To mark his collaboration with Fender on the launch of their new Highway Series, we caught up with singer-songwriter Hak Baker to discuss learning guitar in prison, the reception to his debut album World’s End FM, and his plans for a well-earned break in Colombia.
★★★★☆
UK rap’s greatest enigma celebrates the long-awaited release of his debut album, Famous Last Words.
We speak to emerging rapper TS Lagga about education, how to define success and why he decided to open his GCSE results on stage at Reading and Leeds Festival.
★★★★☆ Potter Payper unleashes evocative, polished storytelling on his debut album, Real Back in Style, detailing exactly the sort of life experiences that sees him presently in jail.
★★★★☆
Coming from a place of newfound stability and perspective, SONGER’s third studio album highlights why the 22-year-old is fast-becoming hugely admired by UK rap fans.
★★★★☆
By communicating that struggle to combat isolation, manage anxiety, and find a balance between co-dependency and heartbreak, Kamal is connecting with a generation that’s grown up against a uniquely chaotic social backdrop. At the same time, his undeniable pop song-writing ability is likely to take him far beyond the confines of that core following; that’s not what this album exhibits just yet, but so here you are, drowning remains an impressive indicator of what’s to come.
★★★★☆
Slowthai delivers some of his best work since his 2019 debut, with a ferociously charged album that returns to his punk-rap roots.
★★★★☆
Walsall-raised, London-based Wesley Joseph lays down his marker as one of the UK’s brightest emerging talents on Glow, a project that’s more pensive than previous releases.
