1 Wiley
Wiley is back and still as self-destructive as ever: this summer he didn’t turn up to his headline slot at east London’s Born & Bred festival, while his highly anticipated Godfather album has seen various delays. That doesn’t mean the grime great’s show at KOKO – which precedes a few dates across the UK – won’t go off, though.
2 Lost In A Moment
Osea Island is not your average festival location: for a start you can only get to it twice a day while the tide is out. Yet despite its remoteness, it has musical pedigree: artists such as SBTRKT have decamped there to record albums in recent times. Ame, Marcus Worgull and Job Jobse are booked to get the party started here and let’s hope they do, because if not you won’t be able to get back home in a hurry.
3 Sean Paul
Recently seen defending dancehall culture from the new wave of magpie imposters (artists he viewed as jumping on the bandwagon included Drake and Justin Bieber), the man behind 2002’s Dutty Rock is back to show us how it’s really done. This week you can catch him in London as well as on the Isle Of Wight as a Bestival headliner.
Bestival, Isle Of Wight, Sun; Electric Ballroom, NW1, Tue
4 Flatbush Zombies
To understand some of the weird and wonderful directions hip-hop has ventured in recent years, you could do worse than listen to this Brooklyn trio’s debut studio album, 3001: A Laced Odyssey – a druggy, psychedelic affair that deals with lows (in particular, mental torment) as well as highs.
London, Mon & Tue; Bristol, Thu; Birmingham, Fri
5 Rat Boy
Jordan Cardy channels the likes of The Streets and Jamie T with his scuffed, dancefloor-infused tales of UK life. Live, he’s all about fighting for your right to party – expect things to get very sweaty when he arrives with his teenage fanbase in tow for a Sheffield show this week.
