#uk-rap

#uk-rap

Earl has spent the past decade or so immersing himself in New York's underground rap scene, resulting in one of the most unique and unpredictable discographies of his generation.

Listeners were hypnotised by its patchwork of grime, Afrobeats, dancehall and more, or as music journalist Flashy Sillah puts it: This felt like [fellow British rapper] J Hus but on steroids.

In recent years, he's evolved into an emissary of Florida hip-hop and a rap star at the nexus of niche underground fame and household ubiquity, able to stunt on blockbuster movie soundtracks one minute and do pop-ups at Chinatown arcades with no security the next.

"Making the first-ever signature Sprite Sound is the type of artistic collaboration I love, since we both stand for empowering artists and authentic self-expression," Mustard said. "Sprite is iconic and a legend in music culture, and I made the new sonic identity to be intense, crisp and just as iconic as the brand."

The Eski.Sub draws inspiration from the visual language of Brutalist architecture and the cultural atmosphere of UK grime music scene. The project examines the relationship between design, urban context, and emotional listening experiences, positioning the loudspeaker as both an audio device and a spatial object.

Kanya King stated, 'Black music shapes what we listen to, how we speak, how we dress, how we tell our stories and I guess it's defined as Britain's cultural identity but structurally and institutionally is still often treated as m.'

Sometimes an audience wants to be told, what is this? And I'm refusing to do that. You can find great things in music when you open up to real listening. No one needs to be told 'what something is,' otherwise why would we be making something so straightforward? Be ready to be surprised, to find something new in music, and let the music resonate with you.

I've done more books now, I think, than Shakespeare, sort of. I had a right laugh writing my first book, and people liked it, so when the chance to write another came up, I thought why not? I've got even more mad tales to tell.

In the opening track, the 36-year-old musician intersperses his own words Coffee in his hand and he dashed it in my face / Five seconds later, right hook to my socket with voice notes his cousin, the actor and writer Michaela Coel, left him in the days after the attack. The record immediately became one of his most streamed, with listeners drawn not only to his frank recounting of the attack but also to his thoughts on youth violence and gentrification, and his grief at the death of his father in 2017.

The rework transforms the original into a deep Afro house cut built around rolling percussion, warm late-night atmospheres and spiritual vocal textures. Subtle shakers and fluid rhythmic patterns give the track a hypnotic drive, balancing emotive depth with a groove designed firmly for the dancefloor.

The respondent has not been tried for his alleged conduct on 21 September 2025 and will not be tried. He has not been convicted, and he has not been acquitted. Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Linden, said the judge was right to hold that he had no jurisdiction to try any summary-only offence alleged to have been committed on that date.

When modern UK rap great Dave first announced plans for a UK arena tour last October, the demand for tickets in London was so high that he quickly doubled his number of shows in the capital. The Boy Who Played the Harp Tour is at the O2 Arena for a whopping four dates - and they kick off this weekend.

Best known as a memoirist, Morrison returns to poetry after 11 years with a masterclass of lyric distillation and charged observation, demonstrating that nothing is beneath poetic deliberation. His subjects range from social and political justice to meditations on poetic heroes such as Elizabeth Bishop and sonnet sequences elegising the writer's sister. The interwoven specificity and occasional nature of the poems is captivating:

Having released The Mountain, their best album since Plastic Beach, on Friday, Gorillaz have now announced a North American tour supporting it. The fall dates are their first major North American outing since 2022, and they'll have Deltron 3030 opening all shows, with Little Simz as well on most of them.

Over the years my main focus has been jazz so bringing that style and rhythm up to the stage, they found really interesting. Ellis thinks his jazz background made him stand out among his fellow contestants, attributing his success to the distinctive musical perspective he brought to the competition.

There was something happening that I couldn't quite recognise. They're not from school. They don't look like a family group. Emma Warren, a journalist and author of Up the Youth Club: Illuminating a Hidden History, explains to Helen Pidd how she realised that the man she was observing was a youth worker. Bringing people in, dropping them out. I was watching someone extremely skilful.

On a stage in Edinburgh, thick with dry ice, a bus shelter materialises and a man in black steps out. Mike Skinner, AKA the Streets, has come to take us back in time. Pint in his right hand, mic in his left, he begins: It was supposed to be so easy And just like that it's 2004 again. Had he been trying to court a mass audience, Skinner wrote in his memoir, I certainly wouldn't have made a concept album about someone losing

Central Cee has shared a new song "Iceman Freestyle" along with a music video. Directed by Don Prod, the clip tracks the British rapper driving an old Aston Martin, drinks whiskey, and literally digging his own grave. Watch it below. "Iceman Freestyle" is the second solo single Central Cee has released following 2025's Can't Rush Greatness, his debut album on Columbia. The rapper also linked up for a few collaborations last year, including Drake's " Which One " and Sexyy Red's "Guilt Trippin."

It only takes 33 seconds for Jason Williamson to drop an F-bomb on "The Good Life," the first track from The Demise of Planet X, Sleaford Mods' first record in three years. This latest record, released January 16, isn't much of a departure from the duo's signature sound: Williamson furiously yelping and rapping over Andrew Fearn's driving electronic beats. For a group that has always trafficked in anger, a world unraveling into chaos is perfect fodder for a Sleaford Mods record.

The rapper, known on his tax form as Charles Wingate and known by his old Harlem associates as Charley Rambo, made his name in the rap game during an all-too-brief run in the 2000s, as one of the most colorful members of Jim Jones' Byrdgang, his solo offshoot from the Diplomats (although due to his growing up with rappers Cam and Mase, Max is like honorary Dipset).

Dry Cleaning singer Florence Shaw likes to keep some distance between her vocals and the rest of the band. Shaw's curious confidences, spoken-word confessions, and bemused monologues appear to have only a passing relationship to the propulsive rhythms and brittle riffs that frame them. That dissonance can be striking at first, but it grows restrictive-stark contrast can only take you so far.

Shortly after Kiss All the Time was first announced, fans noticed that the album cover resembles a digital camera screen and buttons. "Aperture" (which dropped on Jan. 22) sticks to that thematic imagery, its title coming from the photography term for the size of a lens opening through which light can enter. As Styles sings in the pre-chorus, "Aperture lets the light in," seemingly embracing an optimistic outlook, or letting in the (figurative) light.

On a bill almost comically overstuffed with heavy metal superstars paying tribute Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Anthrax, Slayer his rendition of Black Sabbath's 1972 ballad Changes unexpectedly stole the show, appearing to win him an entirely new audience in the process: the crowd at the gig skewed considerably older than the gen Z fans Harrison traditionally attracts. The ensuing performance is worth watching on YouTube.

Chances are, if the Atlanta rapper sounds like they have a loogie stuck in their throat, I'll probably like them. B5 and Zeeball? Yep-"Heist" might be the biggest omission from our Best Rap Songs of 2025 list. Rroxket? I still listen to his zooted-out regularly. Before I get carried away, let's add Bby Kell to that list. Her new tape, Straight Pop, is cool as hell-it reminds me of Glokk40Spaz back when his bread and butter was belligerent dark plugg.