In honour of International Women’s Day today we thought it’s only right to shed some light on the female talent in the UK who already in 2018 have dominated the game and whom by their groundbreaking successes, fearless attitudes and forceful presence continue to highlight the vital importance of women in the music industry, particularly in the rap scene.
Lady Leshurr
Always an artist that stays consistent with the material she puts out, Lady Leshurr has definitely taken 2018 by storm already. After starting the year kicking down 2018’s door by dropping her widely circulated and hotly talked about “R.I.P.” freestyle which racked up an impressive 1.3 million views on YouTube, Leshurr has maintained her consistency with yet another freestyle and video already this year. Putting her own Brum spin on Rich The Kid and Kendrick Lamar’s “New Freezer”, Leshurr does what she does best giving us her signature witty punchlines and charismatic delivery. With another freestyle rumoured to be in the pipeline, now presenting her own radio show on Rinse FM and set to drop a new project later in the year, Leshurr is definitely already donning 2018.
Little Simz
Arguably (and annoyingly) the most underrated and slept on female MC in the UK, Little Simz’ untouchable talent as a lyricist and ability to create transcendently poetic and thematically interesting bodies of work which mix, blend and break various genre barriers has enabled her to gain worldwide admiration and well-deserved recognition from some big names including Kendrick Lamar, Goldlink, JoeyBadass and Andre 3000 just to name a few. So far this year Simz has continued to show us why she’s one of the best female MCs to come out of the UK. Between organising her own one day festival “Welcome To Wonderland: The Experience Part II” in London last week, to being set to join The Gorillaz on their South American tour dates alongside hip hop icons De La Soul and Kali Uchis later this month, as well as headlining her own European tour this May, Simz’ expansion in 2018 is set to be global.
Ms Banks
Another underrated British female artist hailing from South London, Ms Banks has been making her mark as an MC over the last few years but has really come into her own over the last year, ending 2017 with an incredible career high after getting the Nicki Minaj cosign for her verse on Stylo G’s “Yu Zimme” remix. Starting 2018 with a bang, she dropped a fire #PenGame2Challenge freestyle which did the rounds on the socials and followed up the hype with a banger of a new single “Come Thru” which dropped at the end of January. Working on a brand new EP The Coldest Winter Ever which we should be hearing later this year, and heading into spring with an eagerly awaited headline show in London this month and many festivals lined up this summer including Lovebox and Reading, 2018 looks to be an exciting year for Banks.
Stefflon Don
Needing no explanation for the incredible career defining 2017 that Stefflon Don had, The East London MC achieved pivotal career heights last year from supporting some big names on tour such as Future and G Eazy, to her hit single “Hurtin Me” featuring French Montana reaching number 7 in the UK charts, to then ending the year being nominated for the BRITs Critics Choice Award for 2018. Now with the ammunition to achieve even more in 2018, Stefflon Don has already made serious moves this year. Releasing the lively visuals to her latest single featuring Skepta “Ding-A-Ling”, performing on James Corden’s The Late Late Show, celebrating 50 million views on the video for “Hurtin Me” and enlisting a superstar roster for the remix of the tune featuring reggae and dancehall legend Sizzla, Popcaan and Sean Paul. Not least of all announcing her first ever stateside tour this summer with dates in LA, San Francisco and New York, Steff is killing 2018 and it’s only March.
Trillary Banks
Hailing from Leicester, this patois driven female rapper Trillary Banks is really making her mark this year. Her singles “Pepper & Spice” featuring Inch from Section Boys and “Come Over Mi Yard” picked up the attention of major media platforms and radio stations in 2017 such as BBC Radio 1Xtra and Complex who named her as one of their top British MCs destined for a big 2018 at the end of last year. The video for “Come Over Mi Yard” also received a staggering over 500,000 views. Dropping her latest single “Nobody Need To Know” just last week and as her fan base continues to grow, Banks seems ready to make 2018 her year.
IAMDDB
Definitely already doing big things this year, the Mancunian singer/rapper IAMDDB has made an incredible entrance into 2018. Starting the year doing shows in Greece and the Netherlands, IAMDDB has gone on to support the likes of Jhene Aiko on the UK dates of her Trip Tour in February, organised pop up shops for her own clothing brand “Hoodrich” and was presented with the Worldwide Breakthrough Act of 2018 Award by Gilles Peterson in January. Considering IAMDDB only arrived onto the scene about a year and a half ago, her work ethic has been admirably consistent and we’re sure has inspired a lot of other female artists in her field who are also trying to break into the scene. Lined up to do some major festivals this summer such as Parklife and Trnsmt Festival in Glasgow and already working on her fourth EP, we have a feeling 2018 is going to continue being a pivotal one for IAMDDB.