South London rapper Dave featured in this column last October when he topped the UK singles chart with Funky Friday. He is now back in the top ten but this time as a guest artist on 18 HUNNA, the first major hit by Tottenham rapper Headie One.
Formerly known as Headz, the 24-year-old began rapping at an early age.
“I was about 13 or 14. Everyone rapped at that time. We’d rap in school and go to a local studio where we’d chill and mess about. I wasn’t serious about rapping back then. It was more of a joke thing. I realised I had a talent for ad-libbing freestyle raps but I had no plans to make a career for myself in music.”
It was only after spending time in jail that he decided to make use of his vocal ability.
“I’d been away for a bit. That experience made me want to see if I could do something in music. The roads were playing too big a part in my life. I thought getting into music could change things in a positive way. It’s been difficult for me to make the transition. It’s still a struggle, but you have to keep going.”
Headie mentioning that difficult transition references his three spells in jail. He actually recorded his contributions to the Sticks and Stones mix-tape while in prison. Although perhaps not strictly a UK drill rapper, he is very much associated with a genre of rap which is closely linked to the black street gangs of London.
Drill has been blamed for the surge in gang violence. Raps about stabbings, drug-taking and making threats to members of rival gangs feature prominently on YouTube. Headie One’s own output has included several songs of this nature.
“Theresa May was talking about banning drill. But if she wanted to ban drill, she would have to ban all genres of music. I’ve had concerts shut down by the police because trouble was expected by the authorities. But drill is an expression of what’s happening. It can’t be stopped.”
Headie began to make his name as long ago as 2010. His first appearances were on tracks such as Wood Green Diss and Youngers From Farm along with other North London rappers such as Mad Stanz and Young Josh.
Steady career progress was given a significant boost in the summer of 2017 by a collaboration with fellow rapper RV on the mix-tape, Drillers & Trappers. But it was their stand-alone single, Know Better, which really put Headie One in the musical spotlight.
Released last January, the critical adulation coupled with Know Better going viral made it prudent for Headie to re-release his mix-tape, The One. With music fans now much more interested in his work, the mix-tape became hugely popular. It was followed by another mix-tape, The One Two. These releases effectively paved the way for Headie’s top ten success with 18 HUNNA.
“I never really imagined I’d become a signed rapper, let alone get a mainstream top ten hit. I expected to just keep going with the flow, recording stuff independently and getting underground hits.
“It was a blessing when Relentless Records came calling. But just being signed by them wasn’t going to increase my sales. I still had to create the kind of material that people wanted to hear.”
Having established himself as a top ten singles artiste, Headie looks to the future with his debut album.
“I think people already appreciate my versatility as a rapper with the different types of songs on my mix-tapes. But albums always seem to be regarded differently from mix-tapes even though they are really just the same. I’ll just try to keep the ball rolling, stay true to myself with the songs I create and keep everything as real as possible.”
Drake


Canadian superstar rapper / singer Drake is the latest major recording artiste to secure a Las Vegas residency.
He has a multi-year contract to perform a minimum of ten shows at the XS Nightclub which is part of the Wynn Las Vegas casino and hotel complex.
Drake gave a 30-minute performance at XS earlier this month during the Consumers Electronics Show. Although no formal announcement had been made, he told the audience he would be back at XS all year and they would have numerous opportunities to see him in concert.
Other star names performing Las Vegas residencies during 2019 include Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Robbie Williams, Backstreet Boys, Cher, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.


Rihanna


Superstar singer Rihanna is suing her father for use and misuse of their shared surname.
Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, she eschewed Rihanna in favour of her family name when developing her Fenty Beauty line. So successful was her range of makeup products that Fenty’s Shades For Every Skin Tone was included in Time magazine’s list of the best inventions of 2017.
Rihanna was initially uneasy about her father, Ronald Fenty, and his business partner, Moses Jotkan Perkins, naming their company Fenty Entertainment. With Fenty having become established as the name of Rihanna’s beauty products, Fenty Entertainment certainly implied that she was involved with the company.
According to Rihanna’s legal complaint, lies were made about her supposed involvement in the April, 2017, press release announcing Fenty Entertainment. Since then, Rihanna’s legal team have issued several cease and desist orders to her father’s company but all have been ignored.
Among other claims, Rihanna is now suing for false declaration of origin, false advertising and invasion of her rights of privacy and publicity. She is asking the court to declare her father and Perkins cannot use the Fenty trademark or any other term that is confusingly similar to her name and that they cannot falsely promote a business association with her.


The Cranberries


The death of singer Dolores O’Riordan last January effectively ended The Cranberries. Her bandmates, Mike Hogan, Noel Hogan and Fergal Lawler, could not contemplate any possibility of replacing Dolores with another vocalist.
“The Cranberries was the four of us,” Noel stated. “We don’t want to do this without Dolores. So, we’re going to leave it after we release our final album.”
Dolores had already recorded the vocals for the songs on what should have been just the band’s latest album. But the music was then at little more than the demo stage.
Although the sadness at her passing gave Mike, Noel and Fergal no desire to finish the songs, they came to realise the importance of Cranberries fans having the opportunity to hear Dolores’ final recorded vocal performances. They also believed the album could act as a tribute to her.
With everything now completed, the album, appropriately titled In The End, will be issued on April 26. But lead single, also appropriately titled All Over Now, has just been released. An animated video has been made but is not yet available. For the time being, fans must make do with the official audio which is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSC2upiyRlQ
“The hardest part for us was a couple of months after Dolores had passed,” Noel remarked. “It was hard to listen to her recorded voice. We kept expecting her to walk into the studio and then realising she wouldn’t.
“We found we could only work on the songs for X amount of time per day. We’d think back, particularly to the early days and the adventures we’d had together. But we’re so pleased to have finished the album. In The End is a celebration of The Cranberries and of Dolores and the legacy we will leave behind.”


A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie


A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie has set a new record on the Billboard 200. After two weeks in runner-up spot, his Hoodie SZN album has climbed to number one. But he holds pole position with the lowest number of physical sales ever registered for a chart-topping album.
Streams are a different matter. The 20 tracks were streamed 83 million times. But traditional sales accounted for just 823 of the 58,000 equivalent album units which lifted Hoodie SZN to number one.
Hoodie SZN actually dethroned the previous record holder for lowest physical sales of a chart-topping album. This was 21 Savage’s I Am > I Was which sold 3,000 copies.
Prior to 2014, when streaming numbers were incorporated into record sales calculations, the lowest selling number one on the Billboard 200 was Amos Lee’s Mission Bell which debuted atop the chart for the week of February 12, 2011, selling 40,000 copies.


The Who


It is 13 years since new music was heard from The Who.
Guitarist / songwriter Pete Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey have concentrated on solo projects in more recent times. But the duo are reuniting to create their first new album since 2006’s Endless Wire.
Pete has demoed 15 new songs to which Roger will add his vocals. The finished album should be released later this year.
The Who will also be touring. The North American schedule of their Moving On tour has already been fixed with 12 dates between May 7 and June 1 and another 17 from September 6 to October 23. The set list has still to be finalised so it remains to be seen if any of the new material will be performed during these concerts.