Conveniently released just a month before the Olympic games hits London, Sway drops this patriotic anthem with Ed Drewett, who drops a mediocre chorus which should help attract it to the pop outlets. However Sway's lyrics are nothing short of touching and are packed full of meaningful content and references to the extraordinary diversity of the city. Big up to Sway once again!
Featuring a catchy pop hook from Ms D (who featured on Chipmunk’s #1 hit ‘Oopsy Daisy’), the non stop worker Wiley drops the video for his new summer joint, which is bound to be played across the radio spectrum, and has already been playlisted by Kiss, 1Xtra and Choice! The addictive 'Rymez' produced track is full of scorching seasonal references and looks set to be the soundtrack of summer 2012! Big up to Wiley, he's done it again!
New one in the rapper tag series as the well respected UK hip hop artist drops this, with his buddy Devise getting tagged later in the vid!
Hard bars as always from the grime MC as he drops some heavy duty bars over the classic So Solid track 'Woah'.
It's always great to see a mainstream brand get involved in a culture which is not traditionally considered within it's immediate scope, which is exactly what Gatwick Express have done here. Dubstep don Benga, who has also been behind some grime bangers such as Lethal B/Firecamp's rowdy 'Shut Up', takes us on his musical journey from Victoria to Gatwick.
Baxter gets involved in the video production on this creepy comedic new video, which is the second single to be released from his project 'The Gruesome Features'. It's out early July on High Focus Records on CD, Digital & Limited Edition EP version on vinyl.
Check this video interview/freestyle I grabbed with him backstage at one show of his.
After the success of 100 bars of pain, Narstie gets deep once again on this well produced track which shows yet another new side to his music.
Yet another politically potent hip hop banger from the Mississippi rapper/producer/activist! If you like this make sure you check his free/donations supported new album 'Sex drugs and video games'. This is some real ish - take note!
Arguably the greatest rapper alive, Nas recently featured on the Westwood show, speaks on Nicki Minaj Summer Jam beef, future colabs, favourite time in hip hop, Cherry Wine, Amy Winehouse & more!
Krept and Konan talk to Urbanworld & SK Vibemaker about not being too serious and having fun, competitiveness, suffering from writers block, weather they are willing to compromise to gain commercial success, their forthcoming CD & more!
| Date | Artist | Title | Label |
| 26.6 | Eminem | Curtain Call: Hits | Shady Records |
| 26.6 | Large Professor | Professor @ Large | Fat Beats |
| 26.6 | DMX | Undisputed | |
| 26.6 | Maybach Music Group | Self Made Vol. 2 |
| Date | Artist | Location | Venue |
| 25.6 | Nicki Minaj | London | Hammersmith Apollo |
| 25.6 | Kendrick Lamar | London | Electric Ballroom |
| 25.6 | Nas and Gyptian | Manchester | Manchester Academy |
| 26.6 | Kendrick Lamar | London | Electric Ballroom |
| 26.6 | Nas | Edinburgh | HMV Picture House |
| 26.6 | Nicki Minaj | Birmingham | NIA |
| 27.6 | Erykah Badu | London | HMV Hammersmith Apollo |
| 28.6 | Nicki Minaj | Manchester | O2 Apollo |
| 29.6 | “About Time” ft. Ralph Hardy, Danny Wood and others | London | Bells of Shoreditch |
| 30.6 | Big Boi | London | World Basketball Festival, Brixton |
We are proud to announce the link up with The NXG Group, which is made up of a range of enterprises that provide services primarily to the youth market whilst helping create training, work experience and employment opportunities for young people. Conceived in 2006 by Michael Kosmas, the NXG Group has worked with over 5000 young people and created over 30 jobs. NXG –The Next Generation, in a nutshell is a youth brand that aims to Inspire, Empower and Educate.
Here are two nomination videos for the event, to be held at the The Shaw Theatre, London and special guests include Cleo Sol, Lady Leshurr and Cashtastic and will be hosted by comedian Poets Corner.
More nominations to come, but in the meantime vote now at http://www.nxgawards.co.uk
Best Actress - Scarlet Johnson, Lauren Socha, Hannah Murray, Rian Steele
Inspirational Act - Tinie Tempah, Ed Sheeran, Dappy, Wretch 32
We recently grabbed this interview with Warner/769 signed rapper, who hails from Chepstow. In this revealing interview, Elro spoke to Suave Debonaire about how (and why!) he named his mixtape 'Porcelain Corpse', things he learned from Mike Skinner, skills he's learned from being a stand up comedian and more!
