The back end of last year got away from me a little bit, hence the lack of these articles. Nevertheless we’re back and with January having the reputation of being a quiet month, that certainly hasn’t been the case for rap in Wales.
At LARYNX LIVE 6 in November (for those that don’t know LARYNX LIVE is the all welsh MOBO showcases Larynx Entertainment organises, the company I run) we had Mace the Great headline. Whilst the SplottWorld artist got the plaudits he deserved, another artist in the room caught the attention of the audience. Kayz, a 17 year old from Cardiff who had travelled to the show with Lab7 (an organisation from the capital helping youngsters with their music development) jumped on the mic several times throughout the night in impromptu cypher sessions, resulting in many of the public in attendance asking “who’s that guy?” and generally following that with “he was amazing”.
Fast forward to January he’s taken part in the 7th edition of LARYNX LIVE in Cardiff, once again receiving praise for his chops live, and he’s released long awaited new music. ‘Whip Freestyle‘ is Kayz’s first official release since 2022’s ‘City on my Back‘ and is hopefully going to open the floodgates for plenty of new tracks this year. Video shot by Prestigeous Pictures who’s also on a roll as of late, the future is bright for this one.
Vulnerability in songwriting is always going to be a trait I admire. Two artists who are prone to sharing personal stories of self and beyond are Meg Uppington and Noah Bouchard. The top of the year saw the release of Meg’s ‘Vulnerability‘ EP, a 6 track tape including tracks that had made me such a fan of her work last year such as ‘Prosper‘ and ‘U-Haul Type‘. The additions here are all solid with ‘Cobra‘ featuring REU6IX in particular having a bunch of quotable lyrics and a bit more of a ferocity in the delivery. Noah’s heart is always on full display throughout his music with his recent run being no different, sharing tales of loneliness and isolation on new single ‘Sometimes‘ produced by Minas. Pure gold as always and a step closer to a new album that I’m eager to listen to.
Another album we’re close to (it might be out by now depending on how quick I get this article over) is Ogun’s Trial by Fire. He’s been gearing us up for it with several singles including 2023’s “Know Like That” and the recently dropped ‘G Lean‘. I want to spotlight ‘Set Pace‘ specifically here though as the lead artist is joined by two other individuals for a monster collaboration. Mirari and MANLIKEVISION have both been in impeccable form recently, having significant releases of their own over the last 6 months or so. I never like to have hopes high for tracks like this where 3 or more high calibre acts link up as more often than not they don’t meet expectations. Not the case here though; the performances from the trio are on point, production is top drawer and a quality video to boot from Mitchell Visuals, everything to love here.
Another noteworthy collab is ‘GSB‘ from Sage Todz and Luke RV. The duo performed together at L E M F R E C K’s show last September and I can’t recall if this is the track they performed together, that’s been bothering me. Regardless, this is an extremely fun track produced by Sertee with some brilliant songwriting and tremendous hook. Silkcrayon’s accompanying video boosts the songs narrative too with their visuals looking more and more like short movies with each job.
I’m happy to see Skunkadelic back active on all fronts. The Afro Cluster frontman has new music out via the afro-funk hip-hop group and a brand new solo single titled “Pressure” to kick off 2024. His distinct voice and tones have always been a draw; I fail to compare it to anything else other than like a BFG and I mean that in the most positive way. Add in his knack for superbly written, old school hip-hop bops with sincere messaging and positivity and he’s onto a winner every time, as is the case with ‘Pressure‘ produced by Abstract Soundz. Deedy Media who have been very prolific in providing a variety of artists with stunning videos supply the goods here too.
Couple of quick mentions to finish this off: Real Mud Babys consisting of Chase and KS24 have been dropping music left and right since their formation, both as a duo and individuals. It’s looking like they’ll be ones to watch in ‘24. An impressive debut release from Suttin2Real; no bells and whistles on this one, just straight up rapping his reality and circumstance. M.Yesekaon is back to churning out lofi boombap like a machine and Fernquest’s trio of ‘Power of Pain‘ tracks produced by Lupe are more evidence that the former Tiny Skitz is indeed one of the best to do it in Wales.
For more recent rap and MOBO music in general from Wales you can check out Larynx Entertainment’s FFRES:WALES playlist here:
Back next month!
