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2016 Brit Awards predictions

20/1/2016

As you may be aware, the 2016 Brit Awards are fast approaching! Taking place on the 24th February at London's O2 Arena, this is one of the biggest events in the musical calendar. I have been lucky enough to attend the 2014 and 2015 shows, as well as getting tickets for this year as well!
Every year I make my own predictions about who I think will win from each category from the nominees, but I thought that this year I should write it down and see if I'm right on the night:

British Male Solo Artist:
- Apex Twin
- Calvin Harris
- James Bay
- Jamie xx
- Mark Ronson
I think that James Bay will pick up the award to best British Male Solo Artist because he was last year's Critic's Choice winner, and he has managed to accomplish a lot over the past year, which may have taken other artists a few more years to accomplish.

British Female Solo Artist:
- Adele
- Amy Winehouse
- Florence + the Machine
- Jess Glynne
- Laura Marling
I think that Adele will pick up the award for best British Female Solo Artist because I believe that she made one of the best comebacks in music ever! Not only was Hello a beautiful comeback song, I think that her whole album is flawless!

British Group:
- Blur
- Coldplay
- Foals
- One Direction
- Years & Years
Years & Years have to pick up this award because of how amazing 2015 was for them. James Bay beat them to the Critic's Choice award last year, but they have still managed to gather a huge fan following, and have been incredibly successful in the charts, which is very impressive in one year!

British Producer Of The Year:
- Charlie Andrew
- Mark Ronson
- Mike Crossey
- Tom Dalgety
Two words... Uptown. Funk.

British Single:
- Adele - 'Hello'
- Calvin Harris & Disciples - 'How Deep Is Your Love'
- Ed Sheehan & Rudimental - 'Bloodstream'
- Ellie Goulding - 'Love Me Like You Do'
- James Bay - 'Hold Back The River'
- Jess Glynne - 'Hold My Hand'
- Little Mix - 'Black Magic'
- Olly Murs ft. Demi Lovato - 'Up'
- Philip George - 'Wish You Were Mine'
- Years & Years - 'King'
I think that Years & Years have to win this award! So many songs get overplayed on the radio and you begin to grow sick of them, however no matter how many times radio stations played King, I never got tired of hearing it.

MasterCard British Album of The Year:
- Adele - '25'
- Coldplay - 'A Head Full Of Dreams'
- Florence + the Machine - 'How Big. How Blue. How Beautiful.'
- James Bay - 'Chaos and the Calm'
- Jamies xx - 'In Colour'
It has to be Adele...there really is no argument! Although every album in this category is a strong contender, Adele's highly anticipated third studio album is on a whole other level.

International Male Solo Artist:
- Drake
- Father John Misty
- Justin Bieber
- Kendrick Lamar
- The Weeknd
I find this incredibly hard to decide, as each nominee is so unique. I really really really love The Weeknd, and I think that he deserves much more recognition in the UK than he gets now. However, Justin Bieber has also just made his long awaited comeback and has smashed records all over the world. Therefore, I made my decision based more on numbers than music, as Bieber has been much more successful than The Weeknd over the past year. (Side note, I'm not taking away how much I like Justin Bieber now, and he really deserves the success that he has recently been getting.)

International Female Solo Artist:
- Ariana Grande
- Bjork
- Courtney Barnett
- Lana Del Rey
- Meghan Trainor
In my eyes there is no competition in this category...Ariana has to win this award! She has gone from hardly being known in the UK, to playing Wembley Stadium at Capital FM's Summertime Ball! She has done incredibly well in the charts, and so I believe that she is the most deserving of the award.

International Group:
- Alabama Shakes
- Eagles of Death Metal
- Major Lazer
- Tame Impala
- U2
I believe that Major Lazer should get this award because, for me, Lean On was the song of the summer! They were also incredibly successful throughout 2015, so I think they deserve it the most.

British Artist Video:
- Adele - 'Hello'
- Calvin Harris & Disciples - 'How Deep Is Your Love'
- Ed Sheehan - 'Photograph'
- Jessie J - 'Flashlight'
- Little Mix - 'Black Magic'
- Naughty Boy ft. Beyonce & Arrow Benjamin - 'Runnin (Lose it All)'
- One Direction - 'Drag Me Down'
- Sam Smith - 'Writings On The Wall'
- Years & Years - 'King'
Years & Years deserve this award due to the creativity of their video. It's unlike music videos you typically get, as it is much more artistic in my eyes.

British Breakthrough Act:
- Catfish And The Bottlemen
- James Bay
- Jess Glynne
- Wolf Alice
- Years & Years
As stated in my reasons above, I believe that Years & Years have made this biggest contribution to music out of the nominees throughout 2015.

I can't wait to find out how many of my predictions I got right, and congratulations to all the nominees who are all so deserving!
Watch The Brit Awards on the 24th February on ITV.

Tinie Tempah - Junk Food review

2/1/2016

When it comes to music I'm not fussy. No matter what the genre is, if I like it, I like it. However, it is quite strange listening to a genre of music that you're not familiar with.

I've been a fan of Tinie Tempah since he released Pass Out in 2009, and I've been following his work ever since. With countless number ones, Tinie's talent can't be denied, and when I heard that Tinie was releasing the Junk Food mixtape I was really excited. This mixtape is something Tinie has done without a label helping him, and so there was a high level of anticipation created around it.

We first heard We Don't Play No Games and Autogas before the mixtape came out, and it honestly was not what I expected. When I think of Tinie I think of his hit songs such as, Pass Out and Not Letting Go, however these two songs were the complete opposite. We Don't Play No Games features Sneakbo and Mostack, artists that I don't usually listen to. Therefore, I was quite out of my comfort zone when first listening to it, as it wasn't the type of music I would typically sit and listen to. However, I don't think you can make a decision about a song until you've given it a fair chance and have listened to it at least five times. So, I sat and listened to the song at least another three or four times in a row, and by the fourth time I actually really liked it. This made me realise that stepping out of your comfort zone in terms of music can really benefit you, and allow your music taste to grow as it introduces you to a whole new range of artists out there.

When Autogas (featuring Big Narstie and Mostack) dropped I was a bit apprehensive at first, but I remembered to give it a chance and listen to it multiple times. It took me a bit longer to like Autogas compared to We Don't Play No Games because I found the repetition of 'Autogas' at the start of the song quite annoying. However, I really liked the rest of the song, so of course I kept listening, and again found myself playing it any chance I could. Therefore, when the whole mixtape dropped, I was really eager to hear the rest of the songs,

My two favourites on Junk Food are, I Could Do This Every Night and 100 Friends. I Could Do This Every Night features Yungen, Bonkaz and LIV, again artists that I don't usually listen to, but they are all absolutely incredible in this song. The chorus is really catchy, and the whole song just makes you want to sing along. I find this song a bit lighter compared to others on the mixtape, which is something that I really like because it means there is a variety, and no two songs sound the same. Furthermore, 100 Friends only features one artist, J Hus. I hadn't heard of J Hus before, but after listening to this song I actually really like him, This song keeps the listener interested throughout the entire song, as the tone of it changes throughout, something that I think makes a really good song.
Overall, I think Tinie has done incredibly well on making Junk Food, especially without the help of a label, and he deserves a lot of recognition for it.
I would strongly advise anyone who reads this to listen to it.

Listen to We Don't Play No Games here:

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2016 Brit Awards predictions

Tinie Tempah - Junk Food review

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