Beatz Magazine - Issue 3 by Beatz Magazine

The Team

Its a New Year! So what resolutions have some of our favourite artists set themselves this year?

EDITOR-in-chief

Andy Forrester, andy@beatzmag.com

Managing Director

Ayaz Hussain, yaz@beatzmag.com

Assistant editors Nikk Price Becky Riffel Simran Gill

Contributors

Simon Phelan Sham Makhecha Tom Wilkinson Luke Giraudet Rory Foster Chardae’ Jones Lasé Anthony Laleye George Rowland Sam Maffia

Interviewers Ayaz Hussain Laurens Haines

Fashion Editors Hanah Mamoojee Sam Bentley

Website Officers

General: contact@beatzmag.com

Twe

Contact Info

Brendan Davis Natalie Montezuma Vicky Mayman Jessica Pierce Rory Foster Anthony Doone Gregory Linford

In the middle of Kim K’s childbirth Kanye’s baby is going to pop out and interrupt the doctor and talk about how other doctors are better. - @chrisdelia When news of Kim Kardashian’s baby with Kanye West hit the internet, here’s how comedian Chris D’Elia reacted. If you don’t get it, think back to Kanye interrupting Taylor Swift’s MTV Music Award a few years ago.

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th n o m e h t f O

Editors Letter

Editor wish-list

e hope you’ve had a great festive season and brought in the New Year in style! We’ve been hard at work to bring you the latest issue of Beatz Magazine which is set to cast a glimpse at the biggest action of the past twelve months and also look ahead to see who will shine brightest in 2013. So what have we been up to? Well first off, you may have noticed that we’ve designed a new logo! We have also made some big changes throughout the mag and as always you can click on any URL you see. If you have a smartphone or tablet device you can flick through the magazine in the fairly new mobile-optimized version of Beatz Magazine which looks super sleek! So what have we got in store this issue??? Well, We have decided to add a couple of new features on this page and the one to the left. If you look to the right, You will see the new ‘Editor wish-list’. Here you will find items that are essential for the next two months. Going deeper, you will also notice that we have scrapped the old news page and brought in the news tickers which can be found at the bottom of some pages. We’ve got exclusive interviews for you too! R&B star, Loick Essien talks to us about internet dating (Page 36), Delilah chats to us about festivals and her love for sport jerseys (Page 30). We also have a interview with Josh Kumra who tells us how his life has changed since he dropped his ‘Helicopter and Planes’ EP (Page 38), YMCMB member Chris Richardson tells us about his working relationship with Tyga (Page 26), The X-Factors Hip-Hop duo MK1 speak about future plans (Page 32) and finally, mastermind producer twins from Miami, Urban Noize reassure us that they have no telepathic powers (Page 34). On top of all that we have also got a great flashback to what we consider the top albums of 2012 and a brand new gossip section courtesy of the rebel homme Sam Maffia and you can laugh until your sides hurt with our “How to get rich in 2013 guide” (Page 9). We hope you enjoy what we’ve created!

Andy F.

> Beatz solo HD Headphones, £170 With the debut A$AP album, ‘Live.Long.A$AP’, Dropping on 15th January, Some top headphones are going to be needed, and they dont come much better than the popular ‘Beats by Dre’ headphones.

< Superdry windcheater Jacket, £50+ It may well be a new year, But its the same old for the weather in the UK! Superdry have released a few new jackets to keep its wearer not just dry but quite toasty too!

> Supra S1W shoes, £85 Supra recently teamed up with Young Money leader, Lil Wayne, and Stevie Williams to create some awesome mid top shoes called ‘S1W’

< paco rabanne 1 million Eau de Toilette Spray, £50 for 100ml Smelling good is something that has always been important for me, And this fresh & spicy Paco Rabanne 1 Million Eau de Toilette spray is always top of my list! And at just £50 for a 100ML bottle, Its an absolute steal too!

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Gossip

contents

By Sam Maffia

page 8 page 10

Page 12 page 12

page 22 page 20 page 28

page 32

page 36

THE

page 32

15OF 2012

TOP

page 42

ALBUMS

page 10

‘s Fashion Picks

page 42

Gossip by sam maffia

How to get rich in 2013

J Cole is a born sinner

A$AP ROCKY: Graduated from the school of hard knocks

nipsey hussle: going back to cali

Not your Common RApper

Is Emilie sandé the uk’s answer to Alicia Keys?

azealia Banks: broke With Expensive Taste

Katy b

LANA DEL REY: Alternative Folk In Modern Music?

Devlin

Labrinth is causing a ‘quake in the industry!

interviews

top 15 albums of 2012

Interviews with: Chris Richardson, Delilah, MK1, Urban Noize, Loick Essien & Josh Kumra We look back at the 15 albums from 2012 that we consider the top of the year plus some of the staff pick thier personal favorite albums of the year

top 6: musicians to watch in 2013

Each issue we select 6 artists who we feel are currently the top for the chosen category. This issue we have selected ‘Musicians to watch in 2013’.

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Tulisa IS The Female Boss She has a clothing line with Bank, a perfume, an autobiography, platinum albums with N-Dubz, a seat on the judging panel Beatz Magazine’s for X-Factor, a support slot on Ne-Yo’s tour own gossip and a solo album to her namne So why is it columnist Sam that everyone and anyone on blogs, magaMaffia breaks zines and Youtube are trying to slate Miss down the Contostavlos. Is it jealousy? Or is it that hottest Britain hates the fact that a genuine urbangossip of recent weeks. female artist is breaking through to the forefront. Over the past year, we’ve had the artists like Rita Ora, Jessie J and Katy B and whilst each of those artists are talented in their own respect and make “urban/dance music”, they haven’t come from the rough, council estate upbringing that Tulisa did; which in my opinion gives Tulisa a bigger respect as her style, lyrics and attitude are from a genuine place. Whatever your issue with Tulisa may be, you can’t deny her status, talent or hunger to keep going regardless of whatever trials she may be against.

Gossip By Sam Maffia

Stooshe dropped? eports suggest

Tulisa IS The Female Boss!

he has a clothing line with Bank, a perfume, an autobiography, platinum Courtney Rumbold, albums with N-Dubz, Alexandra Buggs and a seat on the judging Karis Anderson from STOOSHE DROPPED? panel for X-Factor and a solo girl group Stooshe Rap royalty Jay-Z is album to her name So why is may have been dropped from rumoured to have JAY Z FEAT. JAMES ARTHUR?? it that everyone is trying to Reports suggest Courtney Rumbold, Alexanrecord label Warner. Despite signed James Arthur to slate Miss Contostavlos. Is it having major success with dra Buggs and Karis Anderson from girl group his label ROC Nation. In Rap royalty Jay-Z is rumoured to have signed James toBritain jealousy? Or Arthur is it that singles Black Heart and Love Stooshe may have the beenjoint dropped fromwith record venture his label ROC Nation. In the joint venture with Cowell’s label hates the fact that a genuine Me, the group’s third single label Warner. Despite having major success Cowell’s label SYCO, Jay-Z SYCO, Jay Z hopestotorepeat make James an even bigger staris breaking urban female artist Waterfalls failed the Arthur with singles Blackto Heart andJames Love Me, the hopes make Arthur than Ed Sheeran in America and will collaborate on the X-Facthrough to the forefront. success, missing the UK top ansingle even Waterfalls bigger star thantoEd group’s third failed repeat torsingles winner’schart new all album! Whilst artists like Rita Ora, together. andsingles will chart 20 the success,Sheeran missing in theAmerica UK top 20 Jessie J and Katy B are collaborate on thesupport X-Factor all together. Despite securing slots on Despite securing support slots achieving commercial success, on tour with Nicki Minaj, label winner’s new album! Previous tour with Jennifer Lopez, Gym Class Heroes they haven’t come from bosses at Warner feel the winnerlabel Mattbosses Cardle in afeel the and Nicki Minaj, at said Warner the rough, council estate group have lost their initial interview, ‘Look, group haverecent lost their initial buzz theyJames, had with upbringing that Tulisa did, you’re veryTh talented butsurprise me buzz they had with their first their first two singles. is does not which in my opinion gives two singles. This does not you haven’t sold two million one bit! One thing that made Stooshe stand out Tulisa a bigger respect as surprise me one bit! One thing records yet, which I have.’ To from the other girlbands was their controversial her style, lyrics and attitude that made Stooshe stand out which Jamesstyle. Arthur responded lyrics and in-your-face However when are from a genuine place. from the other girlbands was million returned and now it’s listening to‘2their recently shelved album, Whatever your issue with Tulisa their controversial lyrics and live in the bargain bin at Asda, more Little Mix than bad girls Stooshe. I really may be, you can’t deny her in-your-face style. However the can desperation for because press is they hope the girls turn it round status, talent or hunger to keep when listening to their recently Ouch! Doesn’t have moreembarrassing’. talent than all the average girl groups going regardless of whatever shelved album, it’s more Little look like we can expect a duet around at the moment. trials she may be against. Mix than bad girls Stooshe. from these two anytime soon.

JAY Z FEAT. Jay A?

Got some Gossip for us? send an Email Contact@BeatzMag.Com 8

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How to get rich in 2013

espite the pessimistic predictions of a handful of Mayans, we have all made it safely into 2013. However, the news isn’t all good, as the collective survival of the adolescent generation is paired with rising University tuition costs and job prospects currently lower than the dancefloor of a mainstream nightclub during the chorus of Flo Rida’s ‘Low’. Big Sean often talks about how he’s “worked them long nights, long nights to get

a payday” but besides sacrificing sleep how else can you earn that cheddar?That’s why we have formulated a foolproof get rich quick betting scheme for everyone who dreams of sipping CÎROC but is currently stuck with Carlsberg. All you will need is a little bit of start-up money to float your ‘investments’, an eccentric broker who enjoys taking wacky bets, and a bed large enough to accommodate all the exotic women you’ll be scoring after you make your millions.

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Step 2: Up the ante and use your

growing nest egg to take your first big risk. The key at this stage is to go all in. Sure you could play it safe and bet small, but throwing Patron fuelled parties for FHM models on your yacht probably won’t feel as cool when you’re 53 and your hip is starting to play up. We suggest betting everything on: -Lil Jon bags a new job in 2013 as a brand ambassador for Strepsils: (250:1) Top tip: Not as unlikely as it sounds, if Strepsils could turn the man behind the rasping vocals of ‘Get Low’, who we can only assume gargles with paint stripper every morning, into a smooth operatic singer imagine what they could do for you? Pure advertising genius.

Step 3: By our calculations you should be

Step 1: Start with a safe bet to grow your capital and set you up for the big gains.

-Another young, obscenity hurling, boundary pushing grime-queen will be created in 2013 by marketing executives at a major label: (7:1) Top tip: The allure of the commercial-yetedgy-diva bandwagon is irresistible to any A&R officer looking for a promotion, the likelihood of an ‘Azealia Banks 2.0’ springing up in 2013 makes these odds great value, whether she’ll be any good or not is another matter...

well on your way to your first million at this point, now all you have to do is diversify your investments. Start taking steps to avoid HM Revenue and Customs, and write an album about how money and fame has changed who you really are (after all, what’s the point in being rich if you’re not close friends with Drake?) Oh, and while you’re at it, don’t forget to put £10 on: -Rick Ross releases his own line of health foods and lifestyle equipment: (500,000:1) Top tip: The Teflon Don is clearly keen to explore his entrepreneurial side, and after the runaway success of 50 Cent’s Vitamin Water then why not tap into a lifestyle brand? It’s well worth taking a chance for £10, trust me the irony of eating a ‘Self-Made Caesar Salad’ will be much sweeter when your plate is a purring French supermodel and your dining room is the penthouse suite at the Ritz-Carlton.

