Today’s  song is Personal delivered by Bermudian born rapper/singer-songwriter and producer BENTO.BDA. The track is taken from his forthcoming debut EP The Deep which will be release later this year.

BENTO.BDA is an award-winning artist, winning song of the year at the UG awards, aged just 16 for Bermuda in 2005 and went on to support the likes of CHRIS BROWN, JOSS STONE and more recently THE GAME.

Now residing in London, BENTO.BDA has been writing, producing and featuring for a number of UK artists such as BLUEY ROBINSON and his track, Good Times, and most recently RAHEEM BAKARE, who debut single Portrait Of Love which Bento co-wrote, hit no 1 on MTV Base.

This lead to Bento’s debut radio release Slow Jam, also featuring BLUEY ROBINSON which reached no 18 in the Music Week urban chart, and resulting in being playlisted on numerous radio stations including Unity Radio and Kemet FM, as well as gaining the support of 1Xtra Target and Capital Xtra.

Bento’s father, a musician himself, encourage and exposed Bento to a wider variety of pop, rock and soul music, and this love of melody and classic music was ingrained but it was hip-hop and rap that give Bento the platform to express himself.

So take time out and have a listen to Personal.

 

New Release: Die For You – Ironik

Check out the instantly addictive Die for You, the latest single by IRONIK. The track is coming from his  forthcoming E.P Ticking Off Boyhood Dreams.

At the age of 26, the UK alternative hip-hopper has been on the music scene for seven years and has already clocked up: two top five singles, a top ten single, a top ten album along with performances at Glastonbury, the MOBO Awards, T4 on the Beach (and take a deep breath!) He also collaborated with SIR ELTON JOHN, CHIP, LOICK ESSIEN and LEMAR… and made history by becoming the first rapper to perform for the Queen at Buckingham Palace!

Released this week via iTunes,  Die For You  sees the veteran rapper team up with fellow UK talent L Marshall. Go on, brighten up your day and have a listen!

 

Album Review: Voice of the City – K*Ners

It may be fast approaching winter, but  UK hip-hop artist  K*NERS kept it sizzling hot with his album, The Voice of the City.

Released late last month, the Bristol-based hot property collaborated with a string of heavyweights including  SAWY, CHARLIE SLOTH and ROOT MANUVA for explosive tracks that will sit quite neatly in your collection.

The #Mustlistens: Watch You, Opposites Attract, My Life

New Music Video: Pilot – Raphael Blake

Spoken word poet RAPHAEL BLAKE has dropped the video to his latest track, Pilot. The South East Londoner’s body of work entitled The Undergrad is set for release later this year. The free 18 track mixtape will be released in 3 parts, each containing 6 tracks. 

The third track taken from the Ambition body of work is ‘Pilot’ which follows previous tracks ‘The Undergrad’ and ‘Its More Than Poetry’. Pilot explores Blake’s ambition of becoming a pilot, but reveals the harsh realism.
The Undergrad is a body of poetry over music that encompasses the tales of Blake’s life and ideas, capturing his experiences within the 3 years post college. The concept of the The Undergrad project mirrors the journey of a university student that is partitioned into 1st (Ambition), 2nd (Reality) and final years (Sacrifice), each having its own theme revealing Blake’s ambitions, realisations and trials throughout. There are 5 spoken sound tracks in each year of the Mixtape including and intro and outro.

RAPHAEL BLAKE has walked the BRIT School path to graduation and started performing spoken word in open mics sets all over the capital as a 16 year old. During this introduction, BLAKE made appearances at Shoreditch Festival, and found himself a finalist at South’s Got Talent and a winner of various local talent competitions.The co-operate working system and typical monetary purist pulled Blake away from his passion but five years on he returns and switches the 9-5 for his pen and thought-provoking word-pictures to finally reunite with his hearts one true desire.
Experience the world of RAPHAEL BLAKE and have a listen to pilot.

Mixtape Review: To Be A Star – E-Thrilla

To Be A Star Cover 2 E-Thriller

UK Rapper/songwriter E-THRILLA left me wanting more with his EP, Room For Improvement (featured back in March on NEW LEASE MUSIC). It’s been a long (ish) time but he returns, finally dropping his debut mixtape, To Be A Star.

Did it quench my thirst? Like the EP, Room For Improvement, his trademark of sweet atmospheric melody was featured in  his latest project but there’s a stronger punch of hip-hop with the presence of electronica  and disco. Each track documents the Mancunian’s determination to make it big time.

So to answer the question, To Be A Star sure did quench my thirst and if you’re always in search of hip-hop tracks that push the boundaries, well I’m sure this mixtape will hit the spot.

The #MustListens: PRIDE, Home, Mindstate, Sometimes, See The World, Cray