ArrDee x Bugzy Malone - One Direction (Official Video)
Two of the UK scene’s biggest rappers, ArrDee and Bugzy Malone join forces for the track of the summer, ‘One Direction’ set for release on 27th July.
Brighton and Manchester standup on this monster tune, as ArrDee and Bugzy duel over a hard-hitting beat, based around the anthemic horn sample from the iconic dance banger When I Dip by Bingo Players. Having connected through Instagram DMs, the pair’s chemistry is instantly on show, as they dovetail each other’s bombastic verses, with each bar threatening to steal the show. Riffing on a tongue-in-cheek comparison to the iconic boy band, ‘One Direction’ sees ArrDee deliver some trademark playful bars and a bravado-fuelled chorus. “All of these girl know me from high school I was coming like Zac Efron / She love the gang fucking with Louie / but we ain’t one direction!”
The music video, directed by UK Director WOWA was shot in East London before ArrDee and Buzgy made a surprise appearance in Trafalgar Square, where fans gathered in force to see Manchester and Brighton join forces to shut down London in some epic closing scenes.
ArrDee’s previous release ‘Home For My Heart’, a tender duet with BBC Rising Star nominee Cat Burns, struck a chord with its emotional resonance, racing to over 10 million streams.
With ‘One Direction’ ArrDee finds himself firmly back within the UK Rap space, giving his fun loving bars ample room to shine once more.
ArrDee’s latest single comes off the back of a busy tour schedule which has seen him tear down sets at Radio One’s Big Weekend in Dundee, Park Life Festival for Aitch’s homecoming performance and the Capital Summertime Ball - as well as headlining an Ibiza Rocks Residency throughout June and more European shows in Brussels, Rotterdam and Malia.
Crowd reactions have been rapturous and his performances have organically been shared on UK blogs including UKrapnumbers and ImjustBait, in addition to his appearance on Michael Dappah’s ‘Belly Must Go’ YouTube series last month.
After bursting onto the scene at the start of 2021, ArrDee continues to go from strength to strength. ‘One Direction’ follows hits singles ‘Home For My Heart’ and ‘Loser’, and last year’s debut mixtape ‘Pier Pressure’, which has been BPI gold-certified, peaked at #2 in the official charts and became the biggest breakthrough release as the highest selling debut album for a British solo artist in 2022. ArrDee amassed over 500 million streams with six UK ‘Top 10’ singles - ‘Oliver Twist’, ‘Flowers (Say My Name)’, ‘War’ with Aitch, ‘Wasted’ with Digga D, ‘Messy In Heaven’ with venbee and goddard and the groundbreaking remix of Tion Wayne and Russ Millions’ ‘Body’.
One of the first successful MCs to hail from Manchester, Bugzy Malone emerged as one of the leading figures of Grime’s resurgence during the 2010s. Naming 2Pac as his biggest influence, he is known for his rapid yet precise vocal delivery and aggressive rhymes about criminal activity, as well as more introspective lyrics about his emotional struggles. After making his name with several mixtapes during the early 2010s, he released three EPs and a full-length (2018's B. Inspired) that hit the Top Ten of the U.K. album chart, and issued several charting singles leading up to his second album, 2021's The Resurrection .
‘One Direction’ sees two of the UK’s finest unite for a summer sizzler. A collaboration you won’t want to miss.