We’re sure most would agree that 2015 has zoomed past our eyes; now in December (and with everyone talking Christmas and New Years Eve shenanigans), we’re taking a quick glimpse back at our music-world highlights for the year.
Scroll through 2015’s biggest moments using the menu below:
[nextpage title=”Stormzy invited a fan to collab with him on ‘Shut Up'”]
Stormzy held a gig outside Noisey’s offices in East London in September to celebrate the release of his Wicked Skengman Pt 4 freestyle. Following a Q&A session, he then went in for an intimate three-track set with fans, but shocked one fan in particular – inviting her to perform Shut Up with him because, well, she knew every fucking word (and she sounded perfect!). Needless to say, she became an internet sensation, and rightfully so too. When an artist goes on a level with fans, it can become one of the most meaningful memories, and for that girl, we’re certain that memory will live on for years to come. Catch the full performance below:
[nextpage title=”Madonna took a tumble at the BRIT Awards”]
Madonna made her return to the BRIT Awards stage in February, following an absence of almost two decades; though it was probably a moment she’d quite enjoy forgetting.
Opening her performance of her [then] new single Living For Love, Madge suffered a ‘wardrobe malfunction’, leading her to being pulled down the stairs by a backing dancer. Obviously Twitter, Vine and Instagram went nuts (ironically, the whole event happened the second Madonna sung the words “I let down my guard”). Catch the full performance below:
[nextpage title=”It became cool to think Justin Bieber was cool!”]
2015 became the year that we all finally caught up with young teenage girls, and joined them in the admiration for Justin Bieber.
Hooking up with Skrillex and Diplo on their debut Jack Ü project, their collaborative Where Are Ü Now? became one heck of a summer smash, and whilst we all thought that was it, unbeknownst to us, Bieber had been cooking up a few more gems with the producers in the background too. Where Are Ü Now?‘s unofficial/official follow-up What Do You Mean became the lead single from his fourth studio record Purpose, with the Skrillex-produced Sorry following not long after. Both smashes in their own right, Bieber also became one of 2015’s most relevant characters by having an in-joke at himself, and inviting the rest of the world along too. From being the spotlight for Comedy Central’s Roast of Justin Bieber, and delivering a relaxed demure in James Cordon’s Carpool Karaoke, Justin Bieber basically became an unsung hero for 2015. (Oh, and Purpose is one fucking wicked album too!).
[nextpage title=”Kanye West headlined Glastonbury!”]
“Yeezy Does It” read the front page of Glastonbury’s Free Press, and quite frankly, we couldn’t agree more. Shrouded in controversy since his appointment, Kanye proved that hip-hop certainly earns a place at arguably one of the world’s greatest festivals. From those watching at home to some who turned up to the set, everyone decided they were ‘music critics’ all of a sudden, but you can’t deny that West’s arrogance is in part some of his appeal. We were there, we loved it, and in all fairness, this is our list so if you don’t agree…. well then that’s cool too. (Admittedly though, his rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody was as bizarre as it was ‘a bit shit).
Check it out for yourself below:
[nextpage title=”Jimmy Napes teamed up with MJ Cole and dropped a stellar EP”]
After writing and producing some of the biggest tracks for the likes of Disclosure, Mary J Blige and Sam Smith (amongst others), Jimmy Napes stepped out as an artist in his own right earlier this year, sharing his impressive debut EP, The Making Of Me. The project featured four songs (two of which were various renditions of the same track), but it was the collection’s title-track that became an absolute standout for us. Hooking up with UKG supremo MJ Cole, Making of Me delivered one of the finest throwbacks to the genre’s early-2000 glory days; fun, light and sweet, yet with a gorgeous message of love and compassion. Grab a listen below:
[nextpage title=”Missy Elliott performed at the Super Bowl, and then headlined Bestival”]
During Katy Perry’s half-time show at February’s Super Bowl, the popstar brought along her surprise guest, Missy Elliott – a comeback that legions of fans were unanimously-excited about and one that captured as much attention online as the actual Super Bowl itself. Hysterically, many of Perry’s younger fans congratulated the star for selflessly introducing a ‘brand new act’ onto the scene (“Katy Perry is gonna make this Missy Elliott girl blow up” was just one of the teenage responses to hit the net) – however solid Missy fans across all four corners erupted in cheers upon seeing their hero back doing what she does best.
Fast-forward almost seven months, and Missy once again wowed, headlining Isle of Wight’s Bestival and delivering a stellar set covering some of her biggest tracks from her huge career. We were there to witness the show (plus her soundcheck too), and we couldn’t express more that Missy was undoubtedly this summer’s most-exciting headliner across ANY British festival.