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Roc Nation’s most underrated rapper is taking over the game!

o say North Carolina rapper J. Cole is excited about his sophomore album Born Sinner is an understatement. The follow up to his number one debut album Cole World is due out January 28th of next year on Cole’s birthday. The album is one of the most anticipated albums of 2013 and there is no one more excited than the rapper himself. Cole’s not worried about the dreaded sophomore slump because he knows his second album is going to top his first. Recording Born Sinner was a freeing experience for the rapper especially since he produced most of the album and controlled the direction of the entire project. It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since listeners were introduced to Cole World. Cole isn’t one to give listeners lots of music, but when he does, it’s meaningful. He would rather release a few quality tracks than

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mediocre music. Don’t expect a lot of features on Born Sinner, but Cole has everything under control. He’s even thinking about not listing collaborators on the album so he can surprise his listeners. He’s been busy shooting a film to coincide with the album which is probably why it’s taking so long for him to perfect his album. Cole is taking a more serious approach then his last album, and listeners can tell from the lead single Miss America. Cole describes the direction of his new album as him wanting to shift the direction of rap culture. He doesn’t want to fall into the mould of what traditional rap has become. “If I can use my power in some kind of way, I’m going to try to use it to shift culture just a little bit.” The rapper describes the direction of this project as “the story of corruption corruption of an artist when

commercial appeal is involved, or corruption of a relationship when temptation is involved, or corruption of a government when capitalism is involved. It's a lot of things. I don't want anybody to think it's so heavy, but it deals with those things.” Having the freedom and control of his album lifted a lot of pressure off his shoulders. He says Born Sinner is about 90 per cent finished. He knows listeners will love what he’s bringing to the table. Surprisingly everything has been quiet about the release of the new album. Listeners get a promo here and there on his Dreamvillain blog but beyond that Cole’s just leaving room for everyone to speculate while he focuses on what’s important to him. Are you ready for Cole’s new album? Who would you like to hear featured on Born Sinner? Keep it locked here for more updates on the album.

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Yet whilst all of the above are no doubt exciting, what is most amazing about A$AP Rocky is perhaps the fact that he has achieved all of this without even releasing a solo album. Instead, Rocky’s debut album LongLiveA$AP will be released sometime in 2013, and following the success and critical acclaim of his 2012 mixtape LiveLoveA$AP, it has become one of the most highly anticipated debut hip-hop albums of the forthcoming year. The album’s lead single Goldie was released in mid 2012, and the continued presence of Rocky’s laidback lyrical style alongside production prowess provided by the up and coming Hit-Boy sets the stage for a potentially brilliant album. Whilst working alongside Hit-Boy is undoubtedly productive in the albums lead single; hip-hop purists may actually hope that production and collaboration on Rocky’s debut album is limited to those relatively unknown artists who featured heavily on LiveLoveA$AP. Many of the featured artists and producers on the mixtape, are from Rocky’s hip-hop collective A$AP Mob, and have come up with nothing short of excellent. The lead singles are testament

A$AP ROCKY:

Graduated from the school of hard knocks

e’s named after a hip hop legend, has opened alongside Kendrick Lamar as part of a sellout Drake tour, has cheekily grabbed Rihanna’s ass at this year’s MTV VMA’s, and to top it off covered the December issue of Complex Magazine. Enter Rakim Mayers, or as he likes to be called, A$AP Rocky, 24 year old rapper-director from Harlem, NY.

to this with Peso and Purple Kisses exemplify this. Peso, featured towards the beginning of the mixtape, provides an experimental and alluring hook, whilst the beat on Purple Kisses is hazy yet oddly enticing and allows Rocky to provide one of the finest odes to the purple potion around. Experimentation with a saxophone melody in the background of Keep it G works fantastically, and Trilla provides a beat just asking to be jumped on, which Rocky and his A$AP Mob collaborators do most adequately. It is then perhaps unfortunate for many purist hip-hop fans that A$AP will now most likely be branching towards more mainstream collaborations and less experimental background beats. However what shows promise is A$AP’s maintenance of his steady, blasé rapping style, which he continues in the recently released single F***in’ Problem. What is exciting about this young artist is not the story he tells (as most of them told to resolve around liquor, weed and women), but his fresh style which has undertones of straight up old-school, underground Harlem hip-hop. Perhaps the biggest challenge now facing A$AP Rocky is not finding his perfect style, but ensuring it is embedded and exciting enough to sell albums, whilst still holding on to the fans who appreciate his underground sound and rapping ability. With a style and swagger any young MC would be proud of, A$AP will have few problems adjusting to the boastful life of a hip-hop superstar. With confirmed collaborators including Lana Del Ray on his upcoming album, expect the unexpected from this young, up and coming hip-hop artist. Prepare to be impressed.

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Nipsey Hussle: Going Back to Cali

or the die-hard west coast fans still riding the 2Pac, Ice Cube, Ice – T and NWA train, you probably think that the West Coast scene is well and truly dead. With domination of music no longer affiliated with a specific coast but with unscrupulous homogenous music label (Cash Money or Maybach Music Group), there is a fear that the cool mellow sounds of the West have become a lost cause. The music that once sent us into a daydream of the strong heat whilst the sounds of basketballs pound warm tarmac, were a thing of the past. Well up to a few years ago you would have been well within your right to think that. But on the horizon there is a saviour and he comes in the form of skinny, unique and commanding Nipsey Hussle. Hailed as the new Snoop Dogg, due to his style and smooth distinctive voice, Nipsey exploded onto the scene with his debut single; ‘Hussle in the House’, which used a sample of Kriss Kross’s ‘Jump’ to huge success and avail. The blue flag waving rapper released his mixtape, ‘The Marathon’ in 2010 and hasn’t looked back since. The high pitched synth, that Dr Dre used so famously throughout his ‘Chronic’ album has been adopted by Nipsey Hussle, and

with his own twist produces a powerful, dynamic mixtape which leaves listeners thirsty for more. Due to unprecedented amount of demand Nipsey Hussle soon dropped ‘The Marathon Continues’ eleven months later; with the first track featuring Steve Jobs, (yes you heard me right Steve Jobs), offering inspiring words which sets the scene for the mixtape to live up to. Nipsey is also no stranger to high profile collabs, with The Game claiming them to be the new ‘Dre and Snoop’ and have both featured on mixtapes and Nipsey even played a pivotal role in the production of The Game’s iconic album, ‘The RED album’ but refused to feature on it due to his views on current mainstream music. For those, hoping to see Nipsey Hussle become a cornerstone and an everyday figure on the modern hip hop scene may be gifted with psychic powers. In a recent interview, Nipsey revealed that he could be the latest signing of Rick Ross’s run MMG label, however he has promised to remain loyal to his style of music and remain a messiah of west coast hip hop. Nipsey, famously left his last label claiming that they attempted to ‘stifle’ his creativity and flair and has been an notorious flag bearer of independent

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artists, pumping his own money into his production which has allowed him to create hits like ‘Bullets Have Got No Name’ which was an inspiration for any upcoming hip hop aritist. Despite early drawbacks in his career and the harsh environment within which he grew up, the term ‘phoenix from the ashes’ cannot be coined to a more worthy individual.

“

In a recent interview, Nipsey revealed that he could be the latest signing of Rick Ross’s run MMG label

”

So what’s next for Nipsey? We are eagerly awaiting his independent album which promises the unique high pitched west coast sounds that the old school generation love and enjoy, and if his mixtapes are anything to go by, we expect the West Coast to return to the pedestal it so proudly sat on once before. So in Notorious B.I.G terms; ‘we’re going back to Cali’, with our good friend Nipsey helping to raise its banner.

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Not your Common RApper

Legendary hip-hop artist, rapper , Actor and political activist Common is back; what can we expect from his 2013 album?

ack in 1992 when Bill Clinton was elected President and a young basketball player named Shaquille O’Neal was an NBA rookie in Orlando, we saw the debut release from a 20 year old Chicago MC who called himself Common Sense. Fast forward to the present day, the artist who now refers to himself as Common is firmly cemented as a hiphop legend and is a successful actor and outspoken political activist. Common’s early work was slightly more edgy than his later offerings, but the jazz influences, laid back style and socially conscious lyrics were clear for all to see. Common first saw commercial success with ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ back in 2000, which was created while Common was a member of the Soulquarians. The members of this crew included legendary musicians and producers J Dilla, Questlove, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, D’Angelo and Common’s at the time girlfriend Erykah Badu. Their collective album had clear afrocentric influence from Badu but despite the album’s commercial success, Common did not depart from the modus operandi of socially aware lyrics that defined his previous three albums. Following the disbandment of the Soulquarians ,Common began working with Kanye West and G.O.O.D Music while maintaining some connection with his previous albums by working with legendary producer J Dilla, with his next three albums

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featuring some kind of production from J Dilla and West, while being released on the G.O.O.D label. On 2011’s ‘The Dreamer/The Believer’ Common worked with producer No I.D, who he had earlier worked with on ‘Can I Borrow a Dollar’, ‘Resurrection’ and ‘One Day It’ll All Make Sense’ to create what some critics called the best hip-hop release of the year. However, the album was largely overshadowed by a beef that was started with Drake over a line in the track ‘Sweet’ which was perceived as a subtle shot at Drake’s style, and eventually turned into a full on battle as members of YMCMB chimed in to support Drake. The petulant squabble (that was reputedly over Serena Williams, a love interest of both parties) eventually petered out but not before it had slightly tarnished the reputation of Common in hip hop circles. Speculation has begun to grow as to the direction that Common will take with his next album, it’s looking like No I.D is on board to produce alongside Kanye West, and it’s all but confirmed that the album will be released on G.O.O.D Music. It appears that there will not be a whole lot of deviation from the script of ‘The Dreamer/The Believer’, if it lives up to the standard of that album, then it will almost certainly please the entirety of Common’s fan base; from the dedicated Hip-Hop head to the more casual listener.

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EMELI SANDÉ B

The UK’s next Alicia Keys?

efore realising her singing potential, Emeli Sandé was studying medicine at the University of Glasgow, but a twist of fate gained her media attention after she guest featured on Chipmunk’s track “Diamond Rings”. The Scottish singer/ songwiter has penned songs for the likes of Leona Lewis, Alesha Dixon, Cheryl Cole and a number of urban acts including Tinie Tempah and Devlin. She recorded the famous duet with Professor Green “Read All About It” and her most recent feat has been to write for Rihanna’s ‘Unapologetic’ album. Sandé stated that the secret ingredient in her songwriting is

‘using raw emotion and honesty as the best way to write’. Her fans grasp the nature of her deepest thoughts heartfelt emotions, both of which Sandé incredibly talented. The album ‘Our Version of Events’ expresses the insightful nature of Sandé’s story, as it comprises of deep filled love songs enhanced and endeavoured by her vocal range. She expresses her heartfelt emotion through her soulful voice and delivers the love-filled concept of her album drawing us into her story and leaving us wanting more. Emeli released her first single ‘Heaven’ in mid2011 which fuses pop, soul and drum’n’bass elements together

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and debuted at number two in the UK charts. The song is a lot more up-tempo in comparison to her other materials on the album, but the composition blends beautifully with Sandé’s sopranic vocals. It didn’t stop there for Sandé; she went on to release her second single ‘Daddy’, which took a sinister turn in the album by describing the sinful nature of men and creates a tense atmosphere as we explore “Daddy’s bad ways.” ‘But friends keep telling you, what he did last night, How many girls he kissed, how many he liked’. The musical composition is spot on to portray these emotions; the strings creating tension and

suspense whilst the bells are reminiscent of gospel music which compliment the smooth echoes in the track. Across the album Sandé shows variety and contrast from subtle love ballads to mood lifting radio hits, Sandé’s vocal range showcases sharp alto tones to the soprano notes. Sandé went on to release her third single ‘Next to me’ with a spirit led choir singing gospel harmonies, ‘Next to me’ was the first single which went to number 1 from the album ’Our version of events’. Furthermore this track gained phenomenal recognition for Sandé in the states. The song became number 1 in Ireland and Scotland and it just missed out to Rita Ora in the UK charts. Her fourth single ‘My kind of love’ is a beautiful song that describes her unconditional love for her husband, who has been instrumental in her career path. The Aberdeen born singer’s heartfelt lyrics brings us onto her level; ‘I know I’m far from perfect nothing like your entourage, I cant grant you any wishes, I won’t you the stars, but ever question if my heart beats only for you’. The Scottish songstress went on to feature with Professor Green in the hit single ‘Read all about it’ which stimulated a 3 part sequel to the song. This was an unexpected collaboration from the pair but this song was a success. Sandé’s melodic influence provided a soulful twist to the track. Sandé did her rendition to the song which is also on the album ‘Our version of events’. Her rendition is soulful and we hear her own personality on the track. The sounds of Emeli Sandé and Professor Green are very different which was very interesting. The lyrics captivated emotion and the pair expressed this well through their interpretations.

