like 86 (‘Eight Six’), Mischief, K-Trap and even Giggs, who appears on 67’s massive 2016 single, “Lets Lurk.” And then from there I was even looking at artists they were beefing with like Ard Ardz, Sho Shallow, S Wavey and J Boy.
You quickly realize how incredibly large the London scene is and the sheer amount of talent peppered across the city’s boroughs. The population of the city is estimated to be close to 9 million deep and the amount of ‘urban’ recording artists in the city is easily in the thousands. And each and every one of their YouTube videos features a comments section filled with passionate and knowledgeable fans arguing over who the top dog in the city is. If you try to make a list of the top artists in the city, someone is guaranteed to disagree with you.
Knowing all that, I still thought I’d at least share a short list of UK artists that I’ve been closely checking out, in no particular order. Definitely a good handful to start with if you’re looking to dive deeper into the scene. They’re all expected to make big moves this year, or are already in the process of making them (see Stormzy). A few points about what each artist or group is up to, along with a video that will better familiarize you with what they’re all about.
Starting with the group that is ultimately responsible for me writing this, 67, consisting of LD, Dimzy, ASAP, Monkey, Liquez, and SJ, who was given 5 years in 2015 for possession of a firearm.
As Complex’s Laura Brosnan described in her June 2016 article, the song “Take It There,” one of the 67’s first big singles, “captured [the group’s] unfiltered collision of Chiraq Drill, UK street slang and London road politics in a way that we hadn’t seen.”
As I was just starting to take notice in the group, the buzz had just died out on their involvement with a beef between two other popular local artists, Chip and Yungen. 67 didn’t actually release a song or even say a word, or really have anything to do with the beef, but the mere mention of their name in one of Chip’s diss tracks seemed to dead the issue altogether. It certainly added to the allure of the group’s mystique and intrigue.
67 is currently touring and promoting their 2016 album, Lets Lurk, available on iTunes, Spotify and other outlets. The album is full of big tunes like “5AM Vamping,” the Reekz MB-assisted “Way Too Active,” or the title track, “Lets Lurk” featuring Giggs. Peep the video below.
From everything I’ve heard, North London’s Abra Cadabra is as talented as he is greezy. He’s even being dubbed by some publications as a new age Giggs, largely due to his “same slow-paced, near-apocalyptic delivery” on big records like “Robbery.”
It was the Krept and Konan-assisted “Robbery” remix that served as my first introduction to Abz (as well as K and K for that matter), and it lead to me digging through YouTube for anything Abra Cadabra related I could find.
Most recently I’ve been going back to the “Banana (Remix)” by Belly Squad featuring Abz alongside Young T, Bugsey, Timbo and Showkey, a rising star who was stabbed to death back in August at just 16 years. The video was released in December and has racked up close to 4.5 million views since. The Belly Squad trio, consisting of Ty, Max and T1, released their Banana EP featuring the remix with Abz back in February.
I’ve also been bumping a couple of newer songs from Abra Cadabra including “The Roads,” and “Valentine,” which both feature another artist named Kush.
South London’s Casyo “Krept” Johnson and Karl “Konan” Wilson are a popular rap duo known together as Krept and Konan (or Play Dirty back in the day). After making their debut in 2013 with the Young Kingz mixtape, Krept and Konan signed with Virgin EMI. The first single, “My Story,” was especially popular with fans as it tackled the publicized murder of Konan’s stepfather who was killed during a 2011 home invasion. At the time, Konan expressed that it had “weighed heavily upon him since he believed himself to have been the real target.”
In 2015 they released their album debut, The Long Way Home. The project was named Best Album at the UK’s annual 2015 MOBO Awards and the group was also named the Best Hip Hop Act of the year. They were also named Best Hip Hop Act in 2014 and named Best Newcomer in 2013. Clearly they had the right approach out the gate.
2016 saw Krept and Konan win another MOBO Award, this time for their contributions to the aforementioned “Robbery (Remix)” by Abra Cadabra, and they also snagged another BET Award nomination for Best International Act: UK. The duo had been nominated in the same BET Awards category in 2014, beating out Rita Ora, Tinie Tempah, Dizzee Rascal and more to take home the win.