An MC we've been supporting since 2009, Franko Fraize recently made a guest appearance on the DJ Cameo show on 1xtra, which was taken over by Frisco from Boy Better Know.
Check out this mixtape we released of his, back in 2010! 
We also grabbed this freestyle take a look!
Sneakbo talks to Urbanworld & SK Vibemaker about the evolution of his music, afrobeats, categorisation of his music, and describes how 'I'm not trying to impress the hood.. I'm trying to leave and better my life and my families life', and more.
The Stones Throw rapper recently appeared on on Seani B's Hip Hop show on 1Xtra over the weekend. He talked about the Queens/New York underground scene and performs three minutes of original written over UK beats.
Seani's show broadcasts from 1-4am every Friday night on BBC 1Xtra. Check out his most recent show here: ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jqn55
Check out this exclusive interview and freestyle footage I got with the man himself below...
The well respected UK rapper drops this great track to mark Father's Day. This is what hip hop is all about!
The recent rise of the rap/rock cross-overs are coming fast and furious these days, most of the time with great results - and this is no exception, as Wezzy drops first solo video off his upcoming mixtape 'Freak Show' out June 18th!
Fresh off the back of a flawless LORD OF THE MICS 3 battle, Manchester's HYPES is setting himself up for the release of his first official single, the infectious ‘ENERGY OVERLOAD’ - currently being supported by DJ CAMEO BBC 1XTRA, with strong production from Deeco.
The godfather of Grime himself Wiley also recently picked out HYPES as one to watch tweeting - “Hypes from Manchester you are showing signs of a great now”
One of the hottest new Southern rappers drops this short documentary, showcasing footage of him making his latest album 'Live from the underground'. Directed By Steve-Ography and Edited By Slick Jackson.
"Man... It's been a long time coming but it's finally here. My album "Live From The Underground" is online and in stores. In this video you'll get to see some of the process of making the album. You'll get to see me working with legend B.B. King in the studio and hear some great stories about some of the songs and the album cover.... y'all enjoy".
Big K.R.I.T. - "Live From The Underground" available on iTunes and Amazon.
The UK's Dready (fka JD from So Solid) drops a sick dancehall beat for another massive link up from Mavado and Chipmunk. Massive track, and another step in the right direction for North London's Chip!
Nasty crew's Griminal gets back to what he does best with this new grime banger filmed at LoveBox festival, with cameos from the likes of Mz Bratt, P Money and more. JME drops a big verse also to top this off.
Danny Brown and A$AP Rocky sat down at Primavera with Vice Magazine's music channel to go back and forth about a bag of issues. Part one sees them discuss picking up girls on Facebook, real MDMA, and the hassles of being in the music industry.
In part two of 'Back & Forth' A$AP Rocky loses control when Danny Brown tells the story of his teenage encounter with an old prostitute, Danny complains about being compared to Wu-Tangs ODB, and the two guys go through their shopping list of women they like to get down with.
In part 3, Rocky and Danny talk about bad interview questions, the power of music reviewers, who their real fans are, and how they go about choosing their beats.
In part 4, Rocky quizzes Danny about his hair, Danny admits to being a freak just like Prince and Rick James, then both rappers talk about the best music festival in history.
In the final part of this series, the two rappers talk about where they'll be in 20 years time, and talk about how they both got by selling rocks when they were younger.
This page will give you an overview of the main Hip Hop releases and events scheduled in the UK for this week. The info has been put together by HipHopListings who provide heads across the UK with updates on new events and releases.
