Alfie Templeman
BABii
Black Country, New Road
Eloise
Employed To Serve
Far Caspian
Gunship
Idles (pictured)
John Smith
Max Cooper
Poppy Ajudha
Puma Blue
Sainté
Snapped Ankles
Strawberry Guy
The Anchoress
Theon Cross
Violet Skies
Walt Disco
Yard Act

British music is undeniably a global export, 1 in 10 songs streamed globally are produced by British artists. But this number is not as high as it used to be. In 2015 the UK’s share of the global market was at 17%, now that has slipped to 10% today. This scheme is here to allow some smaller British artists to achieve their full potential overseas, by giving larger access to equipment, licensing, travel, and any other aspects of a band’s routine that allow their music to be heard in other countries. In 2020, the scheme generated £36 million in revenues. Put another way, for every £1 put in by the government, the artists generated 12x that amount. Geoff Taylor, the chief executive of the BPI, backs this by saying “The UK punches well above its weight as the largest exporter of music in the world after the US”.

In regards to boosting the UK’s music scene after covid, Taylor said “Labels continue to invest very heavily in developing new talent and they’re working on new ways to get artists out there. As an industry, we are working on new ways to bring new music to fans, but there’s no doubt it’s harder under a Covid environment.” He adds, “MEGS funding provides a crucial avenue for UK artists to invest early and develop audiences in markets that are traditionally expensive to break. For years, Idles’ renowned live show has been in demand across LATAM, and this support helps us meet that demand with genuine marketing and promotional activity and continue to grow their profile”.

Mike Freer MP, Minister for Exports at the Department for International Trade (@tradegovuk) praised the UK music industry, and reiterated the ambition to grow British music.

Read the story in full https://t.co/yY9GjZgxL6 pic.twitter.com/LPeDHhUhGD

— BPI (@bpi_music) November 18, 2021

The scheme tries to cover as much popular music as Britain has to offer. IDLES, Black Country – New Road, Yard Act, and Snapped Ankles all fall under the ever-increasing brand of Post-Punk. Eloise, BABii, and Sainté are all making moves in the realm of British Pop. Acts like Strawberry Guy and Gunship also offer their own takes on folk and synthwave that also prove that British music comes in many, many forms.

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A post shared by Sainté (@ys.sainte)

Sainte is from Leicester a city that is well known for its musicians with bands such as Kasabian and current acts such as Mahalia and Easy Life all coming from the city in the midlands. Sainte always reps Leicester whether that is name dropping the city in his lyrics or kicking off his first UK tour.

Sainte posted the tour poster on his Instagram alongside the caption “Majorly excited to be announcing my first tour! FEB 2022 I’m expecting to see you all TURN UP”. The post sits on just under eight thousand likes on its first day and boasts comments from artists such as Odeal, Kinkai and fellow Leicester artists Kamikaze and JB Schofield.

‘The Four Tour’ comes just after the release of Saintes debut project Out The Blue, a project that featured seven tracks and six different artists including Knucks, A2, Miraa May, Chi Virgo, Odeal and Tay Iwar. The project sits on just over 3 million Spotify streams after being out for just under a month, releasing on the 8th of October.

Sainte had previously released visuals for his singles “Summer is blue” featuring A2 and Knucks and “No love” featuring Miraa may which both came out before the project release. Since the release of his project on the 8th of October Sainte dropped visuals for the track “You never” on his own channel with the video currently sitting on just over 120 thousand views. The track sees Sainte reflecting on where he has come from and the people within his life, this is showcased through the video which features his family and friends chilling on the block and sharing a meal, both in a celebratory fashion with bottles of champagne and money featuring heavily in the video.

Saintes ‘The Four Tour’ dates are listed as:

13-02-2022 – Leicester – Y Theatre
14-02 – Manchester – Yes basement
15-02 – Bristol – Strange Brew
16-02 – London – Hoxton Hall

Tickets for his tour go on sale this coming Friday at 10 am.

Watch Saintes newest video for “You never” here:

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The post was met with comments from a number of significant names in the music scene with the likes of British musician Kamal, Rushy as well as Nigerian artist Teezee and Canadian creator Trey Richards.

The tracklist is 7 songs and features 6 artists on 3 songs. The singles on the track are “West”,” ’03”, “Midnight” and “You never”. 4 of the 7 songs will feature Sainte on his own, while 3 tracks will hold 6 features including the previously released; “Summer is blue ” featuring A2 and Knucks, the elder statesman of the alt UK hip hop scene. A2 released what he claimed to be his last project earlier this year titled Just so you know, which he released and then shared on Twitter will be his last project as he goes into retirement. Knucks hasn’t released a project since 2020 when he dropped London class which currently sits on just over 7 million Spotify streams. 

