NEWS
EVENTS
Hip hop at the Wireless Festival 2013
Tuesday 18th June 2013 | Moses
Perhaps the biggest name to grace the Wireless stage this year is hip-hop's own Jay Z, aka HOV aka The Jigga Man aka Mr. Carter, whatever you call him Jay Z has enjoyed a longevity in the industry accomplished by only a handful of other artists that has made him one of hip-hop's leading figureheads. Nowadays one could be mistaken for thinking of Jay Z as more of an entrepreneur rather than a rapper, in addition to running his music label (Roc Nation) he also owns a chain of night clubs (The 40/40 club) and recently started his very own Sports Agency (Roc Nation Sports). Despite the extra-curricular activities Jay still finds time for the music, dropping numerous guest verses and recently announcing the release of he's twelfth studio album 'Magna Carter Holy Grail' due for release July 4th. Jay Z is no stranger to the UK, having performed at two previous wireless festivals, Glastonbury 2008 and BBC's Radio 1 Weekend 2012 in addition to his 'Watch the Throne' tour last year we're more than certain Jay Z will rock the stage one more time.
Joining Jay Z is former rival turned friend Nas, who is one of those handful of artists who've enjoyed similar longevity to Jay Z. Hailed as one of Hip hop's greatest lyricists, Nas has released twelve studio albums with the most recent being the 2012 release 'Life is Good'. Like Jay Z Nas is no stranger to the UK scene having recently perfomed a one-off show earlier this year at the O2 and collaborating with the late Amy Winehouse on the smooth record 'Cherry Wine'.
Another artist in that handful of artists enjoying longevity in Hip-Hop legend Snoop Dogg who will be performing on the 12th. Having released his first studio album in 1993, 20 years later Snoop is still about the music having recently released he's twelfth studio album 'Reincarnated'. Snoop has undergone a transformation rcently having changed his stage name to Snoop Lion to reflect a spiritual change he experienced whilst in Jamaica. Lion or Dogg, Snoop has one of the deepest musical catalogues and fans can expect to hear classics from 'Gin & Juice', 'Beautiful' and 'Drop it like its hot' as well as his newer material such as 'Torn Apart' with the UK's Rita Ora.
Wireless will also see some of three of Hip Hop's newer acts taking the stage in the form of Kendrick Lamar, Asap Rocky and 2 Chainz. All three artists have burst onto the hip-hop scene within the last 12 months with each releasing their first studio albums and enjoying singles success with Kendrick Lamar's 'Poetic Justice', 2 Chainz's 'No Lie' and Asap Rocky's 'F***** Problems" which also features Kendrick and 2 Chainz. All three have previously performed in the UK and will definaltely be looking to bring their A-Game this time round.
UK Hip-hop will also be on show this year with Wretch 32 and Devlin taking the stage. Wretch 32 is arguably one of the UK's biggest rappers enjoying sucres with hits such as 'Traktor', 'Unorthodox' and 'Don't go' which all enjoyed top 5 chart success in the UK. Hot off releasing he's second studio album, Devlin has rose to prominence in recent years and has also enjoyed success with records such as 'Watchtower' and 'Rewind'. Both Wretch and Devlin will definitely have the biggest reason to bring their A-game as they look to rock the hometown crowd.
@the_big_mo
