After finding out about Charles Dixon in 2015 here it's been a long road of grafting and evolving to get to this point but if you were wise enough to stick around for the ride you'll be able to hear that this EP is an exciting step forward for what is set to be a promising career journey.

Opening up the floor with the track "4 Chicks", Charles' flow is very reminiscent of Giggs' with the same witty delivery and killer beat to match. The initial trumpets set me up for a completely different vibe before the bass pulled the rug out from under me. Guaranteed to have your head nodding before long. Also the little snippets of conversation dotted around throughout make it clear from the start that Charles is no stranger to creativity in production.

The creativity in production becomes all the more clear as the last three tracks blend seamlessly into one another showing pockets of what we might be able to expect from a full length record. Closing out with "All My Life" on a softer note, you can expect to see some visuals for this track in the very near future.

Despite his presence on the scene over the past few years, this EP is built to make the listener stop what they're doing and take notice, and it's clearly a strong start out out of the gates. Charles will definitely be making waves with this EP 2018 and beyond. True Stories EP is out on Spotify and Apple Music today - give it a listen for yourselves!

Overall Rating - 7.5/10

Well, that's it for this year's top albums but along the way there was a whole heap of unbelievable music released. Tonnes more contenders and a bunch of records that I didn't even get to listen to that may have been able to make the cut had I gotten round to it. Not all can be mentioned, but here is a list of this year's most notable honourable mentions in no particular order.

• Bicep - Bicep
• Feist - Pleasure
• Bonobo - Migration 
• Declan McKenna - What Do You Think About The Car?
• BROCKHAMPTON - SATURATION I & III
• Can't Swim - Fail You Again
• Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes - Modern Ruin 
• Wolf Alice - Visions Of A Life 
• J HUS - Common Sense
• Jordan Rakei - Wallflower
• Marika Hackman - I'm Not Your Man
• Meg Mac - Low Blows 
• King Krule - The OOZ
• Sylvan Esso - What Now 
• Foo Fighters - Concrete And Gold 
• Ibeyi - Ash 
• Mount Kimbie - Love What Survives
• Sinead Harnett - Chapter One
• Miguel - War & Leisure
• Kweku Collins - grey 
• Jaden Smith - SYRE
• Haim - Something To Tell You
• Charlotte OC - Careless People
• Mr Jukes - God First 
• N.E.R.D - NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES
• Smino - blkswn
• The National - Sleep Well Beast
• Khalid - American Teen
• Toro y Moi - Boo Boo

Check out a favourite track from each of these albums (+ a couple extras) on a handy playlist here. 

Super excited about this new discovery! Twitter is fast becoming the hub for me when finding new music and in this case I was shocked to find this one lurking in the abyss rather than running viral as I would have expected.

I hadn't seen De La Soul since Glastonbury three years ago and just as I was then, I was equally as, if not more excited for their headline set. I have to say, because I was going to the Birmingham show, I wasn't really expecting the biggest turn out - it's not often that I get to meet many "hip hop heads" in this area and as the show didn't sell out I was expecting a fairly sparse crowd... WRONG. Before long the floor was packed out with every kind of person you could imagine and I guess I should've known because it's not out of the ordinary for De La to draw in diverse crowds with their energy. Either way, it was a welcomed surprise.

First up on stage was UK trio Jungle Brown. I'd not heard any of their material prior but I was expecting something lyrically great if they were to warm us up for De La Soul and I'd definitely say that lyrically they were engaging and true to their style as musicians. However, I felt like on some songs, their beats overshadowed their performance, the beat was the reason for the movement and had it been an acapella performance, the level of attention would have dropped significantly. Despite the issues I had with their abilities on the night, they definitely showed potential (which may be more obvious on their studio material), their sax player was a very slick addition, and they definitely managed to heighten vibes and crack a few smiles before De La graced the stage.

As I mentioned, De La Soul know best how to draw in a crowd and put on a show. I was of course expecting them to play the classics like "Me, Myself and I" and "Feel Good Inc." but I was most interested in what they were going to play from this latest record. When I first listened to it I enjoyed it but I remember thinking that a lot of the songs that I expected to like the most after reading the track list, ended up taking a back seat to ones that hadn't necessarily caught my eye initially. Again my guesses were off on what would appear on the set list, but once again De La showed me why they've been so good for so long. As the night went on and energy was on what I thought was a pretty perfect level, De La graced us with a guest appearance. Dres from Black Sheep bounded on stage with that flow and ease that we knew so well and it was as if he was with them the entire show. Energy levels shot up again for that last portion of the show and by the end of the night my shoulder was aching from all the arm waving, my face was aching from all the smiling and singing, but it was well worth it. I feel like they would've benefited from a bigger production (budget permitting) but with or without, they filled the room, and brought their all, what more could you ask for really?

Overall Rating - 7.5/10 


Here are some pictures from the night...