Let us or HipHopListings (ukhiphoplistings@gmail.com) know if there’s anything you’d like to see added to this overview (or any future ones coming up)
Releases scheduled for 18 - 24 June
| Date | Artist | Title | Label |
| 19.6 | Pastor Troy | Outlaw | |
| 19.6 | Del The Funkee Homosapien & Parallel Thought | Attractive Sin | |
| 19.6 | Juvenile | Rejuvenation | |
| 19.6 | Smoke DZA | Rugby Thompson | |
| 19.6 | House Shoes | Let It Go |
| Date | Artist | Location | Venue |
| 21.6 | Jay-Z & Kanye West | Sheffield | Motorpoint Arena |
| 21.6 | Big Daddy Kane & Biz Markie | Manchester | HMV Ritz |
| 21.6 | Natty | London | Scala |
| 22.6 | Jay-Z & Kanye West | Birmingham | LG Arena |
| 22.6 | Big Daddy Kane & Biz Markie | London | HMV Forum |
| 23.6 | Styles P | London | The Coronet |
| 24.6 | Nicki Minaj | London | Hammersmith Apollo |
Dope new video from the Chepstow rapper. The video sees Elro's witty and bizarre lyrics brought to life using props aboard the N679 night bus. Features on the N679 include a lamb, Cilla Black and Pitbull - look out for our interview with him dropping soon!
Carling have commissioned three top DJs to create their own tracks, using the theme of summer as a base to create the music! Who better to commision to create something like this than D&B/hip hop mixologist Jaguar Skills, who has been steadily building his reputation since 2002 for his "eclectic multi-genre, cut-n-paste style DJing mixes".
If you ever listen to Radio 1/1xtra then there's a good chance you've heard him at work - but now he's created something truely unique for Carling, who are promoting their new lime infused 'Zest' beer, for the summer.
If you like what you see, head over to the Carling Zest Youtube app to check out more creations like this - by fellow creative turntablists DJ Yoda and DJ Food. You can also create your own track and win tickets to V Festival. This could be your first step to your new life as a worldwide respected DJ! If you're proud of your creation then leave a link to your mix in the comments section below and get it seen by the other readers!
This article was sponsored by Carling.
Leading live music showcase night ILUVLIVE is celebrating it's 8th birthday on 21 June. The celebrations include a photographic exhibition showing performance images of artists who have appeared on the show over the years before breaking the big time including Jessie J, Ed Sheeran, Wretch 32, Katy B, Roll Deep, NDubz, Ms Dynamite, Professor Green, Emile Sande and Tinie Tempah.
One of the most promising producers in the UK underground bass scene is 'Champion', who follows the success of the instant classic, 'Lighter', with this video for 'Crystal Meth', via grime label Butterz. It features footage from the last Butterz x Hardrive event at Cable in March.
Check out the video for Champion's 'Crystal Meth' which is out on 25th June and the 'Crystal Meth' launch party takes place at YOYO on 28th June at Notting Hill Arts Club.
Don't forget the next Butterz x Hardrive touches down at Cable on 7th July! Grab yourself a ticket here.
The veteran Bow E3 grime MC gets on a reggae cross over tip, with the video seemingly filmed in Jamaica - big track, and visually rich video!
Wiley seems to be in "on fire" mode recently and is dropping a huge amount of music and long time collaborator Bless Beats provides the production on a bouncy mid 90s Timbaland/Mannie Fresh reminiscent hip hop flavoured beat for Will to tell the tale of his late night antics, in a couple of accents which works well on this example - possible radio/club hit?
This page will give you an overview of the main Hip Hop releases and events scheduled in the UK for this week. The info has been put together by HipHopListings who provide heads across the UK with updates on new events and releases.
Let us or HipHopListings (ukhiphoplistings@gmail.com) know if there’s anything you’d like to see added to this overview (or any future ones coming up)
Releases scheduled for 11 -17 June
| Date | Artist | Title | Label |
| 12.6 | Wordsworth | The Photo Album | |
| 12.6 | Slaughterhouse | Welcome to: OUR HOUSE | |
| 12.6 | Bow Wow | Underrated | |
| 12.6 | Wacka Flocka Flame | Triple F Life: Friends, Fans & Family | |
| 12.6 | Oddisee | People Hear What They See | Mello Music Group |
| 12.6 | Kid Ink | Up & Away | |
| 12.6 | SpaceGhostPurrp | Mysterious Phonk | 4AD |
| Date | Artist | Location | Venue |
| 11.6 | Jay-Z & Kanye West | Manchester | Manchester Arena |
| 12.6 | Jay-Z & Kanye West | Manchester | Manchester Arena |
| 13.6 | Jay-Z & Kanye West | Birmingham | LG Arena |
| 15.6 | Pharaohe Monch | London | Proud2 |
Releases:
M.I.K - Workaholic
Trozion - Soul of a Soldier EP