However Sandé has been compared to Leona Lewis and Alicia Keys because of her musical style, which could be critical because they sing ballads. Is this all that we can expect from Sandé? Or is there more for Emeli to uncover? Alicia Keys is one of Sandé’s inspirations and she expressed that she always wanted Keys to hear her music. For Sandé this dream has come true, Alicia co-wrote and produced one of her songs on the album called ‘Hope’. This song is similar to Keys’ style and the composition of Keys’ songs has a straight forward melody through the piano with a mixture of subtle beats. The piano carries the melody well throughout this song but could Sandé and Keys clash in the future due to their similarities? This has been an exciting year for Emeli Sandé and it will definitely get bigger in 2013, she has performed at a number of events such as the iTunes festival, which was good. Undoubtedly she worked her magic and sung her heart out which touched the audience. She dedicated a few tracks to

her loved ones. The audience were captivated towards her stage presence, she was casual which made her fans know that she is a down to earth performer. The performance was simple and heartfelt and this what the Scottish songstress does best. Furthermore Sandé opened and closed the summer Olympics which gained her exposure from an international level due to everyone watching this memorable event. The soulful singer’s voice has been compared to the likes of Beyoncé Knowles, Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin who are big divas in the game. Sandé has gathered a range of artists that she would love to work with in the future, 2013 can only get bigger for the Scottish singer. She would like to work with Tracey Chapman, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce Knowles and Nicki Minaj, all of which would be interesting. Knowles and Wonder have confirmed that they would love to work with Sandé. Sandé has gained attention from so many artists and we can only see what happens in the future for the singer.

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AZEALIA BANKS Broke With Expensive Taste

he entertainment industry is no stranger to controversy and publicity stunts to sell records in order to gain attention; from the likes of Lady Gaga and her meat dress to Justin Bieber’s fake laptop theft, many music lovers are asking the question “is Azealia Banks’ entire persona an act?” Probably not. Simply based on her upbringing in Harlem, New York, her obvious masculinity shining through in her music and feisty personality she’s the real deal. Her music is bound to shock you with an abundance of expletives referencing her bisexuality including the word “Kunt” which is what first sparked controversy on the release of her first track “212” featuring Lazy Jay. The music world being as naïve as it is, any aspiring young Caucasian rapper gets compared to Eminem so that’s exactly the case with Azealia Banks with her comparisons to Nicki Minaj. In an interview with GQ she said: “It’s not something that I particularly like, but it’s something that I understand. It’s just people making sense of things. If you listen to BOB. For

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the first time, you might think, He sounds like André 3000. If you eat sorbet for the first time, you might think Oh, this is like ice cream but there’s no milk in it.” Fast forward a few months and Azealia Banks made her mark on the music scene by putting out an EP titled ‘1991’. The four track EP ‘1991’ featured hit anthems ‘Liquorice’, ‘Van Vogue’ as well as the commercial release of ‘212’ and title track ‘1991’. After dressing up on Halloween as a mermaid, Azealia continued the theme of the sea by giving the artwork to her next mixtape the sea treatment too, naming it ‘Fantasea’ The stand-out track of this mixtape is undoubtedly ‘Esta Noche’ reworked to include a sample of the Montell Jordan classic ‘Love For The Sake of Love’. The tape also features production from Lunice, AraabMuzik and Diplo to name but a few recent hotshots working with Banks. So what can we expect next? Slated for a mid-February release, Broke with Expensive Taste will be Banks’ first fulllength label release, so Polydor,

her label since the 1991 EP, will be working hard getting only the biggest names and the best content. It’s been somewhat of a rocky ride for Banks – she cut links with old label XL, citing ‘creative differences’, so we have to hope nothing similar happens now. Originally scheduled for a release last September, there could be a risk of further pushbacks. Any information on the tracklisting remains a closely guarded secret, however the woman herself confirmed a duet recorded with Lady Ga Ga, but for whose album it remains unclear. Certainly we can expect some big collaborations for what Polydor are hoping will be their new hottest signing. “What’s fresh about Banks is how she combines audacious charisma with lyrical naughtiness and genre hopscotching” says Interview Magazine. What is also fresh about Banks is how she exploded into our Facebook feeds with swearing, that Mickey Mouse jumper in the 212 video and a hype barely matched by a female artist this decade. Let’s just hope she’s got enough fire left in her to keep people’s jaws dropped for her first real release.

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KATY B

Peckham’s starlet moves away from dubstep but what is her next mission about?

t’s safe to say that the dance and dubstep scenes were shaken up last year by the release of Katy B’s debut album On A Mission. An amazing five singles were taken from the album, with their success demonstrating Katy’s swift rise to popularity. The popular Lights On debuted at number 4 in the charts, Katy On A Mission reached number 5, and Broken Record peaked at number 8. Overall, 2012 may have seen something of an evolution for Katy B, who began recording her new album which is due out in early 2013. Having moved out of her parents’ home where she lived throughout the 2011 tour, and now living on her own, Katy told the Daily Star that ‘standing on my own two feet is inspiring new lyrics for the album’. She explains that the experience is her ‘transition from a girl into womanhood’, as she discovered all the responsibilities of independent living, which will surely be reflected in her new work. In recent interviews Katy has been explaining that fans should expect less of a dubstep style from her new project with her new tracks being less about ‘repetitive beats’. This may come as a surprise

to some, as Katy worked with dubstep legend Benga on her first single Katy On A Mission, and Magnetic Man for Perfect Stranger. But this year it’s all about the influence of the new producers, and while dubstep producers Magnetic Man and Joker are rumoured to still have a role in the new album, Katy’s working closely with Guy Chambers and Mark Ronson. Chambers is best known for his close working relationship with Robbie Williams, and while this may well spell future success for the next album, this may also explain some of Katy’s changing style away from dubstep. At the beginning of December, Katy released her astounding Danger EP joining forces with excellent producers Jacques Greene, Diplo, Geeneus and Zinc. Listeners are being treated to a great range of bass beats, ranging from the dance tunes of Aaliyah (ft. Jessie Ware) and the more crazy Got Paid (ft. Wiley), there’s also the more sinister Danger (with excellent synths), where she’s lyrically demonstrating the maturity she’s mentioned throughout the year. As previously stated, the EP demonstrates a move away from her dubstep début and is rooted in the dance genre.

What’s more, 2012 saw Katy B capitalise on her success with the release of the official Coca Cola Olympic song Anywhere In The World alongside Mark Ronson, and being featured on Mosca’s brand new tune What You Came For. So exactly how different is the second album going to be? Despite this, Katy assures that she is always going to attempt to ‘create something that’s a bit of a hybrid’, and this is revealed in the two latest songs she’s been featured in; Anywhere In The World and the more ‘grime’ What You Came For by Mosca. However working with so many quality producers, such as Chambers, Ronson and Magnetic Man, fans can only be excited for the coming album, with Katy describing the experience as ‘amazing’. With such changes rumoured in Katy’s style, and with the potential of experienced producers working alongside her, fans should be excited to see the new, independent Katy. As she makes the progression into ‘womanhood’ and away from dubstep, the hope is Chambers and Ronson guide her great talent into something amazing that builds on her debut. Bring on 2013.

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LANA DEL REY:

Alternative Folk In Modern Music? From singing in bars to world tours, Lana Del Rey is undoubtedly becoming one of the biggest names in the industry. But how do you define her genre & what will she get up to in 2013? “Sirens” (2005) was the unreleased demo album by Lana Del Rey under previous alias May Jailer. Tipped as “Alternative Folk”, the album is entirely composed of acoustic tracks performed with solely a guitar. Even the name May Jailer speaks volumes of the character behind the music. Is this world’s away from Born To Die and Born To Die: The Paradise Edition? It does lack the elements that we would usually associate with Del Rey like the vague hiphop influences and the sexual,

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lugubrious vocals. Jump to January 2012 – the release of Lana Del Reys first studio album – and it’s obvious that the themes of “Sirens” and “Born To Die” are entirely different. Del Rey herself defines the latter as ‘Hollywood sadcore’; most would interpret the music as 60s Americana, with pop and the aforementioned hip-hop features woven in. So how do we spot these folk influences? Folk in itself is an elusive genre, but is often seen as a style which facilitated the

development of later ones including rock ‘n’ rock and rhythm and blues. In a similar vein, May Jailer used folk as a platform to develop the quintessential sound of Lana Del Rey, with particular emphasis on the instruments used: the acoustic guitar and violin are typical instruments of the folk genre. Listening to Lana’s most recent album, much of the folk element has died away, but more at the hand of Del Rey’s evolution from May Jailer, Lizzy

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“

It’s difficult to compare Lana Del Rey to other artists as her music is quite unique

”

Grant and the other alter egos along the way. As these have been meted out, so too have the folk elements. But, not entirely. “Ride” is one of the most polarized examples of folk influence in Del Rey’s work, plus you’ll be hard-pressed to find a Lana Del Rey track without those violin strings. And yet, nothing about “Born To Die” and its successor “The Paradise Edition” seems out of place in the current music landscape. It’s difficult to compare Lana Del Rey to other artists as her music is quite unique, but the success of bands such as Mumford & Sons, Noah & The Whale and Of Monsters and Men is testament to the success of folk-influenced music today. Fortunately for her earlier influences, Del Rey has the ability marry different genres and these are found even in her most recent work. This ability makes her music not only very appealing but also pretty difficult to conceptualise. So is it possible to retain these alternative influences and still be a success in the modern music industry? Certainly Lana Del Rey is not the only one to have done so. Take Taylor Swift for example; her musical style has evolved though she has stayed loyal to her country roots. Her self-titled first album was country through-andthrough and whilst this has been tempered since 2006, tracks like “You Belong With Me” &

“We Are Never Getting Back Together” show that her country roots still largely influence her music. These days, iTunes defines American songstress Lana Del Rey’s work as “Alternative”. Indeed, earlier this month she was victorious in the Best Alternative category at the 2012 MTV EMAs. The more general genre of “Alternative” music occupies such a substantial and lucrative niche within modern music. The database lists Adele among Del Rey’s “Alternative” contemporaries; her success speaks for itself. Moreover, “Alternative” and “Modern” are not mutually exclusive concepts: “Video Games” has won the Ivor Novello award to “Best Contemporary Song”. Rather

than folk music being untenable within modern music, the above examples demonstrate that it can thrive as an artist’s primary genre, albeit the term “folk” may be preceded by “Alternative” or “Indie” or followed by “Rock”. The artists noted, including Lana Del Rey, have evolved their take on folk, meaning that as their identities have developed (especially Del Rey’s), so too has the way and extent to which these folk influences have been expressed. Clearly some have developed their personas and naturally their styles more than others; ultimately though, “Alternative Folk” has by no means died away and “Alternative” may not be as alternative as we think.