Sheer amazingness!
[nextpage title=”Zayn Malik left One Direction and became an absolute G”]
Whilst millions of young fans wept at the news that Zayn Malik had departed their beloved One Direction, the more mature audiences out there started to prick their ears at the opportunity that lied ahead, and we weren’t disappointed.
A few weeks post-departure, Malik’s rendition of Rae Sremmurd’s No Type leaked online – whether this was indeed an accidental leak or not still remains unanswered, but one element that did strike was that Zayn could deliver a jam with raw emotion, and led us to anticipate what was to come.
In November, the artist shared his first no-holds-barred interview with The Fader, giving an insight into not only his break away from the 1D phenomenon, but also the type of musician he’s striving to be. Now signed to RCA, and hard at work on his solo debut effort, the excitement about Zayn’s new music reached higher-heights, after revealing he’d be in the studio with James ‘Channel Orange’ Ho. His new material is expected to land early next year, and genuinely we couldn’t be more excited!
[nextpage title=”Adele dropped a TV ad during The X Factor and everyone lost their shit”]
Sunday 10th October seemed like a normal night for fans of The X Factor UK – the final episode of the ‘6 Chair Challenge’ was to give viewers an insight as to the final contestants who would be jetting away to ‘judges houses’…. however it was the ad break which caused most of the excitement that evening.
“Hello… it’s me” sung a familiar voice. Lyrics appeared on the screen. “It’s not…. It can’t be”…. There was no call to action; no name…. nothing. But that voice was so instantly-recognisable, we all knew who it was. Adele was back! Twitter, obviously, went wild, with everyone in the world getting stupidly-excited about her impending new music.
Omg. Am I ready for Adele. I might have an emotional breakdown.
— MissHova (@HOhVee) October 19, 2015
It may have been 30 seconds, but Adele’s new song is beautiful. #adeleisback
— Joanne Svendsen (@JoanneSv) October 19, 2015
5 days later, Adele dropped Hello, alongside the official video (which itself became meme-central in SO many ways!). Fast forward a few weeks, and the singer’s third studio album 25 landed, storming global charts, and beating record after record (oh, and all that without even being available on Spotify or iTunes Music).
Welcome back, Adele.
[nextpage title=”Craig David hooked up with Kurupt FM, remixed Bieber, and then the world fell back in love with him again”]
The legacy of Craig David is one that epitomises the ‘don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone’ ideology. Craig’s debut record Born To Do It is still, 15 years on from its release, one of our all-time favourites, and few who were around at that time could probably doubt that.
Admittedly, things did go a bit haywire for the Southampton lad as the years progressed. Mocked by Leigh Francis on Bo Selecta (which, come on, was a pile of shit anyway), Craig seemed to struggle with future follow-ups, and admittedly became a victim of his own success by sharing snaps of his hench physique whilst galavanting around Miami in flash cars – a far cry from anything achievable by his London-centric fanbase.
However, earlier in the summer, there were signs that all had been forgotten. Appearing as a surprise guest on Kurupt FM’s Mistajam takeover in September, the seeds were starting to be sowed for Craig’s comeback – and what a comeback it’s been. The set went viral, thanks wholly to his ‘refix’ of 7 Days across the backbeat of Justin Bieber/Skrillex/Diplo’s Where Are Ü Now.
The uptake of the video probably shocked even Craig David himself, and subsequently sent demand for his live TS5 nights go through the roof.
Most-recently, he hooked up with Big Narstie for his official comeback single, When The Bassline Drops – a nod to his early MC garage days, and one that instantly brought back wonderful memories of moshing at a Garage Nation night at Eros. ‘New Craig David’ sounds like ‘Old Craig David’, and for that, we’re absolutely hyped to have him back on the scene. Here’s to 2016 where hopefully we’ll have more of the same!
[nextpage title=”Memes of Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’ video basically took over the world”]
Back in July, Drake shared Hotline Bling, a track itself so catchy that it’s definitely up there with one of the best songs of the year. However, it was the cut’s October video that sent the world into a spin.
Memes followed not long after the visual’s release – it seemed everyone who had a copy of Photoshop took the opportunity to capitalise on every little element of the Hotline Bling clip. From dancing to the Frasier theme tune, all the way to an absolute hero mimicking Drake’s footwork with some Star Wars light sabres, the video definitely help boost the song’s chart performance (hitting No.2 in the US Billboards four months post the track’s initial release).
Catch the full video, plus some of the best memes, below. Oh, and also check out Donna Missal’s spellbinding cover, here.
