When Will We Learn

The track comes from the homie Manny, who displays all sorts of versatility on this one. This chilled number was written, sung and produced by the South Londoner, who also plays guitar and bass. The distorted sound of the song works well with thought provoking lyrics. 'When Will We Learn' is the first solo offering by the 22 year old, consider yourselves all schooled.

Check out his SoundCloud and Twitter page for more material, I know I will be.

Blog out.

Butterflies

Talented lyricist by the name of Kieron Boothe showcasing his skills ahead of the release of his upcoming project, "Still Life". You may have to listen more than once to clock all the punchlines though. 17 year old MC from East London, Kieron may be one to watch in 2012 and beyond.

I Don't Know

Nice, simple and stripped down performance with a strong hook by Joel Baker and well-crafted verses by Barney. The rapper is only 20 years old and hails from Forest Gate. This is the first release from the forthcoming EP #TheAcousticSessions. The project should be with us in the New Year, I for one will be giving that a listen.

Nikes On My Feet

Brewer is back with a new freestyle, and as can be expected does not disappoint over the Mac Miller instrumental. Smooth flow and introspective lyrics, fans and followers of the 22 year-old will not be surprised.

For those that are not in the know, you can be brought up to speed by checking this and this out. And this.

P.S. Video was directed & filmed by I.Tell.A.Vision

Slondon

Intro off ItsNate mixtape, Never Ask Take Everything. Tape drops 30th September. 

 Slondon by ItsNate 

Bars aplenty as usual.

Dam

The homie TR Fernandez drops his debut track , which was filmed out in Amsterdam, where a lot of us were for the Wiz concert, in May. Directed by Henry Houdini of PHD-LDN, quality stuff all around.

Shouts to whole Slobbervorst-Gang movment!

Origin London Exhibition

Should be a lot of stuff, if local check it out and if your not local, its London so you can be local in a minute. Shouts to Henry Houdini and Gabriel, some good times were had over the weekend.

House Called Home

AKS "House Called Home" from Okayplayer on Vimeo.


I received this gem in my inbox earlier on today, it's been on repeat for a while. Strong hook, lyrical talent in abundance, nice video and a positive message. Last week, AKS became the first UK artist to have a video premiere on okayplayer.  Taken from his well-received offering, The Bus Stop EP, with material like this, I doubt many passengers will be getting off soon.

Betty

New video from two guys defo doing their thing, Ash Catch'Em and Its Nate. Directed by Morgan Keyz of SBTV. Dopeness.

My Last Freestyle

Video of Pepstar riding over Big Sean's latest. Footage of him out on the road, Pep is definitely doing his thing, look out for his new mixtape, 'No Fly Zone'.

Alone With My Thoughts Part 2

I don't what kind of life I have been leading, I apologise to present this to you four days late. I received this on Friday afternoon, but didn't have time until the early hours of Monday morning to listen to this. Brewer delivered his first effort, in February of last year. Things are still the same, an exceptional flow, strong lyrical content and production overseen by production team, The Confectionery. Guvna B, Ghetts and Ny are some of the supporting cast members.

Hit the download link, you will not be disappointed. The EPK providing an insight to the mixtape and more about the artist himself, is located below.

Kindle Freestyle

Nice freestyle from the guy they call Brewer, clever use of the instrumental used on the Amazon Kindle adverts. Listen closely, yours truly gets a mention.

Trapstar YoYo Mixtape

Last Thursday, the Trapstar and YoYo showcase popped off. I wasn't present because at that time, I was paying my phone bill (at work), however these pics and personal reports confirm to me I should have pulled a sickie. Pics and the serious showcase mix provided by DJ Motive is below.

Trapstar X YoYo Mix by DJ Motive by TrapstarLDN

Pics courtesy of the Trapstar blog.

G-Shock East Sessions (Feb 18th)

Keeping to my promise, I am now sharing some images of the G-Shock East Session at the flagship store in Brick Lane. This was easily the most attended session I have been to. Space was few and far between and I saw performances by Fearless and the boys from the Trapstar Cypher, Nate, Shadez, Ash and Skits. Fearless had a few heads rocking with that 'Duku Man' tune, and new material offered by the guys from the Cypher was well received. Pics above and below, excuse the quality, check the tags if baffled.

SB.TV - Beats & Bars - Pepstar

True musical talent, I knew Pepstar could spit and got busy behind the boards as well, but didn't know he could play the drums AND the piano.The East Londoner basically produces and records a track in 6 minutes.Wait for the bit near the end, I looked away to check my phone for one second and then..... well see for yourself.

Dude should be going places.

G-Shock East Sessions

Another G-Shock event, the likes of Bashy, new Parlaphone signee G FrSh and the Trapstar Cypher boys will be present. Not one for geo-tagging, and there will be no need on Friday night, because I will be at this event. Expect pics from the session.

Blog out.

JC Adams iPad Illustration

Please, just watch this. The talent displayed in this short vid is a lot of stuff. If you listen closely, you can hear myself and Nate in the background. Major shouts to the artist, JC Adams and the director Henry Houdini.

SB.TV x Trapstar Cypher

Cypher recorded by the SB.TV crew, at the Trapstar London store. The cypher features Skits, Nate, Ash Catch'Em & Shadez The Misfit. Who impressed you the most?

Nate x Tim and Barry

The boy Nate showcasing his skills for TimAndBarryTV, at the Wholesome store in Shoreditch. Bars aplenty, peep the vid.

Thursday Thoughts- WTF Is Urban?

So another big year, for the UK urban scene with acts like Tinie Tempah reaching the stratosphere, N-Dubz still churning out hits like nobody's business and acts like Roll Deep, Skepta, and Wiley all charting with mainstream dancy tracks, in the case of William and his boys, consistently. Pro Green also had a very good 2010. Devlin, who released his major label debut this year, Bud, Sweat & Beers, earlier this year didn't really deviate from his sound, rapid-fire delivery, lyrical content and thought provoking material. However because of this he was never going to set the world alight, and he didn't, haven't heard the album, but unlike some other acts, will happily give it a listen.

Mainly what my gripe is, the moment when you get signed, the moment every MC/rapper (sometimes artist) dreads, underrated or overpaid? Griminal just inked with Universal a little while ago, we will see if his music steers from him single-handedly repping NASTY Crew at every possible chance to more poppy crossover appeal? 'Supa Dupa', his first release after the signing of his deal, implies otherwise. Not for a second, am I criticising any of these acts or MC's I have mentioned, but with the power of the internet I am surprised. Surprised, we haven't earthed an unknown talent, most of the time, its a popular artist who has been grinding for a while and then finally gets the little push, the backing of a machine and bucket-loads of Pounds on marketing and what not. There's no Kanye West similarity I can make off the top of my head, nor a British hip hop lyricist that has fiends fans going crazy over the product being supplied, like Jay Electronica. Not even a Soulja Boy reference or similarity can be made. Interestingly, Jessie J, Britian's newest Pop Princess, made her name on YouTube as a aspiring singer belting out hits on her bedroom floor.

 I would just like it, if artists on their second album could make songs like 'She Likes To' that would chart Top 20, but the album would sell on the strength of the artist, not whether the first single was soppy or synthy enough. The scene is called urban for two reasons, its not big enough and it has no sound. Hip-hop has trends, soul samples, Auto-Tune, chopped n screwed voice effects, but the sound more or less is the same.

Selling out is cool, I'm all for catchy singles with bait and over-featured R'n'B singers, but having to leave your genre or comfort zone, (can tell this when a song sounds forced), just so radio will pick you up, speaks volumes of a scene in its infancy.

Any thoughts on the 'urban' scene?