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DEVLIN J

ames Devlin of Dagenham, East London, is credited as one of the most naturally gifted, raw talents to ever hit the UK grime scene. His background coincides with that of several London originating rappers; an aggressive, thought-provoking flow that tells a story of struggle on the road to achievement. However, what separates Devlin from the rest is clear, no matter how an artist’s marketing changes to suit the wider audience that fame and success brings, this 23 year old isn’t lying when he says he is sticking to the style that got him to where he is. Devlin is set to release his third studio album ‘A Moving Picture’ in February 2013, which will include highly rated collaborations ‘Watchtower’ featuring Ed Sheeran, ‘Off With Their Heads’ featuring Wretch 32 and ‘Rewind’ featuring Diane Birch. The much anticipated album is said to have a new deeply personal twist from the ‘Community Outcast’ artist, but fans are eager to see whether this will mean the abandonment of Devlin’s known powerful style. Although Devlin’s tracks have commercialised somewhat in recent years, this is an expected evolution in any grime artist’s transition to the big stage, but to say Devlin doesn’t stand by his roots would be as naive as crossing the River Thames in a paper boat. Many modern day artists with chart success will tell you they stay true to their genre after hitting corporate triumph, whether it’s reggae, hip-hop, grime or classical; this unfortunately, is often lies. Nevertheless, do not mistakenly categorise Devlin in this way. The Island Records artist may change his subject as time goes by, but to say this means dropping the hostility in his bars is ludicrous. Since 2010, Devlin has had his fair share of some pretty versatile collaborations such as ‘Brainwashed’, ‘Let It Go’ and ‘Runaway’ (to name a few), but if he was planning to soften up his unique tenor, there would

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“Me and wretch already killed this uk grime thing”

be signs of it by now. Of course Devlin has come a long way since the days of ‘The Movement’, ‘London City’ and ‘Tales Of the Crypt’, but what we have seen so far of ‘A Moving Picture’ is by no means a U-turn in musical direction. ‘Off With Their Heads’ and ‘Watchtower’ connect with listeners through true emotion, but this is more of a case of sending the same product down a different route rather than vice versa. ‘A Moving Picture’ has a serious chance of landing anywhere between gold and platinum status, but the way Devlin has matured as an MC and found himself stood by the mainstream, he shows that you don’t need to take the grime out of the rapper to make room for something new, you just need to invest in more storage space.

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LABRINTH

Making the music industry ‘Quake!

“Labrinth come in” - the introduction to Tim McKenzie’s biggest hit to date and a sentence which has made him a household name and a chart regular, under the pseudonym Labrinth. ‘Earthquake’, the song to which this line belongs, stakes a strong claim to be the biggest club song of 2011. Add to this Labrinth’s newer hits including ‘Last Time’, ‘Express Yourself’ and more recently ‘Beneath You’re Beautiful’ and it could be claimed that Labrinth is one of Britain’s biggest rising stars. With the release of Labrinth’s first album, ‘Electronic Earth’, in April 2012 came a supporting role on Drake’s Club Paradise Tour, before several festival appearances and an 8 date solo UK tour. Although Labrinth may have achieved chart success with his first single ‘Let the Sunshine’, it was his work with Tinie Tempah which got him into the limelight. After producing, co-

writing and featuring on Tinie’s huge hits ‘Pass Out’, ‘Frisky’ and ‘Written in the Stars’ it was Labrinth’s turn to appear as the main artist on ‘Earthquake’. Together the two artists have been highly successful and this partnership is set to continue with Labrinth quoted as saying he was back in the studio with Tinie working on future tracks. Other artists rumoured to be collaborating with Labrinth in the near future include the Stereophonics and fellow Syco labelmates One Direction. As the first non-talent show competitor to be signed to Simon Cowell’s music label in several years, there was intrigue surrounding Labrinth as he had previously been known only as a producer yet he was signed to Syco as a solo artist. This has proven to be a stroke of genius on Mr Cowell’s part and has led the music industry into a new age. For not only does Labrinth write, produce

and sing the vocals to his tracks, but he also plays the guitar and uses auto-tune type effects to not improve his voice but edit it to create different sounds. This in itself is no mean feat, yet Labrinth also manages to be a true performer, who owns the stage. This therefore begs the questions – Is this the future for music? Is singing alone no longer enough? And if this is the case then is Labrinth the first in a new era of performers? Maybe Simon Cowell has earned himself a round of applause for his vision. Labrinth isn’t finished yet however. When discussing his second album, he has admitted to wanting to incorporate rock music into his tracks and use deeper, more meaningful lyrics. This suggests that Labrinth feels he has still not peaked and is still improving his final product, which questions just how far this man can go?

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ARDSON H oul s d RIC e y e CHRIS sound of blue The

After making to the American Idol final five, singer / songwriter Chris Richardson took several years of soul searching before committing to Cash Money Records. After recorded a track with Tyga called “Far Far Away”, he recalling the favour and enlisted Tyga on his own single “Joy & Pain”. How did you first get into music? I heard your dad was a DJ so do you think you had an ear for music early on? I guess at 5 years old I really started getting really interested into music, my Dad played drums and always listened to music through the headphones, so I was always intrigued at what the headphone system was. He used to just rock out when I was younger with an air guitar and all that stuff, I just used to like he always had lots of energy and listened to music all the time. As I grew up I started loving it even more, and when I got to about

13 years old I started dabbling in song writing and I really made the decision to actually commit to music when I was 17 or 18 years old. So bearing in mind you started young, do you have a specific song writing process or does inspiration strike you and then you quickly get it written down? Erm, I don’t have too much of a process as, I just let it hit me, I mean it’s so natural now it’s almost second nature through inspiration. Whether it’s through personal experience or through other people’s experiences or what not, I sorta just go into the studio sometimes and freestyle through the mic over the track I like or ill go in with a couple of people and we’ll start with a subject matter and build out. I don’t have too much of a format I let it come to me as it comes to me. With chart music being the way

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it is, for you personally is it about a catchy hook or do you prefer to share your anecdotes and experiences through your music? I definitely like to hold that type of integrity as a songwriter. I think that music in general is like our voice if that makes any sense, and through my music I’d like people listening to relate to me, and get a chance to listen to the stories and at the same time hopefully it’s something they can compare to their situations, I think that’s the goal as a songwriter to get people to really embrace themselves in to your music You’ve termed your own sound as” the sound of the blue-eyed soul”, can you elaborate on what that means? *[Laughs]* Yeah I have mentioned the whole blue-eyed soul thing a lot, I think that’s the whole rhythm and blues side of me but at the same time the song writing side of things

added in to it. The blue-eyed soul concept is really a hybrid of all the things I love, but I really embrace the whole soul side of music, so I mean I think the whole terminology is more or less the whole combination of what I write about but at the same time keeping the soul in each and every one of the songs . Whether it’s a rock song, a ballad, or any song that’s presented trying to keep that soul that I grew up listening to, trying to keep that Elvis sound I grew up listening to. Okay so for our female readers, do you have blue eyes yourself? I actually have green eyes oddly enough [laughs]. So how did being in the final five of American idol change your perspective and approach to music? Oh man that show was such a great experience! It really gave me a great intro into the entertainment world, and give me the chance to sing in front of many people, so the whole stage fright thing, I mean I never really got stage fright but I did get nervous and I still get butterflies to this day. But I think it was a great platform for me to learn how to be or how to react within this business. It also teaches you the ropes really quick, you go to a major TV show, you’re put in front of millions of people and if your blessed enough to make it to the top 10 you make it on to the tour, and I ended up going to 62 cities. These places were packed, some sold out, and I’m like wow this is crazy, this is night and day, one day I’m playing in front of 20 people/ 100 people on Virginia beach, then the next I’m in front of millions and millions of people, so I think Idol for me was like a platform for me to sorta bypass the whole entertainment

learning process, they sorta taught us, but in reality they didn’t really teach us, they just threw us into the mix [laughs] but I definitely know it was a vital step in to my life and into my process as a musician and my career, I don’t always think things happen for a reason but I know with Idol it was a part of my journey that has helped me to gain knowledge in this business and like I said learn the ropes. So for a short while you were without a record deal, in the chase of signing the right deal not just any deal, so how does it feel to be with the Young Money Cash Money crew now? Man, it took me a long time trying to get a deal, I literally have been invested in to music

“ The blue-eyed

soul concept is really a hybrid of all the things I love” since I was 17 years old so I’ve been trying to get a deal since then, even after the show it took me 3 and a half to 4 years to get a deal with Cash Money, so I think for me now there is a reward to it, I’ve dedicated a lot of hard hours travelling to tour many states doing writing sessions, you name it. I’ve tried everything that I could as a musician to make it, even ghost idol, and I really thought that I would have got more from Idol than I did, maybe got a deal, something that would have helped progress my career, but I kinda ended up not getting anything. I didn’t really release too much music in those years when I got off Idol and I finally ended up running into Cash

Money and got chance to really show them my music. Obviously you and Tyga have a great relationship, you were on his track ‘Far Far Away’ and now he’s jumped on your debut single ‘Joy and Pain’ so how did you feel his persona added to your complimentary sound? Man, I was a fan of Tyga prior to even knowing Tyga was a cool guy! I remember when we did the Far Far Away record it was one of those collaborations through his producer, then I met Tyga and we created a friendship and what not, just from him being down in Miami recording and stuff because he was normally in LA. But being a fan and listening in to his craft and how he wrote, I liked him, and I thought he would really compliment my sound. I like it when he ventures in and does his pop, he brings a cool metaphoric arrangement, cool storyline, cool quips, cool sayings to the world when he opens up. I definitely liked collaborating with him, because he’s smart, he’s got a lot to say and he’s cool when he says it. Most of all it’s a departure from ‘Rack City’ and the stuff he puts out, it gives him another outlet which I think is really great. So what’s the concept behind

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the track Joy and Pain? I think the concept doesn’t necessarily have to be about love per se, but about the joy and pains of it. I tried to really contrast as much as I could in within the video so people could see it and of course there’s the good and the bad times but there’s that underlying thing in the middle that keeps it together. If you have a perfect relationship you’re in that 3rd percentile [laughs], but if you have those relationships like glue that stick together through those times, I think you’re always trying to get to that point. You have to go through that joy and pain, pain being more of a metaphor, whether its fighting, or me as a musician being away from home for so long, like in the video we tried using a tattoo to express this. A tattoo is joy but at the same time it hurts you, know what I mean? As cliché as it was, it’s an insight in to the tug and pull of a relationship, it could be anything, the tug and pull of your career or family, and if people can really understand it has that meaning to it then I think that we’ve captured that in joy and pain. Ok so who’s next in the Young Money Cash Money crew? T Lopez or Christina Milan? [laughs] Yeah me and Christina already talked about doing stuff together, definitely. I’m so open man, even with the label, our mindsets are so open, I’m not saying at any given day one of us will work with each other but right place right time, if were down at the same time in Miami or LA or something most of the time we’ll pop in the studio and do something. I mean I’ve done some stuff with Busta [Rhymes], I’ve worked with J Mills, Lil Twist of course, Birdman, I mean like it comes down to what’s gonna be best for my album, what features are

gonna compliment the album and make it sound cohesive, and I’m sure it’s the same thing on everyone else’s mind. Rumour is there’s a really cool story about you meeting Birdman; do you wanna tell us that story? Oh man, I don’t know if it’s really that cool of a story! I ended up meeting my manager in Virginia Beach, and he happened to be from the same areas as me, so we arranged to meet at this club and what not, and we ended up going out to my truck to listen to some music and he loved it. We sorta kicked off pretty good and then two weeks later he flew me down to Miami to present my stiff and I basically just walked into the studio playing my stuff and they were like you’re a star! I guess they had already heard it before and they just wanted to personally tell me they loved it and your part of the family. It wasn’t that crazy, but I guess it took them a while to learn my full name, I remember when they used to call me Chris Robinson. It was cool man, they were genuine about it, they just wanted me to be successful and believed success genuinely came from hard work and I believed that too. So what kind of sound can we expect from the album and when do you reckon we could hear it? This album is a rollercoaster man, if you can imagine listening to Busta on a record, then listening to Joy and Pain you can see where the rollercoaster effect can come in. Basically it’s really just a taste of all the music I love, I really love this hybrid music, I have a lot of urban and soul in my blood but at the same time I know who I am as an artist so there’s a lot of organic and modern day sound type of tracks, it’s a cool blend of Top 40 music

