Soulja Boy

It seems bizarre to think that Soulja Boy - Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, to give him his full street name, or DeAndre Cortez Way as he’s known at home - has only just turned twenty-four; he seems to have been around an age, with his global smash ‘Crank That (Soulja Boy)’ topping the charts in the U.S. and falling just short, at number two, in the UK, as long ago as 2007. He made a ton of cash of the back of that success, too, placing eighteenth on Forbes’ list of Hip Hop Cash Kings in 2010 with seven million dollars in earnings. His debut record went platinum, but the two follow-ups have failed to meet with as much success; you have to think that his fourth album, due later this year, could be make-or-break for the rapper. He’s continued to play live in the years since, performing tracks like ‘Turn My Swag On’ whilst flanked by a frankly unnecessary entourage and with little sign of anything in the way of a backing band, there have been accusations of his gigs amounting to little more than glorified karaoke. He’s likely to go all out on promotion for the new album, though, so expect his first UK dates in three years to follow shortly.

I first encountered Keri Hilson, like most people, through her collaboration with Timbaland on the number one single, “The Way I Are” in 2007. Her sweet and smooth voice on the track crooning, “I like you just the way you are,” encouraged anyone from club-goers to radio listeners to sing along to every word of the massive R&B, pop hit. Then came her next big collaboration with Neyo and none other than Yeezus himself, Kanye West, on “Knock You Down.” The track was another massive chart success and definitely created more hype around Keri herself, being the lead act on this track instead of a featuring artist. Her song writing skills are second to none and I think she is completely underrated as an artist! I saw Keri Hilson in Birmingham in 2011 and her live performance definitely lived up to her mainstream success… It also showcased how well her writing talent translated into her stage presence - she had so much energy and her voice was pristine. Her songs were also blended together really well, it didn’t come across as a succession of separate and jolted chart hits, but she delivered her material in a very cohesive and polished way. I hope she comes back to the UK soon as I will definitely be seeing her again!

Lloyd - who, for my money, should really be going by his fabulous birth name, Lloyd Polite Jr. - is one of those R&B singers who has a lifelong grounding int he music industry, having come up through a boy band in the form of N-Toon; he started out with the group at the age of just ten. Since then, he’s released a slew of solo records, signing with the likes of Def Jam and Murder Inc. down the years and seeing two of his albums go top ten in his native U.S., thanks in no small part to chart smashes like ‘Southside’ and ‘Get It Shawty’. More recently, he’s decided to veer away from the smooth R&B sound with which he made his name, swapping crooning for rapping and signing with G-Unit Records last year. He’s released one new track to date - the considerably heavier ‘Get Dat Doe’ - and looks set to make a serious tilt at the genre on his as-yet-unconfirmed fifth solo album. How that will affect his live shows remains to be seen; they’ve generally been mellow affairs, as was the case when he appeared at 2012’s Wireless Festival; he performed a slew of his laid-back classics, in a dubious leather jacket/bare chest combo, to a packed tent, and it’s difficult to imagine rap tracks fitting in with that particular vibe - time will tell.