Rap Trip: Underground Scenes Uncovered

Liverpool’s underground rap scene has been bubbling for years, fighting to be heard above the noise from Manchester. But local artists Aystar and Tremz have recently broken through – is Scouse Rap the next big thing? Ransom and FOS head to Merseyside to find out.

The Irish rap scene has existed for decades but has been long overlooked and overshadowed by rappers in the US and UK. So FOS and Ransom head to the Republic of Ireland to meet some of the Irish rappers who are making noise. In FOS’s first time overseas, the duo meet JYellowL in Dublin. The Nigerian Irish artist has huge talent and was recently featured on the Fifa soundtrack, but he finds it difficult to feel accepted as an Irish rapper.

The British Asian rap scene is buzzing from within the community, but is it about to take off into the mainstream? And is ‘Asian rap’ a label that should be scrapped? In this episode, FOS and Ransom head to Leicester and Bradford to meet some of the rappers breaking through. In Leicester, the guys meet Jay Milli, a rapper of Punjabi heritage, and Ceejay. Jay introduces FOS and Ransom to WnP, Western and Punjabi Beats, before taking them to a night-time block party with fast cars and freestyles. The boys then head to Bradford, where local YouTube channel King of Da Hillz invites them to a video recording in a studio. They hear from HDUK and other Asian rappers about what it feels like to be marginalised in their own communities for being rappers.