“No love” featuring Miraa May is the other previously released track, the single was released in August and features Tottenham songstress Miraa May. The track currently sits on just under a million Spotify streams and 195 thousand youtube views, it sees Sainte go into a more relaxed rapping style to compliment Miraas angelic vocals, the pair performed the track together for the first time at Strawberries and Creem festival where Miraa brought Sainte out to perform on her set.

The final featured track is “Azure” featuring Chi Virgo, Odeal and Tay Iwar. The title of the track fits the Out the blue theme with the definition of “Azure” meaning bright blue in colour like a cloudless sky. The track is an all Nigerian Lineup with Chi Virgo who was born in Nigeria but raised in Cheltenham, the now London based songstress has a delicate delivery that matches the style and aesthetic that he presents. Tay Iwar also features on this track and in recent times has been on a run of features having released his last album in 2019, the 24-year-old Nigerian has featured on tracks alongside Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Juls and Pa Salieu in 2021 alone.

British Nigerian Odeal is the final feature on this track and will bring his RnB sound which he mixes with more upbeat afrobeat inspired beats, he has been pushing out quality music since his breakout track “Vicious cycle” in 2019 and his appearance on Saintes Project will be his first feature on another artist work.

Saintes Out The Blue is set to drop this coming Friday, the 15th of October and can be pre-ordered here.

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A post shared by Sainté (@ys.sainte)

The young rapper shared a trailer for his upcoming project alongside the caption which read “You all wanted a project. A body of work. More sounds, styles and vibes…(Easy).  I’ve been itching to give you all of that. I’m excited to present to you my new project “Out of the blue” out 15/10/21. Spread the tea.”

Sainte released the first single from his new project 2 weeks ago, titled “Summer is blue” alongside Knucks and A2. The link-up was highly anticipated and can be seen as a family tree of the UK alt-rap scene, with A2 and Knucks flying the flag for a section of the UK rap scene that veers away from the UK rap conventions, and Sainte is next in line.

The Leicester rapper has had a strong 2021, having dropped his debut project Local MVP at the start of the year, the 4 song project has amassed over 21 million streams with the stand out record “Champagne shots” currently sitting on 13.5 million streams.

Since the release of his debut project, Sainte has gone on to release 3 singles, “Old Times”, “No love” alongside Miraa May and his newest single “Summer is blue” featuring A2 and Knucks.

In an interview with DJ booth the young rapper shared that he was studying at university and nearly pursued another career before starting to rap, Sainte said “ I’m in my second year (Of university), and I went through a sports phase. I was playing basketball semi-pro.”

Away from music, Sainte is one of the UK artists that has benefitted from Louis Vuitton’s artistic director Virgils Ablohs love for the UK scene. Sainte provided his music for Louis Vuitton fashion week 2021.

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Saintes project Out the blue is set to release next Friday on the 15th of October and is available to pre-order here.

Saintes new single “Summer is blue” featuring Knucks and A2 is available to watch here:

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A post shared by Sainté (@ys.sainte)

The track and video were released Friday morning and is the Leicester rappers first track since his last single ‘Old Times’ which the 21-year-old released in early May.

The video which was released on Sainte own channel has already racked up over ten thousand views in its first 11 hours and features Sainte in a number of dimly lit locations, including an apartment, an empty pebble beach and a dance hall where the talented Miraa May makes her first appearance.

The track veers away from Sainte normal content and focuses on the topic of love. The song is about sharing no love in an attempt to protect themselves and could be said to have a jaded attitude towards love.

Sainte is one of the most exciting upcoming rappers in the UK scene, hailing from Leicester the rapper looks to become the first big-name out of that part of the midlands. The 21-year-old released his debut project ‘Local MVP’ earlier this year, the 4 track project currently sits on just over 15 million streams which can be credited to the success of Saintes hit ‘Champagne Shots’.

The younger rappers ability to float on a number of different beats and next to a number of different artists makes his possibility endless. Having only starting releasing music within the last 2 years the 21-year-old still has time to grow and become one of the most exciting rappers in the UK scene.

Miraa may is a talented singer of Algerian descent from North London and has been releasing music since 2016. The 25-year-old has appeared alongside Ghetts, Hamzaa and Sainrte in her last 3 appearances and looks to be taking a step back this year. Miraa’s lack of output is no surprise after the singer gave birth to her son in 2020 alongside UK personality Harry Pinero.

The video for ‘No Love’ by Sainte featuring Miraa May is available to watch here: