I read somewhere that ‘malarchi’ means ‘blossoming’ in Tamil; and it’s fair to say that the East London emcee who uses the word as his moniker is also one of UK hip hop’s burgeoning talents. His debut album ‘Forgotten World’ was released with considerable fanfare back in May, so I recently caught up with him at the Darkjoint recording studio in Canning Town (where most of the album’s tracks were conceived) to find out what he is trying to achieve with his LP.

In an age when hip hop producers can gain as much of a celebrity status as the top emcees in the scene, Roy 'The Dark Disciple' is determined to establish himself as one of the UK's finest beat makers.  Born and raised in South London, but now residing in Canning Town, East London, Roy is the lead member of the Darkjoint production team and is responsible for crafting all of the beats on Malarchi's thunderous 'Forgotten World' LP.

This label grew out of a record shop run by Dave Davies in Manchester. The label is mostly an outlet for Dave the Ruf in his various guises, but the Ruf has now started signing other acts too.

Great hardworking team who specialise on the Funkier side of the genre and also run a very successful club night.

Nutcracker was a Brighton based label releasing three records by Deliverance between 1994 and 1996.

Rep Dat Sound records. These guys claim to be, 'the most innovative creative pioneers to come out of SE13'. They are, 'Real UK Hip Hop from people who have know about the gritty and grimey ways of the streets'.

San Francisco's Bomb Hip Hop started as a magazine and expanded into being a record label.

It’s 6:00pm on a sunny May evening and I’m waiting in Waterloo Train Station for one of the most active contributors to British hip hop culture. Jonzi D...

The Homegrown Entourage (T.H.E.) is an organisation that was founded by a group of friends four years ago with the aim of promoting the rap music that was being produced in the UK...

The original incarnation of the Out Da Ville label.