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mixed with some really cool ballads and really cool producers. It takes you in to different storylines, not just always about relationships, or makeups to breakups or kissing and hugging [laughs]. It’s me, I’m 28 years old, I’ve been through experiences and listened to other peoples experiences. It’s a songwriters record but at the same time it adds the musical element that’s I love. In a nutshell, that blue eyed soul will really come out throughout the whole record. I’m really looking forward to people hearing it, and having these interludes and exitludes that blend the tracks together, so people can listen to it from beginning to end and not just skipping over stuff. I mean I’ve done song writing for country artists, R&B, rock artists, so now it’s about pulling all of that back and creating a cool fusion of my music. So mid next year or early next year? Were gonna try drop a couple of singles prior to the album and have a couple of features but yeah we’re projected for sort of early spring 2013, but you never know, it could drop sooner, it depends on the music business. We’re definitely gonna do a couple more videos and some of the songs that might not make the album, and depending on the buzz they might make their way back on the album. I don’t wanna put out my favorite song in the world and then no one hear it, I want it to have an outlet and support system so people do hear it. For more information on Chris Richardson you can visit his website, www. chrisrichardsonmusic.com. You can also find him on Facebook, www.facebook.com/ chrisrichardson, and Twitter, @Imchrisrich.

“ I basically just walked

into the studio playing my stuff and they were like you’re a star!”

After giving a motivational and inspiring talk as one of the panellists at The Ultimate Seminar 2012 at The University of Westminster, we had a quick chat with the beautiful Delilah about her plans for 2013.

How do you see the year 2013 bringing in a new wave of music especially with your next album on the horizon? Yeah I’m currently working on my next album I’m really excited about it. The first one was really organic and pieced itself together. This one I’m kind of ready to you know, compete a little bit. So I think 2013 is going to be a really good year. 2012 sort of set it up nicely with the Olympics in London and a lot of positivity this year in sports and music. I’m excited about next year, next year I feel might be a exceptional year for music in general but I’m really excited about my project. And you said in previous interviews that you got over 200 recorded songs? Any chance of us ever getting a little mixtape? Yes, you do! This year I dropped three mixtapes. Delilah and Bass, Camden Palace and 2 to 4AM. And then I have my album, so considering that I’m not a rapper I feel that 3 mixtapes in one year is pretty good for a singer. But there’s definitely a lot more to come. What festivals are you lining up for next year? Next year there’s lots of festivals. Hopefully, Glastonbury! Hopefully just as many as this year. I kind of was non-stop through the festival season. So same

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again please. How much of an inspiration do you owe to the founding sisters of soul like Chaka Khan, Sade and Aaliyah? This album was hugely influenced by the soul greats. I was raised on a lot of soul music. So I felt like if I was going to be influenced by someone, I might as well be influenced by the greatest that ever did. Chaka Khan, Minnie Rippleton, just two people that have hugely influenced me. And I kind of used them within my music and incorporated their sound and their lyrics in my own stuff. So yeah I feel like if you’re gonna put yourself amongst other people it mine as well be greatness right. You’re wearing a Chicago Bears jersey right now, are you a big sports fan? I like the colors really that is it, I have quite a few American football T-shirts and basketball shirts and baseball shirts and I just generally like the print of a lot of sports T-shirts. I am not a fan of any other team other than Arsenal. For more information about Delilah you can visit her website, www.delilahofficial. co.uk. You can also find her on Facebook, www.facebook. com/delilahofficial, and Twitter, @delilahmusic.

facebook.com/aceofcases

The dynamic singing and rapping duo made it to the third round of this year’s X-Factor competition, and have completed their UK city to city tour. Hear what they had to say about their experiences. Hello! How are you guys? Sim: We’re doing well, loving the busy life. We’ve recently finished our UK and Ireland tour Charlie: Pretty damn fly cheers, really busy but wouldn’t want to be anywhere else! Before becoming a trio, Will and Charlie had known each other quite a while. At what point did you realise you wanted to add the urban rapping side? And how did you meet Sim? Charlie: Well I’ve always been a rapper myself, but we just thought having MK1 as a group fronted by a girl would be so much more impactual. Sim and I had mutual

friends, so we met through them. When the three of us went for drinks, our friend didn’t get a word in edgeways. [Laughs] During your first X Factor audition, it was decided that Will was going to leave the group for you to advance, How have things been with him since? Sim: Things have been great with Will since that, he knew 1000% we would go far in the competition, his blessing was well received. Charlie: Yeah, that’s pretty much the long and short of it, he is a good friend and wouldn’t have held us back for the world. What was it like being mentored by Louis Walsh? You said you aspired to be like N-Dubz, in certain ways, so do you think Tulisa, with her urban roots, may have been a more suitable mentor for you? Charlie: It was also kind of great NOT having Tulisa as our mentor

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because it meant when it came to the judge’s opinion, Louis and Tulisa both had our back, whereas if we hadn’t have had Louis he may not have warmed to us or understood us as much. Sim: Louis was cool to work with, he really clicked with us from week one in the live shows. If we had Tulisa as a mentor it would have worked just as well for us I believe, no real difference, bearing in mind Louis’ experience was paramount to us. Who did you get on with the most while on the show? Was there anybody who you didn’t particularly get along with? Who was the most different off camera? Sim: I got on really well with Dan from District 3, but I got on well with everyone really. Chris Malonny though, [laughs] was a decent guy but secretly milked

material as much as possible, aiming to release a few singles and maybe an album in 2013. Would you agree that the best way to describe the music you make is some sort of urban fusion with elements of rock, dubstep and rap thrown in the mix? Sim: Definitely!! We keep urban dubstep as our music core, then build experimental sounds around it. Charlie: We like to describe our music as breaking genres so that we can play around with lots of different types of music like jazz, classical and rock, but yeah its always has the urban dubstep feel. What opportunities have come about since you left the show? Have any popular artists reached out to you? Sim: Big love to Rizzle Kicks, Professor Green and JLS who have shown their support since leaving and also given us advice on how to keep the buzz alive. Onto your style now. You’ve been described to have the style of “Janet Jackson meets N.E.R.D” what do you make of that comment? Sim: [laughs] I love a bit of JJ! And Pharrell has such a dope swag. the whole nervous thing. Charlie: Sim and I are just laid back people so we managed to get on and have a laugh with everyone. Jade Ellis is my best friend also James Arthur and Kye Sones were my baby boys! Not many people would be surprised to see you sign to Syco, so now comes the time to drop The X-Factor affiliation and build your own name. How are you going to do this? Sim: Keep grinding as we did before entering The X-Factor, gigs everywhere and anywhere that pays decently [Laughs] We’re also writing new

Charlie: Pharell is one of my celebrity crushes, so any comparison to him is a winner for me! [Laughs] You’ve been seen endorsing our friends, the popular clothing brand F2D Clothing. What do you think about their collection? Any personal favorite items? Sim: I love F2D a lot, they have supported us since the beginning of 2012. They have a wicked collection; my favorite is the Aztec snapback hat. Charlie: The F2D black tee...Which I would also like in a jumper if you’re reading this Dan at F2D! [Laughs] Any last words? Sim: God bless The X-Factor, it is such an amazing platform, I’d definitely advise all aspiring musicians to go on it. Charlie: Yeah big up The X-Factor for creating such opportunities for us what with being inundated with live shows and general exposure, ta babes! For more Information about MK1 you can visit their website, www.mk1official.com. You can also find them on Facebook, www.facebook.com/mk1official, and Twitter, @mk1official.

QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS Tulisa or Nicole? Sim: Tulisa Charlie: oooooosh, tough call, they’re both very fit. Dermot or Gary? Sim: Big bro Derm Charlie: Dermot

Tattoos or no tattoos? Sim: Tattoos Charlie: Tattoos Bath or Shower? Sim: Bath Charlie: Shower anyday!

Biggie or Pac? Sim: Biggie Charlie: I second that

Hot or cold? Sim: Hot Charlie: Hot things [laughs]

CD or Download? Sim: CD Charlie: CD

Half empty or half full? Sim: Half full Charlie: Half full

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URBAN NOIZE

Miami based producer twins are known for their crossgenre remixes, often taking over the blogosphere, Twitter and Tumblr when a new track drops. Their latest project; a Lana Del Rey Vs Jay-Z EP swept across the world and now thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talk of even more projects from the duo.

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First and foremost are you guys Just DJs or producers? Or a fusion between the two? Just producers. We never been DJs and really don’t have an interest to be. Although a lot of people mistake us for some because of the quality of some of our songs. Even though we really don’t blend songs the way DJs do because we do actual production. Another is too many people don’t know much about hip hop production. Especially the younger generation that’s coming up. You’re best known for putting together outlandish remixes between two songs nobody would ever expect to be put together! What inspires this synergy? What inspires the synergy is just the overall love of trying something new & exciting. As well as being interested in the artists themselves.

caught on to certain things he’s been listening to and vice versa. And no we don’t know what the other is thinking [Laughs]. No psychic thing going on here! So obviously you work with a lot of different acapellas and intrumentals, but if you could put any combo together what would it be? If we had the chance, Chris Brown & the late great Michael Jackson Do you have a set production process? How do you go from idea to finished product? The set production process is usually cutting on the program & just bouncing around ideas. Random ideas come into play when we’re inspired by something we heard and saw.

“ ”

How would you describe your style of music? A mashup between alternative and urban? Our music style varies because we pretty much like everything. From hip hop to R&B, pop, rock, country, electro, & anything else that sounds good.

now No we don’t k r is what the othe hs]. No thinking [laug going psychic thing on here!

You often reverse the polarity of tracks, swapping tracks intended for minor melodies into major progressions. Where do you get that creative spark from? It just comes from playing off other melodies

Talk us through the Urban Noize & Lana Del Rey EP “Lana”. What sound does is have on it? And why did you choose Lana Del Rey for the project? What you can expect from the Lana Del Rey project is real dope music with style, coolness, & attitude. The reason why we chose just Lana is because over the past couple months we became fans and became inspired to do something with her music.

