JP’s UK Culture Picks: September 2026

Welcome to JP’s UK Culture Picks, your one-stop monthly column for all the best in UK music and culture! Expect everything from my favourite tracks and albums of the month to random YouTube finds, fire food spots to club night recommendations. You can find me on IG: @josephjppatterson.

Fly High, Little Derek: Remembering Sway

Derek ‘Sway’ Safo, a legend in the British rap lexicon, passed away last week in Ghana following a long-term battle with Hodgkin lymphoma (a type of blood cancer). Sway leaves behind four children, but his legacy will also live on through the artists he inspired, the music he made and the doors he helped open.

I had the honour of meeting Sway a few times throughout my career, but I vividly remember the chat we had outside London’s Deal Real back in 2015 after me and Hyperfrank hosted a panel discussion about the future of Black British music. The chat continued outside, and it was clear how much he cared about the next gen of musicians, rappers especially, coming up behind him. He didn’t want them to be blinded by the lights of big labels and corporations, or to forget that what they already had was valuable enough without someone coming in and changing things.

Born and raised in North London to Ghanaian parents, Sway was always proud of his heritage, proudly waving both the Ghana and UK flags throughout his music videos and marketing. When grime was at the forefront of British music, he helped stamp UK hip-hop firmly into the culture in a way that felt inclusive, with his 2006 debut album, This Is My Demo, being a particular highlight. While some UK hip-hop acts outright shunned grime—like the elders of UK garage before them—Sway fully embraced it, jumping on tracks with grime MCs and beats that leaned more towards grime than traditional rap, and that openness said a lot about him: he knew the culture was bigger than any one sound, scene or postcode. He knew there was room for everyone, and that’s something we don’t see often enough.

The clearest measure of Sway’s impact can be found in the memories of the artists who came after him. Speaking to TRENCH Magazine earlier this year about the people who recognised his talent early on, Chip recalled: “Before Wiley, I’d say Sway. He hosted my first mixtape when I was 14.” That one line says a lot about the role Sway played in UK music: clocking talent early, lending his name and platform to young artists, and helping them take those first steps into a world that he had already begun to navigate himself. His contribution wasn’t limited to the tunes he made; it can also be found in the careers he helped set in motion, and in the people who still remember that support decades later.

Fly high, Little Derek... May you rest in peace.

Cleo Sol is for the real G’s!

Cleo Sol’s soulful tone has the power to make a badman cry (I should know, ha). Play anything she’s released since 2020’s Rose In The Dark and all that tough-guy stuff goes straight out the window. On her fifth studio album, Gentlewoman, Cleo speaks to us fellas with a particular directness—especially on the title track, “Gentlewoman”, where she gets into the fears and insecurities that can chip away beneath the armour we feel we need to put on just to get through the day.

There’s nothing preachy about it; she sounds like someone who genuinely cares, and understands the pressures that come with navigating a world that often teaches us to keep our feelings buried under the car bonnet. It’s also probably part of the reason she’s overtaken Adele as the hood’s favourite singer; not because they sound alike, but because Cleo Sol knows how to turn personal feelings into something we can all deep. All hail, the UK’s Queen Of Sol!

Say no to ‘UK Poo’…

I’ve stayed quiet about this whole ‘UK Poo’ thing because I didn’t want to give it any more attention than it already has, but we need to collectively stop promoting this foolishness. This “Slap Me Again” tune by Savvy is not good raps. Is the hook catchy? Sure, fine, but people are starting to take this tune seriously and, honestly, that does nothing but hurt the artist in the long-run. Does Savvy have potential? Again, sure. But there’s a lot of work to be done with the pen, the flows and the overall execution. And to the rest of the “acts” jumping on this shit-rap rave just to go viral: please fall back. At a time when UK rap’s real artists are trying to climb back up to a level of prominence, we don’t need this poo in the mix to confuse things. Love, peace and guidance.

Album Of The Month: Headie One is steady in the race on MMM (Monday Marathon Music)

UK drill is back—well, sort of. On MMM (Monday Marathon Music), Headie One returns to the cold, calculated energy that helped make him one of the most rated names in UK rap, but he’s not interested in recreating the past; instead, he sounds like an artist taking stock of the journey while still moving at full speed. Across the 10-track project, Headie balances street-laced storytelling with darker trap beats and moments that cut through the bravado. Famed drill producer M1OnTheBeat remains a perfect sparring partner, while Digga D, Abra Cadabra, M Huncho, Nemzzz, Sampha, Luciano and Turbo each bring a skill to the race. The highlights are where Headie keeps it all the way trill: “Turnt To A Target” reflects on being in the public eye when privacy is required, “One Thousand Roses” touches on the lows that can come with fame and success, while “Thank God For The 40” speaks on some of today’s politics and inequalities. All in all, MMM is a solid rap offering—another lap in a marathon Headie never stopped running. 4/5.

RoESS’ screwface-inducing remix of Chy Cartier’s “YO!” has TikTok in a chokehold—and rightly so!

Chy Cartier has never been a pick-me. She’s always carried herself with the confidence of someone who knows exactly what she brings to the table, without needing to force herself into the conversation. And that’s what makes what happened with “YO!” so interesting. Two months ago, a clip of RoESS’ remix of Chy and Headie One’s 2024 track found its way onto TikTok and, seemingly out of nowhere, started gaining serious traction—people can’t get enough of it! The rising producer took Chy’s standout “never been a pick-me” bar and underpinned it with some screwface-inducing, synth-heavy bass work, giving the line a whole new weight. The edit quickly took on a life of its own to the point where it had to get an official release… The internet can be pretty dope sometimes.

Tracks Of The Month