Although Orbison hasn’t produced anything with Doldrums Recordings since 2010, his second startup, Hingefinger, has seen more activity. Hingefinger, was a joint venture between O’Grady and DJ/designer Will Bankhead. Under Hingefinger, Joy Orbison released ‘Ellipsis’ in 2012. Since Orbison’s early days, Hingefinger has turned dormant, with Bankhead focusing on his music and fashion label Trilogy Tapes, and Joy Orbison focusing on his making, rather than publishing, music.

Orbison kept a relatively low profile online, often dropping some of his tracks on exclusively physical formats. However, over the last few years, the producer has released a steady stream of work online. Last year, he released ‘Freedom 2’ with Peckham rapper Kwengface and electronic music duo Overmono. This was part of a continued collaboration between Overmono’s Tom and Ed Russell and Joy Orbison. The three artists have been collaborating since 2019 on dance tracks, predominantly, under the label XL Recordings.

Making a return to XL Recordings, Orbison took to Instagram to announce the release of ‘Flight FM’. The track marks a divergence from Orbison’s usual upbeat dance tracks, moving in a more subdued and droning direction. Speaking on Instagram, Orbison said: “I’m always wary of playing new ideas cos you run the risk of completely losing faith in it before you really make sense of it. But luckily it went down well which spurred me on to finish it”. The track’s name is in reference to a pirate radio station that Orbison tuned into as a child. Established in 1998, Flight FM permeated south London’s airwaves with underground dance music until 2008. Since its physical end, Flight FM has moved with the times and has found a space online. However, the station’s twitter hasn’t seen activity since February of 2018, making Orbison’s track a call back to a now-dead age in music.

As of today, ‘Flight FM’ can be found on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music.

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“Pound Signs” contributes to Headie One’s impressive and successful discography. The track opens with audio extracted from an interview with Bob Marley, in which he was in conversation about how financial wealth and monetary gain doesn’t equate to personal fulfilment. This interview sets the tone for the rest of “Pound Signs” – it is fuelled with hi-hit patterns and 808 slides typical to UK drill as well as lyricism which reveals the advantages and disadvantages of gaining money in a modern society. It is this kind of insightful lyricism which contributed to the notable success of Irving’s critically acclaimed album “Edna” in 2020.

Headie One’s latest album “Edna” was released on Friday 9th October of last year. The 20-track album reflects on the loss of the rappers mother, hence the album being named after her.  The critical success of “Edna” is undoubtable and it is no wonder that Headie One received various reputable nominations. For instance this year Headie One was nominated for the Brit Award for British Single with Master-card, as well as the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist. Such nominations and critical success have contributed to the artist rightfully earning the reputation as one of the best Drill artist’s out there.

Clearly 2020 was significant for Headie One and it is no doubt that this will continue throughout 2021, especially with the release of “Pound Signs“. The release of “Pound Signs” has also sparked hope for the preparation of a following album in the near future. For now we can appreciate the single for the talent it showcases and the message that it offers. You can watch the music video for “Pound Signs” here.

“Pound Signs” certainly shows promise for the UK artist, who isn’t shy of successful hit-singles. His reputation grew from the release of his track “18Hunna“, which features the rapper Dave. “18Hunna” reached number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. As well as this, in August 2020 Headie One, along with British rappers Stormzy and AJ Tracey, released the track “Ain’t It Different“. The track impressively became the highest-charting single for both Headie One and AJ Tracey. Big things can only be expected from the drill star.

Headie one has even previously been labelled as “the best drill artist in the world” by his collaborator Drake – enforcing the reputation he has built on the UK music scene.

In interview with The Guardian, Headie One commented that “I started to realise that music is a language: you have to listen to it and speak back”. You can listen to his new track “Pound Signs” here.

‘Rise Above Hate’ is a significant achievement for the Homerton-based rapper, Unknown T. The project is primarily Drill-focused, as T’s distinctive, punchy, flow is synonymous with the heavy beats of the genre. Tracks such as ‘Tug Boy‘  resemble the gritty sounds for which T is famed. An array of high profile features represent his rising stock within the music industry. Renowned artists such as AJ Tracey, M Huncho and Young T & Bugsey contribute their talents to the project. This adds an element of diversity to ‘Rise Above Hate‘. For example, Young T & Bugsey feature on ‘Main Squeeze‘; a track which draws upon their more polished sound to create the project’s most mainstream song.

Unknown T also reveals his human side with the soft ‘SS Interlude‘, in which the rapper opens up on his struggles with mental health. However, these tracks serve as pallet cleansers for what is a triumphant procession of heavy Drill music. The album’s most notable moments include the ominous ‘Leave Dat Trap‘, with AJ Tracey, and the vintage ‘Deh Deh’.

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RISE ABOVE HATE OUT NOW! POST IT, REPOST IT BUY IT, STREAM IT.. LETS GO HARD AND SUPPORT THIS ONE LOVE TO EVERYONE INVOLVED IN HELPING ME MAKE THE TAPE ‼️

A post shared by Unknown T (@unknwnt9) on Jul 16, 2020 at 4:07pm PDT

Unknown T is a pioneer in UK Drill. The single ‘Homerton B‘ is a catchy interpretation of the genre and helped to popularise the movement. It became the first ever UK Drill track to chart in 2018, peaking at 48th. The genre is a relatively new phenomena. It is based off of the Chicago Drill movement, as made famous by iconic artists such as Chief Keef and Fredo Santana. However, UK drill deviates from its American forefather by drawing inspiration from the British influences of Grime and Garage music. The result is a sound which is fast-paced, raw and distinctive.

Unknown T is the prodigal son of UK Drill. His earlier successes propelled the underground genre into the mainstream consciousness. ‘Rise Above Hate’ is an album which bursts at the seems with the same grit and fire for which Unknown T is known for. However, the artist also uses the project to demonstrate his versatility, as he tentatively tests the waters outside of UK Drill. The project is a crowning glory for Unknown T, as he continues to augment the popularity of the entire UK Drill genre.

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Rise Above Hate – 17/07/20 pre save link in bio

A post shared by Unknown T (@unknwnt9) on Jul 6, 2020 at 12:21pm PDT