‘Broken Utopia’ by Conscious Route and Big Rebz

Edinburgh-based rapper, Conscious Route (Left) and East London’s Big Rebz (Right) have teamed up for ‘Broken Utopia,’ featuring two tight tracks produced by battle-rapper and beat-maker, Mackenzie. The first track, ‘Synthetic Light’ kicks off with an anthemic opening that drops into a tight guitar loop and break before flipping into a dub finale as the MCs speak on the dark and fake life of the streets. Rather than aggrandising the street life, Conscious Route and Big Rebz speak on the track like survivors with a distinctly confident swagger. Things ease right back for ‘White Vicious’ with a mellow break and some DJ cuts being brought into play by iconic UK turntablist, DJ JabbaThaKut on the track. However, the duo of MCs don’t waste time on chatter as they trade bars giving an eyes-wide-open look at poverty and inequality in the UK. This short and sharp double release delivers a cross-border look at life in the UK in 2023, showing that the real dividing lines are with poverty, prosperity and opportunity rather than location. We need more of this grown-up hip-hop to balance a cultural focus on nihilism and tough talking without consequences or reality in the field. Release date 28th of April 2023.

Conscious Route is a rapper, MC, poet and singer-songwriter who was born in London before moving to Edinburgh over a decade ago. In 2020, he unleashed the collaborative ‘Lost Routes’ album, alongside producer True Note, which went on to receive a 4-star review in The Scotsman upon its release. In addition to this, three of his more recent releases, ‘Trojan,’ ‘Orphans,’ and his feature on ‘Dragons Jaw’ by Post Coal Prom Queen, were all named as track of the week on BBC Introducing Scotland. The Sensory EP, a collaboration with producer Toni Smoke, also saw 2 tracks receive worldwide airplay on Rapstation 365 radio station, played by UK’s DJ Shorty on London Chip Shop show, then re-spun by the legendary Chuck D in the USA. His ‘Lost Routes Flip tape’ was supported by Tom Robinson’s BBC 6 Music ‘Fresh On The Net BBC Introducing’ mixtape show and he has again seen his music named among the Herald’s top 100 Scottish tunes of the year. He also recently released the Pyramid EP with shortlisted Scottish Artist of the Year, Scott Bathgate. Conscious Route's release reached the international stage once again with airplay in USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and Europe. BBC Introducing Scotland, presenters Phoebe I-H and Shreen Cutkelvin supported it on their show and calling it, “the ultimate collaboration.” Since then, Conscious Route’s music, including his last single, ‘Portals’ with Forest DLG, continues to get support from the BBC – with ‘Dragon’s Jaw’ making it to BBC Introducing Scotland’s Best Track of the Week show. Neil March BBC6 music curator said, “Imaginative and Inventive UK Hip Hop crafted by one of the most exciting upcoming voices of the UK scene.” His most recent release, ‘Dripping Sauce’ with producer Subject 13, recently released on R&S Records, has been getting hyped reviews and worldwide attention on platforms YORAPS.COM & DMCWORLD.NET. The live music scene has seen Conscious Route support Dabbla, Dead Prez, Marlowe, Pan Amsterdam, Wiki, and Jelani Blackman to name a few…

Big Rebz is a hip-hop MC based in East London. Rebz started his career on pirate radio and, after taking a short break to concentrate on family, he returned in 2020 with a brand new LP, ‘Watch Your Boy Shine,’ which is available on all digital download platforms and is produced entirely by London based hip-hop producer MR2. After the release, Big Rebz was scouted by American hip-hop superstar Cassidy (famous for ‘Hotel’ with R Kelly) and asked to appear on his infamous mixtape ‘Who’s Got Barz’ with the hit ‘Money Man.’ A feature on Capo Santana’s (G-Unit) hit ‘China White’ and a feature with Capo and the legendary cowboy Paul Wall (famous for ‘Grillz’ with Nelly) on the ‘Scammers’ remix followed suit. In 2020, Big Rebz released his American debut EP, ‘Hustle Til I Die’ under Capo Santana’s 3133 ENT label. Deciding to become an independent artist once again, Big Rebz released ‘Prisoner Of My Mind,’ produced by MR2, which reached no 15 in the iTunes Hip-Hop Chart followed by the pre album release of ‘Cold Rider Remix’ reaching no 8 in the iTunes hip-hop chart. Big Rebz’s style can be described as hard hitting and deeply rooted in the reality of day-to-day life, encompassing all styles of hip-hop, from modern day trap and dubstep to the traditional 90s boom bap sound. Big Rebz’s third album, ‘Irritable Vowel Syndrome,’ is available now and includes artists American legends Reks, Blaq Poet, Mic Righteous, Stig in the Dump, Wordsmith Flip and Lauren Mason, to name a few. The album reached number 2 in the iTunes charts. Kiss Fm’s DJ MK and Shortee Blitz have been supporting Big Rebz’s music since 2021, with regular spins on their show in 2022.

Known best as a battle rapper who also runs his own ‘Iron Bars’ battle rap event, Mackenzie also shoots videos and makes beats for other artists. While he mainly produces music for himself, Mackenzie has previously worked with Conscious Route, Louie Bhoy (Hector Bizerk) and many more.