Outside of the grime world the emergence over the past few years of Tinie Tempah, Tinchy Stryder, Devlin and Wretch 32 (the list inevitably goes on) has been somewhat apocalyptic on the UK (& to some extent the US) charts. With all of the former now regularly charting top five singles if not number ones, the next batch of Grime hopefuls are steadily etching their way into the limelight, with Mercury signed South Londoner Dot Rotten standing proudly at the forefront.

Declared this week by Radio 1's New Music Don Zane Lowe as his 'Next Hype', Rotten aka J Ellis has been turning heads ever since the video dropped for the title track off the forthcoming EP Normal Human Being. Dressed freshly in A Sauvage Italian designer, the days of Young Dot are more a distant memory as he strolls through the streets of Paris whilst unravelling the traits of his personality that make it hard to understand how his fued with veteran Wiley ever began.

In a recent interview with RWD Mag, Rotten unashamedly declares his influences are rather obscure if unheard of within the Grimesphere, hailing the likes of "Sting, Tracey Chaplin, Elo, Phil Collins, Tears for Fears, Jamariquai and Lenny Kravitz" as several of his hero's whilst growing up.

Either way the astute manner and polished delivery Rotten capably transmits suggests their is better material yet to come, and better yet he has recruited man of the moment Ed Sheeran and Jamal Edwards as the first members of side project MInarmy (short for Musical Inspiration Army) with the first few tracks already completed.

For long-term Rotten fans, most of this is likely to be past news, but for the majority this is a new artist whose only just beginning to come out of his shell.

You can download the more recent Above The Waters EP now and follow him from his Twitter page here.

The year mark has just passed since Dubstep curators Skream, Benga and Artwork signed to major label Columbia, and a further six months since the trio made their mark on the UK albums chart with their self-titled debut release. Yet after embarking on a national album tour at the latter part of last year, trying to claim the hype men from Croydon have slowed down is an almost impossible mission.

Barely a week has gone by without clubbers being indulged by the sheer verocity of a Benga & Skream set, or treated to one of "Bengas Bangers" & "Skreams Slammers" since Radio 1 introduced to them to the thursday night 'In New DJs we Trust' slot. But we're hardly complaining. Whilst admittedly Magnetic Man as a collective have only toured the bigger, one off events in 2011, the summer season is on the horizon and their back enqueue with one of the biggest cuts off the album.

Showcasing the epic and atmospheric 'Anthemic' for the first time at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Carlisle on Sunday night, rising heavyweight of Grime P Money now features on the track and it may be their heaviest yet.

2011 has undoubtedly been P Money's year. After smashing it with 2009's Money Over Everyone Mixtape the South Londoner has collectively earned the respect of Grime & Dubstep heads alike, and shows seldom sign of giving in to the mainstream anytime soon.

"This is the war against music, and me and my fans are the resistance" he declares on the 2010 banger 'Ho Riddim' and has more recently collaborated with every Grime stars 2011 vocalist of choice Ed Sheeran , and now throwing his weight on Magnetic Man's latest release his demand will only increase.

MM's performance on the New Music We Trust Stage seemed to really go off, and appears to have stood as a weekend higlight for the defiant majority. Either way the performance was big, and you can catch the entire set over at Radio 1s Official Big Weekend page here.

Let us know what you think.

After the monumental success of last year's Distant Relatives tour, the chances of seeing these two heavyweights embark on another international excursion appeared slim, yet low and behold in December 2010 the unimaginable became actuality...

So for those who dont know, Reggae's (second) prodigal son Damian Marley announced he would be teaming up with Nasir Jones aka Nas to take the distant Relatives tour around the world for one last hurrah, and this time it seemed an opportunity too glaringly fortunate to pass up.

On Saturday 2nd April, 15 dates into a marathon 22 legged international test of endurance the tour touched down in Manchester at the legendary Apollo. Supported by the ever-sprightly Spragga Benz , special mention must go to Marley's flag waver, who ensured Jamaica's colours did not touch the ground like his life depended on it.

For anyone who caught the tour you'll know how memorable it was.