Most recently the group has been keeping busy touring and making guest appearances on various tracks including Jeremih’s “London” and MoStack’s “Liar Liar (Remix).” They’ve also made headlines with their appearances on Drake’s Boy Meets World Tour. They’re overdue for a new project or mixtape and during interviews last year they indicated one would be coming.
Black Butter Records artist J Hus is only 20-years-old, but already becoming known for being one of the hottest acts to come out of London. After being stabbed 5 times in 2015, Hus’ notoriety sky rocketed and only added to the buzz surrounding him. He was given a hard time in the media for throwing up gang signs in a hospital bed picture, criticized for not using his platform to spread a more positive message. The reports made a point of commenting on his social media following at the time – 30K on Instagram and another 19K on Twitter. To give you an idea of his growth in popularity since then, his Instagram followers now stands at 138K and his Twitter following has climbed to 54K.
The self-proclaimed Bouff Daddy is currently promoting recently announced dates for 11 shows across the UK which kicks off May 1 in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Musically, the young artist is promoting his new “Did You See” video, which just dropped a couple of weeks ago and has already received more than 3.5 million views, as well as a recent collaboration with Dave called “Samantha” which has quickly become a favourite. J Hus is also killing the guest appearance game, finding a spot on Nines’ new video “High Roller,” and Stormzy’s new “Bad Boys” tune which also features Ghetts.
On social media, J Hus has been teasing fans with a new album which should be out any day.
XL Recordings rapper Nines got a boost in international publicity when The FADER showcased his dope new album and how it was “breaking the UK charts without compromising the sound of the streets.”
Nines had broke the 1 million stream mark with his chart topping album One Foot Out, and since then that number has increased at an impressive rate. In fact, the J Hus-assisted single “High Roller” is close to cracking 1.5 million streams on its own, and 8 out of the other 15 songs on the album have surpassed 500K streams. The album is still doing fairly well on UK charts and entered the UK Albums Chart at number 4. By doing so he became one of the few British rappers to release a top 5 project along with Giggs, Skepta, and Krept and Konan.
The FADER goes on to draw a comparison to some of those artists in the coverage of One Foot Out:
“The beats are unflashy rap beds of minor key melodies and 808 kicks, augmented with occasional, sung R&B hooks. There’s none of the experimentation that saw Giggs work in grime rhythms or flashes of minimalism on last year’s Landlord, or any of the more outlandish sonics you’d find on a project from Skepta.”
The name AJ Tracey is relatively new to the grime scene, but the West London MC has actually been putting in work since back in 2011 when he went by the name Looney. Since taking on the new moniker, Tracey has released an arsenal of big videos, the most recent being for the song “Luke Cage” which was produced by Toronto’s own grime king, Tre Mission. The Toronto producer-MC also produced Tracy’s “Buster Cannon” single, one of his most popular songs to date.
“Luke Cage,” directed by West London’s own Mornix, is actually the third single off Tracey’s 2016 EP, Lil Tracey, which is available on Spotify, Apple Music and other outlets.
While AJ Tracey was already making waves locally, a shout out from Drake on his remix to Dave’s “Wanna Know” pushed things to new levels. His May 2016 video with Dave, “Thiago Silva,” has done huge numbers, getting close to 5 million views to date. The pair are currently on a mini-North American tour with shows in LA, New York and tonight inside Toronto’s Mod Club (722 College Street). Click here for tickets.
Despite being one of the youngest artists mentioned in this post, Santan Dave is quickly becoming one of the most popular MCs coming out of London. He had already gotten the attention of local taste-makers, but Drake remixing his 2016 song “Wanna Know” created new opportunities and significantly sped up his growth.
Dave has been brought out as a guest on the Boy Meets World Tour, and he can also be heard doing the outro of More Life’s JLo-sampled “Teenage Fever.”
Also in 2016, working with producer partner 169, Dave released the Six Paths EP as well as singles “JKYL+HYD” and the aforementioned “Thiago Silva” collaboration with AJ Tracey. The new year saw Dave release another big tune as he came together with J Hus for “Samantha.” Since its release date on Jan. 26, 2017, the video has received close to 7.5 million streams with no signs of slowing down. Dave is live in Toronto tonight with AJ Tracey inside Mod Club.