Drake dances to the Frasier theme quite nicely. pic.twitter.com/GK0X6iTlsz
— Mark (@tole_cover) October 20, 2015
[nextpage title=”Dr Dre dropped ‘Compton'”]
Back in 1999, Dr Dre’s second solo attempt 2001 became an icon in its own right – a cherished piece for hip-hop lovers (and stoners) the world-over, the success of the album led to fans wanting more, and from that, the hype around the project’s supposed follow-up grew with every year….. until people got bored of waiting that is.
Then, the unthinkable happened. On his Beats 1 Pharmacy show earlier this year, Dre finally announced the album’s successor, Compton. 16 years in the making, Compton would not only be the follow-up to 2001, but also provide a farewell to the producer as his final solo album.
Delivering a body work at his most political, and outspoken to-date, Compton definitely had signs to delight fans – Dre’s flows were still massively on-point, and, bar a few questionable verses from Eminem (emitting tiring lines such as “I even make the bitches I rape come”), it seemed that anyone who was anyone in the hip-hop game was happy to help the Doctor out for his final farewell.
Arguably however (and we realise we’re probably going to piss off a lot of Dre fans on this one), Compton was not the [strongly rumoured] Detox we were hoping for. As a rap album, the record will easily go down as one of the greats, however Dr Dre has always stood for something more special than the norm – appearances of his G-Funk era-synonymous beats were hardly ten-a-penny, and we’d struggle to foresee anyone being as emotionally attached to this album a decade on, as fans were with both 2001 and [Dre’s debut project] The Chronic.
Still, regardless of the above, let’s just hope that Dre was bluffing when he said Compton would be his final hurrah.
[nextpage title=”Radio 1 brought 20 years of Ibiza classics to The Proms”]
It’s been two years since The Proms dipped their toes into something ‘out of the norm’ (that being 2013’s Urban Classic Prom), however this year, all-bells-and-whistles were delivered as Radio 1 took over the Royal Albert Hall for their own take on orchestral music. Curated by Pete Tong, and supported by Jules Buckley and his Heritage Orchestra, this summer’s ‘Ibiza Proms’ heralded twenty years of Ibiza club classics to a packed crowd.
We’re not going to go all deep into this one – you need to watch it for yourself (which you can, below). What we will say however, is that those who were there were not only overjoyed by the experience, but all came away feeling privileged to have witnessed something so immersive and groundbreaking.
[nextpage title=”Lady Leshurr dropped ‘Queen’s Speech 4′”]
Now hitting over 13m YouTube views and close to 40m on Facebook (and counting), Lady Leshurr’s Queen’s Speech 4 quickly went viral following its release in the summer, and with good reason too. Coupled with the rest of her Queen’s Speech series, Leshurr’s fourth outing saw her deliver her now-synonymous tongue-in-cheekiness across a social and political agenda (cue “I got a dark-skin friend that looks like Rachel Dolezal / And I got a light-skin friend that looks like Rachel Dolezal”).
With a nod from Erykah Badu, plus a UK tour in early 2016, all things are bright for the Brummie MC – we can’t wait to hear what her anticipated full-length project brings.
Zane Lowe left Radio 1, and helped launch Beats 1
In February, Zane Lowe announced his shock departure from BBC Radio 1 to join Apple for an at-the-time secret project. Leaving the station following a 12-year stint, Zane had been an institution for Radio 1 since his arrival in the early 2000s, and subsequently earned accolades from the industry far-and-wide, helping to launch the careers of many of today’s biggest artists, whilst also earning writing and production credits with names such as Chase and Status, Tinie Tempah, Sam Smith and Example.
Annie Mac was confirmed to replace Lowe in the weekday 7-9pm ‘new music’ slot – a fitting replacement seeing as Mac started her career as Lowe’s Assistant Producer prior to hitting the other side of the desk herself.
Following Zane’s Apple-related announcement, all ears were hitting the rumour-mill to try and make head-and-tail for what his role there may be, and in June, Apple confirmed that Lowe was to spearhead their all-new Beats 1 radio station – broadcasting daily from Los Angeles to a global audience. Since then, Zane has interviewed some of the world’s finest artists, across multiple genres, and has further cemented himself as arguably the world’s greatest living radio broadcaster.
[nextpage title=”Kendrick Lamar performed To Pimp A Butterfly with a full live orchestra”]
Kendrick Lamar took his stellar record To Pimp A Butterfly to further heights last night, performing a spectacular live show…. with a twist.
Featuring The National Symphony Orchestra, the set, at Washington’s Kennedy Centre, saw Kendrick play a vast majority of the album completely live, and conducted by Steven Reineke (himself known for his prior work with Nas).
Catch performance of King Kunta, These Walls, i and more, below:
