Between coast-to-coast tour dates with rap legends Camp Lo and a transpacific festival appearance in Jakarta, Indonesia last year, sixteen-piece collective, THE URBAN RENEWAL PROJECT has managed to find the time to record their latest effort, ‘Red Eye’ which explores an updated version of the Golden Era hip-hop sound, infectious rap hooks, concentrated horn lines and a heavy dose of live drums—creating explosive vibes just begging to be danced to.
‘Red Eye’ is from their EP, ‘Love Glory Duty Death’. This banger is truly a one-off experience; check it out below:
MIKE BODY captures those dreaded feelings when a marriage reaches breaking point with latest album, ‘When Divorce Is Mentioned’, released late last month.
The Christian rapper enlisted a lineup of upcoming artists to give different perspectives and stages of a marriage heading fast to the D-word, over the arrangements of trance like tones and rampant bass. One of the views included Body giving a heartfelt insight into how children suffer due to lack of stability at home caused by the experience of divorce.
Overall, ‘When Divorce Is Mentioned’ is a full-bodied collection that’s sure to offer some comfort to those who experienced a messy break-up. The theme of the album shows that the hip-hop genre a sincere side.
Check out the album, with song recommendations below:
Must Listens: Battle For First, Kids Gotta Suffer, Back to Work
French-born London/based producer, multi-instrumentalist and session player JO COCCO released his first solo project via his new production company Joozzy Records, following international success after having collaborated and toured with renowned acts including Aloe Blacc and Gentleman (on Imperfection), Max Romeo, Sly and Robbie, Sara Lugo.
Wanting to face new challenges, JO COCCO relocated to the UK in 2017 where he recently produced The Wise Bloods latest single Turn The Tide (featured on radio BBC4).
As a well-established Reggae and Blues producer as well as guitarist, Jo’s expansion to Hip Hop was just a matter of time and a long term goal of his. He wrote, composed and produced an extremely catchy summer vibes track ‘Let It Go’, mixing Blues with Hip-Hop, influenced by the 70s/80s and guitar sounds reminiscent of BB King.
The song has come a long way since Jo started recording the beat in 2016/2017 in France. It was only in London that he finally found the voices he was looking for. Supporting the local Hip- Hop scene, Jo enlisted three emerging London rap talents: Ham The Illustrator, a Namibian-born rapper, activist and creative who also designed the cover art to ‘Let It Go’; MC Solomon who is a regular performer in the UK live scene and Hughdem, who forms part of the well-established Brixton Hip Hop collective AndWhat (featured on IAmHipHop).
Together they finessed ‘Let It Go’. Check out the video for the track below:
THBENJ is one of those contenders who make his presence known in the rap game with braggadocious tracks, ‘Mumble Acid’ and ‘Louder’.
However the rapper adopts a more soothing and laid-back vibe through his latest single, ‘Paranoid’, which forms part of this forthcoming full-length album, dropping 28th June.