Being brothers, how easy is it to vibe with each other? Do you ever know what the other is thinking? We vibe really well because we basically are into the same kind of music, even if I haven’t

Where did the concept come from for the motion picture? The motion picture concept came from hearing how an artist we added on the songs kind of open the records more, to create somewhat of a

dialogue between her & that person. And how does it make you guys feel to get coverage from some of the biggest blogs and even by the artists themselves? Pretty good I bet!? It definitely feels awesome, and we’re totally appreciative of it all. That kind of support only gives us more exposure and as far as the artists goes, it really means a lot. It lets us know that we’re on the right path when they appreciate what we do. Have you worked with any other producers or is an Urban Noize remix a trademark exclusive sound? Yes we’ve worked another producer by the name of J-Hype, who is also a singer/ songwriter, on a record titled ‘Love Can’t Wait’. If you got a chance to work with any other producer in the world, Who would you choose? I would have to say Kanye West, because I’ve always admired his way of producing & the direction he takes his music. Are there any other future releases can we look forward to hearing? Urban Noize & OutKast Everlastin’ (EP), Rihanna - Reb’L Fleur (The Ri-Mixes) [Prod. By Urban Noize], & N.a.S (EP) [Prod. By Urban Noize] For more Information about Urban Noize you can visit their website, www. urbannoize2010.tumblr.com. You can also find them on Facebook, www.facebook. com/UrbanNoizeOfficial, and on Twitter, @UrbanNoize.

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Carving a new Identity AFTER MaKING a NaME FOR HIMSELF aS a YOUNG PROMISING R&B aRTIST WITH STRONG VOCaL abILITY, LOICK ESSIEN MaDE ONE OF THE bIGGEST SONGS OF 2011 WITH “THaT’S HOW WE ROLL” FEaTURING FELLOW UK SONGSTRESS TaNYa LaCEY. LOICK TOOK THIS a STEP FURTHER IN 2012 WITH HIS “NO I.D” MIXTaPE aCTING aS a PREQUEL TO THE 2012 EXPECTED aLbUM IDENTITY. HOW WILL IT REPRESENT HIM aS aN aRTIST aND HOW WILL HE CEMENT HIS NaME ONTO THE SCENE? WE HaD THE CHaNCE TO SPEaKING TO HIM aND FIND OUT!

What has been your favorite album or project of 2012? My favorite album or project.... Probably crazy I say this, but the Drake album “Take Care”. I think that was a great album, a great body of work. I like the fact that I can listen to it now and it still sounds fresh. If you had to describe your journey in just a few words what would you say? Ongoing, because I’d say it’s just the beginning, ongoing and exciting man. What’s your opinion on internet dating? Internet dating! Well internet is so big now, you can’t really knock it. I think each to their own man. I personally wouldn’t find someone on the net per say. I thought I saw a Tweet years ago that you flew out to meet a girl in Sweden or something.... [Laughs] As a writer you go a lot of places to record, so I went to Sweden, and there had been a girl that I had been talking to, and um in the picture, she had green eyes and everything. And I get over there so we’re still talking, so I get her to come by the studio and she looks NOTHING LIKE what she did on the internet. It wasn’t bad, she didn’t look bad, but she didn’t look like how she looked on the internet so, it’s just like, I’d probably say, in bringing that up I’d probably say nah, it’s definitely a miss for me. What’s your record label situation right now? My record label situation right now is independent. I’m looking at a few new situations but I haven’t really decided on what I’m going to do yet. But right now I’m just really enjoying the position that I’m in, like being able to put out free music and just being able to do

what I want. I’m still able to get all the Wretch 32’s of the industry and all the people I respect in the UK right now and still be able to do the shows and reach out to the fans like all the loudmouths, shouts out to all the loudmouths, and so like yeah right now I’m just happy more than ever. I think the industry’s changing right now as well so being independent sometimes can be the best thing for certain artists, so yeah, I’m really excited right now. What happened to all the music that would have made it... On the label? I’m always recording, so sometimes, as an artist, you record music, and sometimes when that music actually gets out to the fans and to the world you’ve actually moved on since then. So I’ve just been recording a lot of new music, a lot of great new music and I’ve been working with a lot of hot new artists. You’ll probably hear the label stuff in like unreleased leaks because sometimes the producers leak the tracks so you’ll probably get to hear them sooner or later. What new producers are you in with these days? I’ve been working with a lot of new and old people. A crazy talented new guy called High Grade, Parker Ighile who’s the artist that has just been signed to Nicki Minaj, Da Internz (Big Sean - A$$, Nas - The Don) and The Stereotypes who did “Somebody To Love” for Justin Bieber and Usher and look after Far East Movement. Anyone new that’s hot, hit me up! For more Information about Loick Essien you can visit his website, www.loickessien.com. You can also find him on Facebook, www. facebook.com/loickessien, and on Twitter, @loickessien.

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H S JO A R M KU Beatz Magazine got the chance to interview Josh Kumra at the beginning of 2012, so we caught up over dinner at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill before Josh gave an intimate acoustic performance. How are you doing Josh? I am good mate, just had some grub, so I am all happy now, I was starving.[Laughs]

as a musician? The EP, I think it definitely captures the moment for me, because you can never really plan anything with music, it can change any day, you know. I was a singer and songwriter from my bedroom and when I did the Wretch 32 collaboration that obviously blew up a bit and I found myself having these fans from the other side of music and the EP kind of brings all that together.

instrument for you? Well, I didn’t, I mean I learnt the guitar, joined a couple of bands and then I realized that the lead singer was the one getting all the attention from the women, so I started singing, that’s how I got into it. So yeah, it was my first choice, but singing is definitely my priority now.

The video concept for ‘Helicopters and Planes’ is very Its great to catch up with you, So how would you describe the interesting, my perception is when we last spoke in February, cross-over sound that you’re the fish eye lense gives it that you were hot on the scene after paranoia and loneliness, kind of “Don’t Go” with Wretch 32, then making? There’s a bit of indie with a bit of soul... like all eyes on you. you dropped your ‘Helicopter That’s what its all about, we didn’t and Planes’ EP, so how much has Yeah, I am a big soul man and I love soul music, so obviously you want to do anything fancy, we just changed this year? have to listen to what’s going on wanted to do something that is not Every aspect of my life has around you and obviously beats the ‘normal’, I mean I don’t want changed, to be honest, it’s been kind of come into the play in the to be in a video looking sharp and really nice because its been a year looking good with my make up ‘since don’t go’ and we’ve had the moment, you got all these mad kind of sounds, so I am just keeping and my hair done, I just wanted it chance to kind of regroup, get a every option open and just kind of, to be like look I am the guy from good band, rehearse and take our being open minded. I want to live Swindon, I am living in London, the time. Now we’ve got, throughout and breathe all different types of hit single come across, and now its October about 20 dates, so we’re music. just kind of like, I am not going to on three different tours this pretend to be anything I am not. I October. Its going to be great! You’ve been playing the guitar am just a normal guy, we got lucky since you were 12 years old, how with Darren and hopefully we are That sounds great! Tell me about going to make some more music. the EP, how does it represent you did you know it was the right

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It was kind of about making your own name, wasn’t it? For sure, we could have involved other people, but apart from K Koke coming in, that was a really good collaboration, I love him, I think his music is great. But, you know what, it’s just natural, it’s a natural thing, and the video is kind of what you said, it captured that paranoia kind of aspect and I think that’s what its about. I am glad you mentioned K Koke because I wanted to ask you, how does his persona add to the track? I think its great man, because he approached it from a totally different angle than I thought he would, and it surprised me, it took me a couple listens and I was like ‘yeah okay, yeah yeah’, and then within a week I was just hooked on it, I mean I was skipping my bit to his bit. He just really goes in on it. In our previous interviews you’ve mentioned that you were inspired by the music of Tracy Chapman, Jimmy Hendrix, Bob Dylan, in what ways can we hear elements of their sound in your music? To be honest, it really comes down to the vocal lyrics, to me a good song is one you can play on an

acoustic guitar and move people and change people emotionally and that’s what Tracy Chapman does to me, that’s what Bob Dylan does to me. I think the key in that is just being honest in your music, you can really sense when someone is being honest when they’re singing. And one of your favorite albums is Ben Howard, Every Kingdom, is there any chance of you getting in the studio with him and actually making something happen? I’m not going to have any wishful thinking. I would love to get in the studio with him, but obviously he’s got a lot on right now, I am a couple of steps behind him, So, I am just going to go after it, we have loads of tours coming up and where I’ll really win is when I get in front of an audience and play live and that’s where I really feel the connection. So I am just going to keep doing that, and hopefully down the line we’ll bump into each other. Have you got a name for the debut album yet? And when can we expect to see it? Yes! The album will drop this year, because we still need time to build in more singles and I’ve got three

tours coming up so I am focused on that, but it’s all done, but we want to make sure we bring it out at the right time. The name is coming from the answer, its one of the lyrics in the answer, called ‘Good Things Come To Those Who Don’t Wait’. It’s a long one! So, what can we expect from the debut album, rumour is, the song to look out for is called ‘The Answer’? That’s my personal favorite, and that’s going to be hopefully the third single. Basically, to be honest, it’s all built up on those songs, it’s all built up about emotional songs that hopefully will touch people in a different way and move them and make them think differently. That’s what its about for me, anything that comes after that, like the beats and stuff, I mean there will be beats on there but there’s going to be a couple of feature artists and just couple of friends of mine as well. Obviously, we have Mr. Hudson producing it, which is bringing a really good, modern kind of sound to it. So yeah, I am not going to tell you too much.. You know. That track in particular (The Answer), I heard it’s about a girl? Oh for sure man! It’ll be hard for it to not be about a girl that way.

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You’ve always said that the deepest song you’ve ever written is called ‘Oak Tree’, you even have a tattoo of the Oak Tree, is there any chance that we will be seeing it on the album? Oak Tree is on the album, for sure, if not on the ten track, then definitely the deluxe, thats the most important song to me. You have another tattoo, don’t you? It doesn’t look quiet like you intended it to? Both of the tattoos I have are actually really bad. The one on my chest is supposed to be like a record, an LP but it looks more like a piece of liquorice. Then I tried to redeem myself, and tried to get an oaktree on my leg, I thought it’s my first song I ever wrote, it’s going to be on the album and I realized later that the picture that I gave to the tattoo artist was a plum tree. So I’ve got two tattoos that don’t really mirror anything I wanted. What’s the next pinnacle you would like to reach, over the next few years? I’ve had a taste of the festivals this year, I opened up the V festival, I just want to progress you know, I want to be on bigger stages, I want to play in front of bigger crowds and I’ll be happy with that, you know. Obviously we want to make it to the top, but I know being realistic that’s a long way to go, but we’re definitely moving forward. For more Information about Josh Kumra you can visit his website, www.joshkumra.com. You can also find him on Facebook, www. facebook.com/joshkumra, and on Twitter, @joshkumra.

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ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê

15OF 2012 ALBUMS

ê ê ê ê ê ê From Ed Sheeran to Emeli Sandé, Nicki Minaj to Nas, ê welcome to Beatz’ countdown of the years most impressive albums of 2012! ê

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Rihanna 5 1 êA With 4 UK #1 albums to her name already, R&B superstar, Rihanna, released her highly antisipated 7th studio album, titled ‘Unapologetic’. which may not exactly be what fans are expecting. Unapologetic (Def Jam)

lot mellower than previous offerings Rated R & Talk That Talk, “Unapologetic” is interestingly more reminiscent of Good Girl Gone Bad and even “Music Of The Sun” (check out “No Love Allowed”). What the album reflects well are the many facets of Rihanna’s personality. There’s “Bad Gal RiRi” whose hedonistic attitude comes through strongly in “Phresh Off The Runway”, “Pour It Up” and “Right Now”. The dissident Rihanna shows mostly in her controversial collaboration with ex Chris Brown “Nobody’s Business” and “What Now”. The more vulnerable aspect to her character (recall those solemn photos of Rihanna hooked up to an IV drip?) is reflected in several tracks, but especially in the noticeably romantic “Stay” and “Loveeeeeee Song”. The appearances from other artists are also

notable. “Right Now” has all the hallmarks of a Guetta track and is most likened to previous hit “Where Have You Been”). “Loveeeeeee Song” and “Stay” feature the soft vocals of Future and Mikky Ekko, whilst Eminem collaborates on “Numb”, a far less aggressive vocal than in their previous joint effort “Love The Way You Lie”, incorporating some witty and slightly comical lyrics from the former at 2:34. Listening to “Nobody’s Business”, you’d be forgiven for forgetting the pair’s turbulent history given that it is a pretty upbeat track. “Unapologetic” is a refreshing album. With the blatant and repeated sexually explicit references tempered somewhat – albeit there are still some for example in “Jump”, because it just wouldn’t be Rihanna without them – the music, rather than shock or even disgust at the content, takes centre stage. The album can also be credited with doing justice Rihanna’s vocal ability, which has too often been overshadowed by her outrageous persona. The diversity of the album is also one of its best attributes, meaning that the tracks are loaded

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ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ALBUMS ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê OF 2012 ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê with a variety of influences including pop, R&B, dubstep and electro. So what did the album artwork initially promise? Diversity, which it certainly delivered on in terms of genres and the general sound of each of the tracks. Like the album artwork, the songs themselves provide cross-section of Rihanna’s personality. You’ll easily see “fun”, “happy” and “fearless”, alongside reflections of Rihanna’s somewhat troubled love life. Picking stand-out tracks is tough because the album as a whole works well. Ones to have on repeat however should include the first release “Diamonds”, “Loveeeeeee Song”(Reckon those 7 E’s are a coincidence?), “What Now” and “Nobody’s Business”. “Unapologetic” was released on November 19 – a year to the day since Rihanna’s sixth album “Talk That Talk” hit the shelves.

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Ed sheeran

(Atlantic)

British singer/ songwriter Ed Sheeran is climbing the mountain of success. He released his debut album “+” and shot into the limelight. Not only is “+” a pleasure to listen to, but this 12 song album has 6 singles in total which is an incredibly impressive statistic for a debut album. Ed Sheeran personally, STAFF he’s become one of the PICK top talked about acts coming out of the UK Jessie ware nowadays, often fusing DEvotion (PMR Records) with grime acts such as Devlin, Labrinth, Wretch By Rory Foster 32 and other talented UK acts to create fusion music. Jessie He produces, strums his Ware guitar, has a very melodic proved voice, but is also capable to us this of beat boxing and year that rapping on his tracks.

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she could do more than just guest on SBTRKT tracks. Devotion is one of the best pop records of this year; packed full of sweet, soulful tunes such as the Julio Bashmore produced ‘Sweet Talk’ and ‘110%’, the album was well deserving of its mercury nomination. We can only hope that Jessie keeps up the good work for a little while longer."

Alicia keys girl on fire (RCA)

“Don’t be mad, it’s just a brand new kind of me” sings the brilliant Alicia Keys to introduce her fifth studio album, Girl On Fire. And given the raw emotion, supreme talent and brilliant vocals which Keys brings to her most recent album, it is difficult to find fault – let alone be mad – at this masterpiece. After a three year ‘break’ (in which time Alicia Keys has married and had a child with hip hop producer Swizz Beatz, produced and directed a Broaway play and a short film, and released her own line of sneakers), R&B fans will be jubilant to see her return to her very best, which is all too often simply at a piano, allowing her own fantastic vocal range steal the show. It is Keys’ apparent acknowledgement of this fact, alongside her progression as both an artist and a person, which allows Girl on Fire to not only be personal, intimate and charttopping, but also quite possibly Alicia Keys’ finest album to date. w w w. b e a t z m a g . c o m - B e a t z M a g a z i n e

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Emeli Sandé

Our Version Of Events (Virgin)

Before realising her singing potential, Emeli Sandé was studying medicine at the University of Glasgow, but a twist of fate gained her media attention after she guest featured on Chipmunk’s track ‘Diamond Rings’. The Scottish singer/ songwriter has penned songs for the likes of Leona Lewis, Alesha Dixon, Cheryl Cole and a number of urban acts including Tinie Tempah and Devlin. She recorded the famous duet with Professor Green ‘Read All About It’ and her most recent feat has been to write for Rihanna’s ‘Unapologetic’ album The album Our Version of Events expresses the insightful nature of Sandé’s story, as it comprises of deep filled love songs enhanced and endeavoured by her vocal range. She expresses her heartfelt emotion through her soulful voice and delivers the love-filled concept of her album drawing us into her story and leaving us wanting more.

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NAS

life is good (Def Jam)

With over 20 years in the rap game and this being his 10th album, Nas returns to the pinnacle of the hip hop industry with his sixth No.1 album Life is Good. Fans have often complained over his selection of poor beats that don’t match or overload his intelligent wordplay. However with Life is Good there can be no complaints; the mix is just right! With the help of NO I.D. and Salaam Remi the album blends the perfect balance of traditional and contemporary production. Quite simply, Life is Good is one of the best lyrical rap albums of the decade and is a refreshing listen in the current simple-chorus/ lack of substance climate of hip hop albums. After recently going through a rough period following his much publicised divorce with singer Kelis and his IRS issues over millions in unpaid taxes, it seems Nas is following trend by turning adversity in his life into classic albums. Which had been the case famously with his Stillmatic and God’s Son albums, which came after he was written off as a ‘one hot album every ten year average’ artist during his Jay-Z feud and the latter after the death of his mother.

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Labrinth

Electronic Earth (Syco)

Labrinth, come in! Appearing on the scene as the beat making genius behind Tinie Tempah’s ‘Pass Out’ and soon after ‘Frisky’, Labrinth has finally dropped his much anticipated debut album. After a year and a half of waiting since ‘Let The Sun Shine’ and the Devlin assisted track ‘Up In Flames’ here comes the reign of Labrinth and Electronic Earth. After putting Tinie Tempah on the map (twice), Lab went on to work with some of the UK’s finest upcoming urban acts including Wretch 32, Yasmin and Professor Green, before making his own transition from producer to solo artist. Labrinth isn’t shy when it comes to mashing up and flirting with the boundaries of multiple genres, his sound is so unique, it’s a fusion of electronic pop fused with elements of dubstep, house, drum n’bass and floor shaking basslines. Following a cover of the Charles Wright classic “Express Yourself”, Lab adds his experimental twist wrapping up the third single and overall a fantastic album.

DELILAH

From the roots up (Atlantic)

Perhaps best known as guest vocalist on the Chase & Status single ‘Time’, the initial assumption might be that Delilah’s debut album unleashes her as a full-blown dubstep diva. But it’s made clear that From the Roots Up is an entirely different concept. Which leaves us with the question: who, in that case, is Delilah? The album houses an overall trippy, chilled setting, but simultaneously, with a voice so charismatic and quietly concentrated, it’s hard not to actively pay attention. It could so easily be music to get casually lost in, but thanks to Delilah herself, background music this categorically isn’t. With the electronic feel of ‘Go’ and ‘Never Be Another’ to the soft harmonics of ‘Tabitha, Mummy and Me’ and ‘Shades Of Grey’, Delilah is the complete vocal package and this album is just a sample of what’s to come from this extremely bright starlet.

Usher

looking 4 myself (Atlantic)

He’s a world renowned R&B legend with a musical career of over 20 years, blessing our ears with seven stunning albums; it’s none other than Usher Raymond. Some call him the prince of R&B, others call him a club poppin’ hit-maker, with hits like “Burn” and “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love”; whichever Usher track is your favourite, you haven’t heard anything like ‘Looking For Myself’ before. Usher describes his own sound on this album as “revolutionary pop”; a step away from the Guetta movement of today’s pop music and a reinvention of classic R&B.

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Nicki minaj

roman reloaded (Young Money)

Roman Reloaded can only be described as an album made in three parts to match three of her alter-egos. The first four tracks of the album, Nicki unleashes Roman Zolanski, her “twin brother” who makes the crunk, West Coast sounding hip-hop sounds that unfortunately let this album down. The second portion of the album reminds listeners why she’s known as Queen Nicki because she unites some of R&B’s best acts including Chris Brown, Bobby V and Drake. The final part of the album appeals to the masses sung by Barbie; from the clubs to the radio stations, to teenage girls and above all earns her global music sales.

MIguel

Kaleidoscope Dream (RCA)

It’s difficult to argue against 2012 being the year of R&B. From Frank Ocean’s star-making channel ORANGE, a return to yearning for The XX and the continuing rise of The Weeknd: the big stories have revolved around interesting mutations of the genre. But what about LA singer and songwriter Miguel? Kaleidoscope Dream continues that improvement, highlighting an artist with an exceptional songwriting talent. His biggest American hit to date, ‘Adorn’, opens, popping with electric melodies and charm. It’s one of the most gorgeous pop songs so far this decade, deceptively simple and alluringly confident. Do You… is another warm-hearted highlight, opening with the line “Do you like drugs?” before later switching playfully to, “Do you like hugs?”. This humour and lighttouch makes Miguel above all things likeable, capable of a sense of humility that eludes some of his peers. While Miguel shows his humble side often on Kaleidoscope Dream, when it comes to his singing there’s no holding back. It’s here that he really shines, especially on the Alicia Keys assisted ‘Where’s The Fun In Forever’ where he swoons into falsetto, practically lifting off. On this evidence, Miguel is one of the finest pop vocalists of the moment.

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êê ê ê STAFF PICK êê ê ê Homeboy Sandman First of a living breed (Stone Throw Records)

By ga rowland

Chosen as one of our artists to watch in Issue 2 of Beatz, Homeboy Sandman’s album First of a Living Breed is an unconventional masterpiece, released on Stones Throw in September it’s a must listen for anybody who claims to have any interest in independent Hip Hop.

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Trey Songz Chapter 5 (Atlantic)

After five albums, Trey Songz finally achieves a number one spot with the incredible Chapter V. He’s at the pinnacle of his career now as the master of his craft; known as the prince of modern R&B, so he sets out to diversify and broaden his sound. His respect for women hasn’t changed, he still romanticises about love making and his perfect woman but has he finished his maturing stage by the age of 27? Overall, this fifth album covers all the bases of what you’d expect from a Trey Songz album. From the club bangers like ‘2 Reasons’, to the ‘Simply Amazing’ pop sing-alongs; from the classic slow jams like ‘Fumble’ to the ‘Heart Attack’ inducing songs; this album is brilliant. But most importantly Chapter V is a solid representation and expression of Trey Songz’ various styles because most of the album is produced by the talented, Troy Taylor. Props to Trey Songz on this album, it’s Simply Amazing!

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THE TOP

ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ALBUMS ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê OF 2012 ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê

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THE weeknd With 4 UK #1 albums to her name already, R&B superstar, Rihanna, released her highly antisipated 7th studio album, titled ‘Unapologetic’. which may not exactly be what fans are expecting.

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Trilogy ( Republic Records)

here could be quite a heated debate as to whether this album can be classed as a 2012 release or a product of music released across three years. Whatever your opinion you can’t deny that XO fever is taking over. If you think you’ve heard the name but don’t know where; The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) was the background vocalist on Drake’s ‘Crew Love’ and most of the album Take Care. He signed to Universal Republic records in early 2012 and struck a deal to re-release and re-master his three globally recognised mixtapes; House Of Balloons; Thursday and Echoes Of Silence. The sound engineers at Universal got young Abel to record three brand new songs; ‘Twenty Eight’, ‘Valerie’ & ‘Til Dawn (Here Comes The Sun)’, and then produced music videos for his biggest hits; ‘Wicked Games’, ‘Rolling Stone’ and ‘The Zone’ (featuring Drake). Anticipation for the album was sky high when BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe called ‘Twenty Eight’ his Hottest Record In The World right before he premiered it for the very first time. Across the globe, loyal supporters hit the stores to buy the previously free music racking up an astonishing 110,000 copies sold in the first week. The icing on the cake of this mixtape trilogy is called ‘D.D’; a unique dark twist on the Michael Jackson classic

‘Dirty Diana’. Many fans agree that his first body of work House of Balloons remains Abel’s masterpiece with the heavy synths, powerful guitar chords, and pounding beats being unrivalled by the consecutive albums. Yet Abel constantly captures the listener deep within their thoughts guided by his trademark falsetto on ‘Wicked Games’ and ‘High For This’. Thursday is Trilogy’s in-between child with ‘Lonely Star’ and ‘Life of the Party’ following the same emotions of House Of Balloons. Tracks like ‘Rolling Stone’ and ‘Thursday’ are somewhat lighter in mood but overall the cover art tells the story best. The cover shows a pretty girl facing the camera on three different days: on Wednesday she’s apprehensive, on Thursday she looks devilish (not to mention high as a kite), and on Friday she’s crying. Finally, Echoes of Silence takes the reader on a deeper and darker path than Balloons and emotionally empathises with the fatigue of a party that drags on into the late morning. Tesfaye has refined the best aspects of Balloons and Thursday. From the excellent ‘Montreal’ to ‘Same Old Song’ and ‘Next’; Tesfaye’s contemporary R&B melodies are full of sorrow and pain. “The Fall” is the handsdown standout of the lot, the comeuppance Tesfaye doesn’t fear but deserves. Nothing on Echoes strays too far from what’s been heard before, but “Initiation” comes pretty damn close.

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ALBUMS

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Kendrick Lamar

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (Top Dawg, Aftermath, Interscope)

Wonderkid Kendrick Lamar stuns the hiphop world with his debut album ‘Good Kid M.A.A.D City’ being labelled as one of 2012’s hottest hip hop albums. Hailing from Compton and being compared to hiphop legend Dr Dre is no easy standard to live up to. So the budding emcee dealt with that and hooked up with his hometown idol and enlisted him as the executive producer on the album, collaborating with him on two tracks ‘The Recipe’ and city proud ‘Compton’. So what makes young Kendrick so special? Well he supported Drake on the Club Paradise tour earlier this year so to return the favour Canadian rapper/singer joined Kendrick in the studio to record the Janet Jackson sampled track ‘Poetic Justice’ – which is simply incredible. Beginning to end the album can be labelled as a hiphop classic including mega-hits ‘Swimming Pools’, ‘Bitch Dant Kill My Vibe’ and ‘Money Trees’.

gOOD MUSIC CRUEL SUMMER

(Good Music, Def Jam)

After wrapping up the Watch The Throne tour, Mr West hit the studio straight away to put together his G.O.O.D Music compilation Cruel Summer. After the hype of G.O.O.D Fridays in 2011, Yeezy had a lot to live up to, and Cruel Summer definitely exceeds the previous body of work and much more. The result is a more evolved Kanye from The College Dropout era and Graduation days and we get a cross between My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch The Throne. With Jay-Z featured on ‘Clique’ and R Kelly on ‘To The World’, this is a very feature heavy project with legendary rapper Common, grabbing a verse and upcoming afrobeats superstar D’Banj dropping the bridge on ‘The Morning’ Ultimately, no one can deny that Cruel Summer is definitely a hit album, with Kanye West having such control over the direction of the album; it was inevitable that this collection of songs would be great. Guest appearances from Wu Tang duo Raekwon and Ghostface Killah and a surprise return from Ma$e put that extra gloss on the album to further cement Kanye West’s claim to be one the greatest musicians of all time.

Flip the page to find out which album we selected as our number 1 of the year! w w w. b e a t z m a g . c o m - B e a t z M a g a z i n e

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15OF 2012

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ALBUMS

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ê ê ê ê ê ê ê Ocean êfrank ê ê êêê ê ê

What a year for Frank Ocean! After receiving a multitude of praise for his noble open letter expressing his sexuality, then dropping his debut album a week early on iTunes; the whole world is buzzing for his Def Jam debut album “Channel Orange”.

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Channel Orange (Def Jam)

he Twittersphere was lighting up with comments by avid fans declaring no matter what his personal life entails, fans globally were still going to buy the album. The R&B crooner and member of Odd Future recently appeared on Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Watch The Throne” album on not ONE, but TWO tracks (No Church In The Wild & Made In America) so once he got signed to Def Jam Records with backing from the big dogs, Frank was given the space and creative resources to create the album he dreamed of, and that the public deserved. After the intro track aptly named “Start” containing a medley of gaming console sounds, we jump straight into the familiar sounding “Thinking Bout You” which was Frank’s first single which dropped late last year. As he croons over minimalistic beats and simple chords, his words speak out with messages of love and romance, setting the mood for the album early on. With mixed feelings on “Sierra Leone” (which follows the same format) we move on to “Sweet Life” with an upbeat jazz and swing influence but this time boasting a more dramatic production. If you haven’t realised by now, Frank’s vocals are really impressing more than anyone else in the contemporary music scene, outshining Usher, NeYo, R Kelly and more. After a short interlude OFWGKTA wonderkid Earl Sweatshirt hooks up with his crew brother Ocean to create “Super Rich Kids”, creating hip-hop R&B fusion with a very staccato beat that Earl drops

some of the realest bars you’ve ever heard. Watch out for this kid, his cult-like following is massive already but he’ll blow up even more in 2012! Whilst we’d love to go into great depth on all these tracks, we’ll leave the listening pleasure to you, but co-sign and highly recommend that you check out “Crack Rock” and “Bad Religion” but when it comes down to picking the best track it proves very tricky. The choices are between “Pyramids” the 9 minute long epic which is more like the central chapter of this album and the latter choice is “Pink Matter” featuring Andre 3000. To be Frank (see what we did there?) words don’t do this track justice, this is the best you’ll ever hear a male artist sing ever. The spine tingling strings give you goosebumps all over and Andre 3000’s unique flow really makes this track the highlight of the album. There’s too many great tracks on this album to mention so don’t be fooled into thinking that Frank’s music style is one-dimensional because it’s his speciality that makes this album shine. The recipe is a minimalistic beat layered up into a musical symphony of instruments topped off this trademark crooning voice. So throughout this album, Frank has made a series of colour references including white, orange, pink and green but we’ve got no idea if this relates to racism or sexuality? So ignore all the arguments you might read that Frank announced his sexuality just for album sales, be real, this is 2012, that’s an intensely personal thing to call. Just appreciate his music buy it off iTunes or cop the CD next week if you want to get the bonus track featuring Odd Future frontman Tyler The Creator! I’d pretty much bet my lunch money Channel Orange is the best album of 2012.

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TOP

Musicians to watch in 2013

Every issue we pick out one category of artist and pick out 6 people who we feel are currently one the best of that category. This issue we have chosen ‘Musicians to watch in 2013’.

Hottest group

Overdoz

LA based group Overdoz have been making there mark on the scene since 2008 spotting two hot mixtapes including hit tracks De$tabil and Lauren London. Watch them rise in 2013. blunnitville.com twitter.com/overdoz_ facebook.com/overdozduh

Hottest producer/singer

Parker Ighile

The first signing to Nicki Minaj’s new record label is one of the most talented musicians you’ve never heard of. Responsible for hits by the likes of Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and more. parkerighile.com twitter.com/parkerighile facebook.com/parkerighile

Rapper to watch

K Koke

The rapper from Stonebridge signed to Roc Nation after the critical acclaim of his three major mixtapes . The whole world eagerly awaits the release of his debut album ‘I Ain’t Perfect’. kkokeofficial.com twitter.com/kokeusg facebook.com/kokeusg

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Singer To Watch #1

Josh Kumra

After releasing his Helicopters & Planes EP alongside K Koke. The Swindon based singer is on course to release his debut album titled “Good Things Come To Those Who Don’t Wait”. joshkumra.com

twitter.com/joshkumra

facebook.com/joshkumra

Singer To Watch #2

The weeknd

The Weeknd famously released his album ‘Trilogy’ of remastered mixtapes last year. It featured 3 previously unheard songs. So get ready for a proper 2013 album by The Weeknd. theweeknd.com

twitter.com/theweekndxo

facebook.com/theweeknd

Fem-cee to watch

Angel Haze

One of the hottest fem-cee’s of the moment, Angel Haze is ready to take on the scene. She unveiled a deeply personal revelation of child abuse on a cover of Eminem’s ‘Cleaning Out My Closet’. angelhazemusic.com

twitter.com/iamangelhaze

facebook.com/angelhazemusic

Know of an artist we missed out? Want to suggest a category for next issue’s ‘Top 6’? Let us know on Facebook (www.fb.com/beatzonline) and on Twitter (@beatzmag) w w w. b e a t z m a g . c o m - B e a t z M a g a z i n e

‘s Fashion Picks hype £19.99 BOBBLE HAT footasylum.com

MAJESTIC £44.99 INNING RAIDERS SWEATSHIRT footasylum.com

hype £24.99 BELIEVE HYPE CAMPER CAP footasylum.com

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ASYLUM BRIXHAM JACKET footasylum.com

£64.99

Nike £135.99 JORDAN 9 RETRO TRAINER jdsports.co.uk

£45.00

BECK & HERSEY FAIRLY HIP KID SWEATSHIRT bankfashion.co.uk

£24.99

LA CROOKS SNAPBACK CAP ruinclothing.co.uk

CROOKS & CASTLES w w w. b e a t z m a g . c o m - B e a t z M a g a z i n e

Polkadot Lo -Tops House of Holland x Superga, £30.

Looking Ahead - Female fashion picks

f anyone in the fashion industry is holding a beacon of light for urban street fashion right now, it has to be Ashish (right), whose S/S13 show at London Fashion Week this year was mind-blowing and and oozed real flair and attitude (with sequins added for good measure). Channel this look with lo-tops and slogan sweatshirts as your basic wardrobe staples and add neon colours and animal prints as you see fit to create your own unique look all year round.

To celebrate the new year in real style don’t be afraid to experiment with dress lengths: think mini, midi or even maxi dresses covered in sequins. And to really get things going, forget about heels, and finish your look with trainers (see Ashish’s boxfresh Reeboks for inspiration). Glamour has been redefined, and as ‘the end of the world’ has revealed itself as pure myth, as far as style is concerned, this year, anything goes as long as it’s served with a generous side of attitude!

Vintage Sequin Sweatshirts urbanoutfitters.co.uk, £45.

Jersey/Sequin T- Shirt Dress Sugarland, £66.

BEATZ LOVEZ

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Our tips for New Year style resolutions: • Update your top-knot with a sparkly hair tie to really get attention. • Matching socks are SO 2012! • Forget Studs! w w w. b e a t z m a g . c o m - B e a t z M a g a z i n e

Credits: Gossip Sam maffia How to get rich in 2013 tom wilkinson J Cole Chardae’ Jones A$AP Rocky Sham Makhecha Nipsey Hussle Simran Gill Common George Rowland Emeli Sandé Laura Owusu Katy B Luke Giraudet Lana Del Rey Natalie Montezuma Devlin Anthony Doone Labrinth Simon Phelan Interviews Ayaz Hussain Andy Forrester Laurens Haines Top 15 of 2012 Ayaz Hussain Natalia Montezuma Oshana Gazara Laura Owusu Rory Foster George Rowland Lasé Anthony Laleye Sham Makhecha Top 6 Ayaz Hussain

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January 2013