Jorja Smith, Tems, et Wesley Joseph

Born Michael Stafford in Hackney, East London, Maverick Sabre grew up in New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland having moved there with his family at the age of four. Four years later he heard Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” and realized that making music was what he wanted to do with his life. He wrote his first song the very same year, at the age of eight, and by his early teens was an integral part of Ireland’s small but thriving hip-hop scene. It got to the point where he was tapped for support slots with international names like The Game, and crucially Plan B, by the time he reached sixteen. Plan B was so taken with Stafford’s voice that he suggested that he move to London in order to pursue a proper career in music, and by the age of 17, Stafford was based back in his town of birth, with the music world at his feet.

At first he collaborated with as many underground rappers as were willing to work with him, spreading his name throughout the scene until November 2010, when he released his debut solo mixtape “The Travelling Man”. Mere months after the mixtape’s release he signed to Impala Records for the release of his debut single “Sometimes” in 2011. This gave him enough exposure to come to the attention of dubstep duo Chase And Status, who had him feature on their hit album “No More Idols”. He spent the rest of the year appearing with anyone who would have him, collaborating with Professor Green, appearing on Chris Moyles’ radio show and touring with The Script. So by the time he released his first single on a major label in July 2011, he’d made enough of a name for himself for it to hurtle into the charts at number 16.

2012 saw the release of his debut album “Lonely Are The Brave”, it debuted at number two on the album charts and he’s been one of the most exciting new talents in U.K R&B ever since then. With a new album dropping imminently, Maverick Sabre comes highly recommended.

Despite her relative youth, it already feels as if Katy B is something of an institution in the world of underground dance music - especially in her native United Kingdom. Key to her success to date has been the sheer versatility, in stylistic terms, of her work; she’s blurred the lines between dubstep, funky, garage, house and R&B on her two albums to date. She had already featured on a slew of underground tracks in and around London’s dance scene before she signed a deal with Rinse - one of the city’s top dance movements - to release her debut record, ‘On a Mission’, in April 2011. That record was prefaced, the previous year, by two huge hit singles that crossed over from the underground to the mainstream - ‘Katy on a Mission’ and ‘Lights Out’, which charted at numbers five and four respectively. The latter featured Ms. Dynamite.

After successful touring for ‘On a Mission’, Brien took some time away to work on her second album; it was released, titled ‘Little Red’, in February 2014. It marked a move by Brien towards the extremes of her sound, in both directions; there were poppier tracks, like single ‘Crying for No Reason’, as well as explorations of more niche genres like deep house. She completed a UK tour - her biggest at the time - in support of it in October 2014, despite being struck by tragedy just a month earlier when her brother passed away.

Beginning on the label “Permission to Dance” where he released his debut album, Shy FX emigrated to Sound of the Underground Records, also known as Sour Records to release was would become his breakthrough single “Original Nuttah” which solidified his reputation as a jungle and drum & bass producer.

The 2000s were a successful decade for the producer, as he collaborated with T Power, and released a song called “Shake Ur Body”. The single shot up the charts to number 7 in the UK Singles Chart, and gained plenty of airplay on the mainstream charts, getting drum & bass into the mainstream. Shy FX and T Power did a collaboration album called “Set It Off” which was released on Pete Tong’s FFRR label, which was a division of Warner Music Group. The pair would release a large number of EPs and singles, and also establish their own label, ‘Digital Soundboy Recordings’, and then released the album “ Diary of a Digital Sound Boy” on October 17th 2005. They released the singled “Feelings”, “On The Run” and “Plastic Soul”. The producers of Soccer AM fortunately heard the single “Don’t Wanna Know” and used it on the ‘Skills Skool’ segment of the show.

With their name solidified in the drum & bass and mainstream market, the band produced “Da Feelin”, a song on Dizzee Rascal’s album “Maths + English”, which also led him to produce another song “Can’t Tek No More” for Dizzee Rascal, for his following album “Tongue N’ Cheek”. Entrepreneurial skills landed Shy FX a number 8 spot on the UK Singles Chart, with a remix of Naughty Boy, Wiley and Emeli Sande’s “Never Be Your Woman”.

Shy FX’s CV has grown exponentially over recent years having produced “On My Own”, Yasmin’s debut single, and “Raver” which featured Kano, Roses Gabor and Donae’o. “Light Up (The World)”, Yasmin’s third single, which features Ms. Dynamite, made it to number 50 in the UK Singles Chart. He is also responsible for a re-edit of the single “Gold Dust” by DJ Fresh. Shy FX produced a remix of London Grammars “If You Wait” in August 2014.