Groundworks is a creative consultancy that works with a number of the biggest artists in the UK rap scene. On January the 4th, they posted a picture from their 2021 cypher, building anticipation from fans. The cypher is the second that Groundworks have done, with the first being GW20 cypher a year ago that currently sits on 3.6 million views despite being over one hour long. This year’s cypher featured east London’s 98s (Unknown T, KO, V9, DA, Mazza, Alchubbino, Jimmy, Smokes, Hitman),  West Londoners CGM (Horrid1, Sav’O, ZK, Dodgy, Rack5), AB, Trapx10, Kilo Jugg and Tugz. Despite being premiering on YouTube at midnight, the 1 hour 13-minute cypher currently sits on 62 thousand views after being up for just over thirteen hours.

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While fans were waiting for the cypher to drop, Groundworks went on to cause more excitement by posting the track list of their debut tape without the names of the artists and asked fans to guess who was featured on each track. While the tape was teased, no date was given and on the 14th of January at midnight as the cypher dropped, Groundworks announced the release of their tape.

 

 

 

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The tape is nine tracks long and features 18 artists that the agency work alongside. The track list was listed as; “Groundworking” Featuring Teeway, “Eastside Story” Featuring the 98s (V9, DA, Billy Billions and Unkown T), “110%” featuring Trapx10 and Tallerz , “Happy Slap” featuring Kilo Jugg and Biggz, “Went Jail” featuring Digga D and Unknown T, “Burn Bridges” featuring KO and DA, “Black2Black” featuring M1llionz and Mwoo, “New Packs” featuring Billy Billions, and “Faith” featuring Potter Payper and M Huncho.

The names on both the tape and in the cypher display the vast pool of talent that Groundworks is working with as the company continues to push UK rap through their innovative ideas and project such as the cyphers, the tape and their freestyle platform First take freestyles, a platform where they give artists one take to deliver their freestyle.

The G Tape: Volume 1 is available to listen to here:

The GW21 cypher is available to watch here:

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Tiffany’s three years as a BBC 1xtra DJ have seen her invite up a number of A list rap stars to perform on her Tiffany Claver freestyles platform, and has featured artists such as Fredo, Headie One, Mowgli and Rico Nasty. As well as this, she has interviewed stars such as Skepta, and as well working with the BBC she has acted as the official DJ for Drake’s UK shows, bringing out some of the biggest UK stars at his 02 appearances, as well as being Fredo’s tour DJ.

The cypher saw nine UK rappers performing over legendary rap beats. The first beat was the “Only You” beat from Headie One and Drake’s single “Only You Freestyle”. The second is the legendary UK beat from Giggs classic track “Pain is the Essence”. The nine artists that stepped up to the cypher was a mix of upcoming and solidified UK rappers.

The artists in question were Croydon rapper Adz,  Tiktok sensation Arz, Peckham star Backroad Gee,  Upcoming female rapper Cristale, recent feature on Dave’s WAITT  album Sha Simone, North West London’s Knucks, Croydon sensation Jords, Leicester’s Trillary Banks and Birmingham’s Miss La Familia.

Cyphers are a part of UK rap that have somewhat faded out of the culture of current UK rap; the UK scene was birthed with cyphers and sets from grime and jungle artists showcasing their rap ability and bars.

The cypher showcased the talent of the artists, highlighting the quality of the already cemented stars and the ability of the fairly unknown newcomers.

Tiffany Calver’s Abbey Road cypher is available to watch now and